Cold Edge

Stonechat in the fog

4 of 5 Pintails. The birds were flushed by a dog walker, and flew east, just after I first saw them

Adult female Pintail have scalloped flanks, like Mallard, and none of these birds has that feature. 

The front, top middle and rear birds have plain chestnut flanks and blackish backs, which I think makes them eclipse males. The rear bird has 2 male-type scapulars: black with pale margins.

The lower middle bird has plain brownish-grey flank and - slightly darker - back. I guess this is a juvenile.

The bills of the 3 adults comprise a pale grey triangle over a dark grey base.

The white line on the side of 3 of the birds will be the white rear edge of the secondaries' speculum.

Cold Edge

Tufted Duck, male coming out of eclipse. Juvenile would have a dark eye, and female would have brown back and brown flanks.

Stonechat female

Brookfoot, Brighouse

Probable Black-bellied Dipper, Cinclus cinclus cinclus. Upperparts brown, belly black to where it meets the white bib.

The third photo shows a small area of brown at the side of the bib. Certain angles show thin white fringes on some wing coverts and tertials, suggesting a first calendar year (1cy) bird.

All the Dippers I have seen in Yorkshire over 40 years have been on shallow watercourses with exposed stones providing perches. This bird was at the side of a deep wide section of the River Calder.

 

Cold Edge

Reed Bunting 2

1cy Lesser Black-backed Gull. The bird looks quite pale in the bright sunlight, but two features clinch the id.

1. The outer greater coverts are dark - the 'midwing panel' visible in flight. In Herring Gull all the GCs are the same colour as the median and lesser coverts.

2. The tertials are dark proximally and white distally: there is no white edge extending back to the greater coverts. Most often in 1cy LBB, a tertial has a dark centre with a straight edge joining a thin white border. While in 1cy Herring a wavy line typically separates the tertial's dark centre and pale border, giving the centre a shape that recalls an oak leaf: and the pale border goes back to the GCs.

Cold Edge

Lapwing 8, (with Canada Geese). In the top photo, the faces of the right two birds show the buff tone of winter plumage, and between them the three birds show (similar to Pied Wagtail!) winter's white chin and throat, and black breast band

Mistle Thrush and Kestrel

Moorhen juvenile

Pied Wagtail, with the white chin of winter plumage

Dead mole. Impressive claws!

Blackstone Edge

Linnet 1, Meadow Pipit 4, Canada Goose +

A Tree Pipit would have a stronger supercilium, a thicker bill base, and a thin black loral stripe in front of the eye

Cold Edge

 Leucistic (see 31 August post) and normal Greylags

2 Reed Buntings

Stonechat female. The 2nd and 3rd photos show that the underwing coverts are pale: in Siberian Stonechat they are black

Cold Edge

Moorhen 1 juvenile. (Also 1 adult)

Robin

Stonechats

Part of a flock of 21 Greylags

Cold Edge

6 Greylags flew in from the east

The (probably for now) resident Herring Gull - see 19 Aug and 5 Sep - now has a white-tipped primary

Starling 60: adults and many juveniles. All birds now have a fresh spotted body and neat brown-edged flight and tail feathers. The juveniles' heads are pale - some more than others