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On the morning of Sunday 8th October this year I was 'doing the rounds‘ and arrived at Parton water works at about 09:00. There wasn‘t much activity . . . a few Robins, some Goldcrests in the trees and a Grey Wagtail in the beck. I was watching a flock of finches feeding on the railway embankment when I heard a call as a small passerine flew over me and across the railway to the shore. My impression from this fleeting glimpse was of a robin-like bird, dark brown with some orange but with a strikingly pale head. This last feature threw me completely; nothing came to mind and, with an influx of American birds in the country, my heart skipped a beat. I jumped back into the car and drove through the arch to the foreshore where I relocated the bird immediately as it perched on a patch of soft-leafed rose. I also saw immediately and with some disappointment that it was in fact a Stonechat. It was though, no ordinary Stonechat. It was perfectly normal in plumage with orange/buff breast, dark wings and tail and white half-collar. However, the head above the collar was a pure, bright biscuit/beige colour with no streaking and distinct enough to contrast with the white of the collar. The bird behaved perfectly normally and was not unduly bothered by two more Stonechats in the area. Eventually it flew out over the sea a short way before turning north and heading back to shore where I lost sight of it. I have not seen this bird since, despite regular visits to the site. I spoke to John Callion, who has seen a few Stonechats in his time (though I don‘t think I mentioned that I was disappointed that it was 'just‘ a Stonechat) and he told me he had not seen anything of this kind, though I believe Keith Temple had seen a melanistic individual at some time. Derek McAlone
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