Notes on the identification of a Brown Shrike - Johnny Brown's Common, North Elmsall

A shrike found at Johnny Brown's Common was provisionally identified as Brown (Lanius cristata) on the morning of 18th October but as photographs started to circulate the bird was reported as a possible Turkestan Shrike (also called Red-tailed Shrike, Lanius phoenicuroides ). As more birders saw the bird the 'headline' identity returned to Brown Shrike but still referred to the possibility of it being Red-tailed. 

The bird remained in the same area until the 22nd October and it is thought that agricultural work in the fields next to its preferred area on the 23rd may have displaced it. 

I had good views of the bird on 20th October in both direct sunshine and light cloud and took the photos referred to below with other photos provided by Tom Tams and Pete Garrity as noted below.

Old World shrikes have a complicated taxonomy which is not yet fully resolved but in relation to this bird there were two similar looking species to consider; Brown Shrike Lanius cristata cristata and Turkestan Shrike Lanius phoenicuroides phoenicuroides.

Figure 1 Brown Shrike Johnny Brown's Common

Age and moult

The bird was in good condition with a complete set of primaries, two tertials had been replaced on the birds right which were black centred and white edged and it looked to me that the shortest tertials were both missing, possibly just growing and the middle tertial was missing on the left wing. There were several feathers missing in the tail. 

The post-breeding moult in Brown Shrike is complex starting on the breeding grounds often involving the inner 2 or 3 primaries several tertials and tail feathers. Moult is then suspended and finished on stop overs or on wintering grounds in Oct-Nov (Dec). In Turkestan Shrike the post breeding moult is completed on the breeding grounds in Jul-Sept involving head, body, tertials and several tail feathers (Shirihai & Svensson). 

The fact that the bird was in moult is consistent with the identification as Brown Shrike.

The jet black mask, including the lores, and absence of any barring on the sides of the breast, flanks or mantle indicate that the bird is an adult male.

General appearance

Assessing the size and structure of a lone bird is notoriously difficult but to me the bird looked larger and stouter billed than Red-backed Shrike with a size and shape more akin to a long-tailed Woodchat Shrike. The tail looked narrow as well as long but as noted above several tail feathers were missing.

The underparts were off white with a yellowish tinge to the throat, flanks and undertail coverts. 

The upperparts were earth brown on the mantle and nape with a warm brown crown fading to paler buff above the bill. There was no sign of any white at the base of the primaries on the closed wing but some white was visible in flight on the spread wing.

The rump and uppertail coverts were a warm brown similar to the crown whilst the tail was more earth brown like the mantle. The tail lacked any sign of white bases in any of the feathers.

On the head a black eyestripe extended broadly from the ear coverts to the eye and narrowed in front of the eye to the bill base. A whitish supercilium extended from the bill, joining narrowly above the bill, over the eye where it broadened slightly ending short of the black eyestripe. The bill was extensively blue-grey with dark tip to the lower mandible and dark culmen and more extensive dark tip to the upper mandible.

The eye, legs and feet were black.

Identification

Adult male Turkestan Shrike has a striking white throat and supercilium with underparts that are either whitish or tinged pale orangey/pink. The eyestripe is broad and the black tends not to narrow on the lores creating a more even mask with the black often narrowly extending over the bill. 

Figure 2 Adult male Turkestan Shrike (left) © Steve Young/Birdwatch from Worfolk 2000¹ in a similar pose to the Brown Shrike (right)

The bill looks less bulbous compared to Brown Shrike and is usually black in adult males but can be pale based. 

The head features all support identification of the shrike as Brown. 

Underparts

The off white base colouration with yellowish tinges to the upper breast, flanks, undertail and underwing coverts are indicative of Brown Shrike, Turkestan Shrike should be whiter with pinkish or orangey tones. 

The colouration has doubtless faded when compared with Spring male Brown Shrike but supports the identification.

Figure 3 Underpart and underwing colouration

Upperparts

In adult male Turkestan Shrike the uppertail coverts and tail tend to be the same rufous colour and contrast with the browner mantle. In adult male Brown Shrike the mantle and tail are a similar brown with rusty uppertail coverts as was the case with the shrike at Johnny Brown's Common Figure 4. 

Figure 4 view of the upperparts

Primaries

Primary projection is similar for both species, some photographs and comments on the Brown Shrike indicated that the primary projection was too long. The bird had a habitat of lowering its primaries so that they sat well below the tertials thus exposing more primary tips extending from the base of the secondaries. There were indications of moult in the tertials, as noted above and it seems likely that these feathers were still growing. 

When the primaries were held below the secondaries the primary extension did not look particularly long, exposing 4 to 5 primary tips which is typical for Brown, Figure 5. A longer primary extension with more exposed primary tips could have been indicative of hybridisation.

Figure 5 Brown Shrike primary projection (left ©Tom Tams and right © Pete Garrity) Note the right hand image has been flipped to facilitate the comparison

Both Brown Shrike and Turkestan Shrike show emargination on p3-5 but this was not visible in the field or on photos.

Note also the effect of light on the plumage tones in Figure 5 the left hand image in sunshine whilst that on the right is in overcast conditions.

