APRIL 2010'S MYSTERY BIRD ANSWERS

This month experienced a further reduction in entrants to a still very much appreciated 22, but perhaps signified the ultimate demise of the very last mystery bird competition there is? You can't say I haven't tried! It's shame but if people won't join in they won't join but dare they boast about their birding prowess without proving it here first ☺. Needless to say those 22 entrants not only atleast gave it a go but more importantly (to me) give a little back to this website and the time and money it eats out of my life!

Mystery Bird 7

This being a wader was the easy bit and if there ever was a loaded mystery bird then this was it! I knew full well in advance what I expected the three species offered as answers to be but the surprise came that few people actually got this one wrong with 86% being correct. Why was it a loaded question this month? Simply because this bird is a surprisingly often misidentified species especially for us in Greater Manchester where it often appears in unfamiliar habitat and without a size comparison. And so this month I will start 'arse-about-face' and by telling you the correct answer. It is as the majority guessed, a Sanderling! The two incorrect species were Baird's Sandpiper (2 votes) and Little Stint (1 vote), though I could have easily expected a Red-necked Stint in there too. Sanderling has been mistaken for Baird's Sandpiper in the UK many times before and doubtless will many times in the future too but without going into too much (boring?) details Baird's Sandpiper has a rather unique jizz. It is very long winged indeed, lending too an elongated, long-bodied look which combined with a rather flattened looking body gave rise to a particular individual being compared to a Weetabix in the 1980's as I remember at the time! The mystery bird looks somewhat 'short-arsed' and clearly does not have the very long primaries we'd expect from a Baird's and also looks quite 'pot-bellied' and thick set unlike the more delicate build of Baird's whilst it's upperpart colouration is too not right for the latter species. Some may seem surprised that a Sanderling could ever be taken for a Little Stint, but don't be! There are some very good birders around who have been caught out by just this and rarities committees in Northern America are regularly submitted with Red-necked Stint claims which were actually Sanderlings. Sanderlings at inland location especially often take on uncharacteristic feeding behaviours, frequently becoming much more lethargic and methodical in their feeding approach, lacking the more common 'clockwork toy' frantic whizzing around the place we expect of them and is something I have witnessed from sites like Astley Moss Peat Pools and Hope Carr NR. If a size comparison is not available then accurately judging it's size is clearly going to be difficult at best and this instance even jizz is of little help in separating the pair although I personally still feel that our mystery bird is a little too bulky to be the more delicate Little Stint. Our mystery bird's bill looks just too proportionally broad at the base for Little Stint, it lacks any form of pale prominent mantle stripe which we might expect from that species too and it's apparent lack of any distinct facial features further assists our correct identification. But you know what, it's a closer call than you might think!

Sanderling, Derwent Water, May 2009 (Alan Prosser)

Mystery Bird 8

A real puzzler this one and not just to identify either but seemingly to decide which way up it was, what the heck it was doing and if it was actually alive or dead! That eight species were suggested for this mystery bird is testament to just how confusing it actually was and the range of those species was incredible with Lesser Redpoll, Common Rosefinch, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Twite, Red-throated Pipit, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting seemingly fitting the bill for the entrants. Many of those entrants correctly assessed that the bird was side on, facing to the left but had it's head, for whatever reason, turned onto it's side so that it was facing the camera. If you got that far then the rest was plain sailing...possibly. A prominent white lesser covert wing bar can be seen but that of the greater coverts appears uniform with the rest of the feathers. The small section of the mantle and scapulars we can see looks quite 'mid-brown' and looks to be significantly streaked darker. There also appears to be some streaking on the flanks or atleast the side of the upper breast that we can see, once we have correctly assessed which way up the bird is of course! The bill looks dark and the there is a patent 'two toned' appearance to the breast area. The throat and upper breast are clearly reddish-pink and there is a sharpish demarcation between it and the much paler off-white section lower to this. Clearly, to my eyes, there is no streaking around the throat area, no lateral throat stripe (malar stripe in old money), no 'necklace' of streaks and it all looks particularly plain reddish-pink. These aforementioned features, in one way or another would seem to eliminate all but one of the suggested answers, that being Red-throated Pipit. There's a good reason for that too, as it is indeed a Red-throated Pipit but are in in fact all those other suggested species so easily discounted? Well yes, all but one. Only one entrants dared brave the significantly muddy waters of the whistleri form of Meadow Pipit, a race which can, on occasion, bear far more than a passing resemblance to Red-throated Pipit, although he still plumped for the latter species in his eventual answer. Hopefully, the whistleri race of Meadow Pipit will form a short identification article on this website (if I can ever find the time!) so it's discussion here has been purposefully kept to a minimum but even though it seems to be able to also show reduced breast streaking and a considerably bright orangey throat and breast, I personally feel that they would never approach the entirely lateral throat stripe/breast mark deficiency of our mystery bird. The same individual poses slightly better below!

Only eleven entrants got this one right so they deserve a mention. Well done Simon Warford, Mike Chorley, Dennis Latham, Gary Crowder, Henry Cook, Neil Calbrade, Paul Brown, Paul Cliff, John Tymon, Michel Rogg and Helen Garwood.

Above: Red-throated Pipit, Qatar, March 2010 (Ian McKerchar)

Above: and just to prove it wasn't dead, nor had I flattened it with a baseball bat as one entrant suggested...

A small total of nine entrants got both mystery birds correct this month, a good show in what was yet another challenging round. They were Mike Chorley, Dennis (showing junior how it's done) Latham, Gary Crowder, Henry Cook, Neil Calbrade, Paul Brown, Paul (love you man!) Cliff, John Tymon and last but by no means least, Michel Rogg.

As we enter the fifth round of 2010 only two entrants, both exiled county birders, have a complete correct set so far, those being Neil Calbrade and Paul Brown with the additional pairing of Gary Crowder and John Tymon all but a single point behind. The rest are all still in with a chance but anyway it's just for fun! See you next month.

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