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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Mistle Thrush in the Conifers

I spotted these Heather and Gorse on Christmas Eve on my way to the bay. I think Heather is one of the more difficult wild plants and wild flowers to photograph. Yet I could not resist taking a few images.
The Heather was more of a challenge I think because it was popping out of a wall so to speak. Plus I was trying to stick as much to the edge as possible and parking alongside the wall rather than with my back wheels parked on the very narrow road. Bsides I was underneath the Rookery and the noise was deafening.







Yesterday I watched two Magpies fly along the fence and smiled at that odd vertical and 'haughty' way they fly with head in the air and their tail straight downwards. I'd expected them to have landed on the street light or on the fence, and as I looked out of the window, I spotted two large Thrushes. At first I thuoght them to be Song Thrushes as we do have one on the estate, but when I looked closer, I realised they were too big and the colouring also looked as if it was just speckles or streaks on a whitish body. It was just too far off for a good and clear picture, so I also took a few pictures with the digital zoom on. It does miss the buff colouring of the Song Thrush. And like I said before, it was way too large!



11 comments:

  1. Nice pictures! Have you figured out what kind of bird it was yet?

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  2. Did you hear its call/alarm at all, the easiest way to find out what it was. But as you say if it was a hefty bird then it's likely to be a Mistle Thrush :)

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  3. Rena, thanks. I think I did get it right with my ID.
    Liz, only heard those Magpies, Rooks and Coal Tits around the time I spotted these two. Hefty it was indeed.

    Happy 2009 to you all.

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  4. You're lucky to live in a mild climate and have such lovely colours to look at this time of year. I'm envious!

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  5. My mum, and probably your own mum also, used to say to things like these:
    "I wasn't the one who moved away!" I bet UK is a lot milder than your island?
    It used to be a joke, in which she wuold not accept any regret, complaints or what ever it was.

    Gorse flowers most times of the year and a saying goes that you can kiss a girl/boy whenever Gorse is in bloom.
    Cold in Canada, I take it?

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  6. Hi Yoke, definitely a Mistle Thrush, can't work out female or male from the photo. Good bird to get as they're not as common as before. Also known as the Stormcock as they'll sing from the top of a tree in bad weather. And a good way to ID them, and their alarm call is quite distinctive, a clattering sound.

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  7. Thanks for the ID, Andrew. Always welcome, as you know by now, I think.
    All I heard was the Magpies and Coal Tits' calls, one hoarse, and the others high sweet tones. And no alarming call of the Thrushes.

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  8. Yoke, it's quite mild here really for this time of year. Maybe I shouldn't say mild, lol, about -3 C this past few days. We won't see any flowers in bloom for months. There's a saying here, "April showers bring May flowers in July." lol

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  9. Must have been hard getting used to the new climate, Crow.

    We had lots of trouble with the 6-7 months darkness here in Eire, which was a lot different from the snow and ice of the Dutch winters.

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  10. Yoke - it's wonderful to see all those colours in December!! and well done on your Mistle Thrush.

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  11. Thanks, Tricia; I'll definitely miss those colourful displays along the road once we move to a colder climate again.

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Yoke.