Struggling to identify!!

Discussion of sightings in and around the Chorley area.

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Mike Graham
Buzzard
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Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:00 pm
Location: Hoghton

Struggling to identify!!

Post by Mike Graham »

For the last few mornings at a shallow pond near me there has a been a bird (sometimes 2 or 3) that I have struggled to identify.

When I get near the mallards take fright and alert the elusive bird(s) to tak off. It is slightly larger than a staring, it is dark brown / black with a white underside belly (not wings) and white on the underside of the tail feathers. It takes off towards scrubland with a high pitched “E E” repeated every 3-4 seconds. It is not a duck!!

Any ideas please? The RSPB bird identifier has not helped.
MarkF
Raven
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Re: Struggling to identify!!

Post by MarkF »

Snipe?

If it's not, then to tackle the RSPB site from a different angle, can we narrow it down to one of the three categories?
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildl ... be-family/
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildl ... kes-coots/
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildl ... halaropes/
Leonard Poxon
Little Egret
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Re: Struggling to identify!!

Post by Leonard Poxon »

Green Sandpiper perhaps?
Neil Southworth
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Re: Struggling to identify!!

Post by Neil Southworth »

I'd go with Green Sandpiper as well.
ianball
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Re: Struggling to identify!!

Post by ianball »

The white under the tail standing out suggests juvenile Moorhen to me. They are whiter on the chest and belly than adults and do have a more high pitched call.
Mike Graham
Buzzard
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Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:00 pm
Location: Hoghton

Re: Struggling to identify!!

Post by Mike Graham »

Thanks gents, the responses are much appreciated.

I had an early, and very wet, walk out early this morning and recorded the song which matches the green sandpiper song on the RSPB site; there were 3 of them this morning and they flew off before I could get the best sighting to check the beak shape.

So my follow up question is do we have many sightings in the Chorley district area please?

These are on a shallow pond on the Hoghton Estate about 25m from a public footpath. Luckily the footpath is not frequented very much apart from the occasional dog walker and the pond is rarely visited. A neighbouring pond is where I have seen a Kingfisher on a couple of occasions as well as a regular heron and a pair of coots.
gary lilley
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Re: Struggling to identify!!

Post by gary lilley »

Green sandpipers are regulars in the chorley area ( seen in nearly every month of the year ) there regular spring and autumn visitors and winter most years , eccleston is a bit of a hotspot with the syd brook and yarrow being favourite sites , withnell fold flashes held 2 last year .
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