Sunday 27 March 2011

Rindle Road

Spring is the best time for birding in my opinion with lots going on.  The skies are full of new visitors and the residents are starting new families.  One thing I've learnt during my first full year of birding is how quickly things change.  A bird can be here one day and gone the next and the vegetation and landscape can make it easy or difficult to see them depending on the time of year.


With this in mind, I've decided I'll go out to my local patch at Rindle Road as often as I can this year, because I missed a few birds last year just by thinking "Oh I'll go tomorrow".   Having said that, there's not much about yet, but today I met Dave Thacker once again, who confirmed that in two or three weeks it will be full of activity here.


I started off by going down Moss Lane but only saw a distant Kestrel (it might have been a Sparrowhawk) sitting on the telephone wires at the far end of the road.  The ground was very dry around here today and the furrows in the newly ploughed fields looked quite desiccated. As I headed off to Rindle Road a large Carrion Crow flew over my car and landed in a field where another crow had something in its beak.  I stopped briefly but couldn't make out what it was, maybe a snail or something.


I went on to park up at the Rindle Road feeding station and I talked to Dave for a while before heading off into Rindle Wood.  After he left two Oystercatchers flew over me making their familiar call just as I ducked under the gate and on to the path.



At the feeding station there were a several Yellowhammers, Tree Sparrows and a Chaffinch as well as pair of Mallard feeding on the grain and seed remnants.  I always mean to bring some bird food when I come here and somehow always manage to forget.



I walked along Rindle Hedge where there was absolutely nothing about until I got to the end where I disturbed three or four Mistle Thrushes that were in the ploughed field.  When they saw me they quickly shot off into the nearby trees.  I walked back along the hedge and into Rindle Wood in the hope that I might see another Treecreeper like I did earlier this week.  No luck there !  All I saw were a two Blue Tits, a Chaffinch, a Yellowhammer and two Goldfinches (see postscript).



Walking back to the feeding station, I spent quite a while waiting for a good photo-opportunity but it never really came.  I took some photos of a Reed Bunting and some Tree Sparrows before returning to my car.  I did see a Bank Vole swimming in the drainage ditch and it made a big splash to disappear underwater when it saw me coming.  I also took some close-up pictures of a butterfly on a dandelion head.



On the way home I stopped off on a side access road to take some pictures of a soaring Buzzard - the conditions were quite good for photography: it was sunny if a little hazy and the sun was behind me.  The bird was fairly low down at first and moving slowly in a circle.  I should have been able to get at least one decent photo from the twenty or so I took, but I didn't - if you've read my previous post you'll see what I mean about being disappointed with the quality of the results I'm getting at the moment.






When I got back in the car it was a lot later than I thought as the clocks had gone forward an hour today.  So I headed off for home to see if anyone else in the family had got up yet.

Postscript:



Whilst looking though my pictures at home, I noticed a bird that I thought was just a Chaffinch when I was taking the photos.  On closer inspection it clearly isn't a Chaffinch, but what is it?  My best guess is either a Redpoll or a Linnet but the photos aren't clear enough for me to be positive.  If you have any suggestions, please write them in the comment section at the bottom of this post.  Cheers !


PPS.

It seems that the bird has been identified as a Lesser Redpoll by none other that the main man at the Manchester Birding Forum, Ian McKerchar.  It wasn't the same for everyone however as you can see in the comments under this post which I've transcribed from the Forum thread I started on it

13 comments:

  1. Help with bitd ID's (again)

    One of the great things about this forum is having access to so many knowledgeable and experienced birders. I've met a few of you locally on my birding trips to Penny, Rindle Road and Clifton Marina and everyone has been very friendly and helpful.

    And so once again I am asking for ID help on a bird I photographed (rather poorly) today. It's at the bottom of my most recent post about Rindle Road on my blog (web address below this message) and I think it's either a Redpoll or a Linnet, but it could be something else.

    If anyone could take the time to have a look for me I'd be very grateful - you could write your reply (and hopefully indicate what clinches the ID) in the comments underneath the picture on my blog or as a reply to this message on this forum.

    As an aside, I also recently posted on by blog about still being dissatisfied with the quality of the photos I'm currently taking. The photos here are not of great quality, but I'm hoping the bird in question will be recognisable to those with experience. I'm not so concerned about the quality of these photos, but the ones of the Buzzard in the same post should have been much better. If anyone has any suggestions about improving the quality of shots like this I'd also like to hear from you.

    Looking forward to some replies.

    Cheers, Martyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Martyn,

    There are a few simple things to help with getting 'sharp images', like are you using a good tripod or hand holding? Are you shooting continuous focus on moving subjects? What type of focus points are you using? The list could be endless though.

    How much are you cropping the images?

    Sorry can't be more precise. From experience of hearing people say they have 'faulty' gear and they can't get sharp images, most turn out to be user error (though sometimes they are right).

    All the best

    Dave

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Dave Winnard for the Manchester Wildlife Forum)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Martyn

    looks like a male Linnet to me.

    Can you start an alternative Mystery Bird Competition? Thought I was doing OK this year (four out of four!) with Ian's until this month...

    Steve

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Steve Suttill)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Martyn, get your favourite field guide (I'd always advise the latest Collins Bird Guide if you haven't already got it) and compare your mystery bird to Lesser Redpoll. See what you think and why it is or isn't that species or Linnet.

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Ian McKerchar)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm going to say Redpoll :)

    EDIT: think I was writing as you put it on Ian

    Dave

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Dave Winnard for the Manchester Wildlife Forum)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ah, but the difference is that I've not actually said what the bird is as such Dave as I think it should be left to the observer to decide why it is what it is. With a little help or prompting along the way of course, otherwise how are we to learn and improve

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Ian McKerchar)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes master Yoda

    A wise naturalist once told me 'The more i learn the less i know' - Don't think there is a quote that sums up learning about the natural world better than this one. Always good to go over 'basics' to make sure - i'm looking at the two species now to make sure!

    Dave

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Dave Winnard for the Manchester Wildlife Forum)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have the book, but I'm still undecided due to the poor quality of my photos. Any more pointers to help me decide please?

    Martyn

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fairly warm buffish around the face and flanks the latter of which are streaked darker. The bill is dark tipped but pale yellowish for 2/3's of it's length and the lores (in between bill and eye) are noticeably dark, blackish as is the feathering just around the base of the bill. Importantly, notice the bright deep reddish isololated patch on the forehead (or 'poll' as it's known) plus the similarly coloured breast. Note also the fairly heavy (isolated) steaks on it's undertail coverts.

    Any clearer?

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Ian McKerchar)

    ReplyDelete
  10. You sure can see a lot more in those crappy pixels than I can Ian! I think what confused me is the number of sub-species. It looks more like Carduelis flammea than Carduelis cabaret to me. But to confuse it with Carduelis cannabina is not surprising either for a newbie like me. It seems others here may be equally uncertain too.

    Thanks for your help.

    Martyn

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well, it's Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret) in my opinion but they are indeed a confusing bunch!

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of Ian McKerchar)

    ReplyDelete
  12. RE: Help with bird ID's

    Reply Quote: Steve Suttill wrote:

    Hi Martyn

    looks like a male Linnet to me.

    --------------------------------------------------------

    Well it looked like a Linnet yesterday on my laptop

    Confucius he say "better to remain silent and look foolish than to open mouth and remove all possible doubt"

    Steve

    (Transcribed from the Manchester Birding Forum on behalf of STeve Suttill)

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's why I always keep my mouth shut until I know :)

    ReplyDelete

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