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Water v Rock Pipit...again! (1 Viewer)

HH75

Well-known member
Ireland
Hi all,
Just to confuse people even more(?),here is a link to a website with pics of a really grotty Water Pipit moulting into summer plumage which is currently at Carnsore Point,Co.Wexford:
http://www.irishbirding.com/birdnews.html (scroll down)
Some ID features can still be made out,in particular the pale brown rump and white outer tail feathers(though this can be shown by littoralis),but such a bird could easily be overlooked as a littoralis,especially as it tends to feed on seaweed!
If anyone has any doubts about the ID,however,look at who took the pics....
Harry
 
Interesting pictures Harry, and I'm not going to argue with the ID! I guess the relative prominence of the eye ring is quite significant too - it's pretty much absent on the Water Pipit but very noticeable on the littoralis Rock Pipit on the same page. Although Water can show an eye ring, I don't think it would ever be quite so prominent (at least not that I've seen).
 
Those clean pink flanks are a bit of a give-away as well! Wasn't this an Irish tick for you, Harry?
 
Hi Chris,
CJW said:
Those clean pink flanks are a bit of a give-away as well! Wasn't this an Irish tick for you, Harry?
No,saw one or two at Tacumshin last November(poor views) and had excellent views of a bird at Kilmeaden,Co.Waterford on a few occasions from December to at least early March.May try for that bird(Kilmeaden) during the week:not seen one either in summer plumage or moulting to that plumage.
Andrew(Fifebirder):I agree that Water Pipits seldom seem to show a prominent eye-ring,as is shown by both races of Rock.
Have seen a few odd Rock recently that looked just like petrosus,but had decent white supercilia and whiter underparts than usual(though still as heavily marked as usual and with no hint of pinkish anywhere).I must shamefully admit that perhaps I didn't look as closely at Rock Pipits until this winter,and perhaps this is just what petrosus can look like when worn(many have quite brownish tertials etc at this stage),but the prominent supercilia strike me as odd: perhaps less distinctive littoralis?
Harry
 
Water v Rock Pipit....again!

Here's a Water Pipit I photographed last week here in Cornwall. Like Harry, I haven't really studied Rock Pipits in depth before. I have Darrell and his Hannafore bird to thank for stimulating my curiousity!
 

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Aquila said:
Like Harry, I haven't really studied Rock Pipits in depth before. I have Darrell and his Hannafore bird to thank for stimulating my curiousity!

And of course all the BirdForum members who contributed to the subsequent debate!

Andy
 
Aquila said:
Here's a Water Pipit I photographed last week here in Cornwall. Like Harry, I haven't really studied Rock Pipits in depth before. I have Darrell and his Hannafore bird to thank for stimulating my curiousity!

Hurrah - another unequivocal Wapit :)
 
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