Yesterday while walking along the coast near helford we saw a large bird sitting at the water's edge on top of a smalll outcrop.
I took some indifferent shots at max magnification and hand held to aid in identification and have come to the conclusion that the bird was probably an osprey - except that it clearly had a yellow base to its beak which I don't think is characteristic of ospreys, is it? The bird's markings were reasonably clear but it had a downy look to them, perhaps immature?
Regards
Hi Willower
It would be interesting to see your photos - you can find a lot of osprey photos for comparison in the Loch Garten Ospreys Group forum and gallery:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/groups/lochgartenospreys/forum/default.aspx
The yellow beak doesn't suggest an osprey though, and I don't think you'd see an immature one in the UK at this time of year. This year's osprey chicks are only just hatching, and in the autumn they will migrate to Africa and generally stay there till they are "rising two" and have adult plumage.
Hello Sue:
Is there somewhere I can put the photos for you to look at? I agree with what you said but was and am at a loss to know what I saw.
Yes, you can include photos. When you make a post, click on the little green filmstrip icon. This will open a dialogue box, browse to where your photo is held on your computer and then click insert. Hopefully, your photo will then appear although sometimes it doesn't work. Keep the file size below 2Mb and preferably somewhat smaller.
Any picture however distant is a great help in idendentifying birds. Good luck.
Regards TJ
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Hello again:
I'm attaching a photo of the bird in question. It was, as i said, at maximum magnification and hand held and so is not good, but I think there is enough detail.
That there is a Common Buzzard, albeit a rather pale one (this is an extremely variable species plumage-wise!).
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
aiki said: That there is a Common Buzzard, albeit a rather pale one (this is an extremely variable species plumage-wise!).
Yes, I agree.The palest one I've ever seen.
TJ
Thanks very much for your interest and help
Great shot of the Buzzard Willower and thanks for putting it up
welcome to the fourms and hope to see more posts and photos from you .
Cheers
AL
If its no fun Yer no doin it right!