Author Topic: Bird - an Unidentified Flying Object! (Read 9059 times)

Hyacinth · « **on:** October 01, 2003, 13:11:25 »

Yesterday there was a bird in my garden I'd not seen before. I was watching him from an upstairs window, the binoculars were downstairs & he was at a distance, but...

He was about the size of a blackbird, but much slimmer.
Rusty red forehead (or whatever it's called)
Light greyish/brown chest.
Back exactly the colour of the thatchy grass he was grubbing in - light beige-y, then.
Short tail.
Very long pointed beak
May have had darker markings on his tail/wing feathers but I didn't see the spread when he flew off.
An extraordinarily upright stance as he hopped about.

Not in my RSPB Birds in Your Garden book.

any ideas, anyone?????????????????????????

Lishka

LynneA · « **Reply #1 on:** October 01, 2003, 14:28:35 »

Waxwing? Bit early for them though.
Hoopoe? But you'd see the crest.
Fieldfares are bigger.
Cream Coloured Coursers live in deserts!

What part of the country are you? I have a birds of US somewhere in a box to check for migrants.

Hyacinth · « **Reply #2 on:** October 01, 2003, 19:12:33 »

Thanks, Lynne. I'm in the midlands. I've seen this feller once before 2-3 weeks back. I've a Birds of the World book so when I've time I'll have a look. I'll look up 'hoopoe' - just in case he was having a bad-hair-day.

Was wondering, with the length of the beak, some sort of nuthatch or other tree creeper? The tail seemed short and squat (rather than short and pointy) but I only saw him on the ground - he was already making me late & he had obviously found a good supply of grubs or whatever and wasn't in a hurry to go. Cheers, Lishka

Hyacinth · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2003, 12:28:31 »

Hello everyone,

I'm bringing this up to the top because last night when I looked for my Birds of the World Encyclopaedia - I found I hadn't got it - must have been one of those books that went to Charity in a ruthless clear-out that's left lots of bookshelves empty.

So if anyone's got a book and can browse and come up with suggestions, I'd be very grateful. Alternatively..direct me to another site where I can ask? Thanks, Lishka

ruth_daniels · « **Reply #4 on:** October 02, 2003, 12:44:13 »

Hi, could it have been a Jay ??
or if it was smaller how about a Nuthatch ?? ( no pink though) ??
When you say very long beak, do you mean like a wader ?
Sorry you've got me stumped ??

Ruth.

Hyacinth · « **Reply #5 on:** October 02, 2003, 15:47:27 »

Thanks Ruth. We've got jays so I can certainly rule them out. And nothing like the nuthatches that are pictured in the RSPB book.With that long sharp beak (like the pic of my Treecreeper)it's surely got to be some sort of bird that feeds off trees and, given that I was looking from an upstairs window, still think it must have been in the region of 20cms+ in length.

(Why oh why did I think I wouldn't need my big bird-book again??!!) So infuriating. cheers, Lishka

LynneA · « **Reply #6 on:** October 02, 2003, 19:50:32 »

Couple of other suggestions -
Wheatear
or possibly a Woodck? (or Snipe)

(ps just noticed my response has been Bowdlerised - work it out from your index!)

MagpieDi · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2003, 00:47:23 »

Hi Alishka

Could it possibly be a Redwing? About same size as Song-thrush and a visitor in the fields beyond my back garden from September to March. (I'm in the Yorkshire Pennines area)
Regards
Diane

rosebud · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2003, 17:31:47 »

HI LISHKA.have you found out what the U. F. B. is yet i am most interested i thought maybe a redwing but they don`t seem as large as your mystery visitor. :-/
do hope you are keeping well. cheers rosebud :D

Hyacinth · « **Reply #9 on:** October 03, 2003, 22:08:43 »

Hello! Thanks all for your suggestions and interest. I've found a brill. illustrated site 'Birds of Britain Guide' & just checked out your latest suggestions...strangely, the two "W"s aren't listed, but it wasn't a snipe or redwing.So, over the weekend, I'm going to browse...cheers! Lishka

MagpieDi · « **Reply #10 on:** October 03, 2003, 23:25:51 »

Hi Lishka

You've got me hooked on solution to this UFO!!! What about a Curlew, another visitor to the farmland beyond my garden, and it has a very long beak, grey-brown colour and short tail!! :) Altho' they've never ventured over my garden wall!
I'll keep trying!
Best wishes Diane

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #11 on:** October 04, 2003, 01:55:56 »

I don't know if this will help;
http://www.rspb.org.uk/
but this is the rspb's website.....you may have already been here...... ;D

Hyacinth · « **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2003, 02:15:25 »

Thanks EJ - I've just been there & put it in my faves to look through. Give you a laugh, tho! Check out the Home Page...there's this heading..

