Scroll down to read more about the putative Italian Sparrow reported on Monday (30-03-19)
Mandarin, Lesser Scaup, Long-tailed Duck
Great White Egret
Osprey, Red Kite
Little Ringed Plover
Hobby
Reed Warbler
Fieldfare
Wheatear, Redstart
White Wagtail
BRISTOL
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| 04-04-19 Mallard duckling, Stoke Park, Bristol (Patrick Hardyman Richards) |
2 Canada Goose, 9m, 2f, 8 duckling Mallard, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 7 Moorhen, 6 Coot, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 10 Woodpigeon, 1 Kestrel, 7 Magpie, 9 Jackdaw, 3 Carrion Crow, 5 Blue Tit, 5 Great Tit, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 1 Wren, 5 Starling, 1m Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1m House Sparrow, 1m Bullfinch, 6 Greenfinch, 4 Goldfinch
SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Oldbury Power Station:
1 late Fieldfare at Lagoon 3/shore
Aust Warth:
1 Buzzard, 1 Redshank, 1 Kestrel, 4 Swallow, 1 Chiffchaff.
New Passage/Northwick:
1 Marsh Harrier feeding on a Moorhen (before flying off), 10 Little Ringed Plover, many Hirundines, male Redstart, 4 Wheatear, 3 White Wagtail
NORTH SOMERSET
Weston Moor:
10 Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, I Hobby
Weston-super-Mare:
Balmoral Way, Worle - 1 Osprey over at c.5.00p m
BELOW M4 & BANES
Peasedown St John:
1 Red Kite
South Stoke:
The observer's report is worth quoting in full:
'1 pr Mandarin in Engine Wood, south-west of South Stoke (ST7460). Maybe the same pair that I reported on Saturday less than 2km away on the Cam Brook but not necessarily the same as the three I saw on the Midford Brook 2 days ago! Whether the same or different birds, it's amazing that I've now seen Mandarins 3 times in 5 days in different places in the South Stoke /Midford area - parts of which I've walked at least 5 times a week for most of the last 5 years - when I had only seen them twice before in all that time.'
RESERVOIRS
Barrow Tanks:
Long-tailed Duck (No 1 Tank) , Black-tailed Godwit ( No 3 Tank) Little Ringed Plover (No 2 Tank)
Blagdon Lake:
1 Lesser Scaup, 2 Great White Egret
Chew Valley Lake
1 dark Marsh Harrier (appears to be different from bird in photo below), c 1000 Sand Martin, at least 10 Swallow
Dam:
3 White Wagtail
Moreton:
2 Willow Warbler (Moreton Lane)
Stratford:
1 Marsh Harrier ( pale bird), 1 singing Reed Warbler again
Reports: Birdguides, Paul Bowerman, Sean Davies, Andy Davis, Paul Gregory, Robert Hargreaves, Simon Harris, Ian Loats, Martin Moxon, Lois Pryce, Patrick Hardyman Richards, Kevin Smith, Howard Taffs, Brian Thompson, Keith Vinicombe, opsbirding
SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Oldbury Power Station:
1 late Fieldfare at Lagoon 3/shore
Aust Warth:
1 Buzzard, 1 Redshank, 1 Kestrel, 4 Swallow, 1 Chiffchaff.
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| 04-04-19 Redstart, Northwick (Paul Bowerman) |
1 Marsh Harrier feeding on a Moorhen (before flying off), 10 Little Ringed Plover, many Hirundines, male Redstart, 4 Wheatear, 3 White Wagtail
NORTH SOMERSET
Weston Moor:
10 Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, I Hobby
Balmoral Way, Worle - 1 Osprey over at c.5.00p m
BELOW M4 & BANES
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| 04-04-19 Greenfinch, Twerton, Bath (Robert Hargreaves) |
1 Red Kite
South Stoke:
The observer's report is worth quoting in full:
'1 pr Mandarin in Engine Wood, south-west of South Stoke (ST7460). Maybe the same pair that I reported on Saturday less than 2km away on the Cam Brook but not necessarily the same as the three I saw on the Midford Brook 2 days ago! Whether the same or different birds, it's amazing that I've now seen Mandarins 3 times in 5 days in different places in the South Stoke /Midford area - parts of which I've walked at least 5 times a week for most of the last 5 years - when I had only seen them twice before in all that time.'
RESERVOIRS
Barrow Tanks:
Long-tailed Duck (No 1 Tank) , Black-tailed Godwit ( No 3 Tank) Little Ringed Plover (No 2 Tank)
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| 04-04-19 Great White Egret, Blagdon Lake (Ian Loats) |
1 Lesser Scaup, 2 Great White Egret
1 dark Marsh Harrier (appears to be different from bird in photo below), c 1000 Sand Martin, at least 10 Swallow
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| 04-04-19 Marsh Harrier, Stratford Hide, CVL (Bri Thompson) |
3 White Wagtail
Moreton:
2 Willow Warbler (Moreton Lane)
Stratford:
1 Marsh Harrier ( pale bird), 1 singing Reed Warbler again
Bird ID - Sparrow
An unusual sparrow photographed by Allan Chard on 30 March
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| 30-03-19 Sparrow sp with m House Sparrow, Fishponds (Allan Chard) |
Could this be an Italian Sparrow? The obvious differences are that it has very rich chestnut
coloured plumage and a very white face. The bird’s crown has a strong grey tinge but this is is perfectly normal for Italian Sparrows in winter. However, these grey fringes eventually wear off,
leaving the crown a chestnut-brown colour. Unlike most passerines, sparrows have only one body moult a year but, instead, the feather fringes gradually wear off to expose the rich chestnut on the basal parts of the feathers
The Italian Sparrow is generally thought to be a stable hybrid between the House Sparrow and the Spanish Sparrow, which breeds mainly in parts of Spain and much more commonly in North Africa. In a recent paper, however, some Norwegian scientists recommended that it should be treated as a full species in its own right
coloured plumage and a very white face. The bird’s crown has a strong grey tinge but this is is perfectly normal for Italian Sparrows in winter. However, these grey fringes eventually wear off,
leaving the crown a chestnut-brown colour. Unlike most passerines, sparrows have only one body moult a year but, instead, the feather fringes gradually wear off to expose the rich chestnut on the basal parts of the feathers
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| Italian Sparrow (Larsfoto) |
The Spanish Sparrow for comparison, darker chest and white eye-stripe
There was a bird like this last year in Budleigh in Devon and I went down to see it. That bird was seen by lots of people. It seems quite likely that both the Budleigh bird and Allan's bird would have come off ships, but this shouldn’t preclude them from being accepted as wild birds.
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| Spanish Sparrow (Wikipedia) |
Keith Vinicombe
Edited by Avonbirds
Postscript: The preliminary investigation into the DNA of the Budleigh bird suggested that it wasn't, after all, an Italian sparrow. See here. The photo on this post looks very similar to the Fishponds individual.
Edited by Avonbirds
Postscript: The preliminary investigation into the DNA of the Budleigh bird suggested that it wasn't, after all, an Italian sparrow. See here. The photo on this post looks very similar to the Fishponds individual.
Reports: Birdguides, Paul Bowerman, Sean Davies, Andy Davis, Paul Gregory, Robert Hargreaves, Simon Harris, Ian Loats, Martin Moxon, Lois Pryce, Patrick Hardyman Richards, Kevin Smith, Howard Taffs, Brian Thompson, Keith Vinicombe, opsbirding