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| Looking good for cinclus? |
I am in the habit of checking (and photographing if possible) every
Dipper I come across in Edinburgh in case it is a continental
Black-bellied Dipper subspecies
cinclus. So far, while occasional individuals look darker, the broad chestnut band beneath the white bib can be seen once good views are obtained. One of Saturday's three birds (two at Figgate Park and one at Musselburgh) on the other hand genuinely had a much darker belly with only a narrow chestnut band. This appeared to flare a little more on one breast and this latter asymmetric anomaly makes me wary of attempting to assign it to any race, although it looks closest to the subspecies
hibernicus found on the west coast of Scotland. The validity of separating
hibernicus from our
gularis has been questioned so I think there will be little chance of establishing the subspecific identity of this individual... Back to gulls maybe?
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| Still looking good... |
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| Aww.. maybe not?... just a little too much of a hint of chestnut beneath the white bib? |
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| But certainly different from normal, especially with this view |
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| Too much of a blob of chestnut on this side |
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| Ah well, every dipper is worth more than a look anyway |
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| Blurry shot but gives a good indication of colours of bird's belly |
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