Birdwatch: Is it a bird or a tiny snowball?

A Coues’s Arctic Redpoll, pictured, has been seen among a flock of lesser redpolls at Swillington Ings near Leeds although the flock is roaming over a large area and can be elusive.

It was first noticed more than a week ago among the lesser redpolls because of its very pale plumage but, with the possibility if it being a mealy redpoll, the news was not released until Sunday after its ID was confirmed.

Coues’s Arctic Redpolls breed in the taiga forests of the far north from Scandinavia across into Siberia while another form, Hornemann’s, breeds in northern Greenland and Canada.

They are extremely tough little birds, able to cope with temperatures as low as minus 67 Centigrade and to do so have denser feathering, especially around the head, neck and lower belly. Some of the plumage is gleaming white, especially a large area around the rump, and there is little dark streaking. This, and a tendency to fluff out the feathers when perched, can give the appearance of a tiny snowball.

In some years, especially following a good breeding season, there can be irruptions of Coues’s Arctic Redpolls with several hundred being reported from late October and November onwards.

Other visitors from the far north, parrot crossbills, are still being seen at Howden reservoir, South Yorkshire with up to twelve coming down to puddles to drink.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Calendars for 2018, produced by Michael Flowers and costing £9.25 (including p&p) are now available. For more information, see www.eybirdwatching.blogspot.com or contact [email protected] or 07946 625688.