Tag Archives: birdwatching

The Beryl street yoga club mystery

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Shaun Smillie

It goes like this Tweeta tweeta tweeta. No, throw back your lips and let that weeee go, so it comes out Tweeeeta tweeeta tweeeeta. Now you have the call of the mystery bird of Observatory. Always heard but never seen. … Continue reading →

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The mystery journey we can now all watch

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Shaun Smillie

They are nearly here. Just a couple thousand kilometres of hard flying to go and they will be back. All they need to do is keep barrelling along that invisible highway in the sky that cuts continents and crosses the … Continue reading →

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Bird mystery solved.

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Shaun Smillie

Mysteries in blurred photographs do sometimes get solved. Last week I posted a picture of a strange bird sitting on the wall of my garden. It didn’t appear in any local bird book and when I approached a couple of … Continue reading →

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So what is this strange bird?

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Shaun Smillie

Like all great mysteries this one stares out of a blurred photograph. But this is no picture of the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch or even Elvis, this is a photo of a small finch sized bird. It is a pretty … Continue reading →

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Catching Amur falcons.

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Shaun Smillie

Amur hunting begins just after the call goes out for evening prayers at the Newcastle Mosque. By then the sun has dipped below the horizon and the first Amur falcon tumbles into a high altitude mist net set up amongst … Continue reading →

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Recovered from the bellies of fish, hands of prisoners and the claws of family cats

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Shaun Smillie

Spent last weekend with a bunch of ornithologists trying to catch a white bellied bustard. This is not a particularly rare bird, but it does seem to have an inkling of what those pesky humans are up too with their … Continue reading →

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