Yep, it's that time of year again when our foreshore pipits start to smarten up and in fact get even more confusing. It has not been a great winter for them and I suspect that the general mildness has kept numbers down. Water Pipits have been particularly difficult to find with one at the Concrete Barges at the moment being the only reliable one.
Some of the Scandinavian Rock Pipits are starting to colour up and as such the number of Water Pipits reported will inevitably rise as this eastern subspecies tends to develop a bluey-grey hue to the head and a pinkish flush making it look more Watery than British Rocky....
Anyway, here are some nice Scandi Rocks taken on Wednesday by Russ Sherriff so keep your eyes open as we have the best part of another month in which to watch them before they both depart back east.
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Howard Vaughan, Information Officer