Snowbuntings on Beach

[Olybirder]

I had heard reports of some Snow Buntings on the beach locally, so last week we went to see if we could find them. We discovered a flock of over 50 birds feeding on the beach. As there was no cover it was impossible to approach very close with spooking them into taking flight. Another complication was the number of dogs which were being exercised there. Every so often one would come bounding up and the birds would take off, circle a couple of times and land about 100 metres away. It was quite strenuous keeping up with them but well worth the effort. They are stunning little birds and these are the first shots I have ever taken of them. The last image shows about a quarter of the flock.

Ron

[Guest]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Cute little birds not unlike sparrows, Ron. Birds in general rarely fail to spot you.

[OM USer]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Some great shots. I especially like #1.

[Olybirder]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Thanks for the comments. It would have been nice to get closer and get some detailed portraits of single birds but they were too twitchy. As soon as one flew off, they all left as a flock.

The other problem was that their cryptic plumage is perfect for blending in with the pebbles, where they spent much of their time feeding. You could see the flock land but then they completely disappeared. I spent much of my time pointing the camera at the pebbles, where I could see signs of movement, and hoping that there were some Snow Buntings there.

A local ringing group has been putting seed down to encourage them to stay in the area. Many of the birds are now sporting shiny new rings which is disappointing in some ways but, hopefully, some useful research will come from the exercise.

Ron

[Ian]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Interesting - why are they called 'snow' buntings and are they related to sparrows?

Ian

[sapper]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Pretty birds, like your pics too.

[Olybirder]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Interesting - why are they called 'snow' buntings and are they related to sparrows?

Ian

Hi Ian. They are Buntings, which is a different family to our Sparrows but, apparently, they are related to American Sparrows. They are slightly larger than House Sparrows, about the same size as Chaffinches and Greenfinches.

They are called Snow Buntings as they spend our summer around the arctic in Scandinavia, Greenland and Alaska, where they breed. A few pairs also breed in the north of Scotland. Their breeding plumage is a lot whiter than the winter plumage, so that they can blend in with the snow. In the winter they migrate south and can be seen in Scotland and the East coast of England. I have seen the odd one before but never a flock of 50 plus birds.

Ron

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Ron, You are always bringing us fab images of birds I do not even know the breed name I so so enjoy them and learning ... these are quite spectacular - I looked at the exif but could not see Lens info would you oblige ?

PS our friends who are seriously "into ornithology" shared with us their copy of "Berkshire Birds - 5 years" I think was the title ... its an amazing book on their birdlife - have you seen such ? and do Norfolk have similar ? I have heard of Minsmere lots and we recd RSPB Membership for Christmas this year ? so may visit Minsmere this year

Thank You for sharing so much bird info and fab images Happy New Year

ps Ron, if you want a copy I think he gets heavy discount so let me know I think he did the data collection formats for the 5 years study

[Olybirder]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Thanks Chevvy and a Happy New Year to you too. These shots were taken with the 75-300 II lens. I have been using this lens exclusively for bird photography recently, as I have a problem with my right arm and find the 50-200 SWD is hard work at the moment.

I downloaded Exif Viewer for my Firefox browser (on a Mac) and right clicking on the images in this thread gives loads of exif information, right down to the serial numbers of my lens and camera!

I don't actually know the titles of books about birding in Norfolk but I am sure there are several as Norfolk is, arguably, the best county in the UK for birding. I live on the Norfolk/Suffolk border and recently have been doing most of my birding locally, so I visited Minismere on only a couple of occasions last year. They have done a lot of work there recently and I was a little disappointed on my last visits, as it didn't seem quite as good as it was in the past.

I have found a couple of websites which give daily reports on the bird sightings in my immediate area and these are invaluable for knowing what is about. I am sure there are similar websites which cover your part of the country.

Ron

[Jim Ford]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

If you sit near the cairn on the summit of Ben Macdhui in the Scottish Cairngorms in the Summer, the resident snow buntings will approach quite close for food scraps.

I don't have my copy of one to hand, but here's a link to one I posted on WAB a few years ago:

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/70726/ppuser/22241

You should be able to view it as a guest. It was taken with a 40-150mm on an E500.

Jim

[Olybirder]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

If you sit near the cairn on the summit of Ben Macdhui in the Scottish Cairngorms in the Summer, the resident snow buntings will approach quite close for food scraps.

I don't have my copy of one to hand, but here's a link to one I posted on WAB a few years ago:

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/70726/ppuser/22241

You should be able to view it as a guest. It was taken with a 40-150mm on an E500.

Jim

Wow, that's a bit closer than mine Jim. What a terrific shot. I had heard that they like to hang about near the outside tables at eating places up there. I have found the same thing with Scottish Chaffinches, having them hopping about on the table and feeding off our plates. I see you also have a splendid shot of a Ptarmigan on that site too.

Ron

[Jim Ford]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

I see you also have a splendid shot of a Ptarmigan on that site too.

There's another one in this image. See if you can spot it!

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php/photo/83657/ppuser/22241

Jim

[Olybirder]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

Sorry Jim, I get a message saying " You do not have permission to view the images in this category."

Ron

[Wee man]

Re: Snowbuntings on Beach

As above first is nice close shot.