Bird indentifaction

[shaneystar2]

Just seen a bird in the garden ..Bright yellow flashes on his wings and black bits with a bright yellow beak ,about as big as a sparrow I suppose and a sort of greyish blue underside .Hard to tell because I was looking through my binoculars and he way up in a tree !
He was singing away merrily and I haven't heard this song before.He's not one of the great tits .I have sussed them out .
I was moaning earlier in the year that my birds had deserted me and I now I seem to be getting all sorts !
Where are you Cetti ?

[daneswalk]

sounds to me like a yellowhammer we have loads of them near us as next to us there are plenty of wild flowers and plenty of seed heads rape seed is also starting to ripen so its attracting plenty of the finch family

[burnhal]

disagree- a yellowhammer has a yellow streaked belly and no black bits. Sounds like a goldfinch. Greyish blue underside- black wings with yellow flash. If its a yougster the head will be plain, if its an adult the head will contain red and black.

[sir.prize]

The bright yellow beak is the tricky bit. Try looking through this site you may be lucky.

http://stevenround-birdphotography.com/A-Z%20I ndex.htm

[raysparx1]

I think its a goldfinch, take a look here.

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/birds/Cardue lis_carduelis/ARK016409.html?offset=0px

[shaneystar2]

I thought perhaps it was a yellowhammer but having been through my bird book the yellowhammers don't seem to have the bright yellow beak or the coal black bits .He was black and yellow ,very distinctive with this this light greyish blue breast.....the beak was bright yellow .
I only get the usual suspects ,blackies ,sparrows , starlings ,robins etc so when I see something really unusual I get over excited :)

[raysparx1]

Hi shaney, I never looked at the name of the poster, hope you are well, and you find which bird it is, will mail you soon, Ray xx

[shaneystar2]

No ...he wasn't a Goldfinch Ray ..I had one of those in the garden recently and indentified him .This is a new one on me ..haha...It's the bright yellow beak that's fazing me .

How's you anyway ....hope you and yours are all well xx

[burnhal]

a goldfinches beak can look yellow in sunlight. What was the song like? A goldfinch is best described as tinkling japanes bells. Other possible options include siskin- lots of yellow and black bits.- though not the right colourede breast. I dont think off the top of my head that there is a small british bird with a bright yellow bill (apart from the blackbird) so if the goldfinch or siskin dont fit you might be looking at an escapee

[burnhal]

two more faint hopes- wood warbler and cirl bunting

[shaneystar2]

Thanks folks ...I am sure he had this bright yellow beak ..mind you I was squinting into the sunlight and the coal black and yellow stood out .
Then again I could put more tonic in my gin ..hahaha ..No ..I had only had a cup tea ..seriously .))
Probably one of these fly by nights that I will never find out about . .but it's lovely to see an unusual visitor nevertheless...

[Kleiber]

Could it have been a male siskin, shaneystar2? They're quite bright green/yellow, with a little black cap and their wings are stripey. They're becoming more common lately. Do you have any conifers near you, because that's where they nest? K xx

[shaneystar2]

Oooh I don't know Kleiber ...I do have a big fir tree in the garden and their are some conifers a couple of doors down Tomorrow will probably be another day,weather permitting ; when nothing gets done and I hang around looking for these elusive birds !
I do tend to spend a lot of time sitting the garden when the weather is nice and the minute I hear something unusual I sweep round with the binoculars.
Haha ... Whenever I see your name it always reminds me of a Frau Kleiber whom I used to work with in Germany xxx

[Kleiber]

Yes.... Mrs. Nuthatch!!! My "Frau Kleiber " has been down at the feeder today, with baby (cute!). I think it's going to cost me twice as much to feed everyone this winter, as all the babies will be there as well as their parents Going back to your little bird, have a look on the RSPB website, it's very good and has a great section on identification. I'm off to bed now, having had to wait up for the last of my darn chickens to go in!! K

[LoftyLottie]

You beat me to it Kleiber. I was going to suggest a male Siskin too (but they don't have yellow beaks). Good morning Shaneystar.

[shivvy]

A greenfinch maybe? Yellow wing flashes with black bits.