Great day;s bird watching yesterday, 18 Jan. Loved the new hide, great views and like the seats. Saw 39 species of birds, a record for me in one day. Highlights included Snow buntings and Twites. Missed the Scoters unfortunately, longing to see them. Missed the waxwings, haven't seen them all winter. But the highlight of the day was outside the cafe, watching the feeders. i saw a chaffinch. i had never seen one like it before. It had the usual markings, but had a white ring round the top of its head. i would guess it is a regular visitor.
Hi theharrier
I have not seen the bird myself but there has been upto 50 chaffinches around the feeders over the last few weeks. Many of the small passerine species can show plumage aberations and they are usually white feathers in their plumage. It is most commonly seen in dark birds, blackbirds and house sparrows, as it tends to stand out more.
I will have a look our for your chaffinch and see if I can get a photo and post it here.
Paul
I have just uploaded to photos of the chaffinch. Poor quality taken from video.