Tuesday 18 December 2012

Rose-breasted Grosbeak!...

At about 1230 hrs, I received the following text from my landlady, Karen Johnson - Unusual bird alert.... Looks like a sparrow but larger. Speckled breast with white stripes over head and orange patches around throat????? I have photos - this sounded very interesting indeed, i.e. like a Rose-breasted Grosbeak! But I needed to see those pictures! Maybe I'm getting old but I detest these smart phones and being the proud owner of a Nokia 3310, I wasn't going to see them anytime soon! Eventually, Karen sent the best image to a work colleague. Below is the image that popped up!!!

Photo by Karen Johnson from iPhone
Obviously, I raced home but the bird had gone missing. About an hour later, it returned briefly, and I managed to get some record video footage (below).

Monday 10 December 2012

Dusky Warbler...

I was fortunate to bump into a Dusky warbler today while walking along the nature trail at Lower Moors. At about 1530 hrs, I thought I heard the distinctive 'tac' of a Dusky Warbler, but it was distant and there was so much noise emanating from the airfield, that I almost gave up! Having found at least 7 of these before, it was only the hope of sound recording it that bolstered my determination to relocate it (not really, but that's what it felt like!).

After what seemed like an eternity, it started calling again and eventually gave views down to a few feet. Unfortunately, I only managed to acquire some record video footage as I was fumbling around with my sound recording gear at the time!

Almost an hour later, the airfield quietened down and the Dusky just wouldn't stop calling!