Latest posts for the topic "Birds"

Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 13:45:11 GMT

No, not women.....

Does anyone know what this little fella might be:

Note the red legs.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 13:46:19 GMT

wow! took me a while to work that out :lol:
sorry, don't know anything about birds

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 14:29:02 GMT

That's never a bird. Steep drag though.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 14:44:13 GMT

Isn't that a "Stealth Bomber" :lol:

Otherwise it could be an Alpine Chough

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 14:57:18 GMT

Far Queue wrote:Isn't that a "Stealth Bomber" :lol:

Otherwise it could be an Alpine Chough

I had one of those when I came back from St Anton last January, couldn't shift it for weeks, not even Covonia could touch it.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 15:07:48 GMT

ellistine wrote:That's never a bird. Steep drag though.

It didn't seem that steep when you were on it, but it was quite long, and the day we went up it, it was snowing like a beeeatch and very very cold. We actually got lost on the way down, scary.

And that is most definitely a bird, same as these:

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 15:08:25 GMT

It definitely looks like the Alpine Chough to me. It's a member of the crow family. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_Chough

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 15:13:29 GMT

Looks like it might be. There were loads of them nesting on the hill where I took the 2nd pic. As I climbed up to take a closer look, they started swooping down on me obviously protecting their area, so I went back down again quickly!
Interesting noise they make, too.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 15:59:38 GMT

You needed the first photo to identify the Chough as Alpine, (the short yellow beak) Longer red beak is a Common Chough, but only usually found further south, Spain, Southern Italy. From the Corvidae family.

So here is a bird question, and I will give you the only two clues that I could see and hear, as I was going up the chairlift in Niederau.

1) I could hear the bird call first, and it was one I hadn't heard before. The bird was calling from the top of a high pine. The call was four distinct call sounds of " rare" or "grare", quite sharp sounds, about a second apart. The group of four calls was repeated maybe 2 to 3 times a minute.
2) I caught one glimpse of the underside, through the pines, about the size of a Jay, but with a white fan shaped tail. That was all I could see, and it turned out that my white fan shaped tail was not entirely accurate.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:26:53 GMT

Hmm, may be a bit small, but how about a male ring ouzel? Is it possible the mistake you made was the white breast stripe, and not the tail?

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:54:26 GMT

Blimey, what have I started?
This is turning into Twitch City

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:56:59 GMT

Far Queue wrote:Hmm, may be a bit small, but how about a male ring ouzel? Is it possible the mistake you made was the white breast stripe, and not the tail?

Bigger than a Ring Ouzel, although, not a bad guess from the repeat call. The white is definitely on the tail. The impression was of a white fan shaped underside, although, it turns out to be diamond shaped.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 17:22:39 GMT

Tony_H wrote:Blimey, what have I started?
This is turning into Twitch City

It is a good question, Tony. Since the picture of a Steinbock in Zermatt was posted last year, I was going to start an Alpine wildlife thread. Happy with birds for the moment.

This particular bird normally resides in Siberia in the summer, and is an Alpine winter visitor.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 17:58:44 GMT

Hmm, any chance it is a bunting of some description?

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:43:10 GMT

Far Queue wrote:Hmm, any chance it is a bunting of some description?

No, buntings are slightly bigger than a finch.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:46:00 GMT

is it a large bat

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:24:50 GMT

OK, so would a needletail be too large?

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 21:52:33 GMT

Never heard of a needletail, FQ.

It was a nutcracker.

http://www.nature-pictures.org/foto/104/476/

A pretty bird, but you don't get to see them this close.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 22:42:11 GMT

Bet you've never seen a Marmot this close. This was taken on my actual digital camera in Serre Che:

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 22:43:40 GMT

Tony_H wrote:Bet you've never seen a Marmot this close. This was taken on my actual digital camera in Serre Che:

Thats brilliant I only get to photo reindeers.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 23:00:47 GMT

I have Tony, but didn't have a Camera.

Two close ones:
Opened a litter bin lid in the Grand Canyon, up popped a chipmunk!
Peered round a rock in Lapland, and a reindeer was peering round from the other side ~ and I id get a pic, before I legged it!

But they digress from ski area wildlife.
In Whistler, if you were patient, blue Jays would settle on your hand and take titbits. It's a back to nature feeling.

Re:Birds

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 23:01:25 GMT

Sorry, Tony forgot to compliment you on the picture.

Re:Birds

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:40:57 GMT

Tony_H wrote:Bet you've never seen a Marmot this close. This was taken on my actual digital camera in Serre

We did driving out of Yellowstone park on the Beartooth pass, near the top, 11,000 ft. How anything survives up there is amazing. Mid June and there was still some snow, and the small lakes were frozen.
We were about ten feet away from one of those critters. On the north side, descending into Montana, is the small ski town of Red Lodge. It's a beautiful small town (very un- American). I want to check it out again sometime, as it looked like my dream retirement place (there was also a white water creek running by the town).

As for chipmunks, we had a pair living under our front door step for a couple of years, very cute.
Very common at campsites up north. It's fun because they don't see you if you are very still, and will literally walk over your foot.

Re:Birds

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:56:36 GMT

Bloody big fox in Portillo this July

Class marmot shot Tony. )

Re:Birds

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:20:49 GMT

tino_11 wrote:Bloody big fox in Portillo this July

Class marmot shot Tony. )

This is a stunning photo! Nice one.

Re:Birds

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:23:29 GMT

That's an amazing photo! I love foxes.

Re:Birds

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:38:47 GMT

Trencher,

We were driving into Yellowstone Park, from the Montana side, and eased up alongside a black bear. I hung out of the window, looking through the viewfinder, when I felt the window closing.

Looking through the viewfinder was like looking through the wrong end of a telescope. Instead of being 10 ft away, the bear was just beside me, rather too close. My son had closed the window, so I lived to ski another day!

Re:Birds

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:44:56 GMT

When we were going up to La Rosiere in the bus, a bouqetin galloped across the road in front of us. But I'm afraid I haven't got a photo of it. I think it's quite unusual to see them like that, because the bus driver went on about it.

Dave Mac - it's lucky your son had the sense to close the window!

I nearly fell over the edge of the Victoria Falls, doing exactly what you did, with your camera, because it gave me vertigo.

Ally