[Bird]: Common Swift

Common Swift (Apus apus)

(Bird: Apidae)

21st June, 2013. Keyhaven (Hampshire-UK).

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Notes:

A bird that very much embodies the art of flight. Except when tending to nests, swifts never touch down at any point in their lives. Unlike swallows and martins these birds have a more loose flight style and the curved shape of the bird's wings is vastly different if you pay attention. Even at long range their fast-flapping curving flight style is distinctive.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)

The first time I recorded this species:

1st July, 2009 in Hythe (Hampshire-UK) though I saw this species often before this date.

[Bird]: Collared Dove

(Eurasian) Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

(Bird: Columbidae)

Adult. 9th July, 2009. Normandy (France).

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Notes:

This dove is highly associated with farmland and open habitats, usually not too far from human settlement. Though it sounds similar to the woodpigeon, the deliverance of the cooing is different; the dove gives three calls with the middle often higher pitched, whereas woodpigeons calls as many as five times in one sequence, the last two distinctly lower.

It has been introduced to North America where it occupies similar habitat to its native range.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)
• America (USA)

The first time I recorded this species:

Pre-2006 at Eastleigh (Hampshire-UK).

[Bird]: Woodpigeon

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

(Bird: Columbidae)

Adult. 19th June, 2013. Hythe Marina (Hampshire-UK).

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Notes:

A rather large pigeon either loved or hated. This bird is generally very timid and skittish, though urban birds may be tamer. On take-off their wings clatter very loudly, and as a birder this has its detriments as it scares away other birds in the area and sends them into hiding. Birds far from civilization can flush as far away as the horizon, so tread carefully!

 Massive migrations of these birds take place in autumn involving upwards of thousands of birds, but these migrations are generally short lived and localized. Outside of England the species name is split into two words as Wood Pigeon or Common Wood Pigeon.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)

The first time I recorded this species:

20th October, 2007 in Hythe (Hampshire-UK) though not my earliest sighting.

[Bird]: Rock Dove

Rock Dove (Columba livia)

(Bird: Columbidae)

Feral pigeon (wild plumage). 22nd July, 2009. London (UK).

Feral pigeon (feral plumage). 27th June, 2009. Edmonton (Alberta-Canada).

Feral pigeon (intergrade plumage). 20th July, 2009. Southampton (Hampshire-UK).

Feral pigeons. 19th November, 2011. Santa Barbara (California-USA).

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Leucistic adult with wild-type plumage. 20th July, 2009.
Southampton (Hampshire-UK).

Leucistic adult. 6th March, 2010. Bentleigh East (Victoria-Australia)

Leucistic adult with albino-like eyes. 20th July, 2009. Southampton (Hampshire-UK)

Hypophaeomelanin schizochroistic or variant leucistic adult.
22nd July, 2009. London (UK)

Hypoeumelanin schizochroistic or variant "cinnamon" leucistic adult
showing feral-type plumage. 22nd July, 2009. London (UK).

Hypoeumelanin schizochroistic bird with plumage closer to
wild birds. 23rd July, 2009. London (UK).

A variant leucistic adult showing both cinnamon colouration of hypoeumelanin
schizochroism and white feathering typical of complete leucism. Feral-type
plumage. 4th February, 2010. Bentleigh East (Victoria-Australia).

Partially hypoeumelanin schizochroistic bird with "wild-type" plumage.
 7th May, 2007.  Southampton (Hampshire-UK)

Melanistic adult. 23rd July, 2009. London (UK)

Melanistic leucistic adult with feral-type plumage. 10th February, 2010.
Bentleigh East (Victoria-Australia).

Melanistic leucistic adult. 21st July, 2009. London (UK).

A brownish bird with wild-type plumage. 21st July, 2009.
London (UK).

Several odd birds. The two in the center are a slightly melanistic bird (top)
and a variant leucistic bird (bottom). Both feature wild-type plumage. 
23rd July, 2009. London (UK).

