Always dangerous wandering round at work without bins, particularly this morning, when I noticed a very dark streaky-headed winter gull around the top end of Crosby Marine Lake...didn't look quite right to be a Yankee Herring (too small), but it still had me going.
My sanity was restored when I was able to watch it thro' the scope later and blat away at it with the camera - a pale eyed, wicked looking argentatus I think.
Primaries not long enough to be a Yankee HG and the bird was way too small anyway, from what I remember of them...but still was an interesting looking bird.
It did get me checking some of the more arcane aspects of gull identification for a few minutes, but fortunately a Merlin tanking north over the dunes reminded me that larus land is a cold and painful place ...watching zippy little falcons is much more fun.
Sprawk and Scaup about today too.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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WhereâÂÂs Brown Owl?
This is the question that the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the BBC
Autumnwatch team are hoping to answer, by appealing to members of the public to listen out for Tawny Owls and report them to the Trust.
The BTO is in the middle of the biggest stock-take of BritainâÂÂs birds ever to be carried out, Bird Atlas 2007-11.
This ambitious project aims to count all of BritainâÂÂs birds, both during the summer and winter months. A lot of
data have already been collected but there are some gaps to be filled â especially at night. One of these gaps is for information on the Tawny Owl, as the Brown Owl is more commonly known.
Dawn Balmer, Atlas Organiser at the BTO, said, âÂÂFor a bird that lives so close to us, it is surprisingly difficult to find out just where Tawny Owls are and how many of them there are. By appealing directly to people to go out and listen for them, and, more importantly report them to us, we will go a long way to finding this out.âÂÂ
Tawny Owls are a bird of woodland, parks and gardens and are very nocturnal in their habits, which makes it difficult to assess their true status. However, during these early winter months Tawny Owls are at their most vocal, as they reaffirm the bond with their breeding partner, reassert their authority on their breeding territory and ward off any interloping owls. This makes now the ideal time to get out and listen for them.
The BTO and BBC Autumnwatch have teamed up to appeal to members of the public to do just that. By reporting any owls heard, calls can be listened to at www.bto.org, they will be helping to complete the picture in a very important piece of scientific research. To report your Tawny Owls, visit the BTO website, www.bto.org. Please note that this is only an online survey.
So go on, get out on any still and calm autumn evening and help make a difference to our understanding of one
of our closest but most secretive of neighbours.