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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent content by Ilya Maclean

  1. Ilya Maclean

    Swift spp ID, Cornwall, UK

    Not an April fool's. It was found in March! On balance, having done a little more homework on this and having consulted more widely, I think this is a Common Swift, which should be the default choice anyway (aside from Pallid or Alpine, which this clearly isn’t). In addition to breeding in...
  2. Ilya Maclean

    Swift spp ID, Cornwall, UK

    I found this unseasonal Swift in Cornwall yesterday, and after scrutinising it for about 40 mins aware that Plain Swift is not beyond the realms of all possibility, couldn’t really turn it in to anything other than Common Swift Apus apus, although the dark throat was quite puzzling. However...
  3. Ilya Maclean

    Two people break 10,000 species, and on the same day? Can it be?

    I find some birds dull as dishwater to look at, but quite like listening to them. Hearing a landscape full of nighttime singing Blyth’s Reed Warblers in Finland was, for me, a lot more memorable than bumping into one on a grotty day in September on Shetland. Each to their own really. I don’t see...
  4. Ilya Maclean

    The ultimate range maps

    Most of the ornithological GBIF data comes from eBird (e.g. that record of Common Nightingale on the most southerly point of the UK mainland is mine submitted via eBIrd). eBird actually offers you a lot more than GBIF in terms of granularity and detail - e.g. you can click on the individual...
  5. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2017

    A bit of a walk around Boquer Valley and Albufereta this morning having been on the Island a few days. Nothing particularly unusual, but a few common migrants. 20 Blackcaps at the villa at Boquer was a bit of a surprise along with Balearic and nominate Woodchat. Finally managed to see the...
  6. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2017

    Always a bit hard to judge colour tones from photos, but looks spot on to me - buffy ear coverts etc. Certainly, from the photos, it looks like the ones I see in Cornwall pretty regularly
  7. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2017

    Thanks, Mike. With your hint, I managed to track down the post myself (see below). That said, I think the taxonomy has moved on since then. Aside from Moltoni's being given full species status, a new sub-species iberiae has been recognised and I suspect what he calls cantillans is actually this...
  8. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2017

    Does anybody know the status of the various Subalpine races versus Moltoni's Warbler on Mallorca? The reason I ask is that I was recently doing a description of Subalpine Warbler I found in the UK, which resulted in me re-examining some photographs of bird I took at La Gola in early April last...
  9. Ilya Maclean

    Going the extra distance for sex

    An incredible study just published shows that male Pectoral Sandpipers go on a grand tour of the Arctic, traveling more than 8000 miles in a month, to mate with multiple females: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature20813.html
  10. Ilya Maclean

    18,000 Bird species in the world?

    Just thought I'd flag this up, as it's quite interesting, though my own interpretation is that authors are really stretching the definition of what a species is. Basically, according to a new study published here, there are almost twice as many bird species as we first thought. In short, the...
  11. Ilya Maclean

    Falmouth Birding

    For those of you that occasionally venture away from Falmouth and into the wilderness south of Helston, you may be interested that Brian Cave's A Lizard Bird Diary is now available from Amazon. While not all will agree with Brian's rather unorthodox style to releasing rarities news, and the book...
  12. Ilya Maclean

    Evidence that birds sleep in mid-flight

    I just thought this might be of interest to some: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160803/ncomms12468/full/ncomms12468.html I'm accessing from a University, so not sure if everyone can see the full article, but I think it is open access.
  13. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2016

    Hi Hugh, I'm back in the UK now, but had a flock of ~15 Spotless Starlings here yesterday eve: https://goo.gl/maps/gt8yGMMhZaJ2 Perched on wires around the back of Ca'n Cuarassa restaurant. I hope that helps. Ilya
  14. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2016

    2 Bonelli's Warblers in pines along the track between Betlem and Es Calo this pm. One c 800m from Betlem the other just before Es Calo. Also loads of common migrants around there (Wryneck, Redstarts etc) and around La Gola this am (including wood warbler & spot fly in addition to those...
  15. Ilya Maclean

    Mallorca 2016

    Hi Cristina - yes it was me that called in at the centre earlier. Nice to meet you. Happy to do a description. If it hangs around until tomorrow I'll try to get a photo.
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