Rodger, I had an encounter with 'Uncle Tom Cobley's Redpoll' recently.
Fortunately, a course of antibiotics and some cream sorted it out a
treat! :

Its a fascinating complex that could have some serious work done on it.

....................................................................................................

Jason, are you volunteering ?

I don't know how old you are mate but I can remember learned arguments over 50 years ago re Mealie, Arctic, Greenland, Northern Hornemanns, Southern Hornemanns and Uncle Tom Cobleys Redpoll.
Caused much head-ache.Things haven't changed much.
Good Luck with it........... but count me out....... in the words of Jane Asher " Lifes to short to stuff mushrooms."

Roger

Sorry to be pedantic but why were 2 of your Redpolls female? Redpolls with pink on the breast are definately males everything else is unsexable. It has been a good winter for Mealy Redpoll reports but do actually wonder how many are actually accurate? I have seen plenty of photos on the web claiming Mealy Redpoll but in fact are just plain old Lesser Redpoll. Its a fascinating complex that could have some serious work done on it. Not that i'm casting doubt on your record Liz.

cheers
jason

There was an escaped Harris Hawk around S Manchester a few years back. I saw it in Platt Fields Park. Another or possibly the same one regularly frequented Carrington Moss.

Not sure about any Hen harrier reports from the area, but it wouldn't be a major (but very pleasant) surprise in the "Mersey Valley".

The only other option that might fit the description would be a Harris Hawk - which are fairly common falconers bird and do escape fairly regularly.

Well done with the Redpolls too, great garden bird to have.

I'm new to this site so have probably got this all wrong; not sure that this is a "new" topic as have seen some entries re redpolls/mealy redpolls from February. Last week and today, we have had 1 male redpoll then 2 female (?mealy) redpolls on our nyger seed feeder. Surprised that one of the females saw a goldfinch off so she could feed. R Mersey flows along at end of our road so get quite a lot of "oddities" in the garden. By the by, and I haven't dared mention this in public before, a few years (?c5yrs) ago, I am sure that I saw a female hen harrier being mobbed by some corvids (probably jackdaws) flying over the Siemen's site. It was a dull afternoon but she was dark and had a very definite white rump, about twice size of the corvids but I'm not a great judge of size, certainly a lot bigger. Has anyone else seen a hen harrier around West Didsbury???