An unusual visitor

Don't get many of these in the garden. It appeared for just one morning only and promptly vanished. It makes the one we actually trapped and ringed in 2007 seem even more remarkable - Tree Sparrows are notoriously tricky to catch.

photo taken with Canon Powershot A640 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece

Garden tick

Tree (left) and House Sparrows. Note how colossal the HS looks by comparison

Tree Sparrow!

Male House Sparrow

Exciting times in the garden over the past couple of days. Yesterday, D was at home feeling ill. He happened to glance out of the window and saw a Tree Sparrow sitting in the bush! That came as a bit of a shock as we didn't know of any others nearby.

We invited Mark round today to catch and ring a few garden birds, as there are quite a few around at the moment. He put up a single net between the bush and the two feeders and in a couple of hours we were quite successful: the expected Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Robins, Dunnocks, House Sparrows, Chaffinches and Greenfinches. Oh, and a Tree Sparrow!

We were probably unlucky not to get a woodpecker (one Green seen this morning, and three Great Spots all at once this afternoon), or a Sparrowhawk. I think the Jackdaws (which have been using both peanut and sunflower feeders) might be too canny to get caught. Perhaps we'll get them next time.

It will be really interesting to see whether the Tree Sparrow stays for the winter. Steve says it's typical for them to wander about at this time of year. This area has a number of features which should be good for them and we'll be getting some nestboxes in place for next spring.

Fingers crossed. Maybe this is the start of a new colony?

Totals:

• Blue Tit, 16
  
• Great Tit, 6
• Greenfinch, 6
• House Sparrow, 3
• Chaffinch, 2
• Dunnock, 2
• Coal Tit, 2
• Robin, 1
• Tree Sparrow, 1

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Yorkshire

Had a pleasantly long weekend on the East Yorkshire coast with Mark and Jenny and the dogs...

Red-flanked Bluetail at Old Fall Plantation, Flamborough Head (Yorkshire's first twitchable one). Mark has in-the-hand photos here

Tree Sparrow, Buckton (I blogged about this area on Notes On Nature)

Whooper Swans flying in-off at South Landing

Small Tortoiseshell, South Landing

Autumnal leaves, South Landing

Common Darter

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM and Nikon Coolpix 995

Summer Leys LNR

Six-spot Burnet moth




Gatekeeper


Common Blue Damselfly


Blue-tailed Damselfly


Can't identify this skipper (butterfly) - need to look on the undersides of its antennae to decide whether it's a Small or an Essex!


Green-veined White


Tree Sparrow, part of the long-standing colony at this site

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

Ringing at Farcet Fen

Chris and I went down to Steve Dudley's garden with the aim of trapping and colour-ringing some House and Tree Sparrows. Steve had counted a maximum of nine Treeps in the garden at any one time, so it was a bit of a surprise to catch 13! Over the next few weeks, he counted another nine which had escaped the nets, making a total of at least 22 individuals.

The House and Tree Sparrows we caught were fitted with a standard BTO metal ring on the right leg, and a red plastic ring on the left, as part of a research project into sparrows in the Fens. Hopefully we'll be able to do a return visit in the autumn when there are plenty of juveniles in the garden.

Other birds caught included Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch (at least one of which was a big, long-winged bird of continental origin) and Dunnock. It was very interesting to see ringing in an entirely different habitat and very nice not to have to wear wellies/waterproof trousers/waxed jacket...