I went on to Ogden Resevoir and unexpectedly found another lifer for the day, 2 crossbills!
Soil Hill
3 x Lapwing
7 x Snow Bunting
Ogden Resevoir
5 x Black Headed Gull
2 x Cormorant
99 x Mallard
2 x Crossbill
3 x Robin
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Soil Hill / Ogden Resevoir 07.01.12
Thanks to Bruce for taking me up to soil hill, picked up 3 lapwing and 7 snow buntings within minutes of arriving!
I went on to Ogden Resevoir and unexpectedly found another lifer for the day, 2 crossbills!
Soil Hill
3 x Lapwing
7 x Snow Bunting
Ogden Resevoir
5 x Black Headed Gull
2 x Cormorant
99 x Mallard
2 x Crossbill
3 x Robin
I went on to Ogden Resevoir and unexpectedly found another lifer for the day, 2 crossbills!
Soil Hill
3 x Lapwing
7 x Snow Bunting
Ogden Resevoir
5 x Black Headed Gull
2 x Cormorant
99 x Mallard
2 x Crossbill
3 x Robin
7 comments:
Good pictures Andy considering the very strong wind.
Well done on the Crossbill photos, a bird I find hard to track down, never mind getting photos as well.
Well done today Andy - some special birds and good to get some photo's as well.
Thanks. Does anyone have any ideas on the sex of the two? I was thinking first year male for one, one was actually feeding the other at one point.
At least one bird is a male showing the red and the other birds colour is unclear so not sure! Interesting to notice one feeding the other. Wonder if this an example of pair bonding or one could be a juvenile as they can breed almost all the year round and according to BWP they are stimulated to breed according to food abundance so one could be a juv even at this time of year.
If you have any more photos showing plumage detail or colour that could help? Always worth taking plenty photos to check the finer points of plumage etc.
I do have a few more pictures DJ I will put them online when I have chance and will post a link here. Unfortunately none were fantastic quality due to distance, but from my bins one was very yellow, while the other looked darker in comparison.
the bird on it's own is a 1st winter male and the two together look like males, I suspect you saw a male feeding a female as it is coming up to the peak breeding time (Feb-Apr) although as Dave states they can breed at at time of year, juveniles are a brownish colour with obvious streaking, however they can keep signs of juvenile plumage for up to a year and even breed in it so the ageing is very hard as moult is suspended during breeding
the yellow bird sounds like a female, with habitat they are in and the way they move around it is not always easy to track single birds so you can be watching a male and look away and a female apears in the same place!
great birds to see, always a treat especially your first
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