Inland Sea

I went looking on the Inland Sea today for the 2 Ospreys that had been there for the last four days.Norman had them on posts at the southern end just NW of the Anchorage yesterday. I had no joy on that front but by the flock of Mute Swans there were 65 PB Brents, 150 + Wigeon and a flock of 9 Med Gulls, the most I have seen on the Island together. There were 2 x 1st Winters, 2 x adults and 5 x 2nd Winters with a similar number of Black heads. Ken had one Osprey later nearer the A55 perched at the NW part of the Inland Sea near the heronry. Norman had another 2nd Winter Med over the Cob at Penrhos CP car park. HHBW Country Park was dead but a bacon butty then showed very well but briefly at South Stack Cafe.

Spoonbill over Inland Sea

Ken C had a Spoonbill fly over the Inland Sea northwards towards the Alaw Est earlier today.  A scarce bird this year in N Wales.  The only other being on the Dee at the start of the year.
Rob

Dodgy Ross's goose, Gresford Flash.

The feral Ross's goose is back at the flash for the winter. It has been around on and off for 3 years now. It is with the greylag flock and travels around a bit and gets to BMW every now and again. Bar head last week. Getting like Martin Mere! Let's hope there's a good bird this weekend.

Back from the Highlands

We had five brilliant days birding north of the border. First good birds were two Buff breasted Sandpipers in Lothian and the trip just went on producing great birds! We will post a blog soon but here is a pic of the Buff breasts.

For the person that sent the abusive comments to Marc Hughes, very sad that you felt you had to insult a person that has worked relentlessly to share bird information here and elsewhere. I wonder what you have done to help others? Two Ospreys seen on the Inland Sea today and Bardsey Bird Observatory had a good day! Good Birding Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com

Here and there

Ventured out yesterday afternoon to Rhos Point as the rain abated a little and was fortunate enough to get great views of a juv long-tailed skua. I'd been seawatching for 20 minutes or so when suddenly all the roosting gulls and half a dozen sandwich terns took to the air but instead of the expected peregrine it was the juv long-tailed causing chaos as it chased a sarnie then another for several minutes before giving up and going out and sitting on the sea. Two red-throated divers also about. A call in at Conwy RSPB this morning produced little stint, 2 greenshanks, common sandpiper, snipe, dunlin and blackwits with a good number of wigeon on the estuary where there were also 3 rock pipits.

Little is good!!!

I was just on my way home for tea this evening, when I flushed a small bunting that flew up an was calling.... 'tick tick'. I yelled to Chris and Mark (our volunteers) 'Little Bunting', the bird landed in the bushes in front of me ten yards away (phew!) and the lads go onto it - it made their day. This is the 6th Little Bunt I have found on Bardsey now, but the first since 2005.

There may be some pics on the BBFO blog later, one of the guests managed to get some fairly nice shots - my camera was at home :-(

Other odds and ends included 60 or so Goldcrests, 20 Blackcaps, G.S. Woodpecker, Black Redstart, two Lapland Buntings and a Long-tailed Skua.

Lets see what the morning brings

Steve

Bangor Birdgroup Update

Although BBG doesn't kick off officially until next week, the NW Wildlife trust will be showing The Wildlife Trust’s Centenary film with contributions from Sir David Attenborough and Simon King,at the usual place in the Brambell building off Deiniol Road near the station. Doors close at 7.30pm.

Wirral Waders

Spent a good few hours on Saturday at Hoylake failing miserably to see any peeps and dipping the sabs at BMW. Good to catch up with a few North Wales birders there, but a bad three dip day. Today having watched my beloved LFC being robbed by the ref/mancs i decided it was worth a quick scan at Hoylake on my way home. This time my luck was in. I had the place to myself surprisingly as I checked through the waders. A few more waders than yesterday and after a few scans I managed to pick out the semi p/ western. It never came very close and I'll leave it to the experts to decide which it is. Also 2 curlew sands and a few more sanderling than yesterday. On the next scan the White rumped sand also came into view. At last this weekend my luck was changing. A number of local birders arrived to see the peeps as I left. With all these Yanks about there has to be one or two lurking in North Wales! American goldie reported flying west over Hilbre this morning. Point of Ayr tomorrow?

