I don't know how old you are mate but I can remember learned arguments over 50 years ago re Mealie, Arctic, Greenland, Northern Hornemanns, Southern Hornemanns and Uncle Tom Cobleys Redpoll. Caused much head-ache.Things haven't changed much. Good Luck with it........... but count me out....... in the words of Jane Asher " Lifes to short to stuff mushrooms."
Roger
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Blessed is the man who expecteth little reward ..... for he shall seldom be disappointed.
Sorry to be pedantic but why were 2 of your Redpolls female? Redpolls with pink on the breast are definately males everything else is unsexable. It has been a good winter for Mealy Redpoll reports but do actually wonder how many are actually accurate? I have seen plenty of photos on the web claiming Mealy Redpoll but in fact are just plain old Lesser Redpoll. Its a fascinating complex that could have some serious work done on it. Not that i'm casting doubt on your record Liz.
There was an escaped Harris Hawk around S Manchester a few years back. I saw it in Platt Fields Park. Another or possibly the same one regularly frequented Carrington Moss.
I'm new to this site so have probably got this all wrong; not sure that this is a "new" topic as have seen some entries re redpolls/mealy redpolls from February. Last week and today, we have had 1 male redpoll then 2 female (?mealy) redpolls on our nyger seed feeder. Surprised that one of the females saw a goldfinch off so she could feed. R Mersey flows along at end of our road so get quite a lot of "oddities" in the garden. By the by, and I haven't dared mention this in public before, a few years (?c5yrs) ago, I am sure that I saw a female hen harrier being mobbed by some corvids (probably jackdaws) flying over the Siemen's site. It was a dull afternoon but she was dark and had a very definite white rump, about twice size of the corvids but I'm not a great judge of size, certainly a lot bigger. Has anyone else seen a hen harrier around West Didsbury???
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