At home but something a little different

There were about 150 Starlings in the field this morning along with 31 Fieldfare and 2 Redwing.

More interestingly there were 9 Redpolls among the flock of finches on and around the feeders and I was sure one of them was a Common Redpoll (also called a Mealy Redpoll). We get Lesser Redpoll in the garden every day and they are small, brown finches with a red patch on the top of their head, and males have a pink breast too. This one however was overall much paler and greyer. It is below the Goldfinch on the feeder in the photo here:

In the top left of the photo is a Lesser Redpoll for comparison, although it is out of focus the difference in colour is quite pronounced.

Plumage on Redpolls varies greatly and it can be difficult to distinguish between Lesser and Mealy Redpolls. It was easier when all Redpolls were lumped together but it was decided a few years ago to separate them into Common and Lesser. Never mind, it gives people like me something else to do!

Here's a photo of a Lesser Redpoll that isn't out of focus: