American Buff-bellied Pipit: Over the last few days the North East has been on fire, with a showy Ross's gull, white-billed diver and the returning grey-headed lapwing and although I only need the gull we made plans to head over for Sunday. Unfortunately all these birds did a bunk before we arrived, but a very nice consolation prise was the ABBP.
I've not seen one since the Wirral bird in 2014, and after being relocated by Wayne Glossip I saw the bird lurking behind the saltmasrh vegetation. The head pattern shouted at me with it's completely pale cream coloured lores which reached a level well above the upper mandible and indeed bridged it completely.
A prominent cream supercilium reached back above the eye, which was itself surrounded by a broad, unbroken cream eye ring.
Despite the Ross's gull not doing the right thing and making another appearance, we had a cracking day our with some cracking company.