North Anglesey Update

I had a trundle around Cemlyn this morning. There was light vis mig going on. 2 groups of 5 skylarks, lots of mippets and swallows,linnets and a few Chaffinches. A Whimbrel and a Golden Plover were the only waders of note and 5 Little Egrets including 1 ringed bird. Mark Sutton saw a Med Gull apparently fly over my head whilst I was dodging cow pats. Tony White had a Spot Fly and a Whinchat on the path down to Ynys y Fydlyn.Reg Thorpe had 2 Bonxies and an Arctic Skua but the star of the show was a Turtle dove which flew from the Reservoir at Carmel Head to the Maize field near Mynachdy farm at 1,30. At 3.50 me and Tony saw the Turtle Dove fly out of the Maize field with c.40 Woodies but I lost it out of sight as I tried to get a photo! A brief evening seawatch at Bull Bay gave some close views of Guillimots, Razorbills, Gannets and Kitts plus a few relatively showy Porpoises!

Waders at River Cwyd+ showy adult Med Gull

A good number of waders on the River Clwyd today. Highlights were a Ruff and 4 Curlew Sandpipers. The supporting cast included 2 Golden Plover, Grey Plover, 4 Bar tailed Godwit, 2 Black tailed Godwit, Knot and a Greenshank. A nice 2nd winter Med Gull too.

2 of the Curlew sands with a Dunlin.

Talking of Med Gulls, this cracking adult bird is showing well along the prom at Colwyn Bay in front of the Toad Hall. It's been there on and off for a couple of years and can show superbly.

Semi-p at Borth/Ynyslas

Worth a mention, a great record for Ceredigion and Wales for that matter. Few heading for it tomorrow. Hope it sticks for you if you go.

Rock Pipits

As with our Whimbrels and Choughs, we are colour ringing Rock Pipits. Please look out for them on the mainland. Any sightings can be reported via the BTO web site www.bto.org

The reason for this is to try and discover if there are any seasonal differences in the island's population and mainly in an attempt to find if that any of our wintering birds are of the Scandinavian race A.p.littoralis. In a few weeks more Rock Pipits will arrive on the island and we hope that some will show characters of the Scandinavian race.

The portable funnel trap on the beach over the pipit's favourite sea weed patch

Ben getting the birds into the catching cage at the end

A fine Rock Pipit

A fine selection of colours are added to the legs. - To report sightings the colour and positions of each ring needs to be noted and on which leg the metal ring is on.

 Rock Pipit (left) with Meadow Pipit

 The new olive fringed greater coverts on the inner wing of the Meadow Pipit show us that this bird was hatched this summer.

Below are some images taken a few years ago of two completely different looking Rock Pipits. The bird on the left was considered to be a Littoralis Pipi. Note the much whiter outer tail feathers (similar to Water Pipit), The bird is larger, paler and greyer, with slightly browner legs, more diffuse streaking.

We are hoping to catch more and add colour rings, but since we began the colour ringing four years ago, we have trapped 350 nominate Rock Pipits, but NO Littloralis!

Sorry for those who looked for this post following Marc's Tweet about it. I inadvertently published the post, then deleted it

Albatross

Albatross is a mighty fine tune by one of my all time favourite bands 'Fleetwood Mac'. In fact, how about setting the scene by opening up a new a tab and playing it as you read?! Just click here.

The reason I have chosen to call this post 'Albatross' has nothing to do with the instrumental though. Yesterday, Wednesday 19th September I received a call from Dave Bateson, the reserve warden up at RSPB South Stack. Having already spoken to Ken, he knew that I was (unfortunately) working down the other end of the island and would not be able to dash for a chance to see a passing Black-Browed Albatross. I don't think you need to be in 'birding' circles to appreciate quite what a bird an albatross is, famed throughout the world because of their enormous wingspan, longevity, loyalty and a symbol of hope lost to sailors in the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.

It is becoming a trend that phenomenal things are sighted from South Stack when I am down in Menai Bridge. Almost this time last year Ken watched as a pod of Orca made their way northwards past the stack. I had been living on the reserve at the time and disappointingly found myself receiving Ken's excited call as I walked along the High Street of Menai Bridge, past the Indian take-aways, bakery and coffee shops, miles from the spectacle outside my own bedroom window. In an annoying repetition of history, I was walking in exactly the same place yesterday when I received Dave's call about the probable Albatross.

