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25-09-2005, 11:29 AM
|  | Administrator and Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: On the Malvern Hills
Posts: 3,220
| | | Hi John,
Thanks for the info. If you like we can set you up with the facility to write some guides to twitching in the Reference Section, where it may be easier to add more info about how the pager system works and maybe put together a diary of your travels etc.
I'm sure there are quite a few people who regularly see groups of twitchers standing on a roadside somewhere in the middle of Britain and just drive past, but still wonder what they were looking at.
The advantage of the reference section is that the topic won't slide down off the 'most recent posts' list and yet you can easily notify page updates on the forums. Just a thought.
Stuart |
25-09-2005, 11:41 AM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by StuartDH Hi John,
Thanks for the info. If you like we can set you up with the facility to write some guides to twitching in the Reference Section, where it may be easier to add more info about how the pager system works and maybe put together a diary of your travels etc.
I'm sure there are quite a few people who regularly see groups of twitchers standing on a roadside somewhere in the middle of Britain and just drive past, but still wonder what they were looking at.
The advantage of the reference section is that the topic won't slide down off the 'most recent posts' list and yet you can easily notify page updates on the forums. Just a thought.
Stuart | It's a thought but I'm not sure how well received it would be. I have basically written this thread to see the reaction. If it isn't used then I know it doesn't really fit into the scheme of things.
It's a bit specialist but I was hopeful that members might like to see photos of birds they probably haven't even heard of before.
Let's see what the reaction is to this thread before we think about doing something in the reference section.  |
25-09-2005, 01:00 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 3,492
| | | Hi John
I certainly would like to see pictures of rare vagrants. Not all of us can afford either time or fuel to go chasing around the country twitching. I was a little surprised at some of the birds on your list such as Waxwing, Smew and Great-grey Shrike which are seen in Briain every year. Soon you will need to add White Stork and Common Crane which are being seen in Britain on quite a regular basis. Also Bee Eater which has nested in parts of Britain two of the past three years. I certainly would like to see a gallery for such birds and would be interested to see how soon they drop out by being usual sightings.
Regards
__________________
A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
W.H.Davies |
25-09-2005, 01:03 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 3,492
| | | P.S.
I think the gallery would have to exclude escapes from collections etc.
__________________
A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
W.H.Davies |
25-09-2005, 01:23 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by wildone Hi John
I certainly would like to see pictures of rare vagrants. Not all of us can afford either time or fuel to go chasing around the country twitching. I was a little surprised at some of the birds on your list such as Waxwing, Smew and Great-grey Shrike which are seen in Briain every year. Soon you will need to add White Stork and Common Crane which are being seen in Britain on quite a regular basis. Also Bee Eater which has nested in parts of Britain two of the past three years. I certainly would like to see a gallery for such birds and would be interested to see how soon they drop out by being usual sightings.
Regards | Hi Wildone
I have added the three birds you mentioned due to the fact that they do visit Britain but are usually localised, instead of well distributed, birds. That it to say that you might not have any of those any where near you at any given time.
We have been fairly lucky with the Waxwings over the last couple of years with heavy influx's of birds but I still know of many parts of Britain that didn't get them. In any case Waxwings are an eruption style bird that visit in numbers if their berry crop fails. If the crop is ok you might not get any (or very few) that will visit Britain that year.
Great grey Shrikes, even though they are regular visitors, are not numerous and I doubt that most people outside of the birding world (and including some birders in it) will not have seen these birds.
Smew can be very difficult to find if you haven't the right habitat for them. We are fairly lucky here in the Midlands with all the pits we have but even here we will probably only get the odd Drake visit, more than likely it will be the female Redhead that is found. Again if you are not a regular birder I doubt if you will ever see one outside of a collection.
I am also aiming this thread at probably those that don't do birdwatching, or only have a passing interest or are either fairly recent to birdwatching or birders that haven't really challenged themselves as they don't really know these birds exist.
The others, such as Stork etc are very, very localised and I doubt if they will become so regular that they lose their relative rarity status for a long while yet. The Common Crane is mainly in Norfolk (by Horsey Mill) with the odd one or two turning up at far flung areas of Britain.
It would be great if the Bee-Eater were to colonise Britain for they are a magnificent bird to watch.
