Glaucous Gull 1 first-winter at 2.30pm
Pagham Summer Lane
Barnacle Goose 1
Pale-bellied Brent 1
Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent hybrid 1
Dark-bellied Brent c.1,200
Based on just the above image this bird would appear to show the most obvious features of a Black Brant namely a large obvious white neck-collar and contrastingly white flanks...
...the above mentioned features are still holding good and easy to infer smoother darker upperparts too...
...the lower border to its white neck-collar appears broad and unbroken and possible to construe its upper border is virtually complete... or is it...
...on enlarging the same image the upper border suddenly appears absent altogether in the centre of its neck...
...an undoubted obvious neck-collar but clearly an incomplete upper border. Its mantle is now appearing rather greyish and lacking any chocolate-brown hint and therefore near-identical to the accompanying Dark-bellied Brent and its flanks are appearing far less contrastingly whitish but taking on a greyish hue...
...same image enlarged showing neck-collar pattern...
...in stronger light now appearing near-identical in overall colouration to the accompanying Dark-bellied Brent sharing their greyish upperarts and similar contrast between their black necks and underparts.
Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent hybrid at Pagham
For more details on such hybrids see http://birdingfrontiers.com/2014/03/22/black-brant-and-hybrids/
Pale-bellied Brent at Pagham
Barnacle Goose at Pagham
Sunset at the North Wall
