Every now and then over the years, I have seen one or two wintering Rock Pipits at Redhorn Quay, Brands Bay. They are erratic visitors there and they clearly feed elsewhere as well, as I can miss them on visits, before seeing them again. I only see them in the peak of the winter and they appear to leave well before the Spring: albeit I generally only walk out there in the Autumn and Winter. I've always assumed they are the local Rock Pipits from Old Harry or the Purbeck coastline. Finally, I managed to get some decent photos of one individual.
Local Lytchett Bay ringer, Shaun Robson, has commented that "our work so far has failed to identify any difference between the Rock Pipit races in non-breeding plumage: I am anticipating that we may find that Scandinavian are whiter in outer tail feathers, but that's not confirmed". They believe all of their wintering Rock Pipits are the Scandinavian subspecies at Lytchett Bay, which is at the other end of Poole Harbour. There is an ongoing colour-ringing scheme to see if any of their Rock Pipits can be located in the breeding season to confirm this. So, could this be a local Rock Pipit or a wintering Scandinavian individual?