Brown Shrike has a shorter second primary than Turkestan. According to Shirihai & Svensson(2); p2 falls short of the wing tip by 7-13mm and on the closed wing falls between the 6th and 7th primary in 44% of birds measured, is equal to the 6th primary in 29% of birds measured , falls between the 5th and 6th primary in 20% of birds measured or is equal to the 7th primary in 7% of birds measured. 

In Turkestan Shrike p2 falls short of the wing tip by 4.5-10 mm and on the closed wing falls between the 5th and 6th primaries on 58% of birds measured, equals the 6th primary in 26% of birds measured or falls between the 6th and 7th primary in 16% of birds measured.

Figure 6 Comparison of wing formula

Clearly, the assessment of these features are intended for trapped birds. The second primary is hidden below primaries p3 and p4 which form the wing tip when the bird is at rest. I have been unable to locate any photographs which show p2 on a sitting bird but see the measurements made below on the bird in flight. 

Tail

As mentioned above several tail feathers were missing on the birds righthand side. If you look closely at Figure 3 and 7 and the left hand image in Figure 5 a growing feather is visible at the base of the tail on the right hand side.

Figure 7 Spread tail © Pete Garrity

Looking at Figure 7 nine tail feathers are visible including the short, growing t6 on the birds right as mentioned above. It looks like the outer 4 feathers on the birds left are full grown without any gaps. So the missing feathers look like t2 on both sides plus t3 on the right.

Brown Shrike has a very graduated tail with the outer tail feather (t6) only 70% to 80% of the central (longest) feathers. On Turkestan Shrike the outer feathers are 80% to 90% of the longest feather.

In Figures 7,9 and 10 the short outer tail feather, t6 on the birds left is clearly visible and is perhaps 70% to 75% of the length of the central tail feathers thus supporting identification as Brown Shrike.

In March 2015 a shrike was found in Mendocino County, California, the Mendocino Shrike. It was present for 8 weeks and was subject to a detailed analysis including 100 of photographs in order to establish its identity. They took a number of measurements from photographs taken in the field and compared them with data obtained from museum specimens Figure 8 (Pyle et al 2015 (3)).

Figure 8 Adapted from Pyle et al 2015 see caption to Figure 9 for definitions

I've adapted Table 1b from Pyle et al and renumbered the primaries with number 1 as the small outer primary in accordance with European practice. I didn't include their actual measurements as it is the ratio which is important. Clearly the tail measurements are restricted to the feathers on the birds left side as outer feathers are missing on the right.

Figure 9 Showing measurements from Pyle et al in white, yellow line shows intersection of p2 with p5/p6 © Tom Tams, a= p3-p2 and b= p3 to primary coverts. c= t5-t6 and d= t5 to point of tail feather insertion

Figure 10 Pyle et al measurements using upperside of wing

Results 

Figure 7 ratio a/b = 0.229 c/d = 0.245      Average = 0.237

Figure 8 ratio a/b = 0.244 c/d = 0.233      Average = 0.239

Ratio a/b came just within the range for Brown Shrike whilst ration c/d was slightly low for Brown Shrike but way above the range for Turkestan Shrike. Clearly, there are a lot of variables that can affect these figures but look like they could be of assistance in separating this group of shrikes if decent photographs can be obtained and it is not possible to trap the bird.

Summary

I have checked a range of features used to identify Brown Shrike; upper and underpart colouration, moult, head structure and markings and wing and tail shape all of which are consistent with the identification of the bird at Johnny Brown's Common as an adult male Brown Shrike. 

I have also used measurements described in Pyle et al to confirm that structural differences in the primaries and tail are consistent with this identification and can be used to separate Brown from Turkestan Shrike.

I saw no indication of any form of hybridisation and concluded that this was an adult male Brown Shrike of the nominate race cristata. 

Notes on the photos; the photos which are not attributed to other photographers have had no alterations or enhancement made to the colours 

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the finders of the bird at Johnny Brown's Common for the chance to study this bird. Thanks to Tom Tams and Pete Garrity for use of their photos and I recommend Pete's video, available on Youtube via this link if you are interested in this bird.

I'm happy to receive any feedback or comments on this blog. via Twitter or via email to andysbutler@aol.com.

References

1. Worfolk, T. 2000. Identification of Red-backed, Isabelline, and Brown Shrikes. Dutch Birding 22: 323-362.

2. Shirihai & Svensson 2018 Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds

3. Pyle et al 2015 The Mendocino Shrike: Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) x Turkestan Shrike (L.phoenicuroides) hybrid. North American Birds Vol 69: 4-35

4. Birding Frontiers Challenge Series - Autumn 2014

5. Panov E On the nomenclature of so called Isabelline Shrikes Sandgrouse 31 (2009) p163-170

6. Ganpule P 2017 Red-backed, Brown, Isabelline and Red-tailed Shrike in Gujarat Flamingo Vol. XV-3 July - Sep, 2017

Siberian Lesser Whitethroat - Spurn 9th - 12th October

During a long weekend at Spurn with friends we came across a Lesser Whitethroat skulking at the base of a hawthorn hedge. Fortunately it remained in the same area over the weekend and I managed to obtain a series of photographs which confirm, as far as can be confirmed without DNA, that the bird was a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca blythi). This race is now regularly recorded on the east coast in autumn and sometimes over-winters in the UK. 

