Bird descriptions/Joke

[paulchandler6]

I suppose this could apply to any wildlife sightings and shows that with minimal verbal or written details the wrong conclusion can be reached.
I’m sure other birders have heard this one! There are probably several versions but this is the one I heard. Whether its true or not I don’t know for sure. Enjoy.

A well known birder in Norfolk gets a phone call from a little old lady (always is isn’t it) somewhere on a Scottish island and says “I’ve got a bird with red on its head feeding from my bird table, but don’t know what it is”. The birder replies “it sounds like a goldfinch”. “No it’s not that I know what a goldfinch looks like” she replies. “How about a Redpoll” that has red on its head”. No she says “It’s a lot bigger than a finch”. “How much bigger” asks the birder.
“Well the bird table is 4 feet of the ground and the bird is stood on the grass feeding from the table”.
It turns out the bird was a Common Crane!
Cheers

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by paulchandler6

I suppose this could apply to any wildlife sightings and shows that with minimal verbal or written details the wrong conclusion can be reached.
I’m sure other birders have heard this one! There are probably several versions but this is the one I heard. Whether its true or not I don’t know for sure. Enjoy.

A well known birder in Norfolk gets a phone call from a little old lady (always is isn’t it) somewhere on a Scottish island and says “I’ve got a bird with red on its head feeding from my bird table, but don’t know what it is”. The birder replies “it sounds like a goldfinch”. “No it’s not that I know what a goldfinch looks like” she replies. “How about a Redpoll” that has red on its head”. No she says “It’s a lot bigger than a finch”. “How much bigger” asks the birder.
“Well the bird table is 4 feet of the ground and the bird is stood on the grass feeding from the table”.
It turns out the bird was a Common Crane!
Cheers

Yes a great story- one I remember the late great Chris Mead relating. The guy handling the query must have been shell shocked when he learnt the real ID!