After the posts of Redpolls here, I thought this bird on Fair Isle a couple of days ago would interest a few of you. This bird in the field looked large and white, with the rump looking whiter in the field. In hand a pale islandica was considered but probably ruled out on measurements. It’s too pale for a rostrata with the measurements perhaps too large. This seems to be within the range of a young hornemanni redpoll in spring. Wing=85mm. Small bill also fits in with it being an Arctic. General consensus on Shetland seems to be that it is a Hornemann’s Redpoll but there is a lack of experience in the UK of Spring Arctic’s! Photos by David Parnaby. Any comments welcome.
Very beefy indeed. Have you been giving it those funny milkshakes.
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