Tweets,

This evening I learned my lesson, I hope :). I have been trying to
visit a local hotspot (Iona Island Sewage Treatment Ponds) on a regular
basis during the Northbound migration of the many species of shorebirds
that pass through our area during the spring months.

My son and I were at Iona today and saw a bird that stood out among the
others that we were confident in identifing. The field marks that we
noted (without the manditory pencil and pad that was safetly kept in the
truck) were a rufous/red overall colouring, sparrow/finch like, reddish
crown heavily flecked with black. The bird was hunkered down on the
sludge flats, looking very skittish and flighty. We only had a side view
of the bird, we noted light blackish streaking on the flanks of the
bird. The coverts were black and each individual feather was clearly
emarginated with a pale orange/reddish colouring. The eye appeared
large and dark with no apparent eye-line or eye-ring. There were no
apparent lateral or median crown lines, but a suggestive malar stripe.

This was not a bird that we recognized and I immediately dispatched my
son to get the note book and pencil. While I had the bird within 75
feet in the scope, my son walked by, and the bird immediately took
flight. Total observation time was about 1.5 minutes.

Later, based on our observations and field notes, made before consulting
any field guides, we agreed that we had seen a *probable* Red-throated
Pipit.