You will be shocked to know even the mother can walk through those bars.

Thanks - thought you'd have to have a huge pixel count otherwise.

Anyway, hoping to walk to a new spot when photoing birds, and not expecting it to flow off, is a mug's game :)

I like the way you've shown the context in one photo, the bird in the other. Is that just digital zoom or two photos and an optical zoom?

The sparrow was just pure good luck, and a bit of a surprise when I reviewed the photo!

And I suppose to complete it, House Martins from the same group gathering the mud in the harbour

It is indeed a Canon, and using Canon's DPP4 to correct the over-exposed whites using the RAW format of pictures. I really ought to research it properly, but I'm guessing that different colours (YGB) are reaching over-exposed to different degrees and getting capped. E.g. Blue is very over-exposed, Yellow is a bit over-exposed and Green is only barely over-exposed. Then when I try to bring them back to properly exposed "as one" with the histogram tool or brigtness slider, those caps and degrees are getting messed up, giving a colour balance in a manner that doesn't reflect the original and I get a green tinge.

That, or pay more attention to whites in frame!

Thanks. What's worse, is that I lost quite a few attempts to this problem today: white gulls and the like, against dark backgrounds. Trying to remove over-exposure just leaves a vivid green discolouration,

Out of interest, is the green under its chin a result of trying to get light/histogram levels correct, or was it really "there". I often have trouble with over-exposed areas picking up a green or blue tinge when corrected.

Yes, I've plenty of nice sharp "normal" images of young gulls, but as you say, this sort of thing stands out.

For those of us without the skill or kit (me!), Cornell Labs Merlin Bird ID can do the live identification part in quite a pleasing manner on an Android phone. However, the logging and kit that is practical to leave running for 24 hours is probably beyond it.

To OP, I'd have thought better mikes would allow identification of quieter calls, and be better at avoiding misidentifying non-bird noise, so might still have value.

I'm deeply sorry - I just left it to your imaginations :)

Nice detail. Was it just to fat or stupid to move, or have you a long lens?

That's good for what I assume is one binocular eyepiece held over a mobile phone's camera lens.

The whole thing has something of a khaki tinge - was it just one of those days, or something that a bit of software magic might improve?

Heh, that's the ABC of photography: Always Bring Camera!

Though these days a mobile phone can be a useful way to address ABC, it's rarely good on birds.

It always amuses me that a Grey Wagtail has lots of yellow, but this is a fine reminder that the Yellow Wagtail has even more yellow!

As I understand it from reference books, those live in Egypt or points south or perhaps the China Seas, and dine on Elephants, so I rather dismissed that breed as a candidate!

You a quite probably right, given what I saw of the little drama (the corvids and the kites were squabbling all through the walk - alas I didn't seen enough of a mixed group of jackdaws and crows mobbing a kite to photo it), but the photo in isolation just had me foxed.

1/1250s speed, and stabilizer on, so I doubt movement distortion, but worth the question.

Perhaps a proper Kite photo to compensate, possibly even the same bird.

Oh, very well done - and if that level of camera shake is all you have to worry about, you're a far better photographer than I! Just a bit of a shame the file downloaded so slowly I didn't get to the end before other things called, but that's not on you.

Oh yes, and also of only realising in post-propressing that the shot isn't quite as good as you hoped when you did it.