Flumoxed
 

I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

Flumoxed
 

On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:53:28 +0000, David Hill wrote:

My first thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.

They can be. Slate grey that is.

Flumoxed
 

On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:53:28 +0000, David Hill
wrote:

I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

African grays vary a lot in shades of gray between dark gray to pale
blue gray.

Steve

--
EasyNN-plus More than just a neural netwrok http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN Prediction software http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN Just a neural network http://www.justnn.com

Flumoxed
 

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:53:28 +0000, David Hill
wrote:

I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.

Redstart or (rarer) Black Redstart? See
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/bird...art/index.aspx
or
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/bird...art/index.aspx

This is a bit like "What colour is the colonel's white horse?"
"What colour is a black redstart?"


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 16:49, Malcolm wrote:

In article , David Hill
writes
I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

What size were they?

Sparrow, Starling, Pigeon, Pheasant, Goose, Swan???



Well my thinking of them as African grey parots removes Sparrow,
Starling, Goose and Swan, unless A G Parrots come a lot smaller or
bigger than I have ever seen.
Also does away with Redstart or Black redstart.
2 years ago I saw my first Little Egret here; well along the River Neath;
David
My impression was a good sized wood pigeon

Flumoxed
 

"David Hill" wrote

Malcolm wrote:

In article , David Hill
writes
I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

What size were they?

Sparrow, Starling, Pigeon, Pheasant, Goose, Swan???



Well my thinking of them as African grey parots removes Sparrow, Starling,
Goose and Swan, unless A G Parrots come a lot smaller or bigger than I have
ever seen.
Also does away with Redstart or Black redstart.
2 years ago I saw my first Little Egret here; well along the River Neath;
David
My impression was a good sized wood pigeon


The red tail, was that under the tail or the whole tail including looking
from above?
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Flumoxed
 

"David Hill" wrote

I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first thought
was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.

A Red Legged Partridge probably fits the sound and they fly low but no red
tail just pinky legs.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Flumoxed
 

On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:59:40 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:


A Red Legged Partridge probably fits the sound and they fly low but no
red tail just pinky legs.

That was my first thought, too, especially the springing and the call.
However their first instinct is to run and hide: that's why you need a
good beating team and lots of hedgerows to get them up for shooting. BTW
they are a non-native game bird bought in as poults for the express
purpose of being shot and eaten. So, David, was there a fence/hedge
forcing them to get up? BTW they tend not to breed in the UK except in
hatcheries so any left after Saturday (the end of the season) are usually
dispatched by the weather, when the foxes and badgers benefit from the
shoot's generosity.

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 17:51, Bob Hobden wrote:
"David Hill" wrote

Malcolm wrote:

In article , David Hill
writes
I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

What size were they?

Sparrow, Starling, Pigeon, Pheasant, Goose, Swan???



Well my thinking of them as African grey parots removes Sparrow,
Starling, Goose and Swan, unless A G Parrots come a lot smaller or
bigger than I have ever seen.
Also does away with Redstart or Black redstart.
2 years ago I saw my first Little Egret here; well along the River Neath;
David
My impression was a good sized wood pigeon


The red tail, was that under the tail or the whole tail including
looking from above?


Well as I have said the birds were flying away from me fast and slowly
climbing, so I would say the whole tail because my first impression was
the red tail, and it seemed to keep it's colour till the birds went up
and over the hedge about 100 or ft away from me

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 17:59, Bob Hobden wrote:
"David Hill" wrote

I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.

A Red Legged Partridge probably fits the sound and they fly low but no
red tail just pinky legs.
The tail was a very definate RED

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 18:07, Derek Turner wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:59:40 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:


A Red Legged Partridge probably fits the sound and they fly low but no
red tail just pinky legs.

