Is it in autumn colours? Is it female colouration?
It’s a Yellow-browed Warbler. It has been suggested that the aberrant plumage is a result of xanthochromism. However, I tend to side with a different theory - the yellowish tinge is consistent with leucism as yellow carotenoid pigments are not affected by leucism so show up when the darker pigments are absent - that comes from a man who knows things.
It was identified on call.
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Ha!
Reason I suggested an albino parent is that in mammals an albino parent usually introduces a colour dilution factor (just like mixing-in white paint to a colour), so offspring are not white nor (e.g.) brown, nor piebald, but just paler than the darker parent.
Of course albinism isn’t that uncommon in mammals, but no idea in birds, imagine in most cases it’s very rapidly removed from the gene pool!
I guess no matter the cause you’d have to test the genes to determine cause.
Thanks for sharing.
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True Albinism is quite rare in birds, leucism is far more common.
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Not too many migrants to be found today. A total of 9 Yellow-browed Warblers, including 2 in the garden was a slight increase on yesterday.
A single Barnacle Goose was present and the annual influx of Redwings has started, half a dozen sightings in the last couple of days was up to 50 or so today.
The southerly wind is forecast to turn E then NE tomorrow, so I would expect a further influx of Scandinavian thrushes with Fieldfares accompanying the Redwings and hopefully a scarce/rare passerine or two…
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As expected an influx of thrushes happened overnight. Maybe 1,000 Redwings and a handful of Fieldfare amongst them.
At some point there will be a huge arrival of Redwings which is always great to see. 5k+ in a day is not unusual.
The Ruff (or even a different bird?) had returned to Aith
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Early days, but I’m in negotiations with the SotE team (Species on the Edge - I carry out voluntary survey work for them) to turn the top of my back garden* into a suitable habitat for our resident Twite population.
*this is the part of the garden involved
It involves ploughing and then tilling the ~600sqm and sowing a mixed crop in the spring that will produce masses of seeds to attract the birds in late Autumn/Winter. All of this will be done by others, I detest gardening with a passion!
There’s a 25m stretch of fencing that will need to be renewed in order to prevent incoming sheep plundering it all before it matures.
The added bonus (for me, not them, they’re only interested in the Twite) is that it is likely to attract all manner of seed eaters to the patch. Hopefully it may attract a rare Bunting/Sparrow/Finch etc.
If it goes ahead (next May) they will fund the whole project.
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With a F7 North-easterly, heavy cloud and the occasional shower, it was challenging conditions to say the least. The only bird of note I managed to find (other than previously found birds still lingering) was this brute of a (1w) Glaucous Gull which took off from Funzie Loch, flew over my head and out of sight.
I only managed a (distant) record shot.
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I have never heard of a Glaucus Gull which means even if I have ever seen one I wouldn’t have identified it, would probably thought big Herring Gull (depending on how far away it was of course!)
They breed in the Arctic and are (uncommon) Winter visitors to coastal Britain.
Far more regularly seen here than in your neck-of-the-woods, for fairly obvious reasons.
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That guy isn’t just going to steal your chips 
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Now these camera bodies are £500-600 or so I kinda want one 
Leica melt.
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Fooj monkey.
hur dur if your lens wasnt £4000 is it even a lens?
I’ve never paid £4000 for a lens. That would be mad 
*RRP.