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Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:52 pm
by Thunder02
Hi all, being doing some bird watching this past December, took a few pics,

So here we go:
Malachite Sunbird.jpg
Long-tailed Widowbird.jpg
Crested Barbet.jpg
Amur Falcon.jpg
Now here's the thing, need help with the following bird:
Juv.jpg

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:00 pm
by Mud Dog
Not so big on birds (the feathered kind :D: ) but it looks a bit like a Lanner falcon, just a little too light in colouring. It might just give you a reference point in Google to find out what it really is. :winkx:

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:04 pm
by Thunder02
I was walking around an old farm house and came across an barn, as I walked in, I upset this guy:
Western Barn Owl.jpg
I eventually stood just outside the large barn doors and he took flight to a nearby forest, he was kind enough to sit still for a few minutes so I could get the camera set up and take some pics.

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:05 pm
by Mud Dog
Just out of curiosity, I Googled lanner falcon images and see that they vary dramatically in colouring and markings. This one looks similar ....

lanner.jpg
lanner.jpg (10.67 KiB) Viewed 9111 times

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:07 pm
by Mud Dog
You wrote:I was walking around an old farm house and came across an barn, as I walked in, I upset this guy:
That's why it's called a barn owl. :D:

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:14 pm
by Thunder02
Mud Dog wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:00 pm Not so big on birds (the feathered kind :D: ) but it looks a bit like a Lanner falcon, just a little too light in colouring. It might just give you a reference point in Google to find out what it really is. :winkx:
Was thinking the same, but the bird's head is too light, it is a juvenile and was among the Amur Falcons, but even their young have grey heads. So this one has me stumped :crazy:

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:16 pm
by Thunder02
Mud Dog wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:07 pm
You wrote:I was walking around an old farm house and came across an barn, as I walked in, I upset this guy:
That's why it's called a barn owl. :D:
:clap: :clap: :clap:
But why Western, was in the east?

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:49 pm
by Mud Dog
Thunder02 wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:14 pm
Mud Dog wrote: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:00 pm Not so big on birds (the feathered kind :D: ) but it looks a bit like a Lanner falcon, just a little too light in colouring. It might just give you a reference point in Google to find out what it really is. :winkx:
Was thinking the same, but the bird's head is too light, it is a juvenile and was among the Amur Falcons, but even their young have grey heads. So this one has me stumped :crazy:
Look at how light the one is in the pic I posted .... the head too ...... much lighter than the ones I have seen. And then being a juvenile it could still darken as it ages.

But then I'm no expert. :D:

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:06 pm
by Mud Dog
Just looked up the distribution of the western barn owl and it includes the northern regions of RSA ......

"Distribution

Its range includes all of Europe (except Fennoscandia and Malta), and most of Africa apart from the Sahara.

In continental Europe the distance travelled is greater, commonly somewhere between 50 and 100 kilometres (31 and 62 mi) but exceptionally 1,500 km (932 mi), with ringed birds from the Netherlands ending up in Spain and in Ukraine. Movements in the African continent include 1,000 km (621 mi) from Senegambia to Sierra Leone and up to 579 km (360 mi) within South Africa."


580km into RSA is quite a bit. Where was this?

Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 8:33 pm
by Ryperd
Beautiful pictures, Neil! Not every day you get to see a Barn Owl, especially during the day.

Your immature falcon is intriguing, but my guess is it’s a juvenile Amur. The blotching is unusually defined (usually it’s more streaked), but I think the washed out look could be due to excessive feather wear.

Lanner is also a compelling option, but the cere and eye ring look too orange to me (usually grey or at best pale yellow in Lanner). Also, if it was hanging out with the Amur Falcons, the chances are a lot better that it’s one of them than something different. Western Red-footed Falcon will occasionally hang out with Amurs, but their juveniles have even less distinct blotching underneath.

Here’s a picture of a juvenile Amur looking quite similar to yours:
Image


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Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 9:09 pm
by Dowe Koos
Hallo Rudi, het jy die foto ge-photoshop. :celebrate: :lmao:
Sien jy ken jou voëls.

Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:21 pm
by Ryperd
Dowe Koos wrote:Hallo Rudi, het jy die foto ge-photoshop. :celebrate: :lmao:
Sien jy ken jou voëls.
Haha, nee, net iets wat ek op die internet gekry het. Ek het al soveel meganiese goed hier geleer, ek is bly ek kan darem iets bydra! :lmao:


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Re: Any Twitchers out there ?

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 10:28 am
by Thunder02
Ryperd wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:21 pm
Dowe Koos wrote:Hallo Rudi, het jy die foto ge-photoshop. :celebrate: :lmao:
Sien jy ken jou voëls.
Haha, nee, net iets wat ek op die internet gekry het. Ek het al soveel meganiese goed hier geleer, ek is bly ek kan darem iets bydra! :lmao:


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Hi Rudi, thanks for the input, I agree with you and going to tick it off as a juvenile. I was unable to get it's call, which usually helps a lot with the identification of the specie.