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  1. Richard Dale

    Not sure if this is a Chiffchaff ???

    See attached, Seawatcher. I've labelled the first six primaries. Chiffchaff has emarginations on P3-6, Willow Warbler on P3-5 only. The point where the pale leading edge of the feather apparently 'disappears' is the emargination - on a feather without an emargination you would be able to see...
  2. Richard Dale

    Bird from Sardinia

    Woodlark. As well as its structure and the visible white tips to the primary coverts already noted, compare the face pattern of the two species - more contrast in Woodlark, with a dark moustachial stripe and lateral throat stripe as well as the paler mark below the eye, all shown by this bird.
  3. Richard Dale

    Mystery Butcherbird, Western Australia

    I'm not sure you need to find an image exactly matching yours - given that the bird is clearly a butcherbird, and that only two species occur in SW Australia, it must be either pied or grey butcherbird. Given that only one of these has a black chest (in adult plumage), and that this species has...
  4. Richard Dale

    Perth, Australia, bird song ID request

    I'm not a Western Australian, but I spend a fair bit of time in that part of the world. I've heard this call from Western Yellow Robins a few times, most recently in November 2023, so it's still relatively fresh in my mind.
  5. Richard Dale

    Blackbird, sex/age ?. Kiruna, N. Sweden today.

    Hi Tarzzz, male blackbirds, following the post-juvenile moult, are black, so this is a female. We can't see enough of the wing or precise shape of the tail feathers to age it with confidence.
  6. Richard Dale

    Brabant Netherlands - Common Chiffchaff or ...?

    It's got dark legs, a dark bill, a classic chiffchaff face pattern (especially the stand-out white lower eye-ring contrasting with the dark cheek), its wings look short to me, its primary projection (inferred from likely position of longest tertial, hidden from view) is fine for chiffchaff. No...
  7. Richard Dale

    Sparrowhawk, French Alps 18 March

    It is a 1st-winter / 2nd calendar year bird, so entirely in the juvenile plumage it fledged in. It will start to acquire its adult plumage at its next moult (during the summer). Juvenile sparrowhawks are at their most rufous when fresh, but here the rufous fringes on many of the larger coverts...
  8. Richard Dale

    Goshawk or Sparrowhawk? (Norfolk, UK)

    Goshawk all day long. Bulging secondaries and narrow hand. Head/neck are foreshortened in the second image as the bird is looking down.
  9. Richard Dale

    Red Kite or ....?

    It's a young bird - 2nd calendar year, so not quite as red as an adult red kite would be. Note the pale tips to greater coverts and relatively pale vent, concolorous with the underside of the tail.
  10. Richard Dale

    Falcon near Stockholm, Sweden (pic)

    Not a falcon - a goshawk.
  11. Richard Dale

    A predated bird (just feathers) today SWest Essex

    Mostly plain brown flight feathers, buff/white underparts with spots, a few rufous feathers - Redwing? What could be part of the head (with what is potentially a strong supercilium) at the top of the first picture and the lower mandible at the bottom right of the second. Tail feathers and outer...
  12. Richard Dale

    Banks of the Dodder river in Ireland

    It is absolutely a female.
  13. Richard Dale

    UK,, wondering what bird these feathers came from? found them in my garden and can not figure this out

    Certainly not kestrel - the dark markings on kestrel feathers do not merge on edges of the feathers like most of these do.
  14. Richard Dale

    Bird of Prey - Middleback Ranges, South Australia

    Not a whistling kite - young birds show heavily spotted upperparts and have an unbarred tail, without the subterminal band and pale tip we see here.
  15. Richard Dale

    Bird of Prey - Middleback Ranges, South Australia

    That's a Little Eagle.
  16. Richard Dale

    Is this possibly a snowy owl ?

    The video shows an unambiguous black-headed gull to me - pointed wingtips, flight action, plumage and behaviour all seem fine. Certainly lacks the front-heavy appearance and characteristic flight of a barn owl throughout.
  17. Richard Dale

    ID pls, Western Australia

    Grey shrike-thrush.
  18. Richard Dale

    Two passerines (warbler/wheatear?), Lycabettus Hill, Athens, 25 September

    Nope. Coal tit with head tilted to one side, note typical black smudge at side of breast.
  19. Richard Dale

    Two passerines (warbler/wheatear?), Lycabettus Hill, Athens, 25 September

    Second photo is a coal tit. First a bit blurry to be sure but most likely willow warbler - primary projection looks long, leg colour and impression of face pattern look right.
  20. Richard Dale

    Two questions from Trondheim, Norway, Sept 15: Sprawk or Goshawk? and which 1C "Comic" tern?

    It is not a goshawk. See Tom's comment above for a diagnostic reason that it is a sparrowhawk.
  21. Richard Dale

    ID?

    I agree with Ken that the extent of the primary projection can probably be seen, but I disagree with his conclusion. See attached image and note the dark shadow cast on to the upper tail coverts/rump by the wing - the primary projection looks to be almost equal to the tertial length and...
  22. Richard Dale

    Spotted or Common Sandpiper?

    Both adults and juveniles have a complete, or mostly complete, post-breeding/post-juvenile moult, respectively, though typically this occurs from October, on the wintering grounds. Adults can, however, sometimes begin this moult, including the tail and tertials and, occasionally, up to six...
  23. Richard Dale

    Chiff Chaff or Willow Warbler please

    Pete beat me to it, but this looks like a clear chiffchaff (face pattern - dark upper ear coverts contrasting with lower eye-ring, weak supercilium, dark legs and bill, primary projection - about half the tertial length). Be careful with judging emarginations on a closed wing - the emargination...
  24. Richard Dale

    Any thoughts on this warbler?

    It is an Acrocephelus, though on the shorter-billed side, presumably reed but potentially marsh - not a chiffchaff because of the lack of a dark loral line, etc. I'm not sure we can see enough of the undertail to be confident about the extent of the undertail coverts, shaded and foreshortened as...
  25. Richard Dale

    Can someone identify this bird please? Is this a finch? If so, does anybody know what kind?

    Whatever the location, it is 100% a chaffinch.
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