Mistaken bird ID

[Charlesbeams]

Not my own, but my dad once mistook a crisp bag for a Kingfisher and he has probably over 35years of birdwatching experience

And a hide guide at Saltholme had us looking at a Peregrine through his telescope which later turned out to be some grey fluff, probably from a sheep.

[amblingartist]

In my youth I spent many hours it seemed creeping up on 'unsuspecting' inanimate objects often discarded rubbish particualary befor I had access to decent optics paradoxically my first Little Egret had been a distant carrier bag untill, to my supprise and delight, it took to the air and flew off in unmistakable Egret 'fashion'!

One Mistaken ID that still baffels me to this day was a presumed Osprey specimen brought to me for identification in a carrier bag - that I emidiately identified as a headless Shelduck corpse - I still puzzel as to how those webbed feet could have possibily gone un noted before hand

Kind regards
Wayne Castle

[jaelen]

When we were on holiday in Cornwall last May, the BF and I spotted a large BoP perched on some rocks in the Chysauster iron age settlement.

We carefully crept and tripped amongst the stones, peering over the tops to make sure it was still there until we got close enough to get some decent photos... of a great big fat pigeon who sat riveted throughout, no doubt wondering why those two odd humans were skulking about like that.

[pammosley]

Jaelen, that one reminds me of the time we were rowing the river at Ludlow & spotted what we thought was a buzzard in a tree. When we got closer it was a big, fat wood pigeon

[Billabong Karen]

Yeah, I got really excited the other day at a buzzard in a tree! In my garden...!!! Of course it was a wood pigeon. There's just something about the way they hunch their shoulders sometimes that makes you think of a bird of prey.

That and wishful thinking...

[Chris Hawes]

I was in a busy hide a few years ago, one of the occupants of which was a particularly annoying 'know-it-all'. She was loudly telling anyone who would listen about her incredible sightings, correcting other people's comments and id's, and out-doing anyone else's sightings, both in terms of rarity and number.

At one point she interupted herself by exclaiming "Oh look, a barn owl!!". Everyone obviously turned to where she was pointing and saw... a swan.

Apart from several bouts of sniggering, the hide was a lot quieter after that.

[Fiona Ward]

I hurriedly set up my scope on saturday to get a good view of... a white plastic bag caught in a tree

[thewoose]

Growing up as a bird-mad kid in a windswept corner of 1980s Lancashire, the only bird books I owned came from the clearout of the library at the old school my mum worked at - they were all from the 30s and 40s (and some even older - wonder if there's a market for Victorian bird books?).

Of course, the environment was rather different pre-war than in the 80s, and I reckon the authors didn't have working-class parts of the northwest in mind when writing their tomes. This meant that my expectations of the birds I might see when cycling the farmland lanes near home was rather skewed.

Speckly brown bird, size of a small chicken, near a hedge? Must be a Corncrake. (not a hen pheasant, oh no).

Elegant pigeon-like light-brown bird? Must be a Turtle Dove (no Collared Doves in Britain before the war!)

Grey and black corvid? Must be a Hooded Crow.

Crow-sized pinky-brown and white bird, with a white bum? Hoopoe!

Small bird hopping around up a pine tree? Crested Tit!

It's lucky I didn't ever submit my notebooks to the County Recorder. I'd have skewed records for decades.

[Jersali]

Originally Posted by thewoose

Speckly brown bird, size of a small chicken, near a hedge? Must be a Corncrake. (not a hen pheasant, oh no).

Elegant pigeon-like light-brown bird? Must be a Turtle Dove (no Collared Doves in Britain before the war!)

Grey and black corvid? Must be a Hooded Crow.

Crow-sized pinky-brown and white bird, with a white bum? Hoopoe!

Small bird hopping around up a pine tree? Crested Tit!

It's lucky I didn't ever submit my notebooks to the County Recorder. I'd have skewed records for decades.

Hehehe - nice one woose