Squabmoor reservoir 830am-1230pm I managed to track down a total of about 30 redpolls this morning, split into two small groups. One group at the southern end of the reservoir appeared to all be lessers (but I wouldn't swear to it) and the group nearer the carpark at the north end of the reservoir may well have all been lessers too. There were however at least a couple interesting individuals showing 'mealy' characteristics. Both flocks were difficult to observe being generally high up in birches and restless. The above photos depict some of the individuals seen (but not the best mealy candidates). All but the darkest birds exhibited white 'tramlines' running down the centre of the mantle and many had shaggy tibia feathering and limited buffiness around the face and upper flanks. At least one bird had a gleaming white super and ear covert surround contrasting with browner ear coverts - very striking but other features on this individual were not seen well enough. I would be interested to hear from anyone who gets good views of these birds or who has any comments on my (poor as usual) photos.
