[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Whatsapp roundup 7/4/2024 #8639

Hi SLP! I put that forward to M6 Media while asking if we could just have some kind of captcha for registration and login, and am pleased to say this is now implemented!

We’ll keep an eye out for spam though, but hopefully it shouldn’t now be too easy to do, and if you’re logged in, it should be easier to post because you won’t need to fill in a captcha.

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Whatsapp roundup 7/4/2024 #8590

Also, rest assured that records are meticulously curated from this forum (again, by Rosie), so bear in mind, Eddie, that we’re not just relying on data being stored on wherever this website is hosted. I also still have everything from the old site in a spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eo7WqWu6rcEbSTN60GoiolVBtX9JTQTsAmj9RZtxvEk/edit?usp=sharing

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Whatsapp roundup 7/4/2024 #8587

Just to point out that this website is not at all my work now, it was rebuilt from the ground up by M6 Media, on WordPress, with assistance from the LDBWS committee, especially Rosie!

I would say as a punter that although the captcha is annoying, the alternative is either we would have to vet every new person who wanted to post here, or we leave ourselves open to unlimited amounts of Chinese spam, which people might not remember, is what happened before it was here. It’s a difficult problem to solve, and has only got worse since I started the site in 2004.

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Potts Corner and Sunderland Point #8296

No worries! I only really realised it was you after you’d gone past, and when you posted about the Brents on the WhatsApp!

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Need advice on birdwatching binocular! #7641

I suspect that the Danish actress Famke Janssen is unlikely to be looking for advice on binoculars on our website. This looks like some fairly subtle spam to me…

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Canada goose northward moult migration #5646

69 going over Borrowdale Road, Lancaster, today 5th June at 0843, but south. Not sure if the direction means that would have been a more local movement? Don’t normally see Canadas over here at all, especially not a biggish flock like this.

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Spoonbill #5627

Just seen a photo of a spoonbill from the EM pools posted on the Leighton Moss Facebook group, photographer said it was taken on 1st June (yesterday).

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Whimbrel Meldham Wood 20:00 – 20:30 #5427

Hi Bill,
Completely irrelevant to your posting, but I was trying to track you down to ask you something birdy, if you see this, could you text me on 07841 822797 or email [email protected]

Thanks!
Andrew McCafferty (have met you a couple of times out birding, and I wanted to ask you something about a site you mentioned!)

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Scoters over Freehold #5136

No, sadly not! I didn’t have any recording going on last night!

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Freehold owl #4549

… and I’ve moved in the house next to Julia and keep missing it! It seems that a surefire way to make it pop up is for me to go out around 1630 in the evening :-). I’m going to try a morning watch with my breakfast now though! On Sunday evening there was huge commotion with a jay, mistle thrush and some magpies, but the tree was a bit too dense to see into from where I was looking.

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Morecambe black redstart #4435

As noted by PJM and others, still around today near the blue house. When I saw it, around 1335, it was on the rocks, where I managed to phone-scope this picture

Attachments:

1. 

   PXL_20211226_133842219-scaled.jpg
   

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Freehold swifts #3860

Eddy, I thought they’d completely gone until I just saw 5 this morning over Borrowdale Road (hadn’t been keeping up with your posts here!).

It’s been a while since I’ve been around here in the summer: is this a normal date for them still to be around?

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Keeled Skimmer (?) at Birk Bank #3612

I’m told this might actually be a Black-tailed Skimmer

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Birk Bank – Birds & Insects… #3505

Finger crossed for a bit of rain then!

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Birk Bank – Birds & Insects… #3502

Ooh, I only saw Four-spotted Chaser, must go up and have another look! Are those ones you mentioned already out?

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Birk Bank – Birds & Insects… #3496

I’m glad I spotted your post Steve, hadn’t thought of this as a good place for butterflies!
I went up on Saturday lunchtime, and saw your Small PBFs again in good number, and took some photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tbNnnRzwPymtqa5n9

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Canalside Cetti’s #3361

Just testing something. I suspect the forum just doesn’t support non-image file types, but let’s see…
EDIT: nope, seems fine. Maybe what Guy was uploading was a bit bigger (maybe WAV format, which is uncompressed and so a bigger file, and maybe a bit of a long clip?)

Attachments:

1. aquatic-warbler.mp3

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Canalside Cetti’s #3350

I’ve been down to listen to Mr Atkins now, this is the best I could get, because he kept moving around, and I only had my phone!

https://www.xeno-canto.org/652652

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Canalside Cetti’s #3347

Guy, I can help with that! Probably the best place to put them would be xeno-canto, but if you struggle to register or whatever, I can upload them there for you, if you email them to me [email protected].

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Canalside Cetti’s #3333

You can tell it’s the same male and not its recent rival because of its atypical / variant song– which is more Nightingale / Thrush Nightingale-like.

This must be why the Spanish name for Cetti’s warbler is “bastard nightingale”

Attachments:

1. 

   Screenshot_20210527-221100.jpg
   

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Eric Morecambe Complex #3300

I was over in Northumberland last week, and also spotted a very diurnal barn owl, hunting in the dunes at 10 in the morning!

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Search Function … new web design #1597

Eddy, I’ve dumped out the raw data back to 2004 (I think it’s all there) from the sightings forum in this spreadsheet.
If I get time, I’ll make something to present in a bit more of a palatable form, but at this at least means anybody who wants to can get at the raw data. The people who built the site were going to charge an arm and a leg to do anything with it, so now the only option is for me to try to do something with it in my spare time (which there isn’t much of).

It’s basically just a massive CSV dump, but it’s here anyway:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eo7WqWu6rcEbSTN60GoiolVBtX9JTQTsAmj9RZtxvEk/edit?usp=sharing

[andrewmccafferty]

in reply to: Brookhouse & Local sightings #1528

Just to manage expectations, don’t expect this any time soon (and it may also be something you have to run on your own computer, because I probably don’t have anywhere to host it unless I can persuade the people who are running the site now to host a database and some code for me). At the moment I just have a backup of the MySQL database with all the data in its raw form.

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