Sunbathing behaviour by Red-rumped Swallows

Published on 20 February 2012 by in Notes

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Sunbathing behaviour by Red-rumped Swallows

On 3rd June 2011 at the Acebouche Visitor Centre in the Coto Donana National Park, Andalucia, Spain, I observed and photographed a group of Red-rumped Swallows. The weather was fine and extremely hot…

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Leucistic Barn Swallow

Published on 07 September 2011 by in Notes

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Leucistic Barn Swallow

A leucistic Barn Swallow was observed and photographed in southwest Asiatic Russia on 31st July 2010…

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Zitting Cisticola display

Published on 21 July 2011 by in Notes

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Zitting Cisticola display

On 31st March 2010, near the mouth of the Massa River (Oued Massa), south of Agadir, Morocco, we observed a pair of Zitting Cisticolas. The two birds were first seen mating on a nearby wire fence but then dropped to an inverted position with the female clinging onto the wire and the male (also upside down) holding on to her at the ‘shoulders’…

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Melanistic Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Published on 15 July 2011 by in Notes

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Following the note on a melanistic Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus in Cheshire & Wirral…

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Kingfishers taking Great Crested Newts

Published on 15 July 2011 by in Notes

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Kingfishers taking Great Crested Newts

The River Teise, in Kent, has a healthy population of Common Kingfishers Alcedo atthis, which from time to time visit ponds on my nearby property. Kingfishers are generally sporadic and unpredictable visitors throughout year…

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White-winged Black Terns in Poland in 2010 – a record breeding season

In 2010, record numbers of nesting of White-winged Black Terns Chlidonias leucopterus were noted in Poland…

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On 19th August 2009 I went to a Breckland heath with a colleague to attempt to locate and ring the two young from a late nest of a pair of Stone-curlews…

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An apparently melanistic Lesser Black-backed Gull

On 8th March 2010, my regular gull-watching companion Pete Berry located a remarkable-looking bird on the mudflats at Richmond Bank, Cheshire & Wirral, which took him somewhat by surprise…

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Green Woodpecker regularly visiting thatched roof

Our house in Suffolk was re-thatched in 2003 and since then, mainly in the autumn, I have been aware of regular visits to the thatch by a Green Woodpecker…

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Marks on the iris of the Black Woodpecker

Published on 20 February 2011 by in Notes

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Marks on the iris of the Black Woodpecker

In recent years I have spent much time observing Black Woodpeckers at nesting and roosting cavities, mainly in Hungary but also elsewhere in central and eastern Europe. With a telescope, I have been able to obtain close and prolonged views of individual birds and was surprised to note that many birds seemed not to have a circular pupil, but rather a pear-shaped or teardrop-shaped one…

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