Thursday 18 April 2013

Loud voice for a small fella!

To say today is blustery would be a massive understatement! I could barely walk in a straight line during this mornings dog walk! If it wasn't quite so windy and there weren't so many clouds it would be a wonderfully warm spring day! Anyhow I still managed to spot our "patch" marsh harrier which was a joy to watch swooping and riding on the strong gusts of wind. Heaven knows how the smaller birds manage to make any successful journeys in these practically gale force winds! The trees were creaking and groaning which I found a bit worrying whilst walking through the woods!

Anyway here are a few shots from the past few days...

Would anybody be able to tell me if this is a mistle or song thrush? I'm not great at distinguishing between the two!! 


A couple of green woodies foraging amongst horse poo!

Distant view of our local marsh harrier

Little wren hanging on for dear life as it is blown about in the eucalyptus tree!

Winner of the how wide can you open your beak competition!



How rude!
I could (and do) spend hours watching these tiny little birds which are bursting with character! I can hear him belting out his melodious territorial song as I write this and I struggle to imagine how this minute creature that weighs only 9 grams, can physically create such a loud sound!

4 comments:

  1. Awesome wren Lou :)

    Looks like a mistle thrush to me; hard to tell though!

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    1. Thanks Tom :) It flew before I could get a more decent photo!

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  2. Hi Lou, I would say Mistle Thrush but stand to be corrected. The Mistle is larger, greyer and the breast markings, especially the lower ones, are roundish blotches rather than arrow shaped as in the Song Thrush. Of course when people say one bird is larger than another my first thought is that in that case you need to see the two side by side ;-)

    Anyway, I'm glad you managed to stay on your feet! It has been the same here and we have had heavy downpours too, some of hail! You had some nice sightings. Very envious of the Marsh Harrier!! I'm not likely to ever see one on my patch or anywhere near me. Love the Wren photos, especially the 'open beak winner' :-)

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    1. Thank you Jan :) I saw another few Mistles this weekend and your identification tips helped a lot!!

      Hope you had a great weekend!

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