Help please

[Acipiter]

That's fine, nothing much showing here at the mo, it snowed a bit more last night, and was too dangerous under foot for my early morning walk. Still theres always tomorrow

[rossy]

Originally Posted by Epidacty

Many thanks for your prompt comments.............. so it does seem to be a reed bunting then.............never seen one here before. We are on the SE outskirts of Gtr Manchester, close to the Pennines, the garden has a wild shrubby top end and overlooks the local country park - which was open field when we moved here 25+ years ago. Skylarks were regularly seen/heard then, but not for years. We have all the regular tits/finches/other garden birds visiting, including at the moment a female blackcap which has been here for about 2 months. Last winter fieldfare were feeding on the crab apple tree and waxwing were seen in a neighbouring conifer, but none so far this winter. I associate reed warblers with distinct wetland / waterside locations, guess the cold weather has driven it to look for food elsewhere - is this a regular thing for this species ?

i take it you meant reed bunting ? yes when the weather is bad , like at the moment, reed buntings will come into gardens in search of food,. rossy.

[Epidacty]

rossy.....indeed I did, apologies for any confusion...........

[ChrisJB]

I too live in SE Lancs, by the Pennines and in recent winters we have started getting reed buntings in the garden, especially in harsh weather. Although I have not had any this winter yet. On a walk over Crompton Moor (Oldham), yesterday, I saw a group of about twelve in a lightly wooded clough coming down from the moors. This got me wondering, were these birds local breeders during the spring and summer? Or, have they come from elsewhere and our local breeders move elsewhere?

Chris