Pied Wheatear had been missing
from my arsenal of British Wheatears for some time now, having never managed to
make it down to the Nottinghamshire bird back in 2013. With no readily
available birds in the 5 years since, I therefore jumped on the chance to pay a
visit to the bird that took up residence on the sea wall at Dove Point in
Meols on the Wirral in November, less than an hour away from home and showing extremely
well to the masses.
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| Pied Wheatear! |
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| The Wheatear and its many admirers! |
Sure enough, upon pulling up
next to the assembled crowd of birders and cameras, the Pied Wheatear was
instantly on view – quite possibly the easiest and quickest twitch I have ever
been to!
Over the next few hours the
Wheatear continued to show exceptionally well, flitting from point to point on
the sea wall and never disappearing for more than a minute at a time, on one
occasion flying down on to the floor and proceeding to scurry right up to my
boots! Extremely confiding and showing no fear, it didn’t even seem too
bothered when locals passed right next to it with their dogs!
Aged as a first winter male,
whilst some questioned the ID with relation to the width of the black band on
the end of the tail (and the similarity to Eastern Black-eared Wheatear), tail
patterns vary between individuals and this particular bird is well in the range
for Pied. The dark feather colouration of the mantle along with the white edges
to the feathers creating a ‘scaly’ effect are also both classic for Pied,
nailing the ID.
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| Note the scaly looking back - a key feature for Pied Wheatear |
Having already been present
for two days before being identified from photos and the news put out to the
masses, this was the first record for Cheshire/Wirral and a fantastic local
bird to connect with.
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