Identification Blog now up and running
IDENTIFICATION BLOG
Please drop in to see if you can help with identification of any of the featured birds.
Saturday 17 January 2009
Friday 16 January 2009
Gull Identification
A photographic chart to aid in the identification of Gulls
is now being compiled via the button on any Gull species page on my web site
GULL IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
is now being compiled via the button on any Gull species page on my web site
GULL IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
My Quest
Who am I?
It is easier to tell you, who I am not. I am not an ornithologist nor indeed, any other kind of ologist (I did manage to get a grade C in O'level Biology but other than that, I have had no formal training in this field). I claim no credentials other than my own experiences and limitless enthusiasm. I have always been fascinated by birds (and other areas of natural history) and together with my love of photography I am now in a position to bring these two fields together. I am reminded how easy it is to get things wrong by recalling the time, when reading my first bird book, I was fascinated to learn that swifts 'caught insects on the wing'. In my mind, I pictured sticky strips along the birds' wings with which they snared unfortunate insects! So if you spot any errors on my pages, please let me know - it's how I learn. Approaching my 50th birthday (January 2009), I have decided on the quest of photographing Britain's birds and my hope is, that along the way I can help other 'non-experts' in their own efforts in identifying some of our species. Whilst many photographs are, to say the least, poor from a pure photography standpoint, I have included them where they portray the species and offer some help in a recognition process. It is to be hoped that as time goes on, I will be able to replace these 'poor' shots with better quality ones.
The List.
If I am going to aim to photograph each of Britain's birds, the first thing I need to know is - what birds are in Britain? Googling 'British Bird List' gave me so many answers to this question, that I was confused right from the start. Lists appeared in many different forms and with anything up to 500+ species (including birds that Aunt Nellie's great grandfather brought back from the Antipodes in 1869 and then released in his back garden where they were promptly eaten by his neighbours cat. By the way, if you are going to google 'British Birds', I recommend doing so with the Safe Search on to avoid a plethora of unsolicited emails!!!) I need to be realistic: I need a list of species that I have a reasonable hope of being able to find. Taking the British Ornithologists' Union's 'Bird species recorded in Great Britain', I have extracated all 'resident' species, all breeding summer visitors and other visitors with at least ten records in any calendar year since 1999. The second challenge was the bird's actual names. With many local variations, I was pleased to find that Messrs. Gill & Wright (2006) had addressed this issue and whilst I personally will never be able to refer to a Goosander as a 'Common Merganser', I see the sense in using universally agreed names and these are included in parenthesis in the list below and on the individual species details pages on my site. My list of 269 species is detailed below. (There will, no doubt, be inaccuracies - I am not an expert - and if you find any, please let me know; I am keen to learn.) If I should happen across, and be lucky enough to obtain a photograph of any species not on my list, then I shall open a new page for 'Happy Accidents'.
Anatidae: Mute Swan / Bewick’s Swan (Tundra Swan) / Whooper Swan / Bean Goose / Pink-footed Goose / (Greater) White-fronted Goose / Greylag Goose / Canada Goose / Barnacle Goose / Brent Goose (Brant Goose) / Egyptian Goose / (Common) Shelduck / Mandarin Duck / (Eurasian) Wigeon / Gadwall / (Eurasian) Teal / Mallard / (Northern) Pintail / Garganey / (Northern) Shoveler / Red-crested Pochard / (Common) Pochard / Ferruginous Duck / Tufted Duck / (Greater) Scaup / (Common) Eider / Long-tailed Duck / Common Scoter (Black Scoter) / Velvet Scoter / (Common) Goldeneye / Smew / Red-breasted Merganser / Goosander (Common Merganser) / Ruddy Duck
