A question about Corvids

[MonumentalLentil]

I thought the various sizes of identical looking birds in the garden were crows. They have a lighter patch on the back of the neck.

However, there are now some really, really big black birds with big black beaks which I think are ravens, no lighter patches, beautiful birds and they bounce along sideways.

(There are also blackbirds which I know are not Corvids (thrush family) and I know they are really blackbirds).

I have looked them up but it seems I am not alone in this failure to identify correctly.

Assuming the big ones are ravens, can someone help with the crows or are they rooks or what?

Another vote for a wildlife board please @mumsnet.

I'd love a wildlife board too! Have a feeling it's been requested before, though.

Lucky you! They are more often heard than seen.

Pic by my DD

There’s a Great Outdoors board under the Fun & Games section, but there’s not much happening there. It’s a shame as I’d love somewhere to post about my wildlife encounters too.

In the meantime, here’s a not particularly great photo of some gannets, taken on Flamborough head. It’s a brilliant place to see gannets as 1000s of them nest on the cliffs. I’m pretty sure I took this photo with my phone. They’re that close. It’s noisy and smelly but nevertheless an amazing wildlife spectacle 😊

Flamborough and the neighbouring RSPB Bempton Cliffs are amazing for gannets. In a stiff breeze, they round a headland and "hang" for a couple of seconds which means that you can get cracking pics of them in flight, or taking off/landing into the wind. Happy memories of days out there with my DD!

Here's a fulmar doing the hanging in the wind thing - this was near Newquay. I love seabirds!

Black guillemots having a scuffle - taken from the seafront at Oban.

PureGrit · Today 08:10

In the meantime, here’s a not particularly great photo of some gannets, taken on Flamborough head.

I love gannets, they're such urgent flyers. Gulls are just lazy and languid.

Hah! Only time we've seen black guillemots was... the seafront at Oban. Lovely pics!

Just one more... great skuas aka bonxies on Foula, in the Shetlands. Fierce birds - will knock you over if you walk too near their nests! This island has a human population of about 30 and a great skua population of about 750. Was much higher before bird flu 😔

those beaks look fierce.

I live in an area with lots of gulls. before we had underground communal bins installed in our street you had to really time taking your bins out. anything more than 20 seconds between putting it out and the lorry collecting would result in the contents strewn across the street.

I’m loving all these photos! I was in Belfast last week, walking along the river, thinking there’s not a lot of bird life around. But then I spotted a black and white mystery bird. I spent a long time looking at it, thinking it could only be one thing - a black guillemot.

I filed it under “wishful thinking”, but the closer I got to the city centre, the more of these birds I saw. I ended up googling them, just to make sure I wasn’t completely losing my mind and found that there is indeed a healthy population of black guillemot in Belfast City Centre. Mind blown! 🤯

do you have any photos?

Wow!

Known as Bangor penguins, because there's a good colony up that end of the Lough as well. Are you local, @PureGrit , or just visiting?

Ha ha, years ago I was in Bridlington when someone captured a “penguin” on the beach, b7ndled it up in her fleece, tied its beak up with a shoelace and got on the landtrain to take it up to the zoo on the cliff where she’d presumed it had escaped from.

the train driver had to tell her it was a tired guillemot.

Ooh. A wildlife board. I could spam you with wolves, cougars, bears (black and grizzly), elk, caribou and lynx. Loons, ravens, cobra chickens. You name it, we’ve got it.

Except rats. We famously don’t have any of those.

And moose!

Where are you, Moose?

I reckon Moose is in Canada. The true home of the cobra chicken!

Must take my proper camera on more walks. I spotted a lovely pair of barnacle geese today, just too far for the phone camera.

Are you stalking me??! 😆

I am indeed in Canada. We also have beavers and BISON.

Marking space

Canada, eh? Which area?

I've just been here:

www.crocosauruscove.com/

It was pretty good, I saw the feeding time and was surprised that they only eak 2kg of meat per week.