The time had come to head back to Falmouth with an exam on the 7th so my parents kindly drove me down in the car, along with all my stuff. I also had an additional favour in store and soon after the first 3 hour leg of our journey, we pulled into Milbury Lane in Exminster. It took about 20-30 mins for one of the birders to finally find the target bird perched low in a hedge in someones back garden. He soon put me on the bird, a
1st winter ROSE-COLOURED STARLING! Not quite the stunner compared to the adults but a good bird none the less. The rosiness was restricted to the legs alone whilst the yellow/orange beak and pale cream/grey chest, back and rump contrasted well with the dark wings. It showed well on two occasions but seemed to be preferring a solitary life as it didn't associated with the
Starlings but instead, sat preening itself and skulking in the hedge.
rump, tail and a small section of the primaries of the 1st winter Rose-coloured Starling
It showed a lot better, trust me. Here, only the chest and rosy tarsus showing
A good start to the year made all the better by
2 male Brambling that I also saw in the allotments behind the church. The journey down was relatively productive too with
c.300 Lapwing seen from the M5 and a total of
2 Buzzards,
3 kestrels and
5 Red Kites along the way!
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