Since an analysis of DNA from the various races of the Lesser Whitethroat was published in 2013¹ which indicated that blythi is not as closely related to curruca as previously thought and could be a candidate for a future split to form a species group with three other subspecies; althaea, halimodendri and margelanica as one species and curruca and minula in the other there has been increasing interest in identifying these birds, both in the hand and in the field.

Figure 1 blythi in profile, note brown mantle and buff flanks

Identification

The general impression was of the nominate race of Lesser Whitethroat (which I'll refer to as curruca and blythi for Siberian Lesser Whitethroat) in terms of size, structure and behaviour as it moved slowly through the bushes generally keeping low down. In brighter light the brown mantle was the most obvious feature and on closer examination the mantle colour continued up the nape fading to grey on the rear crown unlike curruca where there is a distinct division between the grey/brown of the mantle and the grey nape. This feature was most obvious when looking at the bird from the rear or when looking down on it (Figure 2), it was not so obvious when viewing the bird side on as in Figure 1 above. See also Figure 4 sent by Trev Charlton which show nominate curruca with the mantle colour extending on to the nape although it is less obvious as there is less contrast between the mantle and nape base colouration. Figure 4 also shows the colder, greyer tones of curruca compared to blythi. 

The next distinction from curruca was the colour of the underparts. In this bird the throat was off white but the flanks and lower breast were a warm buff separated by an off white lower belly and undertail coverts but the buff flanks looked to meet behind the legs whereas in curruca the whole of the underparts are off white. Slightly darker brown ear coverts and lores gave a masked effect but how strongly this appeared varied with the light and the viewing angle. 

Figure 2 viewed from behind, showing mantle colour extending on to nape

Figure 3 showing rear flanks and undertail

The tertials were dark centered with pale fringes which combined with the mantle colour brought to mind Common Whitethroat. Primary projection is said to be less than in curruca but there is apparently considerable overlap.

Figure 4 Lesser Whitethroat of the nominate race curruca © Trev Charlton October

A consistent distinguishing feature for blythi from curruca is the position of the tip of p2 against the other primaries in the closed wing. In blythi p2 is short and thus falls further away from the wing tip. This is a straight forward measurement for trapped birds but in the field the wing needs to be spread slightly to reveal p2. Fortunately watching this bird on and off over 3 days I did manage a photo with the wing slightly spread.

Figure 5 with wing slightly spread showing approximate position of p2

Clearly, there is quite a bit of room for error here depending both on the angle at which the bird is viewed and the extent the wing is spread as well as any damage to the tip of p2.

Table 1 Position of p2 in relation to tips of other primaries in closed wing. Figures are percentage of each sample (adapted from BWP)

The further p2 is out of alignment with the remaining primaries the shorter it will appear. Also the angle at which the line is drawn will also have an effect, I've tried to draw the line perpendicular to the primary shafts. Having said all that I think p2 falls around p6 which excludes curruca where p2 falls between p4 and p5 or at p5 in the majority of examples.

If you are not able to obtain DNA the final evidence required is the pattern of white on the outer tail feathers. 

Figure 6 in flight showing spread upper tail

I was unable to see any evidence of a moult limit (mix of juvenile and post juvenile feathers) in the greater coverts which would identify the bird as 1st calendar year but I think the pointed tail feathers are juvenile thus ageing the bird as 1st calendar year. The age is important as there is considerable variation reported between 1cy and adult birds. In its first year the race halimodendri has an all white outer tail feather (t6) so on that basis we can confirm that this bird is blythi. The nominate race curruca can have a similar outer tail pattern to blythi in its first year and both races may show white tips to the neighbouring feathers (t5 and even t4 and t3 in curruca).

I was interested to see if the pattern of the outer tail feather could be seen from the underside of the tail. It looks less distinct but the pattern can be discerned (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Pattern of the underside of t6 from below, note also off white belly

Bare Parts

The iris was brown, similar in colour to the mantle. The bill was dark with a bluish base to the lower mandible extending just over half its length. There was some reddish discolouration around the bill base from the blackberries it was occasionally seen feeding on. The legs and feet were black with paler bluish grey soles.

Call

It was heard to give a tacking call several times which sounded like curruca. No other calls were heard.

Behaviour

Over a four day period the bird was seen frequently in a hawthorn hedge and two areas of bramble extending to about 150m. Most of the time it was within 1m of the ground but occasionally climbed the hawthorns to over 2m. It was very active creeping through the low bushes and appeared to stick to one direction of travel making it possible to predict where it would appear when lost to view. Several times it climbed to the top of the brambles or low hedge and flew 20 - 30m when it would again set off in one direction and repeat the process. The tail was regularly flicked down, much like Common Chiffchaff although it was windy and this may have affected it behaviour in exposed positions. The tail movement emphasised a rather long-tailed appearance. On a couple of occasions it sat on, or close to the top of low scrub to preen.

Photographic Note:

The photos have been cropped and in some instances lightened but there has been no colour adjustments made either by the camera or in post processing.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Roger Barnes, Mick Cunningham, Paul Doherty, Richard Hart, Vaughan Lister and Johnny McLoughlin and for input whilst watching the bird at various times and comments on its identification. Also Trev Charlton for his comments and use of the photos in Figure 4.

