Not only did I add fly-over Grey Wagtail, Collared Dove and 8 Stock Doves to my Lothian year list (about time for these three species!) but I managed to self-find a couple of Lothian life ticks.
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Note the 'headlamp' effect when this bird is viewed from the front. This was reminiscent of the Straiton carpark bird in March 2010. Quite possibly today's bird will look even more striking by March as feather wear is likely to enhance the pale collar.
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With the current invasion of Mealy Redpolls into Britain, on the other hand, I was fairly confident that I could find one within easy walking distance of the house, and sure enough, today I found a small group of Redpolls in trees at the edge of the Braid Hills Golf Course. The first two I looked at were clearly Lesser Redpolls, as they were very brown with strong buff tips to their wing coverts.
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Of course exilipes can be a difficult form to identify, but in this case the mantle and flank streaking of this bird is too strong and the structure of the bird is better for Mealy Redpoll. Note that the picture on the left gives an inaccurate impression of a small bill - in life the bird had a normal sized and shaped bill for a Mealy Redpoll.
The bird then dived into the centre of a large thick hawthorn and gave a brief view of its nice white rump feathers raised (just visible in picture on left) - a pretty good feature for exilipes perhaps, but in fairness just as good for a male flammea. And then it was gone. Redpolls are like that...
So, a great walk with some great birds. What could top that. Well another few de-pigmented Carrion Crows. Here's one in flight carrying, accidentally (I presume), a dead oak leaf.
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