Red-throated pipits at Paphos headland

I was slightly frustrated last Sunday when we visited Paphos headland and only managed to see a couple of 1st winter red-throated pipits which lacked the orangey red throat. A local birder had told me that there were a few adults now acquiring their summer plumage so this morning I decided to head back for another look. At first I just heard a couple of birds call as they flew over but I couldn't get onto them on the ground. Finally though, just as I'd nearly given up, I spotted one on the track on the other side of the fence. This was a real beauty in full plumage and fortunately it didn't seem worried by the fact that I went right up to the fence to avoid the wires of the fence intruding on the photos. It was less than 3m from me when I took these photos.

While I was watching I heard other birds calling nearby and then three more flew in and joined the first, two of which did not have the red throat so presumably were young birds. There are a couple of photographs of these birds at the bottom of this post.

Absolutely stunning birds! Not just the throat but also the rest of the plumage is really nice. Very sharp black and white compared to meadow pipit.

A big fat caterpillar for breakfast!

This is a different adult.

This and the following photos are of red-throated pipits lacking the red throat. I assume that these are 1st winter but perhaps they're just less advanced. They also have the tram lines on the back which the adults seem to lack, or at least they're not so obvious.