Hi Khanh,

You have sharp eyes, that's for sure! I neglected to comment on the bird in question, but as you suspected, we did indeed notice it and studied it thoroughly. Much as we wanted to turn it into a Hoary Redpoll, our conclusion was that it was an unusual color morph Common Redpoll. Marv Breece is the most experienced in our group on this species, so he may wish to chime in here. In summary, though, the bird in question did not look frosty through the scope. Rather, it looked yellowish, almost to the point of being called a winter-plumaged goldfinch on first glance. Although faint, the undertail coverts did have some streaking on close examination. Other field marks we considered and from which we ruled out Hoary were: no size difference from other redpolls in the flock; bill lacked the dainty, 'pushed-in' appearance characteristic of Hoary.

So, two of the four typical field marks used (frosty appearance and lack of streaking on the undertail coverts), although tantalizingly different from the rest of the flock, were not classic for Hoary and size and bill characteristics appeared consistent with Common Redpoll. Thus, we reluctantly decided it was just a cool and unusual bird, but not a different species.

I believe that Evan most likely does not have any better images of this individual bird. Both Marv and Evan were trying to get good images of it, but the flock was large and active and it was tough just keeping the scopes on the bird for any length of time.

John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com


-------------- Original message --------------
From: Khanh Tran <fsprucegrouse at yahoo.com>

> Hi Evan, John, Marv and Mason,
>
> Thanks for sharing the wonderful report and photos! Sounds like you had a great
> time!
>
> I must say, the redpoll on the upper top center looks odd. Don't know if the
> digiscoping and lighting had an effect on it. Very faint streaks, and unstreaked
> undertail coverts, frosty appearance.
>
> Can't tell from the photo for the stubby beak or clear upper tail coverts
> indicative for HOARY REDPOLL.
>
> Sometimes, it is tough to focus on one bird when there is a large jittery flock.
> The beauty of taking photos you get multiple chances to study a bird and
> sometimes catching something you miss later while watching that subject in the
> field.
>
> Just a thought... I am sure with all those SHARP eyes and ears from the group,
> you were ON it!
>
> Makes you reconsider about deleting those undesirable, grainy photos:)
>
> http://www.tubbsphoto.com/-/tubbsphoto/gallery.asp?cat=108053
>
> Good birding,
>
> Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)
>
>
>
>