I fully agree with your captive bird stance. I would never knowingly photograph a captive bird. I can't see the point. If this is a wild forum then the images should be of wild birds. |
25-09-2005, 03:23 PM
|  | Member of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Guildford Surrey
Posts: 466
| | | Fantastic photos John. |
25-09-2005, 03:35 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 915
| | | John, I for one am very interested in your Twitching info. Whilst up Ben-y-Vrackie near Pitlochry last week, I saw a bird emerge from the heather which then just sat around for a while, but I had no idea what it was. No photo and little use to describe, but one of your pics might just give the answer I'm looking for and it's interesting to hear what is going on around the country, even if as wildone says, we cannot all join in. |
25-09-2005, 03:58 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Tinkerbell John, I for one am very interested in your Twitching info. Whilst up Ben-y-Vrackie near Pitlochry last week, I saw a bird emerge from the heather which then just sat around for a while, but I had no idea what it was. No photo and little use to describe, but one of your pics might just give the answer I'm looking for and it's interesting to hear what is going on around the country, even if as wildone says, we cannot all join in. | Hi tinkerbell
Can you give me a bit of a description of the bird please.
I'm glad you like the Twitching Info and if it helps you ID a bird so much the better. I fear though that 99.99% of the time the bird found is a relatively common one but perhaps not one that you would see that often away from certain types of habitat. |
25-09-2005, 04:57 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 3,492
| | | Hello John. Thank you for your very full explanation. I quess I must be very lucky having been birding only since 2002 I have manage to see Waxwings, Smew both Redhead and a male. Stork (even flying as well as feeding) and Crane. The Great Grey Shrike that was fairly near-by was inaccessible to me. (Well you cannot win them all!). Yes I understand your reasons for including those species and if pictures of them, as well as many others, will be a help to those who do not know of what visits these shores then I am all for it. The more education there is it can only be a good thing. Hopefully I also will learn from it. Regards. wildone |
25-09-2005, 05:07 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by wildone Hello John. Thank you for your very full explanation. I quess I must be very lucky having been birding only since 2002 I have manage to see Waxwings, Smew both Redhead and a male. Stork (even flying as well as feeding) and Crane. The Great Grey Shrike that was fairly near-by was inaccessible to me. (Well you cannot win them all!). Yes I understand your reasons for including those species and if pictures of them, as well as many others, will be a help to those who do not know of what visits these shores then I am all for it. The more education there is it can only be a good thing. Hopefully I also will learn from it. Regards. wildone | Your welcome.
I was actually in your county yesterday trying, and failing, to find a Dotterel. It had been seen for the previous two days at Priory Fens which are located about two miles south of Thorney. |
25-09-2005, 05:33 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cambridgeshire
Posts: 3,492
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by John Your welcome.
I was actually in your county yesterday trying, and failing, to find a Dotterel. It had been seen for the previous two days at Priory Fens which are located about two miles south of Thorney. | There were no reports on Peterbirder of it having been seen on Saturday. The last sighting was at 6.50pm on Friday. All the local birders had presumably seen it so went looking for other birds. A LAPLAND BUNTING was seen in the afternoon flying over, not a million miles away from Prior's Fen. Tough luck!
__________________
A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
W.H.Davies |
25-09-2005, 05:47 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by wildone There were no reports on Peterbirder of it having been seen on Saturday. The last sighting was at 6.50pm on Friday. All the local birders had presumably seen it so went looking for other birds. A LAPLAND BUNTING was seen in the afternoon flying over, not a million miles away from Prior's Fen. Tough luck! | My mate was at Priors Fen on saturday morning and reported at 10:20am that the Dotterel couldn't be found. I met him at Titchwell later that day and decided to try for it on the way back home. I reported it at 16:10 that it still wasn't present. In fact a report was in today that the Dotterel was still missing.
Thankfully I have had a few lapland Bunting this year. I was watching about 9 of them at the start of the year in North Norfolk. |
25-09-2005, 06:48 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
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27-09-2005, 07:59 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 915
| | | Morning John. Re bird spotted in Perthshire. My recollection is of a fairly tubby medium sized bird with a dark head and back and beige underparts. It was perched on the upland vegetation. Looking at the gallery photos I wonder if it might have been an immature stonechat, not having developed the adult markings so far. Certainly a chat of some discription appears to be a possibility. What do you think is most likely for this environment? |
27-09-2005, 10:14 AM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
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Originally Posted by Tinkerbell Morning John. Re bird spotted in Perthshire. My recollection is of a fairly tubby medium sized bird with a dark head and back and beige underparts. It was perched on the upland vegetation. Looking at the gallery photos I wonder if it might have been an immature stonechat, not having developed the adult markings so far. Certainly a chat of some discription appears to be a possibility. What do you think is most likely for this environment? |
Hi Tinkerbell
Habitat is definitely spot on for Stonechat and your description could fit a Juv or poss Fem bird.