That was my first thought, too, especially the springing and the call.
However their first instinct is to run and hide: that's why you need a
good beating team and lots of hedgerows to get them up for shooting. BTW
they are a non-native game bird bought in as poults for the express
purpose of being shot and eaten. So, David, was there a fence/hedge
forcing them to get up? BTW they tend not to breed in the UK except in
hatcheries so any left after Saturday (the end of the season) are usually
dispatched by the weather, when the foxes and badgers benefit from the
shoot's generosity.

These didn't run at all, straight into flight, and they were definitely
not Partridge.
We don't have any shoots in this area so there would be no poults being
released.
In almost 20 years here I have never seen or heard a pheasant even, no
game birds, but Buzzards, Red Kites and Peregrines.

Flumoxed
 

In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

On 03/02/2014 18:07, Derek Turner wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:59:40 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:


A Red Legged Partridge probably fits the sound and they fly low but no
red tail just pinky legs.

That was my first thought, too, especially the springing and the call.
However their first instinct is to run and hide: that's why you need a
good beating team and lots of hedgerows to get them up for shooting. BTW
they are a non-native game bird bought in as poults for the express
purpose of being shot and eaten. So, David, was there a fence/hedge
forcing them to get up? BTW they tend not to breed in the UK except in
hatcheries so any left after Saturday (the end of the season) are usually
dispatched by the weather, when the foxes and badgers benefit from the
shoot's generosity.

These didn't run at all, straight into flight, and they were definitely
not Partridge.
We don't have any shoots in this area so there would be no poults being
released.
In almost 20 years here I have never seen or heard a pheasant even, no
game birds, but Buzzards, Red Kites and Peregrines.

We have up to a dozen pheasants in the garden most days.The call and
take-off you describe could be pheasant. Their colouration varies more
than you might think and it's possible a cock's burnished tail could
look reddish in the right light.

Janet

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 15:53, David Hill wrote:
I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

Conventional wisdom is that odd looking birds unidentified by the
reporter are often jays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007yg5m

But apart from the sound, your description doesn't seem very jay-like.

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 21:26, Janet wrote:
In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...

On 03/02/2014 18:07, Derek Turner wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:59:40 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:


A Red Legged Partridge probably fits the sound and they fly low but no
red tail just pinky legs.

That was my first thought, too, especially the springing and the call.
However their first instinct is to run and hide: that's why you need a
good beating team and lots of hedgerows to get them up for shooting. BTW
they are a non-native game bird bought in as poults for the express
purpose of being shot and eaten. So, David, was there a fence/hedge
forcing them to get up? BTW they tend not to breed in the UK except in
hatcheries so any left after Saturday (the end of the season) are usually
dispatched by the weather, when the foxes and badgers benefit from the
shoot's generosity.

These didn't run at all, straight into flight, and they were definitely
not Partridge.
We don't have any shoots in this area so there would be no poults being
released.
In almost 20 years here I have never seen or heard a pheasant even, no
game birds, but Buzzards, Red Kites and Peregrines.

We have up to a dozen pheasants in the garden most days.The call and
take-off you describe could be pheasant. Their colouration varies more
than you might think and it's possible a cock's burnished tail could
look reddish in the right light.

Janet

I know pheasants of old and it was nothing like one, neither in looks or
sound.
And it wasn't a Jackdaw towing a red plastic bag as the wife suggested.

Flumoxed
 

On 03/02/2014 22:37, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
On 03/02/2014 15:53, David Hill wrote:
I went outside just now and spooked a couple of birds that were on the
track on the other side of the car.
They got up and flew off low and making a metallic squawking alarm cry.
They were dark grey and on one there was a deep red tail. My first
thought was African grey parrots but the grey was slate Gray.
Anyone got any ideas.
David @ a very windy side of Swansea bay

Conventional wisdom is that odd looking birds unidentified by the
reporter are often jays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007yg5m

But apart from the sound, your description doesn't seem very jay-like.

We have several Jays feeding and it wasn't one of them. and before
anyone says anything it wasn't a greater spotted woodpecker either.