Red Throated Black Cap, Cases D'Alcanar, Spain

Before you reach for your rare birds guide, I don't think a Red Throated Black Cap actually exists. Well it kind of does and it doesn't.

I'd just sat down by the campervan with my breakfast when Deric alerted me to a bird flitting in a nearby bush. The bush had tall orangey/red poker-like flowers.  I grabbed my camera and snapped away whilst Deric kept asking me 'what is it?'  

My instinctive thought was a female or juvenile Black Cap - it had all the characteristics, but it failed on one significant feature - a red throat.  

My mind was in a bit of a spin.  I was trying to take some good shots but at the same time eager to grab the bird book and see if we'd stumbled on a rarity.  

Eventually the bird moved on and I had enough record shots to help with identification.  We took it in turns to paw through the pages of our European bird guide but it was a fruitless search.  I slammed the book shut and pronounced, with pride, that we had found a new species "A female Red Throated Black Cap" I concluded.

Then a rare moment of clarity descended on my muddled brain.

"It really is a red throated Black Cap" I shouted to Deric.

"It's been feeding inside the long, orangey/red, trumpet-like flowers and getting the pollen all over it's throat.  It's dyed its throat red!"