Unfortunately, neither I nor Ken (conveniently sea-watching from exactly the right place) managed to see an Albatross, Black-Browed or otherwise. However the texts and twitter speculation soon spread (like wildfire, or perhaps the common cold).

The birding world is well-connected these days; the bird lines and alerts have evolved, are well used and form the ornithological backbone of Britain. With the advent of social media (particularly twitter) and smart phones sightings can be seen by followers all of the world in a matter of seconds. It is fascinating (and also scary) to think that an hour after this "possible Black-Browed Albatross" sighting, it had been coupled with an unconfirmed sighted of the same species from the Isle of Man the previous day and that it was stated that it was now likely that this was an individual that used to visit the Scottish Island of Sula Sgeir. Perhaps is it. Perhaps one or both of these possibles was a definite? And perhaps this Albatross is visiting the North Atlantic rock of Sula Sgeir. And perhaps this is the same individual that has been sighted there before.

Black-Browed Albatross, should after all be breeding on the other side of the world. The likelihood of multiple birds travelling up the Irish Sea is small, but there has often been speculation about the number that may be taking refuge on our remote islands. Who knows?! I certainly don't and without politely asking Mister Albatross to explain himself I think I'm unlikely to find out.

It isn't out of the realm of possibility that this Albatross has in fact being visiting Scotland since 1967 when an Albatross was recorded on Bass Rock amongst the Gannets. After this date there were various sightings at various Scottish locations (Gannets close at hand). Indeed, our very own Ken Croft saw his one and only Black-Browed Albatross from South Stack Reserve back in 2005. It is thought that this is the individual that was then known to reside on Sula Sgeir, but perhaps not. Perhaps we have multiple long-distance visitors that despite their grand proportions slip unnoticed to the remote islands of Scotland.

Fascinating as their story may be, I think there is an allure in the unknown. Part of me hopes that they go on avoiding our gaze, seeking solace in our still wild places.

This is from my blog 'naturebites' (see links on right of page).

Kathy X

Anyone for Fishing?

I must confess I haven't had much time to bird this week. I even looked out of the window at 7.45 am this morning and swore as there was quite a lot of gannets, kitts and a few manxies streaming by.But unfortunately I had to go to work, dang! Someone has to keep the economy going I suppose ;-)I did manage to get to Cemlyn on Monday night but, that was rock-pooling with the boy. Didn't see many birds of note but caught a massive Brittle-star though.That was ace.Can't do much after work now as the nights are drawing in and the kids after-school activities are pretty hectic! Anyway must dash, sounds like the kids are attacking each other upstairs, but before I go look at this cracking male Cuckoo Wrasse Tony White's son, Johnathan caught at Llanbadrig near Cemaes the other week, makes me want to take up fishing again!

Sabine's gull

Called in at Burton Mere Wetlands reserve this afternoon and was fortunate enough to see a totally unexpected juv Sabine's gull among the black headed gulls infront of the visitors centre. The bird disappeared briefly on a couple of occasions but returned to the same spot and was still present when we left. A couple of distant pics:

Prob Black B Albatross off South Stack.

Not been mentioned yet but RSPB S Stack reporting on their facebook page from yesterday:

"Albatross flies past Ellin's Tower!
A member of staff saw an albatross flying past out to sea at midday today heading towards North Stack. This was possibly a black-browed albatross - one was seen flying past the Isle of Man yesterday. Although extremely rare, one has been seen from South Stack in the past".

Worth keeping an eye out if seawatching.  Hard to mistake but it would be good to clinch species.  Most likely BBA but you never know.  Hopefully it will fly past Bardsey, or better still Rhos Point!

Migrant Wren??

This pale looking wren was trapped at Cristin this morning. It was probably not of local provenance. Unlike our Wrens, it managed to get trapped in five different mist nets during a 2 hour session. The local birds know where the nets are and are rarely trapped!

Here are a few images of our breeding/young Wrens

As you can see our birds are much richer above, with a redder tail and duskier below. I would be interested to see a few images of bird trapped on the mainland posted on here too.