References

1. New insights into the intricate taxonomy and phylogeny of the Sylvia curruca complex Urban Olsson, Paul J.Leader, Geoff J.Carey, Aleem Ahmed Khan, Lars Svensson, PerAlström

2. Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa, the Birds of the Western Palearctic Vol VI

3. The Challenge Series - Autumn by Martin Garner

4. Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds Vol 1 Shirihai & Svensson

A few days in Bucharest 29th - 31st January

Incomplete - photos to be added

I'd read several reports of birders visiting Bucharest and was particularly attracted to the reports of Caspian Gulls and woodpeckers, both of which appeared relatively easy to see in the right conditions. For the gulls the' right conditions' were frozen lakes in Herastrau Park, which apparently occurs in most years but unfortunately not this one!
We stayed in the Bucharest Mercure which was about 3km from the park which I did walk several times but we also used Uber which was so easy and cost effective (about £2.50 for a one way trip).
Our first morning in the park was raining but we still managed several Syrian and Middle Spotted plus 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. 

The trees also held Nuthatch, lots of Tree Sparrows and several Hawfinch. There were a couple of feeders in the park which were a magnet for the Tree Sparrows and the numerous feral pigeons.
As mentioned the lakes were completely ice free and I counted at least 9 Pygmy Cormorant, which I'd probably not have seen if they had been frozen but unfortunately the gulls all appeared to be Yellow-legged. The following day I took some bread with me and managed to attract some of the birds a little closer and all of which proved to be Yellow-legged Gulls.
Walking back to the hotel I called in a Kiseleff Park which also had Syrian, Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.
In the afternoon I visited Cismigiu Park which was closer to the hotel, it is smaller than Herastrau and the pond in the centre had been drained but I still managed a couple of Syrian Woodpeckers and several Hooded Crow.

Northern Goshawk flight identification and ageing in the UK - Revised and updated

This is a fully revised version of a blog I first posted in September 2015 with more photographs, particularly of sub-adult plumages. To make comparison easier and to facilitate the increase in the number of photos used I have copied individual photos on to a common background for the main illustrations. Whilst this may be less aesthetically pleasing I think it assists the identification purpose of the blog. 
I'm always happy to receive feedback and comments to andysbutler@aol.com or via the comments section at the end of the blog.

Despite an increase in the Northern Goshawk population during the 20th Century it is still a scarce bird and this, along with its generally reclusive behaviour, make it one of the hardest of our birds of prey to see. It is perhaps the difficulty of observing the Northern Goshawk combined with its size and striking plumage which makes it one of the most enigmatic of British birds and one that all birdwatchers get a thrill from seeing.

For more than two decades I have had the opportunity to study the Northern Goshawk through the year in the Derbyshire Peak District, and witness the various stages in the breeding, and non-breeding seasons. 
For such a large bird it is surprisingly elusive and whilst sightings are regular from December through March as birds start the display cycle they are very difficult to observe outside this period.
Despite seeing Northern Goshawks most days when I'm out in the first few months of each year I still get an incredible thrill from watching them. 
This article is aimed at helping those who are less familiar with them to confirm their identification and also for those with a deeper interest in bird identification and ageing to share my thoughts on the various plumages that can be identified in the field.

Figure 1 Northern Goshawk juvenile male (first plumage) Feb 2019

General considerations

To avoid repetition from this point forward I will refer to Northern Goshawk as Goshawk and Eurasian Sparrowhawk as Sparrowhawk other than in the Figure captions.

In order to clarify the various plumages associated with a Goshawk's age I have referred to First, Second, Third etc. Plumages, where First Plumage is the juvenile plumage the bird has when it fledges from the nest. I find the use of other terms such as the calendar year age of a bird confusing since in each calendar year after the bird has fledged it will have two plumages (either side of the summer moult). 

In a reasonable view and good light where plumage features are discernible, the only likely confusion is with the Sparrowhawk, particularly if the observer is not familiar with Goshawk. The female Goshawk has the size and build of a Buzzard (Figure 3) and should not normally cause a problem but males are considerably smaller, similar to Carrion Crow (Figure 2) and more likely to be confused with female Sparrowhawk although the latter is closer to Kestrel in size. Note that even for experienced observers size can be very difficult to judge in distant birds and it may not always be possible to confirm identification unless additional characteristics can be seen such as the flight or structural details noted below or some plumage features. I have watched very distant birds circling without flapping and have been uncertain which species I was watching. Clearly it helps if there are birds nearby to make a direct size comparison. 

Figure 2 Male Northern Goshawk with Carrion Crow

Figure 3 Female Northern Goshawk with Common Buzzard Feb 2019

The Sparrowhawk is a compact bird with short broad wings and a generally long square cut tail. 

The Goshawk has a more rounded tail, as the feather length decreases moving out from the longest central feathers (Table 1).  Although the closed tail can look square on the Goshawk (see Figure 11a for example) it is often possible to see the shorter outer tail feathers, particularly on photographs. Compare the tails on Figures 1 and 7 b & d for Goshawk with the Sparrowhawks on Figure 4 b & c. 

Note that moult may also affect the relative length of the feathers particularly in the autumn when feathers may be still growing. The central feathers are the first to be replaced so the outer feathers may still be growing after the central feathers are at full length. 

