September 2021 pt ii — Just A Bird

The Red-backed Shrike was showing well again the day after I had found it, on 15th September, still in the same area of scrub by the car park at Portinfer. It had apparently also ventured out over the fields to the west. It was much more mobile than the previous day, but today it was being photographed by multiple persons so was maybe a bit more jittery.

Red-backed Shrike - Portinfer, 15 Sep 21

The only proper birding I was able to do in the second half of September was on 18th when I had a few hours round Pleinmont. It was pretty quiet for migrants considering the time of year. A group of 16 Golden Plovers were in the BBC field, showing rather well, and a couple of Whinchats and Yellow Wagtails were the only other birds of note. Called at a coupe of spots on the way back and saw that there was a few Bar-tailed Godwits in various bays totalling 16 birds and the two Pale-bellied Brent Geese were on the tideline at Richmond.

Walking round Fort Hommet headland, checking the pine plantation, my eye was drawn to a falcon landing on the rocks by the seashore. It was getting some stick from crows and looked quite interesting. It was a Peregrine but it looked a little odd, being very pale below and a bit brown on the back.

I was able to get close enough for a few photos before crows and nearby dog-walkers flushed it from the rocks. It flew briefly to a further rock and then low across Albecq Bay and round towards Cobo. I was able to study the photos properly when I got home.

Due to the neat fringes, uniform feathers and streaks below, the bird appears to be a juvenile. However, it does not look like any of the local juveniles that are present or are usually present on the island. They are usually quite buffish-orange below with a clear, dark, thick moustachial stripe. This bird was off-white to pale buffish below and with a thin, whispy, almost broken moustachial stripe. Overall its head was much paler than I usually see, with large white cheeks, a broken pale supercilium and paler mottling on forehead, crown, rear ear coverts and nape. Also the streaks below were quite fine and thin, with large pale gaps between, and even the blotchy streaks on the rear flanks were relatively sparse, with just a few flecks on the trousers and no streaks at all on the vent. Local Peregrines are usually much streakier.

The flight pictures below show that the upperpart feathers all have a crisp whitish fringe, rather than the brownish fringes of a typical juvenile, especially so on the uppertail coverts, creating a paler patch there. The bottom photo in flight, slightly blurred and against the rocks, shows a really unusual-looking bird, very brown and pale.

With the features noted here, I am sure that the bird is not local and I would have thought not really local to this part of Europe. The paleness could indicate a bird of the race ‘calidus’ which breeds in the high arctic, but it doesn’t seem to match very closely as they tend to be even browner, bigger and more streaky. I would like to think that it is a Peregrine from somewhere in the far north and could very well be, but I can’t find any photo which matches the combination of features closely. Whatever it is, it was a fine beast and an interesting bird to study.

After 18th September, I have literally no records of birds seen until early October. For a majorly keen birder, I sometimes have very few opportunities to get out in the field, which can be a little frustrating at times. But at least this means I really appreciate it when I do.

Just A Bird

Just A Bird

Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

Just A Bird

Just A Bird