Many thanks to Stephen Menzie who sent me his shot of a pipit by Sandgrounders Hide yesterday afternoon.
Stephen felt the bird was a Water Pipit, but invites other opinions - always a courageous thing to do I think.
He explains: "It spent some time in the tree just to the left of Sandgrounders' before it dropped down into the ditch.
"We were quite confident that the bird was a Water Pipit while we were watching it & assumed it would be a decent bird for the reserve (1 or 2 records a year sort of thing) but after you told us that it was a lot rarer, we sort of began to bottle it a bit!
Not sure why, but apologies if we seemed a bit shifty about it all!!! Anyway, have a look at the pic, feel free to send it around and let me know what you think.
"The only problems I can see with the bird are that maybe the flanks are a little heavily streaked and also that perhaps the bill seems a little on the large size for a Water Pipit although I guess this can be quite variable.
"The question is, could a littoralis Rock Pipit show such a combination of pro-Water features?"
My first impression is that the bird is very heavily streaked and quite dark, so I lean towards littoralis Rock Pipit, that said I only saw it in flight, when it was a rather short-tailed silhouette as it bombed out onto the marsh.
However the bill and legs are quite brightly coloured for littoralis - that could have been the hard February light of course.
A look at the wing pattern and tail would have been handy (I think Stephen did well to get this shot though).
Interestingly the new Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside makes the point that perceived opinion is that our wintering Rock Pipits are all littoralis, rather than the sedentary, darker breeding UK population (petrosus).
Can littoralis show so many Water Pipit features? Well, yes unfortunately - I remember having to submit a drawing and written description of one from Marshside about 10 years ago, and there is a good deal of cross-over.
But what do I know? What do others think? Is the bird a littoralis Rock or a Water Pipit?
(it's what the comments thingy at the end of each entry is for).
Thanks again to Stephen for sending the pic to me so we could all see it.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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I think the Pipit is a littoralis Rock. Pot-bellied shape wrong for Water, also breast too heavily streaked, belly too dusky. The picture not conclusive, though, in that we can't see the overall dimensions of body, tail etc.
Hi John, cheers for that. I've finally got round to uploading and sorting through the shots off my camera and have uploaded a small selection onto my blog http://menziebirding.blogspot.com/ until I get round to being able to have a closer look through all of them myself.
Just to clarify, the bill was yellow, the legs were pale and the outer TFs were pure white in life...
Thanks again
Stephen (& Ashley)
Would love to have seen the Pipit, I was working on the reserve around the time it was seen.
My number is right next to the hide log book, so if you do see anything unusual at Marshside I'd like to know please! (Some of us reserve wardens do like to get to see other peoples finds on the reserve).
Any way enough moaning - lots of good birds on and around the reserve over the last few days; an unidentified Pipit, Green-winged Teal, Med Gull, seven Avocets, two Hen Harriers, Great White Egret, eight Little Egrets and a Harris Hawk.
Sorry Graham - should have called you, didn't realise you were still about....
Seawatch from Formby Point, 8.20am-11.40am, Feb 19:
Big influx of grebes since last visit:
Great Crested Grebe 76
Slav Grebe 1
Red Throated Diver 29
Red Breasted Mergs 18
Goldeneye 2
Common Scoter 170
Razorbill 8
Guillemot 2
Wibble Wobble ! Had a new bus tick today.
Whilst driving my bus back from the city of culture, I had incredible views of a pair of Grey Partridges being attacked and chased by a Redleg at the edge of the road in Halsall . Jellyhead
Hi John
Been bashing the mosses for the last week, doing my second winter visits on the TTVs...so I'm not always in South Africa.
Some interesting sightings, including on Feb 18 a Green Sandpiper, flushed from a ditch on SD31Y with 2 Snipe, and a pair of Stonechats nearby, plus Graham Clarkson trespassing on one of my tetrads near Burscough Priory, where he had 50 plus Stock Doves.
Amazing numbers of birds getting down to their nuptials. Full song to date includes Blackbird, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush; Starling - and visiting nest hole; House and Tree Sparrows; Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch; Robin; Blue, Great, Long-tailed and Cole Tits; Pied Wagtail; Moorhens displaying; Dunnock, Wren, Collared Dove and Woodpigeon; Great Spots drumming; Buzzards and Sprawks displaying; Mallard, Shelduck and Oystercatchers pairing up...and first cock Yellowhammer, 'little bit of bread and no cheeeesing' today.
Mipits, Skylarks, Stock Doves, most Linnets and Corn Bunts, still in flocks though. Have had Redpolls on two TTVs, but not a sniff of a Willow Tit, although Clarko has had them at three sites, near Burscough.
Sandgrounders Hide will be closed today (Weds 20.2.8) for essential maintenance.
The toilet, viewing screens and Nel's Hide will remain open. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Graham Clarkson,
Warden, Marshside.
Always difficult to comment from a few pics but it looks like a Water Pipit to me.
Breast streaking ok, flank streaking thin, not diffuse as on Littoralis.
Also undertail clean with no diffuse streaking or smudging as on `scando Rock`.Also breast streaking nicely defined from paler belly.
Check out the Water Pipits on the Fylde Bird Club site.
This bird looks better than some of those published as Water Pipit.
Cheers
Pete.