The life of an Irish birder : February 2021

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

(Eastern yellow wagtail, Dursey Island,

Cork, 3 Nov 2017 - Joe Proudfoot)

On the 3rd of November 2017 I received a text message and some back of the camera photos from my friend Joe Proudfoot of a very grey yellow wagtail that he had just found on Dursey island, Cork. I was very intrigued by the photos and asked Joe had he heard the bird calling yet, he had and also managed a sound recording. The call and plumage being the key identification features, all nailed by the photos and recording. Just Ireland’s second confirmed record of this vagrant. The first being another first-winter on Tory Island, Donegal on the 12th October 2013.

Identification:

Although Joe’s images are not of great close up quality (To be expected from Joe lol) PS. Sorry for slagging Joe. The grey plumage of a yellow wagtail in Autumn is always striking and could mean you are onto something rather rare, just like this bird. The Eastern yellow wagtail has been thought to be an extremely rare vagrant to Ireland for many years, though perhaps they are not as rare as we think? I have seen quite a few images of grey plumaged yellow wagtails from Autumn in Ireland from over the years and suspect that we didn’t know enough about the Eastern yellow wagtail to explore deeper into these previously recorded candidates. Unfortunately from the images of this bird many of the key features are difficult to see in any detail.

Calls and Sonogram:

This grey plumaged yellow wagtail gave the classic raspy citrine like calls. Which is the key piece of the puzzle when identifying Eastern yellow wagtails. Below are three sonograms from Magnus Robb confirming that this bird was an Eastern yellow wagtail along with the images.

Key Features:

Prominent supercilium which is flared behind the eye
Light grey face and upper parts
White on the greater and median wing coverts, forming two wing-bars
White edges to the tertials
Grey wash to the flanks
Greyish spot to the centre of the chest
No obvious since of a lateral crown stripe
Grey ear-coverts
White crescent below the eye
White under-tail coverts seen at a distance

References: (EYW British birding.pdf) (BotEADutchBirding365295-311_2014.pdf)

White under parts contrasting with the grey upper parts and grey washed flanks.

Light grey upper part tone show in this image taken in better light than the one below. Showing those white wing-bars off.

The grey wash to the flanks is well represented in this image, along with the dark mark on the centre of the chest.

I think more and more Autumn grey plumaged yellow wagtails will be scrutenied harder from now on. And why not, we will find more Eastern yellow wagtails, and that has been the case with at least two more birds found and confirmed in Wexford and Galway. These are birds that we should be discussing about more often, and that is

Why I enjoy making these short blog posts about other peoples encounters in the

Field.

#Wagtails #Autumn #Teamwork #Discovering #VikingOptical

#BirdGuides #Yellowwags

Winter birding: Caspian gull

hybrid in Dublin?

On the 9th of December 2013 a suspected second-winter Caspian gull was photographed at Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Co. Dublin, found by Graham Prole. The bird had initially been suspected to have been a yellow-legged gull. Though images had been sent around and came to a conclusion that it was most likely a Caspian. I was lucky to see this bird as a second-winter when I was a teenager still in secondary school. I had just assumed with my lack of knowledge on gulls that this bird was a Caspian gull! Though after hearing some comments when the bird had returned as a third-winter and then as a subadult/adult the bird was being questioned as a possible hybrid. I then began to take some more interest in this bird, I had as a teenager put this bird on my Irish life list. Though, now have subsequently taken it off as I do in fact think this bird was a hybrid. I have since seen two adult Caspian in Ireland thankfully!

Hybrid Caspian x lesser black-backed gulls are something that are not well covered in literature to date. But given the breeding range of both species it is highly likely that these species do hybridize with one another. It was nice to delve into the identification of this Dublin bird and shed some more light on this subject. This bird was also recorded by Niall Keogh on Sandymount strand, Dublin on March the 10th 2018 with lesser black-backed gulls and Niall had also suggested that this bird maybe a Caspian x Lesser black-backed.

Presumed Caspian x lesser black-backed gull, Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - Pat Lonergan

Second-winter:

As a second-winter this bird was thought to be fine for a Caspian, though perhaps a tad dark on the mantle and lacking a white spot on P10 throughout it's second-year which is not a good feature for a Caspian.

Presumed Caspian x lesser black-backed gull, Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - Pat Lonergan

Presumed second-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull, Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght, Dublin - Stephen Lawlor

Presumed second-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - Jim Bowman

Presumed second-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - Dick Coombes

In terms of viewing this image, this bird looks like what you would expect in quite a classic Caspian of this age. White underwing, common gull like face, eye, slightly drooping bill and long winged all favour a Caspian.

AS a third-winter:

The bird had presumably returned for its second winter now as a third-winter bird. And now perhaps looking even more hybrid like. The mantle tone is very striking in terms of just how dark it is for a pure Caspian, resembling a closer shade to a Scandinavian herring or hybrid herring x lesser black-backed.

Presumed third-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin, 16th Nov 2014 - Stephen Lawlor

Primary 10 (P10) on this bird is not a good pointer towards a pure Caspian as it should be black with a pure white unbroken tip. P5 also tends to show a neat black band rather like that of a yellow-legged gull.

Presumed third-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin, 22nd Nov 2014 - Dave Fox

Presumed third-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - 7 Dec 2014 - Stephen Lawlor

In this image the bird appears paler, though this is due to the strong sunlight hitting the bird. The mantle tone appears paler than seen in previous images.

Presumed third-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - 10th Dec 2014 - Conn O’Brien

Even though this image was captured in the fading winter light it does give a good reflection of just how dark the upper parts are on this hybrid. The hind neck streaking is rather Caspian like.

Presumed third-winter Caspian x lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin 8th Jan 2015 - Dave Fox

Sub-adult/adult:

Presumed sub-adult/adult Caspian x Lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin - Stephen Lawlor

Presumed sub-adult/adult Caspian X Lesser black-backed gull Sean Walsh park, Tallaght, Dublin 20th Dec 2015 - Stephen Lawlor

This image gives a caspian and lesser black-backed feel, from the mantle tone to the bill. I can see both species in this bird. Fleshy pale leg colour. This bird is also not the bulkiest like many Caspian are considered to be, though Females may vary of course.