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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | » Stats |
Members: 31,967
Threads: 47,924
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Top Poster: glsammy (13,152) | | Welcome to our newest member, firehorse | | |
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02-01-2009, 08:08 PM
| | Active Member | | Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 57
| | | Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Sorry if this topic has already been mentioned,
Has anyone seen todays Daily Mail and the story on the Snow Bunting in a Cornwall Garden, the story and pictures are also available on-line, The bird is quite clearly a Chaffinch. | 
02-01-2009, 08:14 PM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: East Harling, Norfolk
Posts: 8,028
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Hi roundwood, have you got a link? I can't find it on the Daily Mail Website | 
02-01-2009, 08:17 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Berkshire
Posts: 2,499
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail | 
02-01-2009, 08:17 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,431
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Quote:
Originally Posted by roundwood123 Sorry if this topic has already been mentioned,
Has anyone seen todays Daily Mail and the story on the Snow Bunting in a Cornwall Garden, the story and pictures are also available on-line, The bird is quite clearly a Chaffinch. | I didn't see it in the Mail, but saw the story in a Daily Express on the train + didn't mention it was fairly common on east coast- just mentioned north Scotland as UK range- which would be breeding birds.
There was a black and white photo which clearly wasn't a Snow bunting or indeed Chaffinch but from the monochrome looked like a male Red-headed Bunting in breeding plumage!! | 
02-01-2009, 08:21 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Wales
Posts: 535
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Well using the link that stewy posted, it looks like a female chaffinch with some leucisim - doesn't look like a snow bunting to me at all. | 
02-01-2009, 08:28 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: west midlands
Posts: 1,537
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail not a chaffinch but does look like a bunting but colours are like spring colours coming in I'm not sure but someone wil put us right shortly
__________________ 'one life'... respect it, enjoy it! | 
02-01-2009, 08:37 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,987
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Quote:
Originally Posted by Dae Well using the link that stewy posted, it looks like a female chaffinch with some leucisim - doesn't look like a snow bunting to me at all. | I'd agree that the bird in the Daily Mail is definitely a Chaffinch!
Guy | 
02-01-2009, 08:39 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,431
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyF I'd agree that the bird in the Daily Mail is definitely a Chaffinch!
Guy | Agree that it's a leucistic Chaffinch. | 
02-01-2009, 08:41 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: west midlands
Posts: 1,537
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail sorry to show my ignorance here but do chafinches have so much white on them? the Mail picture bird does appear to have a lot of white on its wings can someone advice as the ones in my garden never look like the one in the mail... confused
__________________ 'one life'... respect it, enjoy it! | 
02-01-2009, 08:43 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Preston in NW
Posts: 3,625
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail chaffinch definitely - just a bit of a freak though | 
02-01-2009, 08:44 PM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: London
Posts: 6,778
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Yep, the one in the photo is 100% female chaffinch with slight leucism. But I suppose this doesn't have to mean she didn't see one - it was probably a photo researcher who may not have known what to look for when putting the pic online.
TB - it's partly leucistic - kind of partial albinoism | 
02-01-2009, 08:46 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Pork Pie Town, Leicestershire
Posts: 625
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Chaffinch! (with bad hair!)
__________________ My glass is flippin' empty not half full!
http://oscarwildlife.zenfolio.com/ | 
02-01-2009, 08:47 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Preston in NW
Posts: 3,625
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Green Yep, the one in the photo is 100% female chaffinch with slight leucism. But I suppose this doesn't have to mean she didn't see one - it was probably a photo researcher who may not have known what to look for when putting the pic online.
TB - it's partly leucistic - kind of partial albinoism  | got it in one!  | 
02-01-2009, 08:47 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: west midlands
Posts: 1,537
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail ah now i know leucism (pigmentation)
__________________ 'one life'... respect it, enjoy it! | 
02-01-2009, 08:58 PM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: London
Posts: 6,778
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Before I read through the article I assumed that the image shown was one taken by the observer - then read about her experience with these birds, so obviously not her innocent mistake  ( I've had plenty of them  )
So do you think the researcher was going by her description of a bird with some white plumage, or something else?
