Just a Bit of Fun Quiz Week 34 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Green Heron in Devon 2010.

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed a Green Heron that i saw in Devon on two occasions back in 2010 , a very big well done to all the correct entries and they are : Ellis Lucas , Ben M ,  Martyn Wilson , Marc Heath , Mike.H. , Mark Lewis and Mark L .

Well done also to the wrong entries a really great try , and many thanks to everyone who has had ago , Here is this weeks " Mystery Bird " .

Week 35 " Mystery Bird " ????

If you fancy ago just leave your answer in the comments or DM on twitter @RobsBirding , good luck and remember its just a bit of fun .

Just a bit of Fun Quiz Week 33 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Western Subalpine Warbler on Scilly 2013.

This bird proved to be very hard to get right and those who did managed to also get the "race " correct to , so a very big well done to : Ellis L , Ben M ,  and Mark Lewis.

A really great try for those with the wrong answer , many thanks to everyone who had a go , here is this weeks " Mystery Bird ".

Week 34 " Mystery Bird " ????????

Just leave your answer in the comments or DM on twitter @RobsBirding and i will reveal the correct answer and entries next weekend , Good luck on this one .

Dip and Tick in Scotland

Day one 10th March

2 Snow Geese among 179 Greenland White Fronted Geese.

  On Sunday evening i headed to Scotland and my main target bird was the American Herring Gull which would have been a lifer for me , well to cut a long story short i dipped the AHG which appeared the very next day which is rather frustrating , however that's birding sometimes you win and sometimes you dip.

However the trip itself was very good with some other top birds seen including 2 Snow Geese which were a lifer for me , they were among a flock of 179 Greenland White Fronted Geese .

White & Blue morph Snow Geese.

This was the most Greenland WF Geese i have seen together and over the day and half i spent in Campbeltown i saw a total of 1600 birds which was an  incredible sight.

I spent all day on Monday 10th checking through gull flocks in various flooded areas, i did see a 2nd year Iceland Gull which was great to see , i ended the day checking the gulls coming into roost in the harbour and hoping the AHG would appear on its favoured bouy , sadly this didn't happen although i did score with two 2w  Iceland Gulls,  then decided to check out the gull roost at the far side of the harbour near the harbour mouth and although they were very distant i went through this gull roost very carefully and apart from a juv. Iceland Gull bringing my total to 3 birds i didn't see the AHG.

Rock Pipit .

Other birds around the harbour included this confiding Rock Pipit plus good numbers of Black Guillemot in summer plumage.

Black Guillemot.

And in flight.

There were great numbers of Eider plus  a distant Great Northern Diver i also saw a close Hooded Crow.

Hooded Crow.

Day two 11th March 

After spending the night in a very comfortable B&B i started the day more or less as yesterday checking the harbour and various flooded fields but still no luck with the target bird however i got decent views of this Iceland Gull.

2w Iceland Gull

I only had til approx half 10 to try and find the AHG before i had to leave the area and sadly i never connected and set of for other target birds , my first port of call was Loch Caolisport for the ad winter Bonapartes Gull  these are really smart dainty birds and although this bird was fairly distant i managed 1 or 2 record shots.

Note grey nape.

Pink legs quite obvious in this photo.

There were several Common Buzzards in the area plus i also heard a Tawny Owl calling from a nearby wood . From here i headed of to Strontain in the search of a long staying Black Duck which would be a welcome year tick , i duly arrived after a short ferry crossing and  after quite some searching  re found the bird and enjoyed some great views .

Black Duck.

Paired up with a female Mallard.

Sadly time had caught up with me and i had to start my long journey back home however i did get some great close views of Red Deer on route.

Red Deer.

Another Red Deer.

And that concludes my short trip to Scotland.

Just a bit of Fun Quiz Week 32 answer plus new " Mystery Bird "

Black Crowned Night Heron 

Last weeks " Mystery Bird " was indeed a Black Crowned Night Heron which i saw in Hampshire in 2011 , there were no wrong answers this week so well done to everyone who took part and they were : Mark L, Mark Lewis , Martyn Wilson , Eunice Horspool , Mike .H. , Ben M , Matthew B , Dave Dowell and Ellis Lucas ( who had several photos published this week in the Yorkshire wildlife Trust magazine , well done mate ).

This weeks " Mystery bird " is going to be a tough one so good luck to everyone who has ago , just leave your answer in the comments or DM on twitter @RobsBirding.

Week 33 " Mystery Bird " ???????

You get a bonus point if you can name the " race " of this species . You can have as many guess's as you like .

Dungeness Site Tick.......

Glossy Ibis at Dungeness.

I spent the morning at Dungeness yesterday 2nd March , and was delighted to add Glossy Ibis to my Dungeness patch list which now stands at 228.

Eating a tasty looking worm.

Lovely colours when the light was right.

I also went down to have a look at the " Patch " on the sea front and was rewarded with approx 5 Little Gulls with good numbers of Kittawake keeping them company. From here i then ventured onto the RSPB reserve and added 4 Tree Sparrows on the feeders by the entrance to the reserve and a single Grey Heron was feeding in the nearby flooded marsh.

Winter plumage Black Necked Grebe.

I didn't have much time left to do the whole reserve circuit so i just checked out Burrows pit from the Dennis Hide , first bird that caught my eye was this superb winter plumage Black Necked Grebe which was among a small flock of Tufted Duck .

Love the bright red eye.

Having a snooze along side a female Tufted Duck.

Other birds of note here were Great White Egret , Great Crested Grebe and several duck species and then time had caught up with me and it was time to head home.

Ring Necked Parakeet & Hume's Warbler in Ramsgate

Ringed Necked Parakeet at Ramsgate cemetary.

I thought i would try out my new camera today at Ramsgate cemetary and i was quite pleased with the results , i was also hoping to see the over wintering Humes Y B Warbler having missed it on two previous attempts , and as we all know  birding sometimes you have to work for your birds and another time they just appear.

Well today as i was attempting to get some pics of the Parakeets the Hume's warbler just appeared in the top of the canopy , i saw the wing bars and supercillium straight away , it only called twice and was spending most of its time in the canopy , still i was very happy to finally see it . I n the pic below you can just make out one of the wing bars.

Record shot of the Hume's Warbler .

I had some great views of the Ring Necked Parakeets today otherwise it was a fairly quite birding session.