The Lincolnshire Bird Club

"the disaster of a lifetime " but for whom, bird or man ?

Dave Johnson

for those questioning the authenticity of the photos the Meta data files from the two published shots are as follows: as you will see they were taken on July 3rd one at 14:33 and one at 16:02 (the + 1:00) refers to BST----50mm!!!!!!!!

Canon Powershot Pro 1

Date Time 2007-07-03T06:14:33+1:00

Focal length 50mm


Canon Powershot Pro 1

Date Time 2007-07-03T06:16:02+1:00

Shutter speed 1/200

What time did his plane land on the 5th July

With regard to authenticity of this record, as I said in my original posting, I made some initial enquiries and the people I spoke to were very genuine about the sighting. The only uncertainty was the actual dates of the bird's stay. Confirmation of this, and further information was promised by Neville Fickling when he had managed to contact other people that he knew had seen the bird. I have asked for further info on the bird's behaviour etc. The feeding action of the bird, as described to me, seems fine, bearing in mind this is obviously a desperately ravenous seabird that is in a totally un-natural environment and very tame. I will provide updates as I receive the information.
Steve K

Freddy,
Regarding your query 'Does a Paul Condon really exist?', I have known a Paul Condon for over 20 years. He is a very well-respected and mature Police Inspector at Grimsby Police Station. I do not know if he is the same person who took the photos, but you can bet I'm gonna find out!

Regards, Neil

The full story has emerged from one of our local birders who went down to talk with the fishermen on the pond

the albatross arrived on the pond on the evening of July 2nd (they said Monday so it must have been the 2nd) and it roosted overnight--it was still there Tuesday morning 3rd and spent the whole day on the pond flying round and diving after bait and even attempted to pick up a bait boat! it was not to be found on the Wednesday morning; no floating corpse either so it presumably made it at least to the adjacent field!

pity one well known local birder (best not name him) who was stood within 150 of this pond on the 2nd and 4th looking for a reported Red Kite

Not surprisingly, the picture of the Albatross, is NOW the MOST VIEWED picture ever in the history of the LBC Album - and that’s in just 2 days!

SO far the picture http://www.lincsbirds.co.uk/album/displ ... ?pos=-6141 has been downloaded 1263 times and counting!

Andrew

I recall seeing the article about the bird in a tabloid recently, can't recall which one. The bird landed in the driveway of a man living in Somerset, I think it was a place called Brean. He thought it looked like a duck. After a few unsuccessful attempts the guy managed to throw a sheet over it, whereupon it was taken to some wildlife rescue service or similar.

Dave Johnson

Just arrived home from work and have received the following update from Neville:
"The bird arrived at 7 pm on 2nd July and left at about noon the next day. It attempted to attack a large 6 inch baiting up device Paul was winding in. Other gulls also mobbed it at one stage. It spent a fair amount of time sitting on the water, but I actually saw it fly a short distance."
This seems to tie up with Graham's earlier info. Neville has promised to pass on further information as he receives it.

Steve
first let me apologise if i have come across as trying to be cynical, that is not my style or my intention. I was merely trying to pass on my observations of the species and warn of the possibilties of a photograph.
The place where the Albert Ross was taken into care was Breen Down which is 3 miles south west of Western Super Mere right on the coast of the seven estuary( a good place to drop into for Dartford Warbler). I do not know you Steve and if i have upset you i promise to buy you a pint the first time we meet, have i have said previously good luck
terry whalin

Apologies,too,if I was too cautious and doubting.

Regards,

Freddy

why is it called a Yellow-nosed Albatross when its nose/beak is in fact black?

katherine
It is because the bird is a juvenile, when adult it has a yellow stripe down the upper mandible,
terry whalin

Presumably (judging by markings) this is in fact a different bird to the Brean Down individual.

If this bird is indeed a second immature bird that is very interesting. They can and do travel many miles dayly with this wind assisted gliding flight but they do need wind. To cross into the northerh hemisphere they have to cross an area called the doldrums which is 20 degrees north and south of the equator. This normally is a wind free area which provides a effective barrier to their flight style. Very occasionally during storm conditions there is sufficient wind for albertross sp to cross this barrier. This means they are now captive in the northern hemisphere and over the coming months or years there should occasional reports coming in of this or these birds (as per the black browed individual). So sea watching could be very interesting if seen at distance with now having a 2 species that are not unalike.



terry whalin