Tawny Pipit - Anthus campestris
This is my best guess for this bird which was in a small flock on the hotel lawn at Sir Baniyas. I am familiar with Meadow Pipits and Tree Pipits from home. I have looked at all my books and this bird lacks a lot of streaking and is much paler and bleached out but that might just be the strong sunshine.
Pipits are an archetypal LBJ - Little Brown Job. A real specialist quarry and they take a lot of sorting out. From my birds of the Middle East "medium-large pipit with relatively long tail, legs and bill and fairly upright stance which, together with the adult's poory streaked sandy upperparts, nearly unstreaked breast, plain sandy wings with conspicuous dark-centred median coverts and bold whitish supercilium seperate it from smaller pipits". Well there you go then - right all along.
Thats a life tick - probably have seen thousands of these but never really looked hard enough before - that's the beauty of digital photography. Sort them out later ! I think he's rather fine because I didn't know what he was until 10 minutes ago - a quick bit of blowing up and 20 minutes study and I've "discovered" a whole new bird. Thats an exciting way to spend an evening - discovering a whole new species !
Tawny Pipit - Anthus campestris
Sir Baniyas - UAE - Desert Island Hotel grounds
14 February 2012
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