Tetraonidae: Red Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan) / (Rock) Ptarmigan / Black Grouse / (Western) Capercaillie
Phasianidae: Red-legged Partridge / Grey Partridge / (Common) Quail / (Common) Pheasant / Golden Pheasant
Gaviidae: Red-throated Diver (Red-throated Loon) / Black-throated Diver (Black-throated Loon) / Great Northern Diver (Great Northern Loon)
Podicipedidae: Little Grebe / Great Crested Grebe / Red-necked Grebe / Slavonian Grebe (Horned Grebe) / Black-necked Grebe
Procellariidae: (Northern) Fulmar / Cory’s Shearwater / Great Shearwater / Manx Shearwater
Hydrobatidae: (European) Storm Petrel / Leach’s (Storm) Petrel
Sulidae: (Northern) Gannet
Phalacrocoracidae: (Great) Cormorant / (European) Shag
Ardeidae: (Eurasian) Bittern / Little Egret / Grey Heron
Ciconiidae: White Stork
Threskiornithidae: (Eurasian) Spoonbill
Accipitridae: (European) Honey-buzzard / Red Kite / White-tailed Eagle / (Western) Marsh Harrier / Hen Harrier (Northern Harrier) / Montagu’s Harrier / (Northern) Goshawk / (Eurasian) Sparrowhawk / (Common) Buzzard / Rough-legged Buzzard (Roughleg) / Golden Eagle
Pandionidae: Osprey
Falconidae: (Common) Kestrel / Merlin / (Eurasian) Hobby / Peregrine (Falcon)
Rallidae: Water Rail / Spotted Crake / Corncrake (Corn Crake) / (Common) Moorhen / (Common) Coot
Gruidae: (Common) Crane
Haematopodidae: (Eurasian) Oystercatcher
Recurvirostridae: Black-winged Stilt / (Pied) Avocet
Burhinidae: (Eurasian) Stone-curlew
Charadriidae: Little Ringed Plover / (Common) Ringed Plover / Kentish Plover / (Eurasian) Dotterel / (European) Golden Plover / Grey Plover / (Northern) Lapwing
Scolopacidae: (Red) Knot / Sanderling / Little Stint / Temminck’s Stint / Curlew Sandpiper / Purple Sandpiper / Dunlin / Ruff / Jack Snipe / (Common) Snipe / (Eurasian) Woodcock / Black-tailed Godwit / Bar-tailed Godwit / Whimbrel / (Eurasian) Curlew / Common Sandpiper / Green Sandpiper / Spotted Redshank / (Common) Greenshank / Wood Sandpiper / (Common) Redshank / (Ruddy) Turnstone / Red-necked Phalarope / Grey Phalarope (Red Phalarope)
Stercorariidae: Pomarine Skua (Pomerine Jaeger) / Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger) / Long-tailed Skua (Long-tailed Jaeger) / Great Skua
Laridae: Sabine’s Gull / (Black-legged) Kittiwake / (Common) Black-headed Gull / Little Gull / Mediterranean Gull / Common Gull (Mew Gull) / Ring-billed Gull / Lesser Black-backed Gull / Herring Gull / Iceland Gull / Glaucous Gull / Great Black-backed Gull
Sternidae: Black Tern / Sandwich Tern / Common Tern / Roseate Tern / Arctic Tern
Alcidae Guillemot (Common Murre) / Razorbill / Black Guillemot / Little Auk / (Atlantic) Puffin
Columbidae: Rock Dove - Feral Pigeon (Common Pigeon) / Stock Dove / Woodpigeon (Common Wood Pigeon) / (Eurasian) Collared Dove / (European) Turtle Dove
Psittacidae: Ring-necked Parakeet (Rose-ringed Parakeet)
Cuculidae: (Common) Cuckoo
Tytonidae: Barn Owl
Strigidae: Little Owl / Tawny Owl / Long-eared Owl / Short-eared Owl
Caprimulgidae: (European) Nightjar
Apodidae: (Common) Swift
Alcedinidae: (Common) Kingfisher
Meropidae: (European) Bee-eater
Upupidae: (Eurasian) Hoopoe
Picidae: (Eurasian) Wryneck / (European) Green Woodpecker / Great Spotted Woodpecker / Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Alaudidae: (Greater) Short-toed Lark / Woodlark (Wood Lark) / Skylark (Sky Lark) / Shore Lark (Horned Lark)
Hirundinidae: Sand Martin / (Barn) Swallow / (Common) House Martin
Motacillidae: Tree Pipit / Meadow Pipit / (Eurasian) Rock Pipit / Water Pipit / Yellow Wagtail / Grey Wagtail / Pied Wagtail (White Wagtail)
Bombycillidae: (Bohemian) Waxwing
Cinclidae: (White-throated) Dipper
Troglodytidae: (Winter) Wren
Prunellidae: Dunnock
Turdidae: (European) Robin / (Common) Nightingale / Bluethroat / Black Redstart / (Common) Redstart / Whinchat / (Eurasian) Stonechat / (Northern) Wheatear / Ring Ouzel / (Common) Blackbird / Fieldfare / Song Thrush / Redwing / Mistle Thrush
Silviidae: Cetti’s Warbler / (Common) Grasshopper Warbler / Sedge Warbler / Marsh Warbler / (Eurasian) Reed Warbler / Icterine Warbler / Melodious Warbler / (Eurasian) Blackcap / Garden Warbler / Barred Warbler / Lesser Whitethroat / (Common) Whitethroat / Dartford Warbler / Yellow-browed Warbler / Wood Warbler / Chiffchaff / Willow Warbler / Goldcrest / Firecrest
