Tag: Tim Melling

Tim writes: The Augur Buzzard (Buteo augur) is found in upland areas of Ethiopia, plus many areas further south in Africa. It has two colour forms; a pale morph with a white body and underwing coverts, and a black morph like this one. They have an easy-to-recognise shape with bulging wings and a very short rufous…

  Tim writes: It is a myth that the name Red Admiral is a corruption of Red Admirable. The earliest recorded use of Red Admiral was posthumously by Thomas Moffet in 1634 (Moffat died in 1604 so the name must have been in use by the early seventeenth century). The name Admirable was first used…

Tim writes: Although Little Owls look totally at home in Britain they are a nineteenth century introduction that had never been recorded here historically (not even as bones or fossils). The first attempt at establishing Little Owls in Britain was actually in Yorkshire at Walton Park near Wakefield in 1834 when Charles Waterton released five…

    Tim writes: Many British birders will be aware that Semi-palmated Plover is the American equivalent of the Ringed Plover, which turns up in Britain from time to time. But maybe not so many birders will be aware that Little Ringed Plover and some races of Ringed Plover also have semi-palmated toes. You can…

  Tim writes: this is a male Common Blue resting in a sea of Bird’s-foot Trefoil, which is also its larval foodplant. This is a second brood individual photographed in late August, which is the offspring of the generation that was on the wing in June. I took the photograph at the RSPB’s new reserve…

Parrot Crossbills are restricted to the Western Palearctic, breeding mainly in Scandinavia and NW Russia.  But this population is nomadic, occasionally wandering to Britain when their pine cone crop fails.  Wandering birds occasionally stay here to breed, and it has become apparent in recent years that a population of about 100 pairs breeds in Caledonian…

  Tim writes: Raccoons (Procyon lotor) were once thought to be related to bears but they are an early offshoot of the dog family.  They are only found naturally in the New World and the family includes Coatis and Kinkajous.  The generic name Procyon means “before the dog” indicating that distant relationship.  But the specific…

Tim writes: this is a juvenile Western Sandpiper being engulfed by the foam of an incoming wave.  It was roosting on a beach when both it and me were taken by surprise by an unusually big wave.  I was lying flat on my belly at the time and so was soaked to the skin but…