Mystery garden bird

I have in the last month had an epiphany and discovered birdwatching. I started with the feathered visitors to my garden and progressed to your magazine. I then remembered having snapped an unusual bird while on holiday, last year, and I started trolling through my recently purchased Bird Guide Pro app in order to identify it. So far, I have been unable to find the identity of this garden visitor (above). We were staying in Rousden near Lyme Regis and he just appeared on the patio for a brief snack. Would you be able to shed any light on our enigmatic diner? Dave Lawlor

Q

Welcome to the world of birdwatching, Dave. One thing you may learn quite soon is that field guides do not necessarily cover every plumage state of even the commonest of birds. Your mystery bird is a good old Blackbird (the plump thrush-shape and black plumage are the biggest clues), and we can go further and say that the black plumage means it is a male. The reason it has a speckly brown head is that it is a juvenile bird which has moulted most of its feathers to its ‘ first-winter’ plumage, but is yet to change the feathers of its head and neck. Often, our electronic mailbox for Q& A is packed with

A

similarly patterned juvenile to first-winter Starlings, so it is a treat for us to see the Blackbird version!

Gary Evans

In short, Gary, yes, it is a Yellow Wagtail. The greenish-olive upperparts and yellowish underparts and double wing-bars are strong features to distinguish it from the other wagtails. The stripes on the side of the throat and upper breast (as well as the dull colours) show we are dealing with a juvenile, here, which is typical for the time of year.

A

Richard Marsh