The Morton Bagot list is set to go into reverse. Following the decision of the IOC (International Ornithological Committee) to lump all the Redpolls into one species, I have now lost Mealy Redpoll from my list....in a way.
My Morton Bagot list has slumped to 158 species. Of course I've still seen Mealy Redpoll here, I just can't add it to my species list. Lists matter to a lot of birders and I can't deny I do like listing. On the other hand I won't really miss Mealy Redpoll because identifying them is very hard.
The driving force behind the change is the science of genetics, and I gather further changes are likely. I shouldn't complain because throughout my birding life I have benefitted from far more splits than lumps. I can still remember when Water Pipit was split from Rock Pipit, a change that everyone thought was long overdue.
I'm grateful to the IOC for giving me something to write about, because the birding has been very quiet lately.
I did pop down to the patch yesterday hoping for some change, but it was all pretty much as I'd left it. The highlight was a Sand Martin heading south, while a Grasshopper Warbler continues to sing in the chat field.
I was only able to count 10 Green Sandpipers on the nearest flash, the Lapwing flock remains stable, and Teal numbers have doubled....to two.
The really bad news is that I can no longer upload photos to the site. I'm going to have to find out what's going on.
This could be the last post.
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