Hi all,
Further to last night's posting about there being a Tawny Pipit at Hook Head(Co.Wexford),I decided to go down there today.In the absence of a lift,this involved getting a bus from Cork to Waterford,a lift from there to the river ferry at Passage East and then 2 lifts to get to Hook.
When I got there,the bird had been searched for by another birder since 7am(I didn't get there until the early afternoon)to no avail,but we decided to check the fields again.We had split up to check a large field and I barely heard him shout from the far side(due to strong wind):it turned out that he had flushed it and heard it call,but by the time I looked around it had gone!
After a quick check of nearby fields,we had a cup of tea,and left the birds settle down again.On walking back in to the first stubble field we both heard the House Sparrow-like flight call of a Tawny Pipit(and saw the bird in flight).Luckily,this soon landed in the corner of the field,and gave good views for up to 20 minutes.
Although it was a juv/1st-w type,it was surprisingly distinctive at rest,and Richard's never really crossed my mind at all.In particular,the dark loral area produced a different head pattern,and the more horizontal stance gave the bird a slight resemblance to a flava wagtail.
A good day....;-)
Harry H
Congratulations,Harry,it seems only fair that such persistence and enthusiasm are rewarded.
I had a similar pursuit of a Tawny at the airfield of St Mary's (Scilly) recently. It is a wonderful bird.