Whinchat at Gronant? (1 Viewer)

[Bananafishbones]

Just need to put my mind at rest really:

While on Gronant dunes yesterday i spotted what I beleive to be a female Whinchat. I had aleady seen a pair of Stonechats an hour before near to the bridge, this bird was towards the dunes near to the wooden walkway.

I am fairly sure what it was but have not seen anyone else giving positive IDs of Whinchat in this area, therefore I am asking can anyone else confirm they have seen Whinchat in this area?

Many Thanks
Dave

 

[Bananafishbones]

Bump....

Am restless with this one, I am convinced I saw one but not willing to give myself a life tick unless someone could back up my ID

 

[dantheman]

Not a specific reply of course because I don't have the answer specifically. If it's on the coast in a part of Wales where they are likely to be breeding nearby (right habitat), then don't see why it couldn't be, if you are sure of what you saw enough to rule out a young Stonechat for example ....

If they don't breed exactly in the locality, possibly a little early for a dispersing adult, but who knows??

 

[Rob Smallwood]

A description would help others to help you decide - other than that you're on a dangerous path of only ticking it because someone says they've seen one there before.

On the other hand even if Whinchat had never been recorded at this site (which must be a very slim chance) you'd be mad to write it off if it was a Whinchat you saw. The local recorder would be disappointed not to receive what might be a locally interesting record.

One things for sure, ticking it is down to you and you alone (see previous threads ad nauseum!).

B

 

[Bananafishbones]

Cheers Rob / Dan

It is difficult as only I know what I saw but especially after photographing a pair of Stonechats for 20 minutes in another area I was tuned into keeping an eye out for further stronecahts as the day wore on, I have also photographed Juvenile Stonecahts before and again I am in tune to those, but when I saw this bird (I was able to ID through the bins but not enough time to get the camera onto it), it was very noticable that it was not a Stonechat, or a juvenile. The eye stripe was very prominent and the colouration was overall duller, this immediatly rulled out Stones for me.

My only concern is that for me to find a scarce bird off my own back is unusual and with no one else reporting this on the deeside website I figured maybe not


However as you say there is currently only me who saw it and that will do for me!

Dave

 

[Cheshire Birder]

Dave,

Given that it is now mid summer many scarce bird sightings are not published due to the breeding season (this is particularly true for scarce breeding species such as Whinchat). Breeding records tend to appear late summer. Whether it is breeding or a migrant, a Whinchat is always a cracking bird.

CB