Tag: Tim Melling

Tim writes: the Ural Owl is a close relative of Tawny Owl, but it is much larger with a much longer tail.  The owl is about half a metre long with a wingspan well over a metre (<134cm), and weighing more than a kilogram.  Tawny Owl by comparison has a wingspan just under a metre…

Tim writes: I managed to capture the moment that this Slavonian Grebe opened its bill.  It didn’t seem to be for any particular reason as it didn’t  make a sound.  I presumed that she was incubating eggs but her partner approached calling and she lowered he head inviting him to mate, and he did just…

Tim writes: I haven’t seen a great many Capercaillies, and most of my sightings have been fleeting glimpses of birds disappearing into the forest.  But this Capercaillie was different.  This was one of those so-called rogue male Capercaillies that was pumped full of testosterone and ready for a fight.  I had to get down low…

Tim writes: called Long-tailed Jaeger in America, but they are one and the same species.  Long-tailed are the smallest and rarest of the skua family.  They breed on tundra where they feed mainly on lemmings and voles.  But they winter off the continental shelf in the southern hemisphere, mainly off South America and Africa where…

Tim writes: I have heard this bird described by three different names plus one uncomplimentary nickname.  The official name is Common Rosefinch, but older bird books describe it as Scarlet Rosefinch or Scarlet Grosbeak.  But there are dozens of Rosefinch species in Asia, most of which have pink males, so scarlet doesn’t really differentiate it. …