Mountain Birds

Skiach said:

Can anyone help.

On almost every hill I climb I see loads of the same wee brown birds.
They are about the size of a robin, fly in an undulating wave motion
and have a distinct light-dark-light vertically barred tail. I'm
thinking it is meadow pipits? If so do they go by any other names?

Sounds like meadow pipits to me. A characteristic bird of upland
areas. Also known to twitchers as Small Brown Jobs.

Quoted message said:

Also, for any twitchers out there, saw a wheater on Ben Vorlich
(Lomond) today. Very bonnie wee thing.

Hardly worth bothering a twitcher with, another bird often found in
upland areas. Eats, breeds and leaves - meaning it is a summer
visitor, they overwinter in Central Africa
--
Phil Cook, last hill: Angletarn Pikes via Beda Fell.
http://www.p-t-cook.freeserve.co.uk/May07/martin9.htm

In message <[email hidden]>,
Skiach <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Can anyone help.

On almost every hill I climb I see loads of the same wee brown birds.
They are about the size of a robin, fly in an undulating wave motion
and have a distinct light-dark-light vertically barred tail. I'm
thinking it is meadow pipits? If so do they go by any other names?

Also, for any twitchers out there, saw a wheater on Ben Vorlich
(Lomond) today. Very bonnie wee thing.

Cheers for any info.

One of these?:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/meadowpipit/index.asp

Here's the wheatear:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/wheatear/index.asp

Regards,
--
Neil Pugh

Meadow pipits it is then.

Thanks.

Skiach said:

Meadow pipits it is then.

Oh yes. I once found a nest whilst striding purposely across a
trackless expanse a bird seemed to fly of the end of my boot and there
in a cup in the grass a clutch of small dark speckled eggs.
--
Phil Cook, last hill: Angletarn Pikes via Beda Fell.
http://www.p-t-cook.freeserve.co.uk/May07/martin9.htm

Phil Cook <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Skiach said:

Meadow pipits it is then.

Oh yes. I once found a nest whilst striding purposely across a
trackless expanse a bird seemed to fly of the end of my boot and there
in a cup in the grass a clutch of small dark speckled eggs.

Special moments those, aren't they?
We found a curlew's nest in knee deep grass in the Yorks Dales, and the
bird flew up, leaving four large brown eggs.

Shame I didn't have the camera, it was the only highlight of a trudge
through huge fields of soaking wet set-aside grass.
--
Gordon H

The message <[email hidden]>
from Gordon H <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Special moments those, aren't they?
We found a curlew's nest in knee deep grass in the Yorks Dales, and the
bird flew up, leaving four large brown eggs.

Found a pheasant sitting on a nest in the hay this year.

Quoted message said:

Shame I didn't have the camera, it was the only highlight of a trudge
through huge fields of soaking wet set-aside grass.

I didn't want to either disturb the bird or trample the hay
unnecessarily so after planting a marker I didn't go back to look again
until the day before the hay was cut by which time the nest was empty.
In a normal year the nest would have been crushed almost before the
first egg was laid but the wet weather delayed the cut by at least a
month this year.

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

Roger said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Gordon H <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Special moments those, aren't they?
We found a curlew's nest in knee deep grass in the Yorks Dales, and the
bird flew up, leaving four large brown eggs.

Found a pheasant sitting on a nest in the hay this year.

Quoted message said:

Shame I didn't have the camera, it was the only highlight of a trudge
through huge fields of soaking wet set-aside grass.

I didn't want to either disturb the bird or trample the hay
unnecessarily so after planting a marker I didn't go back to look again
until the day before the hay was cut by which time the nest was empty.
In a normal year the nest would have been crushed almost before the
first egg was laid but the wet weather delayed the cut by at least a
month this year.

I seem to remember seeing some advice to farmers that suggested they
not mow from outside to the middle in hay fields so that shy birds and
other wildlife had a chance of escape. I wouldn't help if there was a
nest of course but it would give something like a corncrake an escape
route.

How about a peek in a ptarmigan's nest? They are another species it is
possible to almost step on.
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/phil_spix/May04/fan5.htm

--
Phil Cook

The message <[email hidden]>
from Phil Cook <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I seem to remember seeing some advice to farmers that suggested they
not mow from outside to the middle in hay fields so that shy birds and
other wildlife had a chance of escape. I wouldn't help if there was a
nest of course but it would give something like a corncrake an escape
route.

I am no expert but I don't think it is easy to mow from the middle out
even in those big prairies they have down south.

Quoted message said:

How about a peek in a ptarmigan's nest? They are another species it is
possible to almost step on.
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/phil_spix/May04/fan5.htm

Back when the world was young (well I was anyway) I took my brand new OM
10 for a trip round the Fisherfield 6. Coming off #3 (can't be bothered
to look up the names) I nearly stepped on a ptarmigan's nest so out came
the camera and the bird was duly photographed as was the nest once I
persuaded the hen to move. Unfortunately I was was unfamiliar with the
twiddly bits and had accidentally set the speed to B rather than auto
which meant that the aperture was open for as long as my finger was
holding the button down and every photo I took that trip was so
overexposed as to be unrecognisable.

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

There are a lot of "small brown jobs" out there, and it's astonishing
how many birds can be fitted into either this category, or "ducks",
"seabirds" or "big brown jobs". I like to see green ring-necked
parakeets, puffins, kingfishers, magpies and red kites as these are
the only "native" birds that I can reliably recognise!

Try this website:

http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp

Use the drop-down search box to choose the species you want to look at
- there's usually dozens of photos from every conceivable angle! I'm
still sure they all fit into the categories above though...!

Anth

Please link to: http://www.wheresthepath.com/index.htm

Roger <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Back when the world was young (well I was anyway) I took my brand new OM
10 for a trip round the Fisherfield 6. Coming off #3 (can't be bothered
to look up the names) I nearly stepped on a ptarmigan's nest so out came
the camera and the bird was duly photographed as was the nest once I
persuaded the hen to move. Unfortunately I was was unfamiliar with the
twiddly bits and had accidentally set the speed to B rather than auto
which meant that the aperture was open for as long as my finger was
holding the button down and every photo I took that trip was so
overexposed as to be unrecognisable.

I can sympathise, speaking as one who took lots of photos when I did
Sharp Edge with a party of four. I discovered too late that I had
the camera film speed set to ASA 400 instead of 100.
By the time I had acquired Photoshop man years later and lightened them
sufficiently to see anything, the colour rendition was ruined.
--
Gordon H