Muscicapidae: Spotted Flycatcher / Red-breasted Flycatcher / (Eurasian) Pied Flycatcher
Timaliidae: Bearded Tit (Bearded Reedling)
Aegithalidae: Long-tailed Tit (Long-tailed Bushtit)
Paridae: Blue Tit / Great Tit / (European) Crested Tit / Coal Tit / Willow Tit / Marsh Tit
Sittidae: (Eurasian) Nuthatch
Certhiidae: (Eurasian) Treecreeper
Oriolidae: (Eurasian) Golden Oriole
Laniidae: Red-backed Shrike / Great Grey Shrike / Woodchat Shrike
Corvidae: (Eurasian) Jay / (Eurasian) Magpie / (Red-billed) Chough / (Western) Jackdaw / Rook / Carrion Crow / Hooded Crow / (Northern) Raven
Sturnidae: (Common) Starling / Rose-coloured Starling (Rosy Starling)
Passeridae: House Sparrow / (Eurasian) Tree Sparrow
Fringillidae: Chaffinch / Brambling / (European) Serin / (European) Greenfinch / (European) Goldfinch / (Eurasian) Siskin / (Common) Linnet / Twite / Lesser Redpoll / Common Crossbill (Red Crossbill) / Scottish Crossbill / Common Rosefinch / (Eurasian) Bullfinch / Hawfinch
Emberizidae: Lapland Bunting (Lapland Longspur) / Snow Bunting / Yellowhammer / Cirl Bunting / Ortolan Bunting / (Common) Reed Bunting / Corn Bunting
It is easier to tell you, who I am not. I am not an ornithologist nor indeed, any other kind of ologist (I did manage to get a grade C in O'level Biology but other than that, I have had no formal training in this field). I claim no credentials other than my own experiences and limitless enthusiasm. I have always been fascinated by birds (and other areas of natural history) and together with my love of photography I am now in a position to bring these two fields together. I am reminded how easy it is to get things wrong by recalling the time, when reading my first bird book, I was fascinated to learn that swifts 'caught insects on the wing'. In my mind, I pictured sticky strips along the birds' wings with which they snared unfortunate insects! So if you spot any errors on my pages, please let me know - it's how I learn. Approaching my 50th birthday (January 2009), I have decided on the quest of photographing Britain's birds and my hope is, that along the way I can help other 'non-experts' in their own efforts in identifying some of our species. Whilst many photographs are, to say the least, poor from a pure photography standpoint, I have included them where they portray the species and offer some help in a recognition process. It is to be hoped that as time goes on, I will be able to replace these 'poor' shots with better quality ones.
The List.
If I am going to aim to photograph each of Britain's birds, the first thing I need to know is - what birds are in Britain? Googling 'British Bird List' gave me so many answers to this question, that I was confused right from the start. Lists appeared in many different forms and with anything up to 500+ species (including birds that Aunt Nellie's great grandfather brought back from the Antipodes in 1869 and then released in his back garden where they were promptly eaten by his neighbours cat. By the way, if you are going to google 'British Birds', I recommend doing so with the Safe Search on to avoid a plethora of unsolicited emails!!!) I need to be realistic: I need a list of species that I have a reasonable hope of being able to find. Taking the British Ornithologists' Union's 'Bird species recorded in Great Britain', I have extracated all 'resident' species, all breeding summer visitors and other visitors with at least ten records in any calendar year since 1999. The second challenge was the bird's actual names. With many local variations, I was pleased to find that Messrs. Gill & Wright (2006) had addressed this issue and whilst I personally will never be able to refer to a Goosander as a 'Common Merganser', I see the sense in using universally agreed names and these are included in parenthesis in the list below and on the individual species details pages on my site. My list of 269 species is detailed below. (There will, no doubt, be inaccuracies - I am not an expert - and if you find any, please let me know; I am keen to learn.) If I should happen across, and be lucky enough to obtain a photograph of any species not on my list, then I shall open a new page for 'Happy Accidents'.
