Mealy Redpoll at Milcombe

Thanks to Richard Hazel for alerting us to the presence of
this stunning bird and for permission to use his excellent photos.

There has been a Mealy (Common) Redpoll visiting a niger feeder in a garden at Milcombe village for the last week including today. Milcombe is about 6km south-west of Banbury off the A361. It is a strikingly pale individual, bordering on Arctic, though it has a large bill and heavily streaked flanks and undertail coverts. The garden is viewable from a public right of way across paddocks accessed from Paradise lane in Milcombe at SP 410348. There are only up to 7 Redpolls (Lesser) visiting but very irregularly so you may be in for a long wait. As usual please respect the privacy of the residents, particularly the garden into which you are viewing, whose owner was kind enough to alert us of the birds presence.

The juv Glaucous and Iceland Gulls were both on the Spit Pit at lunchtime before being flushed by some more tiresome scaring antics. What a sad profession.