The Goshawk will often circle with the tail closed when it has a distinctive cross like silhouette with long wings and tail whilst the square ended tail of the Sparrowhawk can often be seen even in fairly distant views.

Table 1 Difference in length between central and outer tai feathers

Figure 4 Eurasian Sparrowhawk a, b, f, e juvenile, c adult male, d adult female

The flight of the Sparrowhawk is normally very distinct with circling and gliding interspersed with rapid flickering wing beats which are never seen in Goshawk. Both Goshawk and Sparrowhawk glide on flat wings (Figures 4e, 7f & 10b), unlike the Buzzard which holds its wings in a shallow V, and flaps with deep wing beats which gives the impression of its size.

Figure 5 Flight silhouette of Northern Goshawk and Eurasian Sparrowhawk not to scale

Without the labels in the silhouette above, even though I've reproduced the birds at a similar size it's fairly obvious that the Goshawk is on the left. The silhouettes are taken from photos of birds in similar positions but clearly not exactly the same, despite this I think there are a number of differences that are useful in the field;

• Where plumage details can be seen Sparrowhawk always shows barred secondaries. In Goshawk these are only present in First (juvenile) and Second Plumages. First Plumage Goshawk has a heavily streaked not barred breast but identification of Second Plumage Goshawk requires additional features,  
• The head of the Goshawk sticks further out, similar to Honey Buzzard when compared to Common Buzzard, and the neck base is broader,
• The Goshawk has relatively broader wings where they join the body, producing a bulkier appearance,
• The bulkier appearance is further enhanced by the thicker tail base on Goshawk which looks more pinched on Sparrowhawk,
• The shorter outer tail feathers of the Goshawk produce a rounded tail rather than the square ended tail of the Sparrowhawk.

The shape of Goshawk can also recall Hen Harrier and on more than one occasion I have seen a female Goshawk flying low over the moors where my first thought was that I was watching a Hen Harrier.

Moult

The Goshawk has a complete moult each year mainly during June to October. Females start the moult earlier than in males usually commencing during the egg laying or incubation period and losing 3 or 4 inner primaries over a short period. Males commence the moult a few weeks later and the moult is completed by the autumn.
In common with other large raptors not all the flight feathers are moulted each year. Figure 5 below gives a diagrammatic representation of a study of the moult in a captive female obtained as a juvenile in autumn 1982 under license in Germany. The moulted feathers were collected in each subsequent year (except 1983 when only primaries and tail feathers were collected) and the feathers moulted or retained identified.

Figure 5 Diagrammatic representation of the main flight feathersin the Northern Goshawk A=alulas, P= primaries, S= secondaries. The bar codes show which feathers were moulted (open cells) or retained (solid cells) each year between 1983 and 1989. The stippled cells represent those feathers for which no moult data were obtained.

Other than in 1985 all the primaries were moulted each year. There are no years when all of the secondaries are replaced and thus any bird older than juvenile will have at least some feathers in the wing grown the prior year. This is helpful in ageing immature birds.
The secondary feathers in the first post juvenile moult are dark tipped and more strongly barred than in subsequent moults. This makes these birds, which also have more coarsely barred underparts fairly easy to identify but a Goshawk encountered which has a one or two of these more heavily barred feathers most have completed it second post juvenile moult and is therefore in the second half of its third calendar year or the first half of its fourth calendar year.

Figure 6 Comparison of female Northern Goshawk in its 4th calendar year with an adult

The pattern of the barring on the primaries also changes with age in juveniles and birds having completed the first post juvenile moult the primaries have 5 or six visible bars, the barring is darker towards the tip and forms an even band in subsequent moults the bars become more triangular, broadest on the leading edge and narrowing to the rear.

First or Juvenile Plumage, first calendar year to second calendar year summer

Figure 7 Northern Goshawk in juvenile or first plumage b,c,d are males; a,g,e female

The Goshawk retains its juvenile plumage from fledging in July through to September of the second calendar year. I have seen a male in late June/ early July of its second calendar year still with a full set of juvenile remiges and retrices so there is a short period when recently fledged juveniles and 2nd calendar year birds still in juvenile plumage could be in the air together.

The young Sparrowhawk shows barring on the breast, although there may be some streaking on the upper breast, when it leaves the nest and therefore looks similar to the adult. Thus an accipiter showing  a streaked, rather than barred breast must be a Goshawk.

The juvenile in 7d has a single moulted breast feather just above its left leg which shows Second Moult barring.

The juvenile 7e has "flared" undertail coverts which has previously been noted as a diagnostic characteristic of Goshawk which is clearly not the case and may be seen in both species and sexes during the display period (see Sparrowhawk in 4a).

From fledging through to summer of the second calendar year the young Goshawk has an orangey-buff ground colour to the breast and underwing coverts with heavy dark brown streaking on the breast and underwing coverts. This colouration can show a distinct contrast with the pale ground colour to the primaries and secondaries which are heavily barred dark brown and forming a dark trailing edge to the wing.

The iris of the recently fledged juvenile Goshawk is a pale blue-grey colour which turns to yellow, like the adult birds by the end of the first calendar year.