"Celebrity Bird Food Recipes" - with a pic of a well-fed smiling man flashing his gnashers..

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Lishka

PS Sorry, Diane...no, not a curlew. A long beak, but not that long!

Colin_Bellamy-Wood · « **Reply #13 on:** October 04, 2003, 20:10:30 »

Hi Lishka, I've been searching through one of my books, "A Field Guide in Clour to Birds" (Octopus Books), and the best I can come up with is a KNOT. (Calidris Canutus).

Size of Blackbird. In nuptial plumage has russet underside and brown thickly spotted back. Beak is longer than Curlew Sandpiper. Recognisable in flight by stocky body and spotted rump. Voice : seldom heard, sometimes calls "twit-wit" when flying. Widespread coastal migrant often in large, dense flocks, rarely seen inland.

Birds which stary from their normal areas and migration routes, or are driven off course by storms, and appear in regions to which they are foreign, are known as accidental birds (e.g. marine birds found incland, or a few species form Asia and North America (unquote).

Have you had a look on www.bto.org/ ? The British Trust for Ornithology.

Hyacinth · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2003, 20:53:00 »

Thank you Colin - and everyone!! for your contributions here & via PMs...

I'm seeing nothing which resembles this creature & I'm ploughing through all the Sites you've suggested in my spare time (thanks again, btw).

I'd concentrate on the characteristics which wouldn't have been distorted by my upstairs/glasses rather than binoculars view? - ie.the peculiarly upright stance of the bird & the long sharp beak? He seemed to hop rather than run, if that's any help...

Another clue is that I've seen the same bird quite recently....so just twice then, but always singular - never a pair.....but never before in the 20+ years I've lived here.Got pools around and also woods Preservation Areas). - would suggest a migrant rather than an habitee??

(Beginning to wish I'd never ask the question!!!!! But any suggestions really, really welcomed)...please keep 'em coming?....please?????!!! - Lishka

legless · « **Reply #15 on:** October 05, 2003, 21:49:15 »

no idea! but its keeping me amused trawling through bird books though! compared to its head, how big would you say the beak was?

Hyacinth · « **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2003, 22:04:33 »

Oh LL- what can I say? - "in proportion"?????

LOL - I'm spending FAR too much time on this....LOL and thanks! - Lishka

jethro · « **Reply #17 on:** October 06, 2003, 18:46:45 »

Hi Alishka, have you checked to see if it is a woodpecker :-/ not that i'm the 'brain of britain' in bird circles you understand :-[. Also i'll check in my book 'wild birds of britain' to see if that helps, if so i'll put a photograph on the board ;D that is if i know how to do it :-X. Hope this helps.

ruth_daniels · « **Reply #18 on:** October 07, 2003, 20:55:14 »

How about a Wryneck ? :-/

Where abouts do you live ? :)

Coastal ? Inland ? Country ? Town ?

This is driving me potty, but we'll get there in the end !! ;D

Hyacinth · « **Reply #19 on:** October 08, 2003, 11:59:34 »

Thank Jethro and Ruth for the lastest suggestions..drawn a blank there, I'm afraid.

Later, when the Beeb Bds are open & I've time, I'll paste my original description, and all your suggestions, over there, too...I looked at the Bd last night - (saw you there, Ruth?) - to widen the net (so to speak...)

But please DO keep the suggestions coming! You've no idea the eagerness with which I take each new suggestion, go to the RSPB Board for a picture...and you've no idea of the subsequent sense of disappointment....I'm really On a Mission now!!!

Oh! Sorry! I forgot...I live in South B'ham - in an area that's got lots of trees, streams, pools.Have lots of bird visitors to my garden, which makes it strange that I've only seen this one once before. - Cheers all! Lishka

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Author Topic: Bird - an Unidentified Flying Object! (Read 9059 times)

ruth_daniels

Colin_Bellamy-Wood

jethro

ruth_daniels