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        Discussion Area 討論區 >> Bird Identification 鳥類辨識 >>  Plain Prinia 褐頭鷦鶯
        
(Message started by: BERNARD on Mar 30^th, 2003, 10:50pm)

Title: Plain Prinia 褐頭鷦鶯
Post by BERNARD on Mar 30^th, 2003, 10:50pm

346 Plain Prinia 褐頭鷦鶯
Long Valley 塱原
29/3/2003
around 5 p.m

www.geocities.com/hbirdk/warbler1.JPG
http://www.hkbws.org.hk/fileServer/PhotoG/bernade/bernadewarbler.jpg

I had no luck in seeing a Penduline Tit. Instead I saw and photographed this bird. It was a very cloudy day and contrast was very low. At 5 pm light intensity was low. So I used slow shutter speed of 1/40 sec with my 100-400 mm lens with 2X= 800 mm at widest aperture f11. The wind made the picture shaky and slightly blurred. The fill-in flashlight cause the iris of this bird white-dotted.

Today evening (30th March) I listened to Birdline and learned that a Paddyfield Warbler was caught and ringed. So I think this bird is also a Paddyfield Warbler. It has a short black line above the short white supercilium. It has blackish upper bill and pinkish feet. The tail was tilting up and vibrating rapidly. The slow shutter speed blurred the tail.

Experienced birders please help me to identify. Thanks !

Bernard

Title: Re: Paddyfield Warbler ???
Post by Mike Kilburn on Mar 31^st, 2003, 12:24am

Hi Bernard

Your photo would not open. Pls repost so we can see what you saw

Cheers
Mike

Title: Re: Paddyfield Warbler ???
Post by Mike Kilburn on Mar 31^st, 2003, 9:33am

Hi Bernard

This is a Plain Prinia. You can tell because there is a lot of white around the face and the bill is too dark and short for Paddyfield Warbler. Also the upper mandible of the bill is curved, not straight - prinias often show this.

However some of the features you have pointed out are close to Paddyfield Warbler. It is probably the most "prinia-like " of the reed warbler family and does have a relatively long and slim tail, which can cause confusion with prinias.

In the past, on a Bird Race a few years ago Our team found a probable Paddyfield Warbler but because ofthe rush of the race did not have time to compile proper notes to make a conclusive identification. My feeling then was that we had to make sure we ruled out Plain Prinia, which we did.

In fact Paddyfield Warbler looks very close to Back-browed Reed Warbler in shape, but with a slightly longer, thinner tail and with a much weaker black stripe above the supercilium.

Wish it was a Paddyfield Warbler-la!

Having a photo helps a lot!

Cheers
Mike

Title: Re: Paddyfield Warbler ???
Post by BERNARD on Mar 31^st, 2003, 11:57am

Dear Mike,

Thanks a lot for your expert opinion.

I haven't been surfing this web site for a long time and didn't read those prinia photos in photo gallery. I should have read them.

I am not experienced enough in bird watching and I have a long way to go. That's why I always try my best to take photos on what I see. Sometimes I found it hard to identify the bird even with the help of field guide.

It is highly beneficial to have a photo field guide as a supplement. It sometimes (though not always) shows features that are more obvious and realistic than hand drawn field guide. I am glad that our society is going to publish a photo guide in the near future. When the photo selection commitee selected photos for this book they looked for those that show the most typical features. I wish great success on this photo guide.

Bernard