Arctic Redpoll ?

Wayne Gillatt · **Posted:** Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:25 pm

I've just placed photos in the photo album of a Redpoll showing features of an Arctic Redpoll that I saw in Owlet Plantation this Afternoon (21.03.10). The bird showed a blazing white rump with a hint of pink in it. Mantle, back and head grey base colour. Underparts white with some faint streaking on flanks. Unfortunately didn't get to see the undertail coverts well but one of the side on photos shows some of the undertail coverts which are white. I didn't see it for long and spent most of that time trying to get the photos so would like to have another look at it but overall it looks pretty good for an Arctic. The bird was present near the feeding station on the edge of the wood with about 12 Lesser Redpoll and possibly may have beed around for a while.

Wayne

Andrew Chick · **Posted:** Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:55 pm

General impression look very interesting.

From the images you can see the bird has a metal BTO style ring?

Do they ring the birds at Owlet Plantation? (e.g was this a locally ringed bird)

Andrew

Stephen Routledge · **Posted:** Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:24 am

Looks good to me Wayne,great find!.Most definitely not the bird i had a few weeks ago,as that was a definite Mealy,it had a larger red poll on the head,a very distinct pink breast and pinkish rump and not as striking as your bird.It also sounds like the Redpoll flock has decreased also.

Steve.

Alan Ball · **Posted:** Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:52 am

There are some very interesting Redpoll around at the moment. There was a unexpected influx in Bob Sheppard's garden in Bourne yesterday and twenty or so were caught and ringed. This group included two Common (or 'Mealy') Redpolls, and a very large but dark female type which would appear to have been a 'Greenland' or 'rostrata race' Redpoll. One of the Common Redpoll was already ringed and had been ringed in Cumbria last Spring.
Definitely worth looking very closely at Redpolls at the moment.

Alan

Terence Whalin · **Posted:** Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:05 am

coors type prob, hornemanni ??? hmm, all just getting new frocks for summer hmm like to see it in another month ???

terry whalin

Mark Grantham · **Joined:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:47 am **Posts:** 33

Looking a bit closer at the images, you can make out '68' on the ring (not '89' as first thought - as the top loop of the 8 will always be the smallest). This means the address will be at the bottom of the ring, making this a foreign-ringed bird. This would be a first for the Scheme, so I wonder if this bird will remain long enough for a few more photos to be grabbed...

Mark G

Roger Hebb · **Posted:** Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:49 am

Hi Wayne,
Its time we heard from you on this site,great photo,me and dave johnson had two on Atkinsons warren many years ago,j harriman saw them too,before you started birding,..Showing our age now!!.
Roger.

Stephen Routledge · **Posted:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:51 pm

I managed to find this bird this morning while visiting the site and managed to see all the features of the bird including the undertail coverts which Wayne hadn't managed to see,it had 1 long thin streak on one covert.This to me looks like a classic Arctic Redpoll,with grey base colour to the upperparts,two distinct wing-bars,a large unstreaked rump and overall pale and frosty appearance with hardly any brown coloration at all.It was watched with a flock of about 15 Redpolls initially which also included at least 2 Mealies and was then joined by about another ten birds,all the time i observed them they where feeding high up in Silver birches,off to the right of the car park.Also seen 1 Nuthatch.

Out of interest and comparison,i have just watched Roy's excellent footage of the Water's Edge bird from 2006 and to me there seems to be little differance in the 2 birds,the Owlet bird having a very slight pinkish wash to the sides of the rump and breast possibly suggesting it is a male??.

Regards

Steve.

Graham Catley · **Joined:** Tue Dec 28, 2004 11:20 pm **Posts:** 1667

http://www.worcesterbirding.co.uk/redpolls_58.html

Head and bill and neck and upper mantle seem to be at odd with exilipes --see above and below

http://hughharropwildlifephotography.blogspot.com/

Stephen Routledge · **Posted:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:45 pm

Great links Graham,especially the Worcestershire bird club one,looks like this bird may be one of those educational birds,it seems to be right on some aspects of i.d.,but not on bill size.I thought the mantle colour looked ok personally,being a grey/white base colour with black streaking.Looking at the series of excellent photos from this site,there is much variation in Mealy and this will be very useful to us all in the future.

Steve.

Terence Whalin · **Posted:** Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:04 am

like the undertail comments steve, sounds good also grahams comments on coors(exilipes)type. the ones i have seen coors structure does look different eg flatish crown bull necked etc and the ones i saw in canada were real snowballs lots paler and feathered to the floor tarsus not viewable you could see the toes only. with all the recent spliting etc of the redpoll group i still think there is wide variations of each species and subbys where species and sub species overlap in range they interbreed freely which is at odds with criteria for splits etc. having said all that it looks very good well done to all concerned, its good to have articles like this which stretchers the grey matter a bit may we have more please

terry whalin

Dean Eades · **Posted:** Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:12 pm

http://www.blueskybirds.co.uk/

John Harry · **Posted:** Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:45 pm

It's not been reported for a while - has it moved on?

Stephen Routledge · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:22 pm

Hi John,it wasn't seen as far as iam aware on Sunday,but it may be still around.The Redpoll flock is,or was,very mobile due to being constantly flushed by dog walkers,so it might still be around.

Regards

Steve.

Roger Hebb · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:46 pm

Hi all,
Very interesting reading,it is a very complicated area of bird study,shame it appears not to be a arctic redpoll,still a great photo,
Rog.

The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Arctic Redpoll ?

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