ID please

Live at Three · 14-03-2020 12:13pm #1

Hi,
On my way to work last week I saw a pair of large birds, dark coloured and with a grey stripe or marking on the underside of their wings. They were hovering over a field in a fixed pattern and gradually working over the field in one direction.

I don't know much about birds but these were striking, I pulled in the car and watched them for a while, lovely to watch. Any ideas what they were?

fryup · 14-03-2020 3:49pm

hovering?....Kestrel or maybe an Owl of some kind ?

Live at Three · 14-03-2020 5:18pm

fryup wrote: »

hovering?....Kestrel or maybe an Owl of some kind ?

Think they were bigger than a kestrel. Looking at pics now I think they were buzzards.

Tiercel Dave · 14-03-2020 5:20pm

Buzzards, if the size is right. They can do a good impression of hovering in a headwind.....

feargale · 13-04-2020 10:45pm

I don't know if it's ok to post here or if I should open a separate thread.

Recently I had a cage-trap out for an uninvited four-legged visitor. I found in it a bird about twice or three times as big as a finch but less than half the size of a crow. It was shaped like a ball, big beer belly and feathers an unattractive mousy colour. Was it a young starling?
Unfortunately I didn't think to photograph it before releasing it.

cd07 · 14-04-2020 9:51am

feargale wrote: »

I don't know if it's ok to post here or if I should open a separate thread.

Recently I had a cage-trap out for an uninvited four-legged visitor. I found in it a bird about twice or three tines as big as a finch but less than half the size of a crow. It was shaped like a ball, big beer belly and feathers an unattractive mousy colour. Was it a young starling?
Unfortunately I didn't think to photograph it before releasing it.

possibly a young blackbird or thrush

two wheels good · 17-04-2020 6:07pm

Could someone identify this fellow please?
I've looked through the finches, linnets etc and can't find it.
Distinctive song; usually a pair of notes repeated three times ending with a single note. Thanks.

Ulmus · 17-04-2020 9:18pm

It's a warbler. That's the easy bit, for me. It could be Willow Warbler or Wood Warbler and I'd go for Wood Warbler.

https://www.birdid.no/bird/eBook.php?specieID=1116&compareSpecieID=1473

two wheels good · 18-04-2020 1:30pm

Ulmus wrote: »

It's a warbler. That's the easy bit, for me. It could be Willow Warbler or Wood Warbler and I'd go for Wood Warbler.

https://www.birdid.no/bird/eBook.php?specieID=1116&compareSpecieID=1473

Thanks. That's an interesting website.
I've been thinking it could be a chiff-chaff but need to investigate your warbler suggestions.

Alun · 18-04-2020 2:38pm

Ulmus wrote: »

It's a warbler. That's the easy bit, for me. It could be Willow Warbler or Wood Warbler and I'd go for Wood Warbler.

https://www.birdid.no/bird/eBook.php?specieID=1116&compareSpecieID=1473

That's a good website, haven't seen that one before. Especially the ability to compare two birds side by side like that. Bookmarked!

OpenYourEyes · 18-04-2020 5:24pm

Ulmus wrote: »

It's a warbler. That's the easy bit, for me. It could be Willow Warbler or Wood Warbler and I'd go for Wood Warbler.

https://www.birdid.no/bird/eBook.php?specieID=1116&compareSpecieID=1473

I'm never confident with warblers, given the variety of species and the fact that photos from different angles and in different light levels can be misleading. My instinct is saying Willow Warbler - they tend to be warmer yellows than Chiffchaffs. Wood Warblers are very rare in Ireland - not a diagnostic feature but worth bearing in mind for context.

gzoladz · 18-04-2020 9:02pm

I am leaning towards Willow too, the description of the call made by the poster does not correspond to that of a Chiffchaff either.

ID please

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