IS MY BROTHER RIGHT?

I took this photo at the beginning of December at Steart WWT. I am somewhat of a novice at identifying anything other than garden birds! My brother who’s better than me at this, thinks it may be a Meadow Pipit. Could you please help? Mervyn Edwards, Redditch

We agree with your brother, Mervyn. It does indeed appear to be a Meadow Pipit. I combines the classic pipit features of generally brown plumage, white outer tail feathers and streaked underparts with a clear pale eye-ring and even streaking, which are all also pro-Meadow Pipit features. Meadow Pipit is one of those species, like Dunlin, Dunnock and Mallard, which are very useful to get to know well. This knowledge can be invaluable when trying to determine whether a bird is something rarer (or not).