Apathy rules?

I have to wonder is there much point in continuing with this blog? So few people post here and even less bother to comment on posts? There have been some really interesting stuff posted and next to no one has anything to say. It has been a pretty good month for birding and yet so little posting or comment, what's it going to be like in December?! Same goes for the putting out of bird news, I must have texted some 80 people yday about the Western Sandpiper - reaction? A tiny number people responed in any way! Doesn't take long to type "Ta"! So that's my morning rant over now back to birds... Alan www.thebiggesttwitch.com

Not far away

In a land not far away, England, there was a juv Western Sandpiper on the north Wirral today. I ID it from photos taken by Steve Williams, bird found by Alan Conlin - brilliant find! Birdline North West has details 09068 700249 hope it is relocated Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com

Bangor Bird-group 2012/13

Bangor Birdgroup kicks off again soon so don't book anything in for Wednesday nights from October - March! Alan and Ruth get the ball rolling on the 3rd October with a talk on Birding Botswana.Then, for the latest update on breeding birds in North Wales the following week Ian Spence is talking about The North Wales Breeding Bird Atlas.With a mixture of talks on Birds and other aspects of Wildlife combining some talks with the North Wales Wildlife trust we cater for all aspects of the spectrum of people with an interest in Birds and Wildlife so why not come along? Cuckoos, GPS tracking of the Birds of Puffin Island,Birding in Turkey,North Ron and Mongolia are just some of the talks.There will also be talks on Tierra del Fuego, Bird Ringing in Portugal and more unusual Welsh Lepidoptera so it promises to be another good programme. Then there's the Christmas Party and Quiz to look forward to, and a Spring term full of more juicy talks including the "Return of Martin Garner" for Birding Frontiers Part 2! It's one of the longest running birdgroups in the UK and at between £8 - £15 for around 22 talks, it's a bargain. (Talks are usually c.£2 on the night otherwise). Full programme to follow soon, watch this space! See you there hopefully, all welcome!

Wading in

Decent mixture of waders at Conwy RSPB over tide this morning with curlew sandpiper, dunlin, snipe, bar-tailed godwit and black-tailed godwit on view. Two or three chiffchaffs were about plus a jay.

Going back to where it all began...

After working on the bird report all week it was time for a break so I got in the car and drove to Dorset.The lure of Britain's second ever Short billed Dowitcher was the main lure. Thankfully it hadn't done one over-night, and was showing well within 10 minutes of arriving around 8am at Lodmore, allowing some digi-record shots.I then visited Radipole lake. This was the place where for me it all began. I had always had an interest in Birds and Wildlife but it was on this family holiday to Weymouth when I became a birder at the age of 12-ish. At Radipole I bought The Spotters Guide to Birds and started ticking them off that very day, with Cetti's Warbler being the most note-worthy.I haven't stopped since.It's just new birds are getting fewer and far between nowerdays, but there's the law of diminishing returns for you! The resident Hooded Merg was worth a few shots, which was hanging around with the Tufties. Then it was on to twitch my first ever British Monarch that was showing well at Easton in Portland, before going down to the Obs to stick my nose in their moth trap.The Monarch was a bit tatty, but was still a stonking Butterfly to see, especially next to Red Admirals on the Buddlea. The Obs Warden was a sound bloke, and showed me my first ever Beautiful Gothic, The Delicate, Feathered Brindle and a few more Southern Species.Then it was the 6 hour drive home, a long way and a long day, but well worth the effort.

Leach's petrels Rhos Point

Seawatch at Rhos Point this evening was rewarded with 2 Leach's petrels passing plus 2 bonxies and a dozen arctic skuas (including 6 together). Red-throated diver and eider also seen along with a few manxies.

Albino Guillimot

I had a quick 45 minute seawatch from Cemlyn this morning. I had nice views of 2 light phase Arctic Skuas and 3 Red throated Divers plus good numbers of Gannets, Kitts and some Manxies. I then had a quick look out to sea from my bedroom window in Cemaes and was treated to a pure white Guillimot which fluttered by before dropping down on the water about 1km away. Has anyone else seen any Albino alcids in North Wales or further afield?

