There is a bird in the garden I do not recognise. It about the size of a blackbird but mostly grey and brown. It holds its tail up. The most notable feature is that it has two brown patches on its pale chest, so I have nick naked it the bikini bird or Barbara for short.
The last time I had an unidentified bird iin the garden t was a Temminck's Tragopan. So this one might be an exotic as well.
My first thought was a fieldfare but it is not big enough and no spotty frontage and they do not hold their tails up.
I was going to suggest Fieldfare till I read the end of your post. Nothing springs to mind with that description, not that Im an ornithologist at all. Still learning as I go along too, I'll be very intersted to know what it was if you find out. Good luck! ;D
A wryneck seems to have the patches but the tail could be wrong ???
I never new what a fielfare looked like, as I thought we had one a brown bird about the size of a blackbird only with dull orange type patch on its chest!I looked up rspb site its not a fieldfare at all? what is it!there was two to-day!
Claybasket how about redwings?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redwing/index.aspx
Many thanks for the suggestions. Mine was not a wryneck or a redwing.
It had a pale grey/brown chest with two brown patches. Not mottled chest. With darker wings. Size of a blackbird.
I sorry Flighty, but thats not my birds ,I first thought it was a female blackbird,but the beak is dark and the marks on the chest are like a robins only dirty orange color,will use my bins tommorow to get a closer look :)
I don't think there's much else it could be apart from a Fieldfare, especially at this time of year...? Sometimes the spots can look as if they're clumped together, and they often hold their tails up a bit, often emphasised by slightly drooping wings.
Other than some sort of escape, its hard to see what else it could be.
The size thing, they are a bit bigger than blackbirds, but size is very difficult to judge with birds.
This is where a picture /photo shot would help ;)
Quote from: Robert_S on February 13, 2012, 13:43:09
I don't think there's much else it could be apart from a Fieldfare,
I think you may well be right ;)
I will see if it turns up again.
Birds have a nasty habit of flying off as soon as I manage to get a camera in hand.
We had five male bull finches the other week and all I got was a rather poor pic with one.
They only do it to annoy and because they know it teases...... ;D
Quote from: green lily on February 14, 2012, 17:12:04
They only do it to annoy and because they know it teases...... ;D
"Watch the birdie" & smile please!! :D
Blackbirds quite frequently have some white feathers so it's possibly a blackbird, but I don't think so as I've never heard of them having any grey, it's either black or white.
My best guess would be a Ring Ouzel (http://"http://www.ringouzel.info/photos_ringingringouzels.html").
Ring Ouzels are summer visitors here, and not really a garden bird, more of a moorland type, though they can turn up anywhere on passage in spring and autumn.
Quote from: Unwashed on February 16, 2012, 11:27:53
Blackbirds quite frequently have some white feathers so it's possibly a blackbird, but I don't think so as I've never heard of them having any grey, it's either black or white.
My best guess would be a Ring Ouzel (http://"http://www.ringouzel.info/photos_ringingringouzels.html").
What an interesting bird. Not only have I never seen one I'd never heard of them before either!!!
This link works
Ring Ouzel (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/ringouzel/index.aspx) but I couldn't get your link to do it's thing. :(