Swallow c.100
House Martin c.30
Swift 1
Dunlin at Arlington
One of the four present (right) was noticeably smaller, slightly paler, slightly shorter-billed and showed obvious pale braces on its scapular fringes. Based on the pale faces and grey napes this small flock was comprised of two males and two females. This is further supported by the two males being the smaller and shorter-billed of the birds involved. Whilst one male is clearly smaller and slightly than the other and sports rather striking pale braces all of which have been proposed as characters of C.a. arctica ( see http://birdingfrontiers.com/2011/06/21/arctic-dunlin-ssp-arctica/ ) its scapular fringes appear too orangey and its breast-sides are clearly spotted not streaked. C.a. schinzii, the form that breeds in the UK, virtually overlaps in both size and bill length with arctica and seems most-likely the form involved here.