Seabirds moving

Reports of seabirds on the move today from Wirral to Bardsey, not huge numbers but a good selection of birds inc Sabine's Gull, all four Skuas and Pale bellied Brents. Further south Leach's Petrel and Sooty Shearwaters past Strumble Head. Defo worth getting out there! Just back from three brilliant days in Norfolk, found a Baird's Sandpiper, also had White rumped and Pec Sand and loads more great birds! See http://www.thebiggesttwitch.com/diary/waders-galore-norfolk-birdwatching-trip For details and pics. Next trip 28-30 September ask for our best deals! Good birding Alan and Ruth

Black Redstart and 'Glip' Crossbill - Great Orme today

After a fairly quiet week on the Orme a few bits and pieces this morning. Highlights were an imm/ fem Black Redstart on by the limestone carpark, a Common Crossbill (see below for sonogram), 2 Snipe (+ another 2 different birds seen by Pete Alderson), 4 Blackcaps, an influx of 10+ Goldcrest, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Overhead were 5 'alba' Wagtails and 4 Grey Wagtails, while 50-60 Meadow Pipits were present. A nice flock of 10 Chough were also present with another 3 seen at the opposite end of the headland. Offshore, 45 Common Scoter flew east while 2 Grey Heron flew west.

Sonogram of a Common Crossbill over the Great Orme this morning. Referring to the Sound Approach book, this is a classic 'Glip' Crossbill due to the V shape in the graph.Click on the image for a clearer picture. There are a number of different Crossbill vocals and possibly indicate different sub-species or even species! A good introduction here - http://birdingfrontiers.com/2010/11/28/glip-parakeet-and-british-crossbills/

 Best bird of the morning and one of the last I saw as I arrived back at the car. A good case of keep going. After being out for over four hours and seeing very little to be honest this was a welcome find - a fine imm / female type Black Redstart. It was immediately mobbed by the Meadow Pipits and disappeared down towards the Rest and be Thankful cafe.

 At least five Northern Wheatears present, looking very fresh and smart .

There is a large flock of Goldfinches near the churchyard at present with some 200 birds present. Fingers crossed it pulls in a goodie ove rthe next few months.

Hippo photo fest

Firstly let me apologise for using large images in this post, but I thought that some of the features in the pics would be better in bigger photographs.

On Bardsey we are very fortunate to get our fair share of Hippolais Warblers. Today we trapped our third individual of the year. We have, as yet had no Icterines this year.

Today's Melodious was one of the first I have seen in a few years that had genuine fleshy tones to the legs. As a result of this I thought I would trawl through some of my images and share them with you as a brief ID post.

Some of the Melodious Warblers on here were initially identified incorrectly by observers who had, at the time, limited or no experience of the species pair; their ID was been based on the fact that the legs of the birds appear to be blue, and if you read the field guides,  Melodious are supposed to be fleshy brown. Today's bird was, well sort of fleshy, but we have had many other with good blue legs.

I will point out key features on each bird in the photo with captions below the image (and apologise if it becomes repetitive). You will see that there are the usual structural differences in wing length and bulk of Icterine, compared to the slighter Melodious.

So lets start with some shots of todays bird and then work back through time (note the phot quality becomes poorer...in the main!)

 Nice yellow face and little if any supercillium. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 Very short Primary extension. Note the general brownish tones to the upperparts, compare with the powdery grey of Icterine later. Note here lack of fringing to secondaries and pale tips to primaries. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 Even here the upperparts looking brown. Note how small the bird looks. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

Here we can see the pale flesh tones in the legs in both these shots in today's bird. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

Note the lack of Supercilium behind the eye on today's Melodious. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

Now for a few Icterines

 Note here the big strong and powerful steely blue feet and legs.  A flick of a supercilium behind the eye and greyish wash to the upperparts. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 The long primaries are clearly visible here. Also note the fresh white fringes to the primaries which are often shown on young Icterines, but seldom on Melodious. Also a hint of a supercilium here. (see todays bird) and blue feet. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 Even in thick cover the wing panel on a fresh Icterine is obvious. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

Note size difference between Icterine and Willow Warbler above. Icterine is much larger. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

And Melodious and Willow Warbler above. Not quite as large and noticeable in the hand. 