Second Plumage, second calendar year autumn to third calendar year summer

During the moult in the summer of the second year the Goshawk's sheds its juvenile plumage and starts to look  much more like an adult. but viewed from the underside the flight feathers are heavily barred, similar to a juvenile. The breast is rather coarsely barred with barring coalescing on the upper breast. The colour of the underparts is generally browner than in the adult. From above the upperparts are a warm, slightly rufous brown. Barring on the tail is obvious when viewed from both above and below. 

The head pattern is less conspicuous than the adult with limited or no pale supercilium or dark ear coverts and the iris is yellow.

The bird in photo 8d photographed in early June of its third calendar year has started the moult to adult plumage having lost four inner primaries.

Figure 8 Northern Goshawk Second Plumage 

In Second Plumage the Goshawk is in its most Sparrowhawk like plumage with barred secondaries and breast. Identification is still fairly straightforward based on size, structure and absence of the 'flickering' wing beats shown by Sparrowhawk.

Third Plumage, third calendar year autumn to fourth calendar year summer 

Figure 9 Northern Goshawk Third Plumage

As noted under Moult above after the second post juvenile moult some individuals may be tentatively aged due to the retention of secondaries from the Second Plumage. Note however that the appearance of the underwing varies significantly depending on how it is lit. In strong light the underwing variations look muted but may be quite distinct in less direct sunlight. The head pattern is also less distinct and the barring on the underparts tends to be slightly coarser (the bars are wider) than in subsequent plumages. 

The iris is yellow.

Fourth Plumage, Adult, fourth calendar year onwards
After the third post juvenile moult birds are in adult plumage although with subsequent moults the secondaries become paler and more silvery, the primary barring becomes less distinct, barring on the underparts become finer, the ear coverts and crown darken in males and some females and the iris becomes more orange rather than yellow.

Figure 10 Northern Goshawk Adult Male 

There are no plumage characteristics that reliably separate males from females but in adult plumage males tend to have blacker ear coverts and a more distinct white supercilium but some females may also show these features.

Females are significantly larger as noted at the start of this article, they are also more bulky with broader chest and base of the wing and have a more aggressive look.

Figure 11 Northern Goshawk adult female

The females in photos 11a and 11b are the same bird taken in subsequent years, interestingly it has retained a gap in the secondaries so perhaps these feathers weren't moulted?

References

Reading C J, Molt Pattern and Duration in a Female
Northern Goshawk,  (Accipiter gentills),] Raptor Res. 24(4):91-97, 1990
Forsman D, Raptors of Europe North Africa and the Middle East, Helm Identification Series.

Besh Barmag, Azerbaijan 17th October - 5th November

I first heard of Besh Barmag a couple of years ago from long time friend Paul Doherty who brought some amazing bird counts posted on the visible migration site Trektellen to my attention. I'd no idea where Besh Barmag was but then I had no plans to go there but it sounded brilliant!
We talked about the visible migration there when we met and exchanged e-mails as the possibility of going started to take root. An organised count was conducted during autumn 2018 with a few British birders spending time there but news came through that there would be no organised count in 2019 as a new road was being built which ran through the counting site. Would it still be worth going if there was a new road or construction work underway whilst we were there? 
Having started to think that we might go we were not keen to postpone, especially since the road would still be a problem in future years. We consoled ourselves with the logic that the road construction wouldn't stop the birds from passing on their southerly migration!

Paul checked the counts to establish the best time to go whilst I started to look at flights. There are no direct flights so it was either Turkish Airlines via Istanbul or a slightly cheaper option of Ukraine Airlines via Kiev. We opted for Turkish at £426 return and settled on 17th October to 6th November giving us three weeks. The luggage allowance was 30kg for the hold and 10kg carry on which I just made with telescope, tripod, monopod and cameras and lenses (300mm and 500mm), we also took walkie-talkies which proved there worth whenever one of us left the counting spot and lots of tally counters which were essential.
Details were circulated around friends to see if anyone else fancied the trip and Simon Roddis came forward immediately and we were all set. We just needed accommodation and a hire car. The hire car was fairly easy as there didn't appear to be a huge choice and other birders had mentioned Aznur Car Hire who had an office at Baku Airport. We went for a 4x4 and ended up with a Toyota Rav4 at £775 for the three weeks. We knew that the count in 2018 had used a hotel in Zarat which was very close to the watchpoint at Besh Barmag but we couldn't find details anywhere so contacted Kai Gauger and Micha Heiss of Birding Azerbaijan who kindly made arrangements for us to stay at the apartments in Zarat for US$ 35/day each for full board and put us in contact with Miryusif Mirzazada who proved invaluable in negotiating our way around Azerbaijan. 
There is WiFi in the apartment but it was a little unreliable, I had the iPhone XR with a built in second SIM and took out a 30 day contract with GigSky for £40 which was handy, especially for Google Maps when navigating Baku but not essential. Local SIM cards are sold in the airport but we never found out how easy it would be to buy one.
The Azerbaijan e-visa was easy to obtain on-line, there appear to be several sites offering them and we used the official government site. It is good for 15 days but we then had to extend it whilst in Azerbaijan. This sounded simple on the Government web site but in practice didn't work so we had to drive to Baku with the owner of the apartment to register 'at our place of stay' this took 5 mins and cost about £2.50 but could have been difficult without Miryusif's help.
Azeri is the main language but most people seem to speak Russian as well but only the youth appear to speak any English so communication can be a problem, particularly away from Baku.

