Birding

Birding. Bird-watching. Looking at Birds.

Reds from the East embark on a British invasion 

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Bird Notes columnist Julian Hughes of RSPB Conwy reveals what birds have been spotted in the past week and outlines 13 local birding events in the coming days

Each evening this week, when I’ve stepped outside with the dog, I’ve heard the high-pitched squeak of Redwings arriving in the calm air, making landfall on the North Wales coast after a flight from the east.

Small numbers of Fieldfare have come too, and there is always the prospect of a Scandinavian Ring Ouzel, such as one on the Great Orme last week

Other winter birds include two Great Northern Divers and seven Scaup on Anglesey’s Inland Sea, Long-tailed Duck at Hope’s Fagl Lane quarry, Lapland Buntings on Bardsey and the Great Orme.

Another Scaup is at RSPB Conwy , where a Glaucous Gull was found on last Wednesday’s high tide.

Read more at: Reds from the East embark on a British invasion – Daily Post

BIRD WATCH: Size, silhouette and all that slang  

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WHEN YOU TRAVEL to different countries or different places in this country, it’s easy to pick up local slang.

After two weeks of birding in England, I began using some of the Brits’ bird-watcher expressions.

A column featuring this trip earned me a call from my editor.

“I don’t recognize the word ‘jizz.’ ”

I thought I had successfully defined it for him, but Bob was adamant.

“You’ll have to change it.”

Bob Mottram was one of my all-time favorite editors. That’s saying something because I’ve had some great ones over the years. I was disappointed I couldn’t get him to change his mind.

That was a few decades ago. Now, jizz is widely recognized among this country’s birders.

To understand its meaning, think of a familiar bird you easily. You recognize it by its jizz.

That’s what you are doing when you say something like, “It looks like — or it acts like a robin.”

When I saw my first “blackbird” in Australia, my instinctive reaction was, “That’s a black robin!” [ . . . }

Read More at: BIRD WATCH: Size, silhouette and all that slang | Peninsula Daily News