The Lincolnshire Bird Club

On Feb 26th I came across a Richard's Pipit in Goxhill Marsh rather fortuitously as I had walked past the place where it was already and it was only two charging black labradors that flushed it from the field edge and hence allowed me to hear it call -- it was feeding in a very restricted area of suitable habitat and when flushed either flew about 1km away or just went into an adjacent winter wheat field where it sat very still and very quiet and easily avoided detection. It could well have been in that area all winter as it was in moult with missing and one replaced tertial and moulting and replace tail feathers and greater coverts. It was amazing how easy it was to overlook as it sat still and did not call when people and dogs walked past within 60m of where it was but as usual the call was immediately distinctive as long as id did call.
http://pewit.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/richards-pipit.html
Amazingly 9 days later Neil Drinkall found another Richard's Pipit in an ideal but expansive area of suitable habitat by the Augustinian Priory in Appleby Carrs. Once again it was a fortuitous find as two joggers flushed the bird and allowed ND to pick it up on call. It was covering a very large area of suitable habitat but was particularly flighty and very difficult to relocate.
That two Richard's Pipit should be found in North lincs in the space of 10 days at first glance appears remarkable but given that it has been such an incredibly mild winter and birders generally do not walk into suitable Richard's habitat in mid-winter looking for a species they do not expect to find then just how many more birds could there be in such areas in the county? In Britain a few regular birds have been reported this winter but again are they the tip of the iceberg.

It is amazing just how inconspicuous a Richard's Pipit can be in winter. The bird which wintered chiefly on the sea-bank between Howden's Pullover and Donna Nook in 2008 was often quite an elusive bird. Of course, we are much more familiar with autumn passage birds which tend to be noisy, brash and flighty birds which are also often quite easy to see on the ground. The Donna Nook bird which was first seen on 12th January remained in the area until 12th April. It was seen by a good number of observers who were visiting the site to see the Glossy Ibis that was present for much of that time, but the pipit was also missed by a good many others. The bird was generally within a fixed section of the sea-bank, and when flushed, it would resort to the adjacent winter cereal fields or to a narrow strip of marsh on the seaward side of the bank. Even when flushed, the bird seldom called very much, quite unlike typically vociferous autumn migrants. The grass on the bank was quite short and the bird sometimes fed there in full view or else would stand doing nothing for quite long periods. There was a daily stream of observers passing along the bank to see the ibis, and on some days the bird seemed unconcerned by birders watching it, but on other days there would be no trace of the bird whatsoever.
Judging by just how secretive this bird could be at times, and from Graham's notes, I would imagine that a few wintering individuals, at least, are probably being overlooked.