Also note the brownish colour of the Melodious compared to the greyish cast of the Icterine above. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

Biometrics - the boring stuff!

The wing length on Icterine Warbler is 73 to 82mm and on Melodious Warbler it is 62-71mm (Svennson, 1992). 

Of the 50 or so Icterine Warblers I have handled over the past 22 years most have had wings of 76-80mm, whereas the 22 Melodious I have trapped have had wings of about 64-68mm; so I have never trapped and tiny Icterines nor large Melodious. Willow Warblers have wings of 64-73mm

More Melodious now

This adult Melodious was initially identified as an Icterine based on its blue legs and feet and an apparent wing panel. (worn autumn adult - see same bird later)

The bright adult Melodious trapped this spring had both blue legs and white pale fringes to the secondaries, but general appearance (colour) , size and primary extension clinched ID. (this bird was initially identified in flight!) (Spring adult)

 Note the short primary extension on this Melodious back on, it also lacks the silvery panel of Icterine. Its feet are blue grey. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

The same bird front on showing quite blue but weak legs. also note lack of supercillium. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

Icterine wing panels and flight feathers

 This shot is burnt out, but you can see a clear wing panel formed by the pale-fringed secondaries. Also the tertials are fringed white as are the primary tips. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 Another bird showing all the features mentioned in the last caption (Fresh autumn juvenile)

And another (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 The wing panel on this bird is slightly subdued, but still there. note the pale primary tips too. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 Slightly more obvious here (Fresh autumn juvenile)

 Note how long the wings are and the pale fringing and tips (Fresh autumn jevenile)

 A good strong panel, long wings and chunky blue legs (worn adult in spring)

Good panel and long wings, but no pale tips realy as they have worn off (worn adult in spring)

Now note the amount (or complete lack of) panel and flight feather markings on these Melodious

 This is the same worn adult Melodious pictured above with blue legs that caused some confusion with less experienced observers. This bird has some fringing to the tertials and three new secondaries, which created an apparent panel, but nothing like that of an Icterine. (worn adult in autumn)

 Another bird with a little fringing to the primaries and secondaries, but again not a lot. (Fresh, but slightly worn juvenile in autumn)

 This very fresh juvenile (earlier this autumn) could possibly cause confusion for the less experienced observer as it shows a bit of fringing on the wing (and it did look like it had a pale diffuse panel in the field), it had blue legs, but it was very small and short winged which was enough to make ID straight forward even before it was trapped.

 This bird shows little of no marking on the wings and is very straightforward. (Fresh autumn juvenile)

And another lacking pale tips to primaries (Fresh autumn juvenile).

.........and now for something completely different! 

A Blast from the past

 In Late August 2005 (31st) I had trapped a Melodious WArbler in the morning. Later in the day I went to the south end of the island and saw for about two seconds a hippo at a range of 30 metres that I was certain was a Booted Warbler.....then I find myself looking at a Melodious Warbler seconds later without a ring on. Was it the light? Was I mad? or just crazy, there were two hippos together and was was a milky tea colour? Now that's me just being mad! I stayed with the melodious for a while taking notes on it as it was a little skulky, but I kept going back to the two second view of  'it' when I first found it. This was wrong, the bird was creamy and tea coloured not yellow. OK leave the melodious, they're common. Find this other thing, probably just a Chiffchaf, cant be a Booted, that's just MAD! An hour late I saw again at great distance and very briefly my quarry, it was not a Chiffer, nor a Melody, it has to be a Booted or Sykes type thing. 
 

My first views after an hour of searching, in the open but distant.

 I managed to creep through the gorse to get closer (ouch!), but it was worth it!

I got on the radio and called for backup (just like on the police shows on TV!!). Soon a mist net and two poles were on their way (along with an Assistant Warden and other interested parties). By now I had managed to get closer and decided it was a Booted and it needed to be trapped. 

Eventually, views were good and in the open!

It eventually gave is self up.....what a releif! what a day, two Melodious and a Booted Warbler (and two Wrynecsk whils trying to find the Booted too!!!)

 Cute, what more can one say?!!

Note the very short primary projection, colour and blunt stubby bill. This stubbyness and 'less spikey look' amongst other features were enough for the bird to be accepted as a Booted rather than a Sykes.