Skylark

I recently came across a bird wandering across the croquet lawns.  That's not unusual but this was a bird I'd not seen on the lawns before and I was not sure what it was.  It looked like a Skylark but the facial markings were not the same as in my book of NZ birds.  It wasn't an NZ Pippit either so what?  However when I looked at the photos and compared them with photos of a Skylark I took from The Cottage a few days ago and which I could identify from it's song and soaring behaviour,  I could confirm that the bird was a Skylark.

By the way it is the Skylark which has made me realise that birds may have different accents too.  A Skylark in the paddock here has the same song as in the croft at Eagleton but the accent is different.  Yes.  Truly.

Soaring above the paddock in front of The Cottage I was astounded at the clarity of this picture given that the Skylark was high in the sky and taken on manual settings on the spur of the moment with little time for correct exposure.