[PWG]

Last Saturday on Hartland Point, Devon UK. The closest I can get is probably a bunting? After searching a great pile of bird guides I still can't get any closer.

[StuartReeves]

Bit of a puzzler, but I think it's a Reed Bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus, in some sort of adult female or immature male plumage

[Touty]

Originally Posted by PWG

Last Saturday on Hartland Point, Devon UK. The closest I can get is probably a bunting? After searching a great pile of bird guides I still can't get any closer.

Looks like a male reed bunting coming into summer plumage but it's incredibly late. I'd send it around.

[TWM]

That is a real puzzler! Reed bunting is a possible but there are a lot of features that don't fit. I'm stumped!

[timmyjones]

It looks like a reed bunting but it hasnt got any markings on the breast and no sign of a white collar i'm willing to stick my neck out and have it choped off by some one saying its within the variation of reed bunt but seen as its in devon reed x cirl

[cuckooroller]

For some reason I want to see Calcarius here. It is puzzling.

[David FG]

I think the most likely solution is Reed Bunting, but I get a hint of Little Bunting - Emberiza pusilla, but that is incredibly unlikely.

[timmyjones]

why do you want to see a lapland bunting Steve

[Tim100]

Originally Posted by Touty

Looks like a male reed bunting coming into summer plumage but it's incredibly late. I'd send it around.

Sounds good to me.

Perhaps the snow we had a little while back confused it?

[Ghostly Vision]

Just looks like an unmoulted Reed bunting male to me. If you fill in the white with black where it would be in SP, then there's nothing anomalous about it.

The breast is streaked, but light is blowing them out.

GV

[Lucky Birder]

I've never seen a Reed Bunting in this plumage, but perhaps I've not seen enough Reed Buntings.

[Jane Turner]

Actually I have seen and handled loads of Reed Bunts and never seen one look like this. What I can't square is where the russet/chestnut on the crown and rear ear coverts from. The mantle lines also seem much whiter than you would expect. There is also a lot more chestnut lone in the wing coverts. It looks like a Reed Bunting structurally. I'm wondering if is another example of erythrism (spp) like this one!

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment....achmentid=7417

[Lucky Birder]

But that does sort of look like a Reed Bunting. The bird in the original photo has a Lappo look about it.

[Jane Turner]

There is no hint of Lapper structure though - and they are not known for perching on wires!

[Lucky Birder]

True. I didn't mean to say it was a Lappland, just that it sort of looked like one in a manner of speaking - ish.

[Lucky Birder]

Actually, the bird on the wire doesn't look anything like the bird in the first two pics, although presumably it is or PWG would have said.

[pianoman]

The bird in pics 3, 4 and 5 show no hint of white below the malar patches, yet bird 1 and 2 do quite strongly. Since I'm sure PWG has got the same bird, perhaps there is a curious light effect bleaching out some of the colours. If you turn the white on rear ear coverts and mantle buff brown instead perhaps you'd have something more like a F Reed transitioning W - S?


Andrew

[Lucky Birder]

Yes, the last three pics look quite Reed Buntingy

[Touty]

Originally Posted by Ghostly Vision

Just looks like an unmoulted Reed bunting male to me. If you fill in the white with black where it would be in SP, then there's nothing anomalous about it.

The breast is streaked, but light is blowing them out.

GV

I agree. The only issue is that the summer plumage in male buntings is brought about through feather wear (i.e the black or yellow or whatever is there in winter plumage and comes out as the tips wear off). Most male reed buntings resemble the Hartland photo in late January.

[Jane Turner]

I'm still sure I have never seen a western reed bunt with such white braces.

[jurek]

Looks like male Reed Bunting which, unusually, developed black head only in part of face while the rest stayed in winter plumage.

[Jane Turner]

I'd be curious to know from PWG if that crown pattern (pale super ,rusty lateral crown strips and grey medial crown stripe) and huge grey nape band visible in the second pic looked like that in the field because I can's see any way how a non abberantly plumages Reed Bunt could show these features by simply having a delayed moult.

I'd also like to know how it called and was it acting like a Reed Bunting.

[Edward woodwood]

those first two pix are very strange

why the chestnut areas if it's a Reed Bunt?

the pale areas in pix one and two are very blown out appearing much whiter than they would in the field

Tim

[PWG]

Thanks for your help so far I'm glad it's not just me that's confused.

OK I'll see if I can answer some of the questions.
1. The first two pics are slightly lighter than in real life but couldn't give an accurate estimate as to how much lighter.

2. Between 1,2 & 3,4,5 I lost sight of the bird courtesy of a local dog and am assuming same bird due to the similarity of pattern.

3. Some differences will occur due to the first two being on the ground and for whatever reason it was stretching up. When on the wire it was looking more down and obviously I'm looking from a lot lower angle.

4. As for behaviour I saw it for only a very short period of time and not familiar enough with the behaviour of reed buntings to say either way. It didn't call that I could distinguish so unable to help there either.

hope any of this helps.

[Jane Turner]

Well not really... but thanks!