This redpoll was at Creachan wood today. It was clearly a large bird, but unfortunately we had no other redpolls nearby for direct comparison. However, it has the three dark lines or "cats claws" on the flanks reaching all of the way down to the dark centred tertials and it immediately made me think Greenland redpoll Acanthis flammea rostrata.
Unfortunately the redpolls are a bit of a quagmire so definite identification is difficult at the best of times and impossible in this case. To me this is clearly not a "British" lesser redpoll cabaret, it's far too big and heavily streaked for that, but there is the possibility that it could be the Icelandic race icelandica. This race is very similar to rostrata and the two are sometimes grouped as northwestern redpoll. However, rostrata is far more migratory than icelandica and most northwestern redpolls which come to the UK are considered to be rostrata for that reason. So I'll have to be content with calling this bird a northwestern redpoll, but in all likelihood it's a Greenland redpoll rostrata.
The cats claws are the three parallel dark lines that you can see on the birds flanks. Crucially they reach the undertail coverts.
The bird also had a large thickset head and an extensive bib and mask, more so than the usual lesser repoll that we see in the UK.
I don't really care that the redpolls are about to be lumped again, I love races and in any case northwestern redpoll, Greenland or not, has never been a separate species. This bird means no more or no less to me just because it's not a full species, I think it's great that it's potentially come here all the way from Greenland.
Greenland redpolls are scarce visitors to the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles, but away from these places they are quite rare.
The only other highlight on a very quiet day was a single swallow.
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