Dear John,
A set of beautiful photos of an unusual plumaged juvenile Plover.
As you say this bird best fits one of the Kentish complex.
I like to point out several things in the photo that may be creating an illusion and affecting our overall impression.
1. I think the legs appear very pale but may be largely covered in mud, which is grey and reflective ! Note the bump on the left side of the lower tarsus - this may actually be a small ‘lump’ of mud. I wondered if the hind border of the left upper tarsal border may be the true leg colour.
2. The left outer tail feather/s do not appear to be attached to the body of the bird
(note the blue grey intervening patch) ! Perhaps the photo has captured the same feather in 2 or so different positions – the blurred effect exaggerating the white on the tail!
When I started to trawl for juvenile images of Kentish Plovers, it is surprising the variation that is found in leg colour and apparent tibial length.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waders/168149246/
See the 4th Kentish Plover photo in this series for one of an extraordinary tibial length..
http://www.wildlife-photography.uk.com/blog/?p=928
On a separate point (one that isn’t directly related to your images), I’m sure we have all experienced legs that that appear darker in some light compared to others. I suspect leg colour isn’t as ‘black and white’ as you might initially think. This extreme back lit photo (the leg is actually dark in normal lighting conditions) suggests what we sometimes see in the field. Leg colour seems to change in different light.
http://www.surfbirds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4389
I can’t convince myself that the bird has the typical bill shape of a White faced, but perhaps this structural change may be less obvious in a juvenile bird.
This other article provides some additions to the quoted Surfbird e Publication.
http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/ ... rley-Charadrius.pdf
As you have eluded to, the range of characteristics and the differences between juvenile alexandrinus and dealbatus (as far as I am aware) has not been published and perhaps are essentially unknown.
Great photos all the same of a lovely plover.
Thanks for sharing them.
With kind regards,
Eric