I am at work at the moment but if I can find images of these birds I will try and put links to them so you can see for yourself. |
27-09-2005, 10:47 AM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Hi Tinkerbell
I don't know if this links will work but if it does you will see a search box on the top right hand side. This particular link is for Juveenile Stonechats byte if you type in Female Stonechat you will see the variations that they can look like.
If it works check them out. They may answer your question. http://www.flpa-images.co.uk/bin/flp...le%20stonechat
The link does work as I have checked it. If you click on any photo it will enlarge it and also give a bit of detail about the bird.
John |
27-09-2005, 04:05 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 915
| | | Many thanks John - I do believe we've cracked it. What's so brilliant about any kind of wildlife watching is that even if the subject is comparatively common, but you see it for the first time, to you it's a rare sighting. |
27-09-2005, 04:53 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Tinkerbell Many thanks John - I do believe we've cracked it. What's so brilliant about any kind of wildlife watching is that even if the subject is comparatively common, but you see it for the first time, to you it's a rare sighting. | Absolutely spot on. I can still get caught out by birds I should know but somehow have a different look about them. That's birdwatching for you.
I would do the odd quiz but to be honest (and i don't mean this in a nasty way) I don't think it would be of too much interest here. I don't think that birds are a major part of this site. If it was there would be far more views on a lot of the members photos in the gallery. I still am getting to grips with the fact that some excellent photos can only generate the odd one or two views, never mind no comments.
I suppose being part of a huge forum for so long I ought to realise that I shouldn't expect so much from a much smaller one. Still the only way to learn is to look so I will keep on posting the odd bird in the hope to gain some interest. |
27-09-2005, 05:10 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: uk
Posts: 924
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by John I suppose being part of a huge forum for so long I ought to realise that I shouldn't expect so much from a much smaller one. Still the only way to learn is to look so I will keep on posting the odd bird in the hope to gain some interest. | I do think that's a little unfair John. After all, a website/forum has to start off somewhere and eventually grow, and this is afterall a wildlife website, with interests also lying elsewhere in wildflowers/insects/weather/geology/water life etc etc. So I don't think people assume this is a specialist site, more of a "reference" site that will be able to provide information on a wide range of wildlife subjects to a wide range of people.
Sure, birds are your primary interest, they are for me too,  but it makes a refreshing change to be able to read about a wide range of wildlife issues as well as having a great reference and directory section at ones disposal.
This site has the potential to grow and increase it's membership in huge numbers, of which I am sure it is already doing.
From small acorns...and all that.  |
27-09-2005, 06:07 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | | Hi Helen
I'm wondering what you read in my reply that made you think that I was having a go. If you read it right I was having a go at myself at not sizing up the situation correctly.
Whatever you think, curiosity is a great thing. I used to have no interest in moths, Butterflies, Dragonflies and other insects in general, plus many other aspects of nature. All that has changed over the last few years because of photos and films, I have looked at that have captured my imagination. That is the part I don't understand that images, no matter what subject, are just not being viewed. |
27-09-2005, 06:14 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: oxfordshire
Posts: 4
| | | With respect Helen I'm afraid john is right, i think this site will make an excellent reference site but active forum forget it. Birdforums has cornered the market even with its wildlife section mammals trees etc, I log on there in the morning when I get to my surgery and in the evening when I get home, and it looks like a different site with sometimes 600 or more posts, I have done the same with wildabout and on several occasions and found only 3 posts from the same person, this is not having a go at anyone but this site should play to its strengths as pointed out by others, in other words an encyclopedia of british wildlife, but as for an active forum I dont think so. |
27-09-2005, 06:51 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 3,564
| |
Tricky one this!
In my own personal opinion this site is brilliant, the forums move at a good pace with informative,intelligent & helpfull threads & replies, plus you really get a sense of being part of something special here, you are not just a number!
Birdfourm & some of the other large forums are excellent at what they do but alot of people, me included, don't enjoy their frantic pace and do not really want or have the time to trawl through 600 new posts a day.
I think the posting of rare & vagrant bird photos is an excellent idea & could lead to far more raritys being seen & recorded, just a thought but how about a gallery just for these so they can be accessed quickly, plus it will attract more people to the site.
John , your rarity photos are brilliant & I promise I will get round to seeing them all.
Fourwings |
27-09-2005, 07:25 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Coventry
Posts: 5,719
| | | You can't compare Birdforum to Wild About Britain as they are completely different animals surviving at very different paces. As Fourwings has pointed out one is totally active the other is relatively passive. That doesn't make it a bad thing, far from it.
Coming back to the actual reason of the t | |
