This afternoon, after a dreary wet morning it did momentarily brighten and I decided to go again for the Spotted Sandpiper. I really would like some better photos of this bird and as it is such a rarity for us and so close to home, it is worth a bit of effort. I expected there to be the usual "bun-fight" but holy of holies, I was alone, apart from a departing group of people who had been watching it a little earlier. This was a mixed group of interested, like minded people, at least 10 of them, moving around on an accompanied walk or something similar. I would have thought that a group as large as this is surely going to have a detrimental affect on any wildlife be it bird or what have you. This was certainly the case with the Spotted Sandpiper because they told me that it had flown up the river…….. and it never did return today. I placed myself on the corner of a reed bed adjacent to the area which it seemed to favour the other day and I thought that, if it was going to return, this would be a good spot. A bit hit and miss but the end result, even in the bad light, would have been worth the gamble.

The next story concerns Pied Wagtails.  If you look at the image above of a Pied Wagtail – Motacill alba yarellii, you can see that it is sporting a collection of coloured plastic rings. This is very interesting and well worth some investigation. There are three places currently involved in colour ringing of Pied and White Wagtails, Slapton in South Devon, Abbotsbury in Dorset and a site in Scotland. Quite a degree of information has already been gathered from the scheme so far. Colour ringed birds have been reported in Iceland and France for example. There is a pink ring on the right leg of this bird which indicates that it was rung during this year. The rings on the left leg can be placed in a variety of combinations meaning that individuals can be tracked by their sightings. I have reported our bird to the chap responsible and await his reply. I am guessing that this bird was rung at Slapton but it could possible have been from Dorset, it will be interesting to see. I will certainly be taking more notice of Wagtails in the future to see if I can discover any more with rings.
This is just an image of another Wagtail taken at the same time.

Now just a picture of a female Sparrow in the garden this morning. I was waiting in the back bedroom in the hope of the Blackcap showing and snapped off at all the comings and goings which included a nice Starling, Magpie, 14 Collared Doves and various Goldfinches. The sun momentarily came out and this hen Sparrow posed really nicely. 

I have arranged an unusual feeding set up with a feeder from the high window to a tree. This puts the feeder at eye level with me from the upstairs window and I am hoping that birds will come in to the tree before going down to feed, well I am pretty sure that is what will happen. It should give me some good photo opportunities.  Watch this space!