Anatidae: Mute Swan / Bewick’s Swan (Tundra Swan) / Whooper Swan / Bean Goose / Pink-footed Goose / (Greater) White-fronted Goose / Greylag Goose / Canada Goose / Barnacle Goose / Brent Goose (Brant Goose) / Egyptian Goose / (Common) Shelduck / Mandarin Duck / (Eurasian) Wigeon / Gadwall / (Eurasian) Teal / Mallard / (Northern) Pintail / Garganey / (Northern) Shoveler / Red-crested Pochard / (Common) Pochard / Ferruginous Duck / Tufted Duck / (Greater) Scaup / (Common) Eider / Long-tailed Duck / Common Scoter (Black Scoter) / Velvet Scoter / (Common) Goldeneye / Smew / Red-breasted Merganser / Goosander (Common Merganser) / Ruddy Duck
Tetraonidae: Red Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan) / (Rock) Ptarmigan / Black Grouse / (Western) Capercaillie
Phasianidae: Red-legged Partridge / Grey Partridge / (Common) Quail / (Common) Pheasant / Golden Pheasant
Gaviidae: Red-throated Diver (Red-throated Loon) / Black-throated Diver (Black-throated Loon) / Great Northern Diver (Great Northern Loon)
Podicipedidae: Little Grebe / Great Crested Grebe / Red-necked Grebe / Slavonian Grebe (Horned Grebe) / Black-necked Grebe
Procellariidae: (Northern) Fulmar / Cory’s Shearwater / Great Shearwater / Manx Shearwater
Hydrobatidae: (European) Storm Petrel / Leach’s (Storm) Petrel
Sulidae: (Northern) Gannet
Phalacrocoracidae: (Great) Cormorant / (European) Shag
Ardeidae: (Eurasian) Bittern / Little Egret / Grey Heron
Ciconiidae: White Stork
Threskiornithidae: (Eurasian) Spoonbill
Accipitridae: (European) Honey-buzzard / Red Kite / White-tailed Eagle / (Western) Marsh Harrier / Hen Harrier (Northern Harrier) / Montagu’s Harrier / (Northern) Goshawk / (Eurasian) Sparrowhawk / (Common) Buzzard / Rough-legged Buzzard (Roughleg) / Golden Eagle
Pandionidae: Osprey
Falconidae: (Common) Kestrel / Merlin / (Eurasian) Hobby / Peregrine (Falcon)
Rallidae: Water Rail / Spotted Crake / Corncrake (Corn Crake) / (Common) Moorhen / (Common) Coot
Gruidae: (Common) Crane
Haematopodidae: (Eurasian) Oystercatcher
Recurvirostridae: Black-winged Stilt / (Pied) Avocet
Burhinidae: (Eurasian) Stone-curlew
Charadriidae: Little Ringed Plover / (Common) Ringed Plover / Kentish Plover / (Eurasian) Dotterel / (European) Golden Plover / Grey Plover / (Northern) Lapwing
Scolopacidae: (Red) Knot / Sanderling / Little Stint / Temminck’s Stint / Curlew Sandpiper / Purple Sandpiper / Dunlin / Ruff / Jack Snipe / (Common) Snipe / (Eurasian) Woodcock / Black-tailed Godwit / Bar-tailed Godwit / Whimbrel / (Eurasian) Curlew / Common Sandpiper / Green Sandpiper / Spotted Redshank / (Common) Greenshank / Wood Sandpiper / (Common) Redshank / (Ruddy) Turnstone / Red-necked Phalarope / Grey Phalarope (Red Phalarope)
Stercorariidae: Pomarine Skua (Pomerine Jaeger) / Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger) / Long-tailed Skua (Long-tailed Jaeger) / Great Skua
Laridae: Sabine’s Gull / (Black-legged) Kittiwake / (Common) Black-headed Gull / Little Gull / Mediterranean Gull / Common Gull (Mew Gull) / Ring-billed Gull / Lesser Black-backed Gull / Herring Gull / Iceland Gull / Glaucous Gull / Great Black-backed Gull
