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

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  1. L

    Bean Goose - Poland

    These seem to be well within the variation of Tundra Bean Geese to me. Bills like these occur (at least at my local patch) in every 50+ individuals or so. Cheers, Lützen Portengen
  2. L

    Tiaga or Tundra, near Beidaihe, east coast China 3 October 2019

    To me these pictures seem to show fairly squat looking birds, with shortish necks, shortish bills, and rounded heads, all suggesting serrirostris. Pictures like this can be deceiving, but I am struggling to see any features that suggest middendorffii? Cheers, Lützen Portengen
  3. L

    White wagtail or British Pied Wagtail in Switzerland

    I think is impossible to say whether this is a Pied Wagtail or not based on these pictures alone. Even though the flanks seem a bit dusky, that is not a really conclusive fieldmark (about 20% of White Wagtails have dusky flanks according to the paper I have linked to below), and the quality of...
  4. L

    yellow wagtails flavissima - identification criteria

    Flavissima is not just flava with a yellowish supercilium, and there seems to be very little else suggesting flavissima. I agree with Roland, that while some yellow in the supercilium and the presence of yellowish/greenish feathers on the crown/nape are generally regarded as evidence of...
  5. L

    Tundra vs taiga bean goose

    Taiga Bean Geese for me, for exactly the reasons that Alexander mentions. The left bird is very likely to be a Taiga Bean Goose too, but one that I would have left unidentified if on its own (it still looks better for Taiga than Tundra to me in this picture). It is likely a young bird, although...
  6. L

    Bean Geese - Poland

    That last bird looks like a rossicus to me (a mostly orange bill is only a supporting feature for fabalis). Agree with (probable/likely) fabalis for the right-hand bird in your first picture (looks long-necked and rather slender- and long-billed), but difficult to be 100% sure from a single...
  7. L

    Goose ID help needed - Belgium

    I think you can see the black nail quite clearly on the picture where the bird is standing. The basal area of the bill usually shows more extensive black markings, but this varies just as it does for Tundra Bean Geese. Lützen
  8. L

    Goose ID help needed - Belgium

    The colours seem to be off and I can't see the tail well enough, but based on the short neck, rounded head, and short bill this looks like a Pink-footed Goose to me. I guess the confusion is with Tundra Bean Goose, as the bill colour appears a bit yellowish in the first picture? Cheers, Lützen...
  9. L

    Taiga or Tundra (Ottawa/E.Ontario/Canada)?

    To be honest, I don't see any features that suggest it is not a Tundra Bean Goose. I see a rather compact, greyish, short-necked, short-billed bird with a rounded/triangular-shaped (rather than wedge-shaped) head. I would be surprised if the additional/better pictures would change that view...
  10. L

    Greater white front / Tundra bean goose mixed pair with one young

    Not for me. I accept that a mixed pair doesn't equate to hybrid offspring, but I think I would have called this as a probable hybrid even on its own or with only one of the parents present. Lützen Portengen
  11. L

    Bean-goose ID please, tks

    I have no experience with either subspecies (middendorffi or serrirostris), but I have seen pictures of very similar birds that were called middendorffi. I would expect serrirostris to have a somewhat shorter bill and neck than this bird on average, but not sure how extensive the variation is in...
  12. L

    Greater white front / Tundra bean goose mixed pair with one young

    I would have noted this down as a hybrid Tundra Bean x Greater Whitefronted, even without the parents being present. Bill colour is extremely variable in this hybrid, but it is often the first thing I notice: You've probably seen these, but...
  13. L

    yellow wagtail , ssp ?

    There is quite a bit of variation in flava, at least that is what I would call it. Birds with darkish ear coverts and cheeks are not really that unusual: https://oudeversie.waarneming.nl/waarneming/view/188583360 https://oudeversie.waarneming.nl/waarneming/view/188636017...
  14. L

    yellow wagtail , ssp ?

    For me the male is within the normal variation of flava. The other bird looks like it might be a Water Pipit. Lützen
  15. L

    Limosa limosa islandica? - Belgium

    Doesn't look like a nominate BT-Godwit to me. Males can be somewhat tricky, but at this time of the year most limosa males are still rather pale-ish. I would put my money on an islandica, probably a female. Lützen Portengen
  16. L

    Greenland White-fronted Goose?

    I think this bird is well within the normal variation of the nominate subspecies. The bill colour doesn't strike me as particular orangey, to me it looks rather pinkish, albeit perhaps a little more deep/intense than usual. The amount of belly barring is really not that unusual and the (somewhat...
  17. L

    Bean Geese or Pink-footed Geese (Netherlands, Flevopolder)

    I have attached 2 pictures of flying Tundra Bean Geese that I shot in low-light conditions. As you can see the upper-wings tend to appear rather pale grey on most birds, and even paler than on Frank’s pictures, where the viewing angle, distance, and lighting all seem to have been considerably...
  18. L

    Puzzling Goose (hybrid?), Rostock, NE Germany, Feb 2020

    Most of the hybrids I have seen were 1st winter birds, but the few returning individuals have all shown very limited (and mostly no) barring, a bit like this bird (3rd photo): https://oudeversie.waarneming.nl/waarneming/view/73553468 Recent phylogenetic studies also suggest closer genetic...
  19. L

    Puzzling Goose (hybrid?), Rostock, NE Germany, Feb 2020

    Me neither, but it can be really difficult to see in late winter. If it was just the single (non-hybrid) GWFG with Tundra Beans that just might be the mother/father, in which case the hybrid would likely be a first winter bird. Lützen
  20. L

    Puzzling Goose (hybrid?), Rostock, NE Germany, Feb 2020

    The orange bill is a well-known feature of this hybrid (although pinkish bills seem to be slightly more common), and it is therefore a known pitfall for Greenland GWFG in the Netherlands (for the unwary). Lützen Portengen
  21. L

    Puzzling Goose (hybrid?), Rostock, NE Germany, Feb 2020

    I am not really familiar with those, but I would expect a more Greylag-like structure like this: https://oudeversie.waarneming.nl/waarneming/view/134984162 Also, hybrids GWFG x TBG seem to be much more common than GWFG x Greylag, or so it appears here in the Netherlands. Lützen
  22. L

    Bean Geese or Pink-footed Geese (Netherlands, Flevopolder)

    To be honest, I don’t think there are any Pink Footed Geese (PFG) in these pictures. PFG are quite scarce in the general area where these were taken, so even though I know one was reported from that specific area on that date, I still think the prior odds are quite low. Not sure whether Frank...
  23. L

    Puzzling Goose (hybrid?), Rostock, NE Germany, Feb 2020

    Yes, the one to the right definitely looks the part for a Greater Whitefronted Goose x Tundra Bean Goose hybrid. They can be quite variable though and many are more subtle than this one. No Taiga Beans here though. Lützen
  24. L

    Cork Irleand : Kinsale First winter Motacilla alba ?

    To me it looks like a yarrellii (Pied Wagtail) rather than an alba (White Wagtail), although I appreciate that most authorities regard these as the same species (White Wagtail). Lützen Portengen
  25. L

    Dark Egret from Spain

    Some of the references from the Dutch Birding paper linked to below may be interesting: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321668053_Probable_hybrids_Little_Egret_x_Indian_Reef_Heron_in_India_and_Sri_Lanka The authors of the paper claim that "records of undoubted dark-plumaged Little...
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