A male Mealy Redpoll was showing well, though briefly, near the top end of Llyn Crafnant yesterday evening. It was quite close in birches opposite the phone box, in a feeding flock of a few Lessers and Siskins, and had a paler ground colour than the Lessers, with a pink wash down the breast to the belly, with much reduced streaking on the flanks which were finer and less bold. The undertail coverts appeared all white, but when the bird paused momentarily, thin, fine streaks could be seen down the centres of the longest three. The rump appeared pale with a pink flush.
It's been a good winter for this species and i wonder if there's a chance of connecting with birds moving through on Spring migration - i understand Marc and Rob had good views of one on the Orme last Spring...
Mealy type birds are reasonably frequent on spring passage through Bardsey. Redpolls are a nightmare and should be lumped. Any birds you see you should do your best to photograph.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think that was 09 or even 08 but saw the bird separately and concluded the same- need to tape them to get an idea of passage on the orme- maybe one day! Interesting article here on polls: http://www.worcesterbirding.co.uk/redpolls_58.html
ReplyDeleteBaby robert said he'd post some ID stuff too. Pull yer finger out Baby Robert.