Water or Rock Pipit in Hungary? (1 Viewer)

[attila]

Hi,

Sunday afternoon a dark Pipit was discovered on a gravel island of the Danube south of Budapest. There was an obvious Water Pipit present for comparison as well.

Interesting features we saw on the bird:
- upperparts were olive toned dark brown, not greyish brown as on the Water Pipit present,
- breast and belly base colour had a buffy-washed tone, not clearly white as on the Water Pipit,
- streaking was very prominent on the chest and flanks, getting diffuse on the rear flanks while the Water Pipit had less prominent streaking, especially on the flanks,
- there was some white on the outer tail feathers,
- there was a prominent white eyering, but the supercilium looked present in some angles, but far less than on the Water Pipit,
- the bill was long and darker than that of the Water Pipit.

There were some pics taken but in fairly bad light conditions.
They can be found on the Hungarian birding page here:
http://www.birding.hu/forum.do?temaId=8&method=page&page=4

Here are the links to the picks for those who don't want to loose themselves among all the Hungarian text:
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23892-Y2L60Z8B4APU8CQ7P35EH6AUY88YVMWR
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23895-G0D6WP4TK7X3ZMCPRIN6PFSNBBIO4KS1
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23896-JA76LWD1HY529IQRF2MXLFNMGFYQNM49
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23897-GI14QV5HEJFM3BBF6B60797Q03VDQ79U

The bird was refund and observed by more birdwatchers yesterday until it flew south late afternoon. Pictures were taken again, but light conditions were dull and on some pics the bird seems lighter on the underparts than our field observations suggested:
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23945-NN1VUQ0AEPT8TB9DC9YG65ZSZFSH7L0J
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23944-HT4W4ZLHM2YJ5WXMZVVJ2WW9NLFY9DVZ
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23943-UMBQZJ86HNEHYAL2T3OVE0GV72Y425GX
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23942-9L92QKVA9FWVD6VEAEZY9WQH3EB5NWVF

This has already been posted on e-mail forums, but opinions are controversial so it would be helpful to have some more insight into this identification problem.

Thanks,

Attila

 

[bitterntwisted]

Attila,

The links don't take you to the photos but to a menu page in Hungarian. Can you post links direct to pics as non-Hungarian speakers like me will struggle to find anything from the menu.

Köszönöm szépen,
Graham

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Hi Attila,

Your links are not for some pics...

 

[attila]

Sorry Graham and Cristian!

I know it is frightening to arrive to a page full of strange Hungarian text.
I added links to the above post.

Attila

 

[colonelboris]

I'd plump for a Rock Pipit, going on the (photo quality excepted) smudgy flank streaking. The edging to the greater and median coverts is also a bit dull, whereas Water Pipit would be lighter. The overall impression of the bird is that it's quite dark, which matches Rock Pipit. Also, the bill is quite long, which again supports Rock Pipit for me. As there's a bit of supercillium showing, I'd also suggest ssp. littoralis, as these birds are often migratory and one might have got a bit lost.
However, going on previous form, the longer and more descriptive my answer, the less likely it is to be the bird I reckon it is...

 

[attila]

Thank you, Colonelboris for your thoughts!

There is another pic available now on the website:
http://www.birding.hu/viewImage.do?img=23962-HZ1YW1TJPWHBAZGPVAK69KY3ND8T0WL4

Opinions are still welcome.

Attila

 

[rockfowl]

Hi Attila,

It's a Rock Pipit for me.

Mark

 

[attila]

Thank you Mark for your opinion!

Fortunately 2 members off the Hungarian Rarities Committee have seen the bird, so now it is up to them to decide whether it was the first Rock Pipit for Hungary or not. Fingers crossed.

Attila

 

[rockfowl]

Thank you Mark for your opinion!

Fortunately 2 members off the Hungarian Rarities Committee have seen the bird, so now it is up to them to decide whether it was the first Rock Pipit for Hungary or not. Fingers crossed.

Attila

You've got yourself a first then, Congratulations! Hope Szabolcs Kokay saw it?:t:Mark

 

[attila]

Thanks Mark! I'm afraid Szabi didn't see the pipit. He is not really into twitching lately.

Attila