Jump to content

P&B Bird Watch


RedRob72

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

A Yellow Wagtail just visited my garden.

Never seen one until now and from what I can see from online it's pretty rare to see them north of the Forth, never mind Aberdeenshire.  Lost on his way home from Africa perhaps? 

Don't want to piss on your chips and I am not sure what your birding ability is but are you sure it wasn't a Grey Wagtail (which is actually quite  yellow). Its  very early in the year for a yellow wagtail and would be a very rare sight in Aberdeenshire at any time, so much so it should be reported to your local bird reporter

Edited by Wile E Coyote
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

Thanks to Wikipedia I now know there is a Scandinavian sub species of yellow wagtail called motacilla flava thunbergi. I don't think it's named after Greta though.

I saw a couple of yellow wagtails on the Teviot at Hawick 3 or 4 years ago. They seem to like rivers. With global warming and a mild winter perhaps they're able to tolerate Aberdeenshire now?

If you're ever in the Viking Optical shop in Rose St, Stuart Gillies the manager will talk about flava with you ad nauseam. But let me know in advance if you're going to mention that you got sent to a private school 😂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Wile E Coyote said:

Don't want to piss on your chips and I am not sure what your birding ability is but are you sure it wasn't a Grey Wagtail (which is actually quite  yellow). Its  very early in the year for a yellow wagtail and would be a very rare sight in Aberdeenshire at any time, so much so it should be reported to your local bird reporter

You're right - the Yellow Wagtail is a summer visitor that's never been common in Scotland, and even then only up as far as the Forth and Clyde. It's barely hanging on these days in the eastern Borders.

At this time of year that far north it's a cert for Grey Wagtail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Hillonearth said:

You're right - the Yellow Wagtail is a summer visitor that's never been common in Scotland, and even then only up as far as the Forth and Clyde. It's barely hanging on these days in the eastern Borders.

At this time of year that far north it's a cert for Grey Wagtail.

I would guess I am one of the more experienced  Birders on this site and while nothing can ever be ruled out some advice I would give to less experienced people is instead of jumping to the conclusion you have seen a rarity 99.999% of the time it will be the more commoner species.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Wile E Coyote said:

Don't want to piss on your chips and I am not sure what your birding ability is but are you sure it wasn't a Grey Wagtail (which is actually quite  yellow). Its  very early in the year for a yellow wagtail and would be a very rare sight in Aberdeenshire at any time, so much so it should be reported to your local bird reporter

My birding ability is very average tbf, but the front was really, really strikingly yellow without the yellow-grey mottling that I mostly see when I google 'Grey Wagtail'.   However, as the latter is actually resident in these parts, it would certainly make sense.   I've since found some pictures of Grey Wagtails that have very (pretty much exclusively) yellow chests, so you're most probably right in all likelihood.

New visitor for me regardless, which is nice considering that there have been f*** all birds in the garden for months now.  I shall drop the capital letter from Yellow and instead say that I saw a yellow (grey) wagtail... which is factually correct.  ;)

Cheers.

Edited by Hedgecutter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

My birding ability is very average tbf, but the front was really, really strikingly yellow without the yellow-grey mottling that I see when I google 'Grey Wagtail'.   However, as the latter is actually resident in these parts, it would certainly make sense.   I've since found some pictures of Grey Wagtails that have very (pretty much exclusively) yellow chests, so you're most probably right in all likelihood.

New visitor for me regardless, which is nice considering that there have been f*** all birds in the garden for months now.  I shall drop the capital letter from Yellow and instead say that I saw a yellow wagtail... which is factually correct.  ;)

Cheers.

No problem. Grey Wagtail is still a good looking bird and is maybe somewhat unfairly named.

Everybody can always learn something from the more experienced, me included

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Wile E Coyote said:

No problem. Grey Wagtail is still a good looking bird and is maybe somewhat unfairly named.

Everybody can always learn something from the more experienced, me included

Indeed.  I looked out the kitchen window and thought "WTF is that?" before quickly consulting each of the two different bird books that sit on the window sill, both of which have illustrations that I'd describe as 'a wee bit yellow'.  My immediate reaction was that it looked fairly large, certainly a bit bigger than Pied Wagtails that are the only type I ever see otherwise and, dare I say it, closer to that of a small blackbird.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Hedgecutter said:

Indeed.  I looked out the kitchen window and thought "WTF is that?" before quickly consulting each of the two different bird books that sit on the window sill, both of which have illustrations that I'd describe as 'a wee bit yellow'.  My immediate reaction was that it looked fairly large, certainly a bit bigger than Pied Wagtails that are the only type I ever see otherwise and, dare I say it, closer to that of a small blackbird.

Winter birds can lose quite a lot of the yellow underneath and be mostly white around the chest, but if you've seen a male just into breeding plumage that'll be a fairly solid lemon yellow underneath right up to the throat which will be black.

They'll come into gardens and even town centres on occasion, but are easiest seen around water - I've always found them to have a real affinity for canal banks for some reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wee pigeon pal that we looked after for a while last year is still popping back to the garden (he has a rather fetching white ring on his right leg so I can recognise him).

Still scoffing a ton of seed in any one sitting and seems to have gotten his adult plumage.

20200218_154747.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 22/03/2020 at 15:23, hearthammer said:

Webcam now fully functioning for the Osprey nest at Loch of the Lowes.  All that's missing is the adults returning, although i believe that could be any time soon.  Fascinating viewing once the main performers make their appearance

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/watch-wildlife-online/loch-of-the-lowes-webcam-2/

That's the male back and sorting out his pad for the imminent arrival of his lady.  Brilliant viewing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...