I’ve had Snow Bunting on my mind on recent visits to Hastings Country Park after a couple of flyovers reported in the area in November. Having burned the flight call into my brain, expecting this is how I’d pick one up, I was surprised to almost trip over one on the footpath in front of the Bale House on a chilly 1st December morning. It was quite tame and would happily feed a few metres away from those watching. A new species for me and what a joy to get to study it up close.

For the day it spent here, it seemed to stick religiously to the same small area of gravel track, despite it being on one of the main thoroughfares from the car park. I’m not sure what it was feeding on but I’m guessing remnants of grass seed lodged in the gravel, the track being positioned between two rough grass fields. It’s also a favoured site for Dunnocks which it was feeding alongside at times.

With these close range photos I thought I’d have a go at ageing, sexing and subspecies-level identification, which turns out to still be pretty difficult. Based on Shirihai & Svensson (2018) though, I think this is a 1CY male of the nominate subspecies nivalis. The authors state that it is “essential” that ageing and sexing be considered at the same time. These features seem to support 1CY male:

• Tail feathers are pointed (rounded in adult) with acutely angled (wide and obtuse in adult) black centres at the tips;
• Dark spade-shaped centres to scapulars (thinner in female);
• Primary coverts with white bases and broad dark tips of uneven length (all dark in female);
• White at base of primaries (absent in female).

Assigning subspecies is more difficult as the identification criteria seems a bit more subjective. However I think it’s most likely the paler-toned nivalis rather than the darker insulae based on:

• Pale buff brown in mantle feather tones contrasting with darker rufous brown in scapulars (brown feathers concolourous in insulae);
• Incomplete buff breast band (more extensive in insulae);
• Limited buff on flanks (more extensive in insulae);
• Pale rump (darker in insulae).

Assuming it actually is nivalis, this bird will probably have journeyed here from Scandinavia.