Describing this particular bird would be a bit of a mouthful...it has at least two
leucism types (complete and hypoeumelanin schizo), and melanism in the all-dark wing
 areas. 23rd July, 2009. London (UK).

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Notes:

Despite what it said about pigeons, there is little doubt that they remain one of the most successful birds in the world. Their adaptability to all kinds of environments except the most extreme is shared by only a few other birds. Unfortunately, nearly all rock doves seen are derived from captive birds. These "feral" pigeons (ssp. domestica) are confiding, tame and urban birds unlike the secretive wild birds that inhabit remote cliffs and rocky areas. Though all "feral pigeons" are rock doves, the species name rock dove should only be used to describe genuine wild birds, the same way pet dogs should not be called wolves. 

Extensive captive breeding of this species for racing or otherwise has resulted in the high abundance of several plumage mutations that are otherwise extremely rare in nature. As captive birds do not face the same dangers as wild birds, these mutations are spread to offspring at a much greater rate and over hundreds of years these odd coloured birds may well occur in over 1 in 4 birds.

Outside of Europe they are generally called rock pigeons instead of rock doves. The difference between a pigeon and dove is somewhat arbitrary; doves are usually the more slender and longer tailed birds in the family, whereas pigeons are the chunkier larger short-tailed birds. Both the rock
dove and stock dove are large heavy birds that probably fit the "pigeon" label better.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)
• America (USA-Canada)
• Europe (GB)

The first time I recorded this species:

ssp. domestica: 2nd April, 2006 is my earliest record of the species, with a flock of birds from Hythe (Hampshire-UK). Though I have certainly seen these birds before this date.

[Bird]: Herring Gull

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

(Bird: Laridae)

27th June, 2014. Snowdonia (Wales-UK)

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Notes:

The most well known of all gulls at least in the West, and the typical "sea gull".  What few people realize is this species is a long and complicated series of taxon. One of the most variable gulls, herring gulls appear under several species and subspecies which are considered separate species by certain authorities, or just subspecies by others. As their appearance is individually specific, varies on geographical location and changes multiple times throughout their lives, identification of herring gulls is rarely easy, especially when several different varieties come into play.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)
• America (USA-Canada)

The first time I recorded this species:

ssp. argenteus 13th April, 2007. (UK), but I have seen it before this date.

ssp. smithsonianus: 24th July, 2008 Aspen Trails, Sherwood Park (Alberta-Canada).

[Bird]: Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

(Bird: Laridae)

Breeding adult. 8th July, 2013. Titchfield Haven (Hampshire-UK).

Non-breeding adult with sprat. 19th September, 2014. New Quay (Wales).

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Notes:

This stereotypically European bird reaches plague proportions in some areas. In the UK it is a "trash" bird for many birdwatchers and it occurs both inland and along the coast. It isn't unusual to see this bird in the most unlikely of habitats, even up at high altitudes in mountains. Sometimes they turn up on the east coast of America, where they are far more appreciated! 

Despite the name, black-headed gulls have brown heads in summer. In alternate winter plumage their heads turn white but they retain a spot of their brown head; the placement and specifics of this cheek spot can be crucial to ruling out Mediterranean and little gulls of similar plumage.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)

The first time I recorded this species:

15th August, 2006 at Lepe (Hampshire-UK) is my first record, though I saw it earlier.

[Bird]: Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)

(Bird: Charadriidae)

Moulting adult. 21st June, 2013. Keyhaven (Hampshire-UK).

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Notes:

Lapwings are unusual plovers that occasionally wander fields during the night. These birds often look dark, but in sunlight green, purple and blue iridescence is visible. Under the right conditions well over a hundred of these birds may tumble towards wetland and roost sites with their oddly-shaped black and white wings and drifting flight style. Older birders may know this bird as the peewit, a name that describes the shrill two-tone "szeee whii" calls of these birds, especially in flight.

I have seen this species in:

• Europe (GB)

The first time I recorded this species:

20th October, 2007 is my oldest record of the species in England, though I certainly saw it earlier.