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    RSPB proposes cuts?

    There is a great deal I could say about the state of the RSPB but choose not to in order to limit damage to a struggling conservation body. I used to hold the organisation in high esteem but long personal experience with them has left me shaking my head in disbelief at the absolute state of...
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    Most contested vagrant-escape cases?

    Read an article somewhere by (IIRC) Keith Vinicombe regarding this bird and the likelihood that it was of wild rather than captive origin. Intriguing record for sure!
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    Recommendations for 7x birding binoculars

    I was browsing at a large optics store a while back - window shopping really for a possible purchase(s) in the future - and tried many types of optics, from the so called alpha models to budget versions. I mentioned to one of the staff that I was interested in something small, lightweight and...
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    What do I need to know about buying a Scope?

    With all optics… do your research but just FORGET THE HYPE and try as many different scopes as you can. Get to a decent retail outlet of possible and try them all out in low light conditions eg cloudy day or at dusk. Everything looks great on the sunshine but the better performers will stand...
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    ID Required South Stack Anglesey please

    Definitely Risso’s Dolphin - great find! Used to see them regularly when I lived up at the Stack. Bottle-nosed’ also regular there but Common Dolphin are uncommon in the area.
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    ID Handbook of European Birds - thoughts, comments thread

    Many thanks for the review and feedback Winterdune. Going to be checking this one out soon.
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    ID Handbook of European Birds - thoughts, comments thread

    I’ve not had a chance to check this new publication out yet. Wondering how it compares to the Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds by Shirihai & Svenson? Is it strictly a European handbook or does it cover the wider region covered in the first guide. Do I need both?
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    Near misses on bird trips

    Ha I’m getting flashbacks to the time I broke the world long jump record one particularly cold winter’s day on the River Clwyd at Rhyl. Having been absorbed in watching a Yank Wigeon on the saltmarsh I suddenly become a little discombobulated having realised that the tide was coming in very fast...
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    Your silliest/most entertaining/unlikely birding accomplishments

    Many years ago I was out mountain biking with friends in the Peak District National Park. A cold, grey autumn morning dodging puddles. As we headed across one trail my mates realised that the wet pasture had a few interesting mushrooms growing there including lots of Liberty Caps (Psilocybe...
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    Honey buzzards North Wales

    There are no well known HB sites in Wales such as at several of the English raptor viewpoints. Odd pairs scattered through huge areas of mainly forestry in the uplands but you will literally be searching for a needle in a haystack. In the last 28 years I’ve only seen one breeding bird and no...
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    Fair Isle Bird Obs Plans

    I sincerely hope that a comprehensive sprinkler system is fitted in the new building to prevent any future accidents and that other isolated observatories ensure such fire prevention measures are retrofitted/installed if possible. No doubt FIBO will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.
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    Underwatched areas of the Yorkshire Coast

    Many thanks for the tips people!
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    Underwatched areas of the Yorkshire Coast

    Many thanks for the suggestions. James, I remember seeing Lapland Buntings in stubble fields at Barmston in the mid-80’s (they might even have been lifers at the time). As you say there’s a shocking lack of cover along many sections of the coast as it looks to be ploughed to the cliff top...
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    Underwatched areas of the Yorkshire Coast

    Greetings So I’m contemplating a trip east (and I don’t mean as far as Rhyl for a change...) and am thinking of heading to the Yorkshire coast. Although I don’t mind the company of a few birders large crowds really aren’t my thing and I love the frisson of excitement/disappointment that...
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    Keela jackets

    I bought a Keela jacket 20 years ago (can’t remember model but some DWR type finish) and was impressed with the price being cheaper than other shells. The model I had was on the warm side but not overbearingly; great from autumn through to spring and has served me well in the mountains during...
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    Filthy twitchers - which birds do you regret NOT going for?

    That House Finch breaks my heart still.
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    Wing for ID, Flamborough, England

    Fulmar has to be a good candidate. FYI I came across this German website devoted to feathers and ID recently (with a bit of help from Google translate) the articles are interesting. https://www.featherbase.info/en/species/fulmarus/glacialis/all
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    Red Kite UK influx

    Interesting. I recall seeing c30 2nd-calendar year Red Kites once at Uwchmynydd on the tip of the Lleyn Peninsula, Gwynedd in late May or early June. I’d always see smaller numbers around this time but that passage was exceptional. Always associated with settled weather, south/easterlies and a...
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    Useful Birding Kit

    John You know as well as I that flavour is crucial when it comes to food but surely it isn’t the only reason to eat something? I’ve had a few Fairtrade/organic drinks and snacks over the years that I wouldn’t buy again as they tasted horrible. But it’s perfectly possible these days to purchase...
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    Useful Birding Kit

    There are plenty of really tasty Fairtrade snacks out there (eg Ubuntu cola is well tasty!) and studies show that lifting people out of poverty simply by giving them a decent price for their labour and products can have a really positive environmental impact. Things like shade-grown coffee are...
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    UK Legality of building a hide on Council land

    Go for it - but use pallets/a screen rather than building something like that RSPB thing at Titchwell. Maybe worth thinking about getting the footpath officially reopened if it’s a quiet area before some landowner decides to whack barbed wire across and claim it’s not been used for ages.
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    Birding in the mountains

    The best tip I ever had regarding upland birding is to (get comfortable somewhere and) spend ages scanning the horizon. Hopefully you’ll pick something up eventually. Good Birding Andrew
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    Straight or angled scope

    It a a personal thing. I prefer my scopes straight. Seems easier for me. I know a birder who had to visit the doctor with some kind of trapped nerve in his shoulder through spending hours hunched over his angled Leica while seawatching. Artists find angled scopes much easier to look straight...
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    Sound Recorder Advice

    Many thanks for the detailed response Iveljay - some really useful comments in your reply :t: As you say there are many variables to consider - am still working through and revising my ‘ranked list of desirables’ as you put it. Although several of the well regarded sound recorders are...
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    Two fieldscopes on one tripod - my solution...

    I heard of a sea watcher somewhere with a similar rig. One side held the scope which was used to scan the waves and the other a big lens or video camera focussed in the same area so they could immediately record anything of interest without having to mess around for too long switching from one...
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