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10.00. Possible male Grey-bellied Brant. Grangemore Park. Flushed by a dog. 11.30, possible male and female, Donaghmede Park, the female Grey-bellied Brant is very subtle. Flushed again.
Attached is videograb showing the male and female alongside each other (each bird circled...) from Sunday.
As I said earlier, identifying the female as a grey-bellied if it on its own would be incredibly brave/stupid! However, the combination of the upperparts being similar in colour to the male (darker than a typical light belly), the solidity of the grey colouration on the breast (whilst some light bellies are as dark they are still "barred" to a greater/lesser extent) and especially (although unfortunately not clear on the video at all) the extension of grey marking between and behind the legs (this is less extensive and paler than the male) all point to it being of this form.
Given that these two birds are paired it seems highly likely that both birds belong to the WCHA population, and almost certainly rule out the possibility of the male being a hybrid (assuming my ID of the female is reasonable)
Matt
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