It'd be a fantastic event if we got Cirl Buntings back again this year for another breeding attempt and the recent series of arrivals certainly bodes well. The sexing of some of the birds seen lately in the middle of the island has apparently been problematic but there's no doubt that today's Bill bird was a female...
...We've got pretty minimal experience when it comes to ageing spring buntings but we did notice that the two outer tail feathers were noticeably fresher and more rounded than the other feathers - if you can be sure such a difference is down to design rather than accident this can helpful in giving you a bit of a steer on a bird's age, although in this case we'd have preferred to have seen this difference in the central feathers and also to have spotted some other helpful discontinuities in the wings for us to be sure it was a youngster rather than an adult © Martin Cade:
The third flock of migrating Pale-bellied Brents in two days © Pete Saunders:
Big differences in Great Northern Diver plumages are now evident - this adult passing the Bill was the first fully moulted one seen so far this spring © Matthew Barfield...
...whereas this one over Ferrybridge was still in full winter plumage - it looks as though you can just see the 'scaly' feathers characteristic of juvenile plumage on its shoulders so we're guessing this youngster probably won't get into full breeding plumage this summer © Pete Saunders:
