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Nutcracker

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  • 19-01-2011 8:31pm
    #1
    TM RACING
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭


    I saw a Nutcracker in UCD today under a yew tree. It was very tame and I am just wondering are they rare or common?


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    #2
    Ditch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 809 ✭✭✭Ditch


    Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)? Are you serious? I mean ~ forgive me, but ~ are ye sure it wasn't a winter plumaged Starling? What was its tail like?

    Only, if ye've genuinely clinched a Nutcracker ....? I think I'd better go and lie down! :eek:


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    #3
    TM RACING
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭TM RACING


    No not a starling. Im sure of what I saw.My brother also saw the same bird in the same place last year. The attached image is identical to what I saw. I know well that if I wait in the same spot tomorrow I willl see it again. I got to within 1 metre from it. I would not have said it unlesss I was sure.


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    #4
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Not a hope. Take a picture next time please.


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    #5
    TM RACING
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭TM RACING


    Israel Tangy Cuttlefish wrote: »
    Not a hope. Take a picture next time please.

    I am not trying to stir s**t, I am just reporting on what I saw. I will be around the area again tomorow so I will keep my eyes open. If anyone has any other suggestions as to what it might be I will look up pictures but I am confident it is what I say it is, even it sounds crazy.


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    #6
    Ditch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 809 ✭✭✭Ditch


    Please do get a shot of it, just for the record. Only, forgive the stuff about the starling ~ one has to try these things ~ but the tameness is almost diagnostic with 'Crackers. I'm sure I've seen shots of one sitting on a Birders head! Seriously!

    Dunno about it appearing in the same place like this? Birds can be weird though.

    Get us a clear shot or three and it can go out on the wires. No doubt make some Very happy Twitchers! :)


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    #7
    Cardynal
    Registered Users Posts: 143 ✭✭Cardynal


    Very hard to believe it's a Nutcracker , i'm afraid a picture is your only hope of convincing me , much more likely to be a winter-plumaged Starling or perhaps even a Young Mistle Thrush.
    What size was it , Nutcrackers would be much larger than a Starling about Jackdaw size with a thick dagger-like bill.
    By the way i hope you are right


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    #8
    TM RACING
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭TM RACING


    I will try my best, I know I sound like a looney making statements like this but I am sure of what I saw so now all I have to do is prove it. I will bring the camera to college tomorrow.


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    #9
    TM RACING
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭TM RACING


    It was the size of a jay and I am sureit was none of the above as they are regular visitors to the feeders in my garden. I am not an expert but I know that what I saw was not common. The second i got home I searched both books and the web and it was identical to the attached image above. I dont blame people being suspicious, after all who am I? I could be a long sighted, but now I am convinced to prove it.


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    #10
    boneless
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,487 ✭✭✭boneless


    There is a semi albino blackbird in UCD. I usually see it near O'Reilly Hall. The colouring is variagated black and white. Maybe this is what you saw?


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    #11
    LostCovey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    TM RACING wrote: »
    I saw a Nutcracker in UCD today under a yew tree. It was very tame and I am just wondering are they rare or common?


    Where was the yew tree on the campus?

    LostCovey


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    #12
    TM RACING
    Closed Accounts Posts: 71 ✭✭TM RACING


    If you head for the AIB after coming in off the N11 they are on the right just after the running track but before the road ends whare the barrier is.


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    #13
    Half-cocked
    Registered Users Posts: 4,319 ✭✭✭Half-cocked


    If it is a Nutcracker, there is the possibility of it being an escapee rather than a wild bird - although I don't know if anyone would have a captive one in Ireland. A photo is needed!


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    #14
    sables2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 207 ✭✭sables2


    Half-cocked wrote: »
    If it is a Nutcracker, there is the possibility of it being an escapee rather than a wild bird - although I don't know if anyone would have a captive one in Ireland. A photo is needed!
    I agree Half-cocked. We ALL wanna see the suspect - Nutcracker?? It's so exciting. I think we should give the guy some 'rope'...it could have been captive and let go/escaped ...if it is the one. :rolleyes:


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    #15
    LostCovey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    TM RACING wrote: »
    If you head for the AIB after coming in off the N11 they are on the right just after the running track but before the road ends whare the barrier is.

    I won't be in Dublin for a week or so, but I would love to see a photo in the meantime! Even a bad one.....

    LC


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    #16
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    What really makes this unlikely is that the OP said his brother saw the same bird in the same place last year. If, IF, it was a Nutcracker then it's a lost bird. It returning to the same spot a year later is just off the wall. Nutcracker is classed as a "mega" in Britain or Ireland. Plenty of birders have UCD in their patch and a Nutcracker in the same spot in 2 consecutive years, and not afraid of people, would I feel have been reported by now.
    As I am someone who needs corrective lens I'm sure TM Racing will doubt me but if he wants this taken seriously, or wants a confirmation of what he sees, then a photo will settle the matter. (make sure the photo gives background for scale)


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    #17
    sables2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 207 ✭✭sables2


    Israel Tangy Cuttlefish wrote: »
    What really makes this unlikely is that the OP said his brother saw the same bird in the same place last year. If, IF, it was a Nutcracker then it's a lost bird. It returning to the same spot a year later is just off the wall. Nutcracker is classed as a "mega" in Britain or Ireland. Plenty of birders have UCD in their patch and a Nutcracker in the same spot in 2 consecutive years, and not afraid of people, would I feel have been reported by now.
    As I am someone who needs corrective lens I'm sure TM Racing will doubt me but if he wants this taken seriously, or wants a confirmation of what he sees, then a photo will settle the matter. (make sure the photo gives background for scale)
    Well said Israel Tangy Cuttlefish. Where's the photo TM?? The proof is in the pudding..(or yew tree for that matter :D)


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    #18
    Ditch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 809 ✭✭✭Ditch


    Israel Tangy Cuttlefish wrote: »
    (make sure the photo gives background for scale)


    Won't need anything to scale a 'Cracker. It either is, or it's a starling.

