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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 20 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

meet curly




i thought i had seen one with either something stuck or an odd beak a while ago.
today i got a proper look, very odd beak and odd feet and adult to january

there is also tweed, she was a late developer from a late clutch, does not seem able to grip the feeder with her thin red legs and feet and feeds longer and later than most of them by gleaning, disadvantaged but adult til january.

i am surprised that they made it to adult and although tweed seems outside the social group in some ways curly is quite central and feisty

by my counting this colony has about 10% visibly disabled members which seems quite a lot.
that said there were a lot of young ones that are no longer with us(moved or dead is unknown)
i know for certain very healthy looking ones suddenly go missing

perhaps what seems a disadvantage to me makes them less prone to rash boldness and predation, maybe they are not as disadvantaged as they look.

an interesting development to the sparrow study.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 20 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes, very. I am surprised that one can eat properly, but looks well enough fed. The one that gleans may be at more risk from cats etc. but as you say, they may either not go out on their own so much, or take fewer risks. Without using ringing, it won't be possible to find out what happens to the others.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 20 1:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

it is rather odd that a bird with such a beak/feet made it to adult,any one of the issues seem to be quite challenging.

the lady blackbird, ms brown decided i am no threat this morning and fed happily a couple of meters away. lots of sort of ok snaps of her and a set of tweed.
and a lot of id snaps of feeding groups/pairs

i will dig out some snaps later.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 20 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

ms brown has accepted me to almost the same intimacy as dik and the sparrows

the tea time shoot was at 1/50th sec but i still got snaps of them, im not sure how:lol:
i am, this rig is smarter than me

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 20 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

meet ms brown

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 20 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Nice shot.
A friend from Pohangina near Palmerston North here takes cracking bird photos.
He is at present travelling in Nepal/India , but I will ask him what cameras he uses.
Have a look at pohanginapete.blogspot.com

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 20 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

He does respond to comments...

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 20 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That's a good picture Dpack; the bird is nicely in focus and the background out of focus. I had a thought about the high number of apparently 'odd' birds you have. Could it be that you provide a safe, well fed area for them so the less able ones stay with you rather than seeking pastures, and mates, new do you thing?

I am waiting to hear what the situation is with the hibernating dormice. They are supposed to hibernate within about 50m of where they were found in autumn, which means they could be in the area we will be cutting. I suspect they have found nice dry and therefore quite warm places under roots and piles of wood, as we have never seen them. We always check in the centre of a coppice stool before cutting low as apart from anything else, flints tend to lurk there, which doesn't do chainsaw chains any good.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 20 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

"That's a good picture Dpack; the bird is nicely in focus and the background out of focus. I had a thought about the high number of apparently 'odd' birds you have. Could it be that you provide a safe, well fed area for them so the less able ones stay with you rather than seeking pastures, and mates, new do you thing? "

tool for the job and a lot of practice/fine art degree. i can do better, "what is your favourite work">"the next one"

re the "odd"ones i had considered they have an easy life here but so do those more "normal"
to compare them needs studies of multiple populations in different circumstances.,
other folk feed em as well, some regularly others are weekend friends

we have quite a few "odd"birds of other species, especially individuals with albino feathers in a dark coat, corvids and blackbirds often have a few disruption pattern feathers.
i hypothesize that if you are hedge or shadow coloured but live in an urban environment passing for a bit of litter is a clever ploy:lol:

i know this is a little thing but a bit of extra knowledge of urban birds helps.
a lot of bits might be the means to preserving some species in a difficult time.

snaps and observations in a lab book is a tiny step for me or us as stewards, but they get free mealworms, sunflower kernels and cereals

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 20 8:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I was taught photography by my father. He was a good amatuer and as I learnt in the days of 12 21/4 square pictures to the film, I had to learn to frame my pictures correctly first time. The modern digital taking 100s can be very useful or mean you don't bother framing or focusing properly. Having said that, son is a keen photographer, having learnt from both my father and me, and he is producing some pretty good photos. None of us are artists btw; engineers and woodsmen.

It could be that being inconspicuous is more of an advantage in a rural setting, or could be that unusual food/pollution/smaller breeding colonies in towns tends to produce odd colouring. A black and white male blackbird stands out more in the country than the town, certainly.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 20 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Great picture DPack. I have to say, she looks a little miffed at having her picture taken.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 20 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

she was less friendly in a couple of other snaps but she has accepted me as harmless.

imho taking snaps of critters is similar to taking snaps of anything.

if possible fill the frame with something interesting and well composed using suitable glass and getting as close to the action as possible
or
take a wide snap and crop
the former is best but not always possible

derbyshiredowser



Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Posts: 980
Location: derbyshire
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 20 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

05:30 this morning some sort of very noisy fox nightclub on our lawn went on for 20 minutes. Seems to be a bit early than previous years we think its normally March time.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 20 9:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Unless two foxes with overlapping territory met and had a difference of opinion. January does sound a bit early for mating, even in a mild winter.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 20 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

it is rather mild so it could be lurve but two rivals meeting is also possible.

the flora and fauna here are acting as though it is march a few years ago.

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