Help please

[Epidacty]

Hi................. new to the birds forum and just looking for help to identify this chap ( or chapess of course) Seen briefly both yesterday and today in the garden, sorry for the poor pic, at full magnification on a compact camera and through the window....... it loks sparrow-like but without the obvious markings so I dont think it is............in flight quite brightly streaked and with a black/mottled head......almost like a reed bunting, but surely it cant be.....

[Acipiter]

Looks like a female Reed Bunting, but I may be wrong.

[tigertom]

Hi your bird is a male reed bunting head marking quite distintive
MIKE

[htcdude]

Agreed female Reed Bunting.

Nige

[Ferret]

Yes it is a Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus they quite often come to feeders especially in the bad weather. I think it’s a male from the intensity of the face markings and it looks like it has a dark bib, but some female also acquire male like head marking so I don’t think I can be definite about this bird.

Ferret

[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 ?

[tigertom]

You can see it a male form the white marking round the neck that contiue round to the back which they would not on a female witch only has only has white markings on either side going downward from the base of the bill and finish at the base of the neck.
MIKE

[Epidacty]

Yes, thanks, I agree it's a male, it's still here intermittently feeding and then sitting on the fence.........both the black bib and white collar easily seen despite the approaching dusk............good views with binoculars against the still snow covered ground................thanks again all

[Acipiter]

Could you possibly get a photo of the view from the back?

[Epidacty]

Hi Acipiter............

Sorry, too dark at the end of yesterday afternoon to get any meaningful pics with the camera to hand..................... and no sign of it today so far, but nice views first thing this morning of two mistle thrushes, not seen any here since early autumn................ and for the first time in ages had several starlings, again not a bird we see too much of........... 2012 so far is 26 species in or near the garden