A Tale Of Two Pipits......10th November 2019.

With the continued presence of the Paddyfield Pipit at Sennen in West Cornwall and the fact it was a new species for the Western Palearctic,today,well tonight,saw Tim,Mark and myself making the huge journey south to see this bird.Also on offer as a bonus bird,was another species of Pipit,Buff-bellied or American Pipit as it is also known,one which i have wanted to see for some time,so a double whammy if we got both!.
 A trouble free journey through the night with the lads,saw us eventually reaching the village of Sennen to a very wet and windy dawn and we snoozed after our journey as it struggled to get light.
 Eventually a break in the rain,saw us getting the gear together and the obligatory waterproofs on and we were off and searching for our first target the Paddyfield Pipit.
 It was still struggling to get light,as several banks of heavy rain passed over,but it eventually began to clear and at about 8.30am the Paddyfield Pipit put in it's first appearance.On first views i was struck by how pale and leggy this bird was,with a considerably shorter tail than either Richard's,Blyth's or Tawny Pipit.The latter species was as close a match as the Paddyfield looked in appearance,without the obvious dark lores of that species,but similar paleness.
 As it flew,i heard it call once,realising retrospectively that it was the birds call when i reached home and was listening to it on Xeno Canto,almost Tree Sparrow like to my ears.
 We continued to watch the bird enjoying some superb views and after we had got our fill of the bird,it was all out to try and locate the Buff-bellied Pipit,this took a considerable amount of time to be fair.
 We were stood scanning the eastern side of one of the Maize fields,when Tim called that he thought he had the BBP and sure enough there it was,i quickly got onto the bird and enjoyed some cracking,but brief views of this striking Pipit species,what a beauty!.I called Mark over,but in the excitement he knocked my scope and the bird had flown....crap!.We continued to look for the bird as we wanted more views and more than anything to get Mark onto the bird and after a considerable amount of time i found it again and saw it three times at some distance,as it ranged about the Maize field with the Meadow Pipit flock it was associating with and then it was gone again and we did not see it again,despite more searching.
 Unfortunately time was getting on and we had to leave to make the 8 hour journey home and Tim and myself were gutted Mark didn't see the bird,as it would have been a UK tick for him,but at least he had seen the species before in America.
 We travelled the long journey home in good spirits,although a little weary it has to be said,but i was really chuffed i had added my 470th and 471st species to my list and obviously gained experience of another two species which i had not seen before.
 Thanks to Tim and Mark for the company and I've just about caught up with my sleep now.