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  1. Stephen Dunstan

    Increasing dissent amongst birders regards taxonomic changes and seeking an alternative listing authority?

    I 'found' a Green-winged Teal in Dublin on Saturday. It turned out that it had been seen there for a few weeks, which was reassuring as my observation was from a moving ferry! Anyway my point is that it didn't feel any less enjoyable as a birding experience because it has been 'lumped', it was...
  2. Stephen Dunstan

    Male hybrid Mallard x ? Casablanca, Morocco, 16/03/2025

    This may well be correct but I thought intersex birds were females developing male features and the real giveaway was a female like bill, this bird has a bill which doesn't look female.
  3. Stephen Dunstan

    Visiting Outer Hebrides and St Kilda in August 2025.

    There are at least three field guides that only cover species occurring in Scotland, which might help narrow down options. Looking at the RSPB guide on Amazon it doesn't include things like Cirl Bunting and Dartford Warbler for example, and it was revised in 2018 so should be fairly current.
  4. Stephen Dunstan

    Cormorants - River Thames, Limehouse/Shadwell, London, March 2025

    Here is a good reference on the distinctions, and the fact that some are less clear cut.
  5. Stephen Dunstan

    Cormorants - River Thames, Limehouse/Shadwell, London, March 2025

    There are two subspecies of Great Cormorant we see - carbo and sinensis. Sinensis were visitors from the Continent but both now nest here. White head and neck feathering was thought to be a sinensis diagnostic feature but it isn't now. In London both subspecies are possible but you need close...
  6. Stephen Dunstan

    Somerset UK id black/ dark grey bird please

    Does anyone ever see a Bullfinch in flight and think it looks bigger than a Blackbird?
  7. Stephen Dunstan

    UK White Storks

    Hi Phil, Are these birds ringed? For more years than I care to remember the issue with potentially wild White Storks in the north of England is that both the Harewood House, Leeds and more recently Dalton-in-Furness birds have been a mix of ringed and unringed. Stephen
  8. Stephen Dunstan

    UK White Storks

    I would say it's less odd now than it was. Now White Storks are being released elsewhere it feels less of an issue that the Dalton birds can wander as far as Scotland unchecked. Previously a zoo that had been prosecuted for not keeping its population of Sacred Ibis in check was being allowed...
  9. Stephen Dunstan

    Duck hybrid, February 2025, Austria

    I think it's clear we aren't going to get a definitive answer but you've highlighted one similar feature of these two birds when there appear to be more differences. Joern has detailed these better than I could. The second bird looks like a pure Pochard and the original bird doesn't.
  10. Stephen Dunstan

    Duck hybrid, February 2025, Austria

    I also haven't seen one like this. Why would an aberrant Pochard have a different bill pattern? I found the Tufted x Pochard below on a bird hybrid website which looks fairly similar.
  11. Stephen Dunstan

    Summer birding trip to UK

    There's a station at Bempton on the Scarborough-Hull line. There are stops at Filey and Bridlington as well, so it does give options for a number of sites in the area.
  12. Stephen Dunstan

    Curlew and whimbrel in the UK

    You want to recreate a group of waders being flushed? If they're coming in to land there are several Whimbrel roosts in spring that might be worth trying. Unfortunately the largest one in Lancashire is not public access.
  13. Stephen Dunstan

    A rare sighting of a cresting tit?

    As Jos says if you don't normally get Coal Tits on your feeders this sounds like one.
  14. Stephen Dunstan

    Hello, I'd like to share an image of a bird, unusual for my garden. Not the best image, taken quickly.But any identification please. Sandpiper?

    They nest in Lancs and their numbers are augmented by an influx of Scandinavian birds, but they aren't as common as they used to be.
  15. Stephen Dunstan

    Pintail hybrid

    I am not sure what a Pintail x Muscovy would look like as opposed to a Mallard x Muscovy, but a Pintail x Mallard wouldn't have a tail like that.
  16. Stephen Dunstan

    Eastern Stonechat - Lincolnshire

    Well that escalated quickly...
  17. Stephen Dunstan

    Eastern Stonechat - Lincolnshire

    I don't know where you're going with this but I am always surprised how many eminent birders are current and former contributors on here, and others lurk but don't post.
  18. Stephen Dunstan

    Pipit sp

    It's a Rock Pipit, presumably Scandinavian. How does it stick out like a sore thumb, in my experience they're quite variable but this doesn't look particularly unusual.
  19. Stephen Dunstan

    Melanitta Fusca and Melanitta Deglandi difference ?

    And this which is about a female. https://www.birdguides.com/articles/britain-ireland/rarity-finders-white-winged-scoter-in-co-mayo/
  20. Stephen Dunstan

    Melanitta Fusca and Melanitta Deglandi difference ?

    This whilst mostly about a first winter drake includes stuff that may help. https://www.birdguides.com/articles/rare-birds/rarity-finders-american-white-winged-scoter-on-shetland/
  21. Stephen Dunstan

    Extinction of the slender-billed curlew

    Let's not even go there regarding the 1998 one...
  22. Stephen Dunstan

    Wrens - east coast of Scotland

    Fairly unlikely would be my view. First because Wrens aren't generally long distant migrants so not many come here from Europe. Secondly because the Wrens most likely to appear different in the field would be darker (Shetland, Fair Isle, Faroes), the difference between mainland British and...
  23. Stephen Dunstan

    Melanitta Fusca and Melanitta Deglandi difference ?

    Indeed, I just wasn't sure why it wasn't part of the question and was trying to hazard a guess...
  24. Stephen Dunstan

    Melanitta Fusca and Melanitta Deglandi difference ?

    The males aren't that difficult seen as well as in these pictures. The bill colours are different, as are the bill shapes and the white extends high up behind the eye on deglandi. Viewing a distant bird on the sea may be altogether different. Females are tougher and not sure the picture of...
  25. Stephen Dunstan

    Former member

    Yes there is. I guess unless the admins can see your previous history you may fall foul of the selling rules for a little while, something about being a member for a period and possibly having made a number of other posts before selling something.
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