Spanish Sparrow's rare so Phil and I twitched it today. First we went to see the
DARK-EYED JUNCO - again - I'm not complaining, it's a really nice bird and I would go again to see it. This time was amazing; Phil seeded a stump about ten feet away from the path and eventually it plonked itself there to the crowd's delight! I digiscoped away, hoping for at least one good profile shot but when it was in profile it was behind a blade of grass and when it was in clear view it was a bit at an angle or doing something odd. A few
Crossbills,
Reed Buntings and
Siskins again.
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| Dark-eyed Junco at Hawkhill Inclosure |
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| in the kitchen... |
Happy, to Calshot we went. It felt like we were going inside to worship the thing, taking our shoes off and going inside to join the crowd of crouching and staring admirers. The
SPANISH SPARROW was actually a very striking bird and showed well quite a bit. Its brown cap, white cheeks and strong breast and flank markings made it easily seperable from the
House Sparrows with which it kept company.
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| Spanish Sparrow at Calshot |
We visited Blashford Lakes and dipped the Fudge Duck again (but the
Siskins and
Lesser Redpolls on the feeders were great to see) and dipped the Hume's Leaf Warbler at Wyke Regis - I've now only got a 33.3'% hit rate with this bird.
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| Siskin at Blashford Lakes |
