Help identifying this please

[leeroy]

I saw this in the garden this morning, slightly smaller than a dunnock but larger than a blue it if that helps, distinctive call that I could not start to write down.

[Jason Claxton]

Morning Leeroy.

It still looks like a Dunnock to me.

[leeroy]

I agree it does, maybe its just a small one, its definitely smaller than all the rest in the garden & lighter in colour, most have that real grey blue hue about them & what I term as a stripey back.
There are a lot of dunnocks in the garden, so its likely it is, it just caught my eye, because as well as being smaller it didn't act & sound like the others - maybe an outcast as it was up in the trees & the rest were in the bushes & on the ground.
Nice to see a lot of activity this morning, even the magpies were behaving themselves

[Jason Claxton]

Just in case Leeroy ,you didn't see a Reddish tail at all did you?

Jason

[leeroy]

I didn't notice, it was quite photogenic & hung around for a while & I got quite close, but only really saw it from the side / front, as it flew off it was into the glare of the sun - so no hope there.
It did seem quite a bit smaller than the dunnocks & the sparrows relatively speaking if you know what I mean.
It was near a wren to start with, so I first thought it was a pair, but it was slightly bigger than the wren & appeared warbler like as opposed to sparrow like.
I have been out in the garden a few times since, I heard it a few gardens away but didn't see it anymore, definitely kept up in the trees singing its head off.

[Jason Claxton]

I'm still going to go with Dunnock (the hunched up Jiz),I can't see the tail ,or the legs which would be strawish/yellow in a Dunnock.Your bird looks quite plain from the picture and slighly buffish in places so I considered Black Redstart/Redstart, just in case,which have dark legs.

Cheers Jason

[leeroy]

Thanks for the help, I am going with Dunnock as well after looking & listening to loads of stuff on the web. Although the song was very similar to the redstart & its similar looking to the female, I think its too early & I haven't seen them before around here. I am in Kent & they probably do come here at some point, I also think I would have noticed the reddish tail.

So after a process of elimination, I think its a small dunnock & it just has a different colouring to the rest of them.
I think these birds throw these things in the mix on purpose just to confuse us

[Dae]

We get a lot of these rather grey dunnocks over here in south wales, and when viewed from this angle show very little of their rather attractive pattern so almost look like a different bird.

[animartco]

I don't think it is definitely a dunnock, although it isn't a good picture for IDing. very shadowed. I'd say perhaps an immature robin? Though it would need to be a late developer i suppose. I wouldn't rule out black cap or whitethroat either. Sorry, not really a good enough pic for positive ID

[leeroy]

Originally Posted by animartco

I don't think it is definitely a dunnock, although it isn't a good picture for IDing. very shadowed. I'd say perhaps an immature robin? Though it would need to be a late developer i suppose. I wouldn't rule out black cap or whitethroat either. Sorry, not really a good enough pic for positive ID

Note to self - get a better camera !