    Any way ye look at it; I'm disappointed that the op has vanished into thin air. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence, does it? :(


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    #19
    cuddlycavies
    Registered Users Posts: 970 ✭✭✭cuddlycavies


    Probably saw a mistle thrush.


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    #20
    tomahawk101
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭tomahawk101


    You can't shoot someone down for thinking he saw a rarity. Remember the belted kingfisher that was shot here, the first one ever to grace our shores. Birds from scandinavia, europe and different parts of the world come here all the time, A female snowy owl comes to visit every year, an American Hen Harrier or Marsh Hawk showed up last october and I looked up in the air last october to see an Osprey floating a hundred feet above my head.
    When I was a kid I saw a Red Kite in dublin and no one believed me until they saw it a few days later on the news. Around the same time I even caught a diamond dove (from Australia) with my bare hands (obviously an escapee)
    So here's to hoping that the guy comes back with a clear pic of a nutcracker!!
    Cheers


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    #21
    sables2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 207 ✭✭sables2


    tomahawk101 wrote: »
    You can't shoot someone down for thinking he saw a rarity. Remember the belted kingfisher that was shot here, the first one ever to grace our shores. Birds from scandinavia, europe and different parts of the world come here all the time, A female snowy owl comes to visit every year, an American Hen Harrier or Marsh Hawk showed up last october and I looked up in the air last october to see an Osprey floating a hundred feet above my head.
    When I was a kid I saw a Red Kite in dublin and no one believed me until they saw it a few days later on the news. Around the same time I even caught a diamond dove (from Australia) with my bare hands (obviously an escapee)
    So here's to hoping that the guy comes back with a clear pic of a nutcracker!!
    Cheers
    I'd LOVE to see a snowy owl. Are there any that reside here...ever? Be it migrating or vagrants? The story seems more plausible now


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    #22
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Ditch wrote: »
    Won't need anything to scale a 'Cracker. It either is, or it's a starling.

    Any way ye look at it; I'm disappointed that the op has vanished into thin air. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence, does it? :(

    No offence to the OP but I didn't really want it for scale, I wanted to make sure it's not a close cropped picture from another source - if you get my drift!


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    #23
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    tomahawk101 wrote: »
    You can't shoot someone down for thinking he saw a rarity. Remember the belted kingfisher that was shot here, the first one ever to grace our shores. Birds from scandinavia, europe and different parts of the world come here all the time, A female snowy owl comes to visit every year, an American Hen Harrier or Marsh Hawk showed up last october and I looked up in the air last october to see an Osprey floating a hundred feet above my head.
    When I was a kid I saw a Red Kite in dublin and no one believed me until they saw it a few days later on the news. Around the same time I even caught a diamond dove (from Australia) with my bare hands (obviously an escapee)
    So here's to hoping that the guy comes back with a clear pic of a nutcracker!!
    Cheers
    Please read the posts. People made it clear the sighting was improbable and gave reasons for it. He wasn't shot down as such, but the air was slowly released from the balloon.

    As for Snowy Owls, Osprey etc. These are not classed as Mega birds here and I have see each on several occasions. Escapees are a different story and don't count as vagrants.


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    #24
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    A contributor on another Bird Forum has gone to the site at UCD, photographed the bird and posted the results. The result is.............:eek:

    a partial albino Blackbird.

    So mystery solved, it would appear.


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    #25
    trebor28
    Registered Users Posts: 1,051 ✭✭✭trebor28


    my sister told me that she saw a blackbird with one white tail feather.

    nowhere near ucd or dublin for that matter.


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    #26
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    trebor28 wrote: »
    my sister told me that she saw a blackbird with one white tail feather.

    nowhere near ucd or dublin for that matter.

    Relevance? Or am I missing a joke?:p


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    #27
    trebor28
    Registered Users Posts: 1,051 ✭✭✭trebor28


    Israel Tangy Cuttlefish wrote: »
    Relevance? Or am I missing a joke?:p

    they're both blackbirds.


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    #28
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    There are hundreds of Blackbirds in the country with partial white plumage.


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    #29
    Mothman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,498 ✭✭✭Mothman


    Israel Tangy Cuttlefish wrote: »

    So mystery solved, it would appear.
    And solved a number of days ago ;) :pac:


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    #30
    sables2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 207 ✭✭sables2


    Israel Tangy Cuttlefish wrote: »
    Please read the posts. People made it clear the sighting was improbable and gave reasons for it. He wasn't shot down as such, but the air was slowly released from the balloon.

    As for Snowy Owls, Osprey etc. These are not classed as Mega birds here and I have see each on several occasions. Escapees are a different story and don't count as vagrants.
    Cheers Israel Tangy Cuttlefish. I though the same, but wasn't experienced enough to know for certain.


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    #31
    MB Lacey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,277 ✭✭✭MB Lacey


    I've only just logged in and seen this thread.
    You can read about the 'ucd Nutcracker' and see photos on link below.
    For the record - we all make mess ups with i.d's - so OP don't feel bad about thinking this bird was something other then it was - we've all done it.

    :D

    http://drimnaghbirdwatch.blogspot.com/2011/01/nutcracker-ucd.html


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