We landed in Baku at 05:30 on our first morning and quickly organised the car hire from the Aznur desk which was right by the arrivals hall entrance. Money was a slight problem in that you can't get the Azerbaijan Manat in the UK. Simon had Sterling which was easy to change at the kiosk in the arrivals hall. Paul and I used the ATM nearby, there were two and for some reason one would only dispence 200 Manats at a time, about £90 so it took some time to get enough money to get us going. Aznur also asked for cash but in the end accepted a credit card.
Miryusif met as at the airport as he was accompanying us to the apartment at Zarat.
A brief look at a couple of sites close to Baku produced various species, but also left us impatient to know what was happening at Besh Barmag.
The coastal scenery as you approach Zarat is dominated by Besh Barmag and the start of the Caucasus Mountains but the coastal plain also bears signs of man with sprawling power lines and oil wells.

At the counting spot - where the new road ends

Coastal developments, plenty pf perches for the Eastern Imperial Eagles!

We got to the counting area in the early afternoon on 17th October and had to decide where to count from as the landscape had changed since last year. Quite a bit of preparatory work has been done for the new motorway and a route excavated to just beyond Besh Barmag, ending about 8 kms north of Zarat at 41.007382, 49.218314.
It was a huge relief to find that, although various groundworks had been done, the site itself was quiet with no workers present and nothing actually being done. We decided to set up on our watchpoint on the embankment at the northern point of the works. The elevated position here gave us a good all round view of the fields, mountains and sea and was only slightly further north than the main counting spot in 2018.
The watch point looks north over a large area of private land owned by a poultry farm. The land includes three small pools that are part of a sewage treatment plant, a small reservoir (which we never accessed, the man at the farm said we could not go there), and some distant pools with a bridge. All this land is private but the security personnel after checking-out who we were said we were ok to watch the birds in these areas.

Besh Barmag watch point and notable habitat

The 18th was our first full day and it can only be described as full on, with the three of us kept busy from dawn to dusk. The main movers were Rooks and Calandra Larks with totals of 8,080 and 23,110* respectively.

Calandra Larks migrating

The Calandra Larks just kept coming - every time we thought there was a pause along would come another flock. Other birds included Ruddy Shelducks, Eastern Imperial, Greater Spotted, Steppe and White-tailed Eagles and Long-legged Buzzard.

Eastern Imperial Eagle - sub adult, probably 4 or 5 years old

Long-legged Buzzard

The 17th and 18th also produced our only Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters with calling birds announcing their presence as they passed high overhead on their way south.

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

There were many Northern Wheatear in the area on the 18th and 19th with 31 seen together on the beach and a dozen on the embankment close to the watch point, so there must have been hundreds along the coast. Amongst the Northern I saw one possibly two Isabelline. 

Isabelline Wheatear (left) v Northern Wheatear

This bird was much more like Northern than birds I've seen in the UK or adults in Turkey and I think its probably a first winter. Note the greyer colouration and lack of rusty fringes to the tertials and secondaries, longer tibia, absence of black centred median coverts and the wide space between p5 and p6 is typical of Isabelline (Northern tends to have evenly spaced primary tips on the closed wing). 
Our first Little Bustards came on the 22nd October when a total of 47 flew south - this proved to be the highest count of our trip.

Little Bustard

The 22nd also produced a memorable incident when a Calandra Lark being chased by a Merlin took shelter under our car. The Merlin landed briefly on the car, just a metre or two away from us, then moved to a pile of earth some five metres away, before deciding that a bush 15 metres away was a safe distance to watch us from. The Merlin was a stunning juvenile of the pallidus race and looked strikingly different from the birds we see in Britain.

Merlin juvenile of the Asian race pallidus

An area of scrub occupied the area between the beach and the viewpoint and we checked this regularly.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Siberian Chiffchaff

Here we had Siberian Chiffchaffs, Red-breasted Flycatchers, Cetti's Warbler, Bearded and Penduline Tits, the latter included some of the dark-headed caspius subspecies. As well as Bearded Tits, Robins, Wrens, Blue and Great Tits and House, Spanish and Tree Sparrows.

Penduline Tit of the local brown-headed race caspius

Male transcaspicus Spanish Sparrow with biblicus House Sparrows 

The area also held one or two Common Redstarts of the race samamisicus. The grey shawl on this bird reminded me of a bird I had seen at Spurn in October. Its call was also unlike the nominate races hoo-eet being more of a swee-oo quite similar to Siberian Chiffchaff. The recording is on Xeno-Canto

Common Redstart P p samamisicus

On the 23rd October we had a look at the beach and a nearby stream and enjoyed good views of Pallas's Gull and Spotted Crake.

Pallas's Gull - 1st winter

Spotted Crake

In the same area we found Moustached Warbler and a reed warbler which ought to be Caspian Reed Warbler (A s fuscus) given our location although there was nothing in its appearance that suggested it was not nominate scirpaceus.

presumed Caspian Reed Warbler

There were always gulls on the beach, mainly Caspian with usually a couple of hundred birds present. They were usually well up the beach and you could only get anywhere near them from the car.

