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

Fly Flatts and Withens Head

 After finding very little at Fly Flats - scoping from the top road I tried Withens Head for half an hour or so. All quiet, then a Black Redstart turned up on the roof at the same time as a single Wheatear and c60 Meadow Pipits. All very flighty, most of the pipits stayed for several minutes then headed off, wall hopping then away across the moor. The Wheatear and Black Redstart headed off towards the  long pile of stones near Slade where I lost them. Just right time, right place I guess.

A Kestrel was about and on the thistle heads around 40 Goldfinch.

Cold Edge

Teal with Black-headed Gulls

Cold Edge

Stonechat juvenile

Cold Edge

Teal. I think this is an eclipse male. The top photo shows a small pale yellow triangle on the undertail: a female or juvenile would have a white line here. 'Europe's Birds' says eclipse males often have a dark cap and pale cheeks: this bird approaches this. Its belly is pale: 'Collins Bird Guide' says juveniles have darker bellies than adults.

British Cormorant, P c carbo

Pheasant: 2 males (one with no tail), 1 female

Blackstone Edge

Linnets + 2 juvenile Goldfinches

Cold Edge

Herring Gull adult. Like the bird posted on 19 August, this bird has moulted its primaries, and no white primary tips are present. However, the new primaries here have grown well past the tail tip, while the primary tips of the 19 August bird were level with the tail tip. (It could be the same bird?)

2 Greylags

Blackstone Edge

Ringed Plover: 2 non-breeding adults. Non-breeding Ringed Plovers lose the black frontal bar above the forehead, while juveniles have pale fringes on the upperpart feathers.

The LEFT bird above has a fairly broad breast band and dull orange legs.

The RIGHT bird is warmer brown and has a thin breast band. Its legs are dark with just a hint of orange.

The thinner breast band, darker legs, and warmer brown upperparts made me wonder if the right bird is female - with the other being male - but I cannot find any authority to support this idea.

Cold Edge

Scaup juvenile still here

Blackstone Edge

3 white Greylag Geese. The question is, are they leucistic or albino? Collins Bird Guide (2022, Svensson et al): LEUCISM - innate pigment deficiency leading to pale, washed-out colours of the plumage; ALBINISM - innate lack of pigment, usually in the feathers, leading to partly or completely white plumage. So these birds are albino, and the above definition still lets them have coloured legs and bill and orbital ring.

Cold Edge, 28 August

These photos of the Collared Doves support Mick C's comment about their collars. The black of the male's is thicker, with even white margins not seen in the female's. Only the upper edge of the female's collar has a white margin

Cold Edge

Collared Doves, with one preening the other. This species is not as common as it used to be

These birds are clearly a pair. Collins Bird Guide (Svensson et al, 3rd edition) describe Collared Doves as "rather uniformly pale buff-grey with somewhat browner tone on back . . .", but then say "male on average purer pink with faint bluish sheen on head, neck and breast than female, which is more buffish-grey." Personally I cannot see any pink on these birds, but I can see a slight colour difference. I see the grey of the crown and body of right bird (the female?) with a hint of buff, that is not present in the (presumed) male. And I would simply describe the crown and underparts of the male as pure grey.

Cold Edge

Kestrel female

Blackbird juvenile. Ginger

Also:  Willow Warbler 2,  Spotted Flycatcher 1

Cold Edge

Gadwall female. The bird was seen at quite close range when I stepped up from the path west of Leadbeater dam to view Haigh Cote dam. It was swimming with the 'resident' juvenile Scaup. It was flighty, and quickly departed east, while the Scaup stayed put. My photo is not sharp, but shows enough to make the identification. The head is quite plain, and paler brown than the body. The bill is slim, with the proximal two thirds of its side orange. Some of the dull white in its speculum is visible. The tail side is brown, not white.

Stonechat juvenile moulting into adult plumage