I believe we may have - or have had - 4 painted-snipe. I base this on the 3 in view this morning having what seemed to be relatively slight gradations in shading, suggesting females of various ages. By contrast the recognised male that was in view more than a week ago seemed to be of a distinctly paler shade and had pronounced pale chequering in the wings. I did not pick this up in any of this morning’s fairly distant 3 birds. I rarely bring out any of my antiquated scopes these days, but Frank or Alastair might bring theirs to bear if they’re passing by.
