MARCH 2009'S MYSTERY BIRD ANSWERS

March saw another bumper round with 34 eager entrants checking out those rear ends and every one of you is to be congratulated once again, if not only for having a go. That's what it's all about afterall! A big thanks to our first Irish entrant, continuing the competitions literally world wide appeal, so take a bow Gerry Power.

Mystery Bird 5

A wader, brilliant, we all got that but which one? Five species were put forth as answers, so let's see what they were. Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-winged Stilt (juvenile) both received a single vote, Ruff received two, Marsh Sandpiper six and Greenshank twenty-two and I think we can slay a few of those fairly quickly and confidently. Let's look roughly at what we have in the photo. A wader (size unknown due to lack of comparison) with very long legs which appear fairly obviously greenish-yellow although that of course has much to do with the quality or setting of your monitor! It's underparts appear very white and upperparts brownish with some fairly innocuous pale looking edges to the remiges, the bill is blatantly fairly long comparing it to the size of the head and is certainly dark, blackish. Is that a glimpse of some white high up on the back? More of that later. Black-winged Stilt has reddish legs in any plumage and they are so long that they would be staggeringly obvious at pretty much angle and clearly our mystery bird has neither. Black-tailed Godwit is excluded due to it's legs which are black, Ruff has greenish-yellow legs in juvenile plumage but it would also show very dark centred and sharply pale edged wing and upperpart feather which our bird does not, also perhaps the bill is just a little too long for that species. Lesser Yellowlegs is actually a fine conclusion, albeit wrong, it's legs would be a tad brighter (although they can be dull yellowish on some), it's upperparts and wing feathers more obviously notched with yellowish which would look much less uniform that our mystery bird. Looking at the bird's jizz I also feel that it looks altogether too 'rangy' for a Lesser Yellowlegs which looks more Wood Sandpiper like and this bird looks quite heavy in the body and that 'feel factor', often so difficult to express, doesn't fit in with Lesser 'legs. So that leaves us with two, Marsh Sandpiper and Greenshank. They can both appear fairly similar but on good views their separation is not really difficult, of course a good view is plainly not what we have here and the identification the mystery bird clearly requires some close study. Judging size and structure from the image is nigh on impossible due to the lack of any comparison although I still think the bird looks quite heavily bodied and that might just be a pro Greenshank feature. I could go on and on about other subtle features but to be fair none would perhaps be conclusive in their separation and for me it come down to one thing- bill! Yes, yes, it's another subtlety I know but that bill, even though we can see only approximately a third of it, is just too broad for Marsh Sandpiper. Think needle fine for Marsh Sand' and our mystery bird's bill looks too broad already It's clearly as wide as the legs and if you need any further confirmation then check out the Marsh Sand' image below, some times identification can really come down to some intricacies. Oh and yes, it is a hint of white on the back, something only the two tringa share.

Greenshank (with Ringed Plovers), Rumworth, August 2008 (Ian McKerchar)

Marsh Sandpiper, Mai Po, Hong Kong, April 2006 (Ian McKerchar). Now THAT'S needle fine!

Mystery Bird 6

Too easy? I really don't think so but despite that there was only one incorrect answer for this mystery bird and as far as I'm concerned that folks, is down to good assessment and identification on your behalf. The bird was narrowed down to the two regularly occurring British Godwits using the combination of features on offer and notwithstanding the apparent lack of them on our initial view, that was a very impressive outcome indeed. But how to separate the two, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit on what we have on offer? It was in fact reasonably straightforward, something the overwhelming majority concluded too and our first port of call should be in it's ageing. The remiges (wing feathers) look heavily notched pale and the two lower scapulars can be seen to have been moulted, appearing very plain grey with an obvious dark feather shaft and this quickly ages the bird as a juvenile moulting to first-winter plumage. That done, it also bring us swiftly to our correct identification for Black-tailed Godwit has even pale fringes in juvenile plumage and in first-winter plumage it's remiges and upperparts appear entirely plain, lacking the dark feather shaft which give rise to Bar-tailed Godwits streaked look.

Bar-tailed Godwit, Hayle Estuary, October 2008 (Ian McKerchar)

It was a highly impressive round, neither mystery bird was particularly easy and those necessary identification features required no small degree of assessment and consideration. Clearly I'm going to have to up the ante for next month or bring back those gulls! Twenty one entrants managed to identify both mystery birds correctly and they were Tim Wilcox (instinct, you can't beat it), Dean MacDonald, Simon Johnson, Phil Greenwood (still hero), Mark Rigby, Nick Green, Neil Calbrade (the job's safe then pal), Michel Rogg, Rob and Sonia Adderley, Simon Warford, Caroline Clay, Nick Godden, Geoff Hargreaves, Mike Cooper, John Rayner (confidence boosted), John Frankland (ever hopeful), Paul Brown, Helen Garwood (off and running now), Paul Cliff (less talking obviously paying dividends then), Henry Cook and Nick Patel.

The top of the leader board remains firmly with those northern isles though and Paul Brown up there on North Ronaldsay maintains his run of correct answers but the standard of all entrants is obviously increasing and it's still anyone's to win.