Last edited by Jason Green; 02-01-2009 at 09:02 PM.
| 
02-01-2009, 10:47 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Gloucester
Posts: 668
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail So it feeds with Chaffinches, looks like a Chaffinch with some aberrant white feathering and - if that photo is of the bird (and I suspect it may well be as it sure as anything isn't a "stock" Snow Bunting pic!) it IS a Chaffinch!
Oh - and there's not been a whisper on any of the rare bird forums/lines etc. about a garden-feeding Snow Bunting in Cornwall.
Poor lady is clearly NOT "an ornithologist", those bins look heavy, antique and possibly ex-naval (and possibly virtually unusable) and she went on an expensive organised trip to Norway where the leaders failed to point out any Snow Buntings? Oh dear!  That reminds me of a chat I had a few years ago with an elderly lady who had been on a Norwegian coastal cruise and the "resident ornithologist" showed the "clients" a flock of Snow Buntings which most definitely were not! I can't recall what she said they actually were, but she knew he was misleading folk because that's what they all wanted to see!
Cornwall Lady would have done better to spend a much cheaper winter weekend on the North Norfolk Coast with one of the reliable bird guides....
__________________ But as long as I can see the morning
And blossom comes to bud again in spring.... | 
02-01-2009, 10:56 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lancashire
Posts: 2,247
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail It is clearly a Chaffinch. What a silly story. Why didn't the lady just find some decent beach in North Norfolk in winter or go up on to the Cairngorm plateau if she wanted to see a Snow Bunting? Norway indeed.
Regards, Chris | 
03-01-2009, 12:12 AM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: London
Posts: 6,778
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Lets see if she signs up with WAB to talk about her sighting further... | 
03-01-2009, 09:13 AM
| | Active Member | | Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Quantocks, Somerset
Posts: 83
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail I can hardly stop laughing - to think a national paper publishes such complete rubbish.
Mrs Davies is clearly a beginner and doesn't know what she's talking about - there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - but for this to be published without anyone on the paper noticing or checking with the RSPB press office or their own nature correspondent is simply staggering. Still, what do you expect from the Mail? | 
03-01-2009, 09:19 AM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 4,323
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Of dear, this story makes me cringe | 
03-01-2009, 09:32 AM
| | Active Member | | Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Quantocks, Somerset
Posts: 83
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Yep.
It's not the lady's fault (though I admit to being a wee bit envious of someone who has so much money to spend on trips to the Arctic and yet doesn't know what's on her own doorstep) but really this shouldn't have got into print.
I've been a sub-editor in my time and it makes a mockery of what is supposed to be a serious craft. Fact-checking: important business. | 
03-01-2009, 10:05 AM
|  | Wild Member | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Surrey
Posts: 192
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail | 
03-01-2009, 10:40 AM
| | Active Member | | Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Quantocks, Somerset
Posts: 83
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Good grief! How embarrassing. I look forward to all the retractions and corrections tomorrow.
Thanks for those links Astra. (I still don't like the Mail though.) | 
03-01-2009, 12:03 PM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 6,512
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Well I have placed a comment against this article. Whether or not it gets accepted is another thing. I can't believe so many agencies have got this story wrong.
If you ignore everything else the beak alone screams that it isn't a Snow Bunting.
John | 
03-01-2009, 12:26 PM
|  | Wild Member | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Surrey
Posts: 192
| | | Re: Snow Bunting in Daily Mail Quote:
Originally Posted by John Well I have placed a comment against this article. Whether or not it gets accepted is another thing. I can't believe so many agencies have got this story wrong. | The photos have the logo of The South West News Service on them so I guess that they are originally to blame.
The headline "Send us your photos and earn £££££££££££££" probably has something to do with it! South West News Service
Shame no-one else bothered to check up on it but I notice though there are several comments against The Times article about it being a chaffinch. |  | | | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes | Linear Mode |
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