Monday 16 September 2019

It's Autumn ... The Pinks are back ... Some Waders too ...

In the misty morning light on the Solway the air was still and the sound of Pink-footed Geese came time and again as flocks made their way southwards ... some flocks of around fifty birds ...




... while others passed high over Anthorn in small groups ...


... sometimes there was only the sound of their calls to indicate their presence ...


On the Wampool at Anthorn with the tide well out there were flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plovers on the exposed mud ... and two Ruff associating loosely with the other waders ...



... a little downstream a group of four Black-tailed Godwits fed on a sandbank ...



... and an adult Mediterranean Gull was nearby with some Black-headed Gulls ...




Among the big flocks of Redshank at Port Carlisle was a scattering of Knot with some lovely looking juveniles ...





... one of two Greenshank frequented a shallow pool there ...



And over the high tide at Campfield a Great Skua came along the shoreline and was pursued briefly by a juvenile Peregrine before both disappeared as quickly as they had come ...








Tuesday 10 September 2019

The Lancashire Fluke Hall Wheatear ... identification still unresolved ...


With a brisk cool wind blowing the wheatear was sheltering beneath a rock when we arrived on site on the first day that it was reported ...



... originally being identified as either an Eastern Black-eared or Pied Wheatear, opinion swayed in favour of Eastern Black-eared on that first day ...

After a short while the bird emerged and gave nice views as it perched on large rocks ... but always returned to near its favoured sheltering place ...


... here it shows the broad slightly rusty breast band and white throat suggestive of Black-eared ...


... the mantle and scapulars show a degree of pale fringing , suggestive of Pied ... but still some overall rusty tones - certainly not predominantly grey ...


... flight views probably add little and tail pattern is similar for both species ...



... the light was variable with intermittent sunshine and also some duller periods ... the colour tones changed to a degree with the light changes ... nevertheless it never looked purely grey ...




Opinion has subsequently swayed in favour of Pied ... some however remain convinced that this is an Eastern Black-eared Wheatear ...

Some faecal samples were apparently taken ... hopefully DNA analysis will give some definitive answers ...

... time will tell ... or will it ? ... is a hybrid possible ?





Monday 9 September 2019

The BBC gives a hopeless response ... then drags its feet ...

After writing to the BBC and pointing out that they had misrepresented the RSPB, the BBC told me that I would need to go through an official complaints procedure ...

This did not seem an unreasonable request ... so I presented the facts once again within the confines of a series of character-limited boxes ... tedious, but hey ...

The reply from the BBC went like this -
" I understand you believe it's inaccurate to say RSPB said shooting grouse in ' economically important ' .  I've checked the article and it is specifically referring to how it can benefit the sport financially  "

... so a fairly garbled statement there ... the BBC makes no mention of Driven Grouse Shooting so clearly has no understanding of how this sits within the overall activity of 'shooting grouse ' as they put it ... the BBC ignores my point that missing the word ' local ' out alters the meaning of the statement ... the BBC seems to imply that shooting grouse can benefit the sport financially - this is a very odd conclusion to come to and makes little sense ...

The BBC added that if I wanted to pursue this further then I should follow a link that they provided.   So in view of their having completely ignored the point that I was making, I followed the link.  This took me back to their official complaints procedure ... and so for the third time I stated the facts of how they had misquoted the RSPB and thereby misrepresented the views of the RSPB ...

The BBC's reply indicated a 20 day wait for a full response ...