Snow Bunting in Daily Mail

roundwood123 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:08 PM

Sorry if this topic has already been mentioned,
Has anyone seen todays Daily Mail and the story on the Snow Bunting in a Cornwall Garden, the story and pictures are also available on-line, The bird is quite clearly a Chaffinch.

NickCantle · #2 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:14 PM

Hi roundwood, have you got a link? I can't find it on the Daily Mail Website

Stewy · #3 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:17 PM

This it??

The birdwatcher who travelled to Norway to spot a rare bird... then found one in her Cornwall garden | Mail Online

aeshna5 · #4 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roundwood123

Sorry if this topic has already been mentioned,
Has anyone seen todays Daily Mail and the story on the Snow Bunting in a Cornwall Garden, the story and pictures are also available on-line, The bird is quite clearly a Chaffinch.

I didn't see it in the Mail, but saw the story in a Daily Express on the train + didn't mention it was fairly common on east coast- just mentioned north Scotland as UK range- which would be breeding birds.

There was a black and white photo which clearly wasn't a Snow bunting or indeed Chaffinch but from the monochrome looked like a male Red-headed Bunting in breeding plumage!!

Dae · #5 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:21 PM

Well using the link that stewy posted, it looks like a female chaffinch with some leucisim - doesn't look like a snow bunting to me at all.

tameblackbirds · #6 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:28 PM

not a chaffinch but does look like a bunting but colours are like spring colours coming in I'm not sure but someone wil put us right shortly

GuyF · #7 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dae

Well using the link that stewy posted, it looks like a female chaffinch with some leucisim - doesn't look like a snow bunting to me at all.

I'd agree that the bird in the Daily Mail is definitely a Chaffinch!
Guy

aeshna5 · #8 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyF

I'd agree that the bird in the Daily Mail is definitely a Chaffinch!
Guy

Agree that it's a leucistic Chaffinch.

tameblackbirds · #9 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:41 PM

sorry to show my ignorance here but do chafinches have so much white on them? the Mail picture bird does appear to have a lot of white on its wings can someone advice as the ones in my garden never look like the one in the mail... confused

KeenTeen17 · #10 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:43 PM

chaffinch definitely - just a bit of a freak though

Jason Green · #11 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:44 PM

Yep, the one in the photo is 100% female chaffinch with slight leucism. But I suppose this doesn't have to mean she didn't see one - it was probably a photo researcher who may not have known what to look for when putting the pic online.

TB - it's partly leucistic - kind of partial albinoism

Oscar2006 · #12 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:46 PM

Chaffinch! (with bad hair!)

KeenTeen17 · #13 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Green

Yep, the one in the photo is 100% female chaffinch with slight leucism. But I suppose this doesn't have to mean she didn't see one - it was probably a photo researcher who may not have known what to look for when putting the pic online.

TB - it's partly leucistic - kind of partial albinoism

got it in one!

tameblackbirds · #14 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:47 PM

ah now i know leucism (pigmentation)

Jason Green · #15 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 08:58 PM

Before I read through the article I assumed that the image shown was one taken by the observer - then read about her experience with these birds, so obviously not her innocent mistake

(I've had plenty of them )

So do you think the researcher was going by her description of a bird with some white plumage, or something else?

solus · #16 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 10:47 PM

So it feeds with Chaffinches, looks like a Chaffinch with some aberrant white feathering and - if that photo is of the bird (and I suspect it may well be as it sure as anything isn't a "stock" Snow Bunting pic!) it IS a Chaffinch!

Oh - and there's not been a whisper on any of the rare bird forums/lines etc. about a garden-feeding Snow Bunting in Cornwall.

Poor lady is clearly NOT "an ornithologist", those bins look heavy, antique and possibly ex-naval (and possibly virtually unusable) and she went on an expensive organised trip to Norway where the leaders failed to point out any Snow Buntings? Oh dear!

That reminds me of a chat I had a few years ago with an elderly lady who had been on a Norwegian coastal cruise and the "resident ornithologist" showed the "clients" a flock of Snow Buntings which most definitely were not! I can't recall what she said they actually were, but she knew he was misleading folk because that's what they all wanted to see!

Cornwall Lady would have done better to spend a much cheaper winter weekend on the North Norfolk Coast with one of the reliable bird guides....

ChrisJB · #17 (**permalink**) 02-01-2009, 10:56 PM

It is clearly a Chaffinch. What a silly story. Why didn't the lady just find some decent beach in North Norfolk in winter or go up on to the Cairngorm plateau if she wanted to see a Snow Bunting? Norway indeed.

Regards, Chris

Jason Green · #18 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 12:12 AM

Lets see if she signs up with WAB to talk about her sighting further...

muscardinus · #19 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 09:13 AM

I can hardly stop laughing - to think a national paper publishes such complete rubbish.

Mrs Davies is clearly a beginner and doesn't know what she's talking about - there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - but for this to be published without anyone on the paper noticing or checking with the RSPB press office or their own nature correspondent is simply staggering. Still, what do you expect from the Mail?

Hedge Witch · #20 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 09:19 AM

Of dear, this story makes me cringe

muscardinus · #21 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 09:32 AM

Yep.

It's not the lady's fault (though I admit to being a wee bit envious of someone who has so much money to spend on trips to the Arctic and yet doesn't know what's on her own doorstep) but really this shouldn't have got into print.

I've been a sub-editor in my time and it makes a mockery of what is supposed to be a serious craft. Fact-checking: important business.

Astra · #22 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 10:05 AM

Well you can't just blame the Mail.

The story is also on the BBC
BBC NEWS | England | Cornwall | Snow bunting visits back garden

The Times
Woman travels to Norway to spot rare snow bunting sees it in her own garden - Times Online

The Daily Telegraph
Birdwatcher makes fruitless journey to Norway only to find snow bunting in her garden - Telegraph

The Mirror
Birdwatcher travels all the way to Norway to see rare bird only to find it in his garden on his return home - mirror.co.uk

All showing the same partially leucistic chaffinch.

muscardinus · #23 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 10:40 AM

Good grief! How embarrassing. I look forward to all the retractions and corrections tomorrow.

Thanks for those links Astra. (I still don't like the Mail though.)

John · #24 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 12:03 PM

Well I have placed a comment against this article. Whether or not it gets accepted is another thing. I can't believe so many agencies have got this story wrong.

If you ignore everything else the beak alone screams that it isn't a Snow Bunting.

John

Astra · #25 (**permalink**) 03-01-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

Well I have placed a comment against this article. Whether or not it gets accepted is another thing. I can't believe so many agencies have got this story wrong.

The photos have the logo of The South West News Service on them so I guess that they are originally to blame.
The headline "Send us your photos and earn £££££££££££££" probably has something to do with it!

South West News Service

Shame no-one else bothered to check up on it but I notice though there are several comments against The Times article about it being a chaffinch.