Sternidae: Black Tern / Sandwich Tern / Common Tern / Roseate Tern / Arctic Tern
Alcidae Guillemot (Common Murre) / Razorbill / Black Guillemot / Little Auk / (Atlantic) Puffin
Columbidae: Rock Dove - Feral Pigeon (Common Pigeon) / Stock Dove / Woodpigeon (Common Wood Pigeon) / (Eurasian) Collared Dove / (European) Turtle Dove
Psittacidae: Ring-necked Parakeet (Rose-ringed Parakeet)
Cuculidae: (Common) Cuckoo
Tytonidae: Barn Owl
Strigidae: Little Owl / Tawny Owl / Long-eared Owl / Short-eared Owl
Caprimulgidae: (European) Nightjar
Apodidae: (Common) Swift
Alcedinidae: (Common) Kingfisher
Meropidae: (European) Bee-eater
Upupidae: (Eurasian) Hoopoe
Picidae: (Eurasian) Wryneck / (European) Green Woodpecker / Great Spotted Woodpecker / Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Alaudidae: (Greater) Short-toed Lark / Woodlark (Wood Lark) / Skylark (Sky Lark) / Shore Lark (Horned Lark)
Hirundinidae: Sand Martin / (Barn) Swallow / (Common) House Martin
Motacillidae: Tree Pipit / Meadow Pipit / (Eurasian) Rock Pipit / Water Pipit / Yellow Wagtail / Grey Wagtail / Pied Wagtail (White Wagtail)
Bombycillidae: (Bohemian) Waxwing
Cinclidae: (White-throated) Dipper
Troglodytidae: (Winter) Wren
Prunellidae: Dunnock
Turdidae: (European) Robin / (Common) Nightingale / Bluethroat / Black Redstart / (Common) Redstart / Whinchat / (Eurasian) Stonechat / (Northern) Wheatear / Ring Ouzel / (Common) Blackbird / Fieldfare / Song Thrush / Redwing / Mistle Thrush
Silviidae: Cetti’s Warbler / (Common) Grasshopper Warbler / Sedge Warbler / Marsh Warbler / (Eurasian) Reed Warbler / Icterine Warbler / Melodious Warbler / (Eurasian) Blackcap / Garden Warbler / Barred Warbler / Lesser Whitethroat / (Common) Whitethroat / Dartford Warbler / Yellow-browed Warbler / Wood Warbler / Chiffchaff / Willow Warbler / Goldcrest / Firecrest
Muscicapidae: Spotted Flycatcher / Red-breasted Flycatcher / (Eurasian) Pied Flycatcher
Timaliidae: Bearded Tit (Bearded Reedling)
Aegithalidae: Long-tailed Tit (Long-tailed Bushtit)
Paridae: Blue Tit / Great Tit / (European) Crested Tit / Coal Tit / Willow Tit / Marsh Tit
Sittidae: (Eurasian) Nuthatch
Certhiidae: (Eurasian) Treecreeper
Oriolidae: (Eurasian) Golden Oriole
Laniidae: Red-backed Shrike / Great Grey Shrike / Woodchat Shrike
Corvidae: (Eurasian) Jay / (Eurasian) Magpie / (Red-billed) Chough / (Western) Jackdaw / Rook / Carrion Crow / Hooded Crow / (Northern) Raven
Sturnidae: (Common) Starling / Rose-coloured Starling (Rosy Starling)
Passeridae: House Sparrow / (Eurasian) Tree Sparrow
Fringillidae: Chaffinch / Brambling / (European) Serin / (European) Greenfinch / (European) Goldfinch / (Eurasian) Siskin / (Common) Linnet / Twite / Lesser Redpoll / Common Crossbill (Red Crossbill) / Scottish Crossbill / Common Rosefinch / (Eurasian) Bullfinch / Hawfinch
Emberizidae: Lapland Bunting (Lapland Longspur) / Snow Bunting / Yellowhammer / Cirl Bunting / Ortolan Bunting / (Common) Reed Bunting / Corn Bunting
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
