The photographs above and right were taken in March 2007. The one on below was taken in July 2006.
The Rock Pipits were around on a daily basis at the beginning of 2002, almost always hopping along the rocks by the water's edge. They disappeared in March and were not spotted again until late September.
These next three pictures, which will enlarge quite well, were taken in March 2008.
In 2003 and 2004 The Rock Pipits were seen occasionally in the Summer.
Photograph (left) - July 2004
Photographs (right and below) - April 2005
The two birds on the left caught my eye because the one on the left (and below left) looked a bit different. It turned out to be a juvenile, accompanied by a parent on the right.
This was the first evidence of successful breeding of Rock Pipits here at Barton.
Photographs - May 2005
It seems that there is a small population of locally breeding birds, augmented by Scandinavian migrants in the Winter.
This bird appears to be in moult and was having a good preen. It was photographed a few weeks after a youngster was seen being fed by its parent, so this could be a juvenile moulting into adult plumage.
Photographs - June 2007
Three weeks after the above two photographs were taken, I again took some pictures of the local Rock Pipits. This time I photographed three different birds (each row of pics is a different bird) and the difference in plumage and leg colouring is quite striking.
On a visit to Hurst Castle, this bird was foraging along the base of a wall and seemed relatively tame. It did give me the eye once or twice though.