Caspian Gulls with juv Heuglin's just above the horizon and Pallas's almost highest bird

Caspian Gull - 1st winter

 
We saw a few Little Gulls, several Pallas's and one juvenile Heuglin's Gull although we noted quite a few fly-by adult type Lesser black-backed Gulls that must have been Heuglin's on range.

Little Gull adult

Heuglin's Gull (L (fuscus) heuglini) juvenile

Pallas's Gull - 3rd winter

Pallas's Gull - adult winter

Besh Barmag isn't especially noted for raptor migration, but we had 52 Griffon Vultures moving south on the 26th October, including a single spiral of 21 birds.Large soaring birds also featured on the 28th when there were 149 Dalmatian Pelicans, 43 Griffon Vultures, 14 Cinereous Vultures, 11 Eastern Imperial Eagles and a single Bearded Vulture. We drove up Besh Barmag to see if we could get better views of the migrating raptors and were rewarded with superb views of Black Vulture and Steppe and Eastern Imperial Eagles.

Black Vulture

Steppe Eagle - juvenile

Eastern Imperial Eagle - juvenile

At Besh Barmag Mountain we also saw Western Rock Nuthatch, several Black Redstarts and a pair of Blue Rock Thrush of the nominate race ochruros.

Western Rock Nuthatch

Black Redstart - male

Blue Rock Thrush - female

We saw Eurasian Sparrowhawks everyday, some very close and one very pale bird that looked quite unlike the nominate race which we saw. Some authorities call the eastern race nisosimilis Siberian Sparrowhawk but I haven't seen anything that looked quite like our bird.

Eurasian Sparrowhawk of an indeterminate race

Most evenings a Little Owl appeared just as we were packing up to go back to the apartment but on a couple of occasions it appeared in daylight. It appeared to be as interested as us in what was passing overhead, I guess he was watching for hunting eagles.

Little Owl of a Middle Eastern either indigena or bactriana

Our first Common Cranes of the trip came on the 29th when five flew south and it was also a good day for Great Black-headed Gulls with 51 flying south and a lone eagle flying high south down the coast proved to be a juvenile Greater Spotted.

Common Crane

Migrating Pallas's Gulls with 3 Caspian near the front

Greater Spotted Eagle - juvenile

The weather began to deteriorate on the 30th, migration slowed and there was heavy rain on 1st and 2nd November.
Migration kicked in again on the 3rd with 105 Great White Egrets (including a fine overhead group of 86), 

Great White Egrets

160 Pygmy Cormorants and an outstanding 20,050 Cormorants, with the late afternoon producing one group after another, some of over one thousand birds and with the flocks often changing shape in a marvellously fluid and sinuous manner.

Great Cormorant

It was also a good day for Wood Larks with 20 heading south. 
A first year Eastern Imperial Eagle which flew south had a green colour ring on its left leg and what appeared to be some sort of transmitter on its other leg; we hope it might be possible to discover where it came from.

Eastern Imperial Eagle juvenile with colour ring and transmitter or data logger on the other leg

Pygmy Cormorants were prominent on the 4th with 448 flying south. The 5th November was our last day and produced a star bird in the shape of 20 Black-bellied Sandgrouse powering south over the Caspian Sea. 
It also produced a record count of 254 Mistle Thrushes (previous high here was 58), and our first Coot was located amongst the breaking waves. The Coot was unfortunate enough to be spotted by a White-tailed Eagle which hovered above it until the Coot was too tired to dive again and was plucked from the sea and carried to the shore.
Towards the end of our stay Hen Harriers were seen daily, usually flying low over the scrub and sometimes passing quite close.

Hen Harrier - probably 1st winter male

The area around the apartment at Zarat was quite productive with Red-breasted Flycatcher and Siberian Chiffchaff in the garden and Little Owl and Laughing Doves nearby.

Apartment garden with the Caspian Sea in the distance

Laughing Dove

Presumably the motorway will be completed but we hope that it will still be possible for birdwatchers to gather at Besh Barmag and witness the spectacular migration. It can be a bit of an overwhelming experience - you can look through a telescope and see birds passing at all sorts of distances between you and the far horizon, or you check out some birds high overhead and realise that there are others passing even higher than them.
Special thanks go to all the people who helped with advice and information in advance. Miryusif met us at the airport and made sure we got to the accommodation at Zarat safely. He was an invaluable source of information and advice during our trip and thanks to Paul and Simon for their company and bird finding skills.
We did manage to get our hire car stuck on the embankment during the bad weather, so our final piece of advice is to be very careful on the dirt tracks if it rains.

Yes...it's definitely stuck!

The final supper

The outstanding memories from this trip are many - raptors overhead, the whistling wings of Little Bustards, a large flock of migrant Great White Egrets against a brilliant blue sky, huge flocks of Starlings shape-shifting in response to attacks from a Sparrowhawk.

Eurasian Starling with hunting Sparrowhawk just visible upper right

Besh Barmag is a brilliant place for migration enthusiasts!

Footnote: I understand a count is being organised for 2020, visit birdingaze.blogspot

*daily checklists with photos can be found under the Besh Barmag hotspot on eBird and also on Trektellen. We recorded 146 species during our three week stay.