On 8/4/08 11:31, in article , "Granity"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:[color=blue Wrote:
-
I'm bad indeed at bird recognition but I saw one the other day that I
really
do not recall before. It was a very little larger than a sparrow and
much
the same colour but while it was on the ground, its tail had a
constant
'bobbing' action, rather like a wagtail. Can anyone help me ID this
one?
-



Try using the bird identifier here Sacha, it's very easy and very
good,

http://tinyurl.com/4po263


[/color]
Very handy indeed! That's bookmarked and thank you.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 8/4/08 12:04, in article
, "Des
Higgins" wrote:

On Apr 7, 11:47 pm, Sacha wrote:
I'm bad indeed at bird recognition but I saw one the other day that I really
do not recall before. It was a very little larger than a sparrow and much
the same colour but while it was on the ground, its tail had a constant
'bobbing' action, rather like a wagtail. Can anyone help me ID this one?

--
Sachahttp://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Black Redstart? They are robin sized; females are cocoa brown and
males are sooty black. The tail is red when "flashed" (flicked kind
of liike a wagtail).

No but that's lovely. I've never seen one.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 8/4/08 12:46, in article ,
"echinosum" wrote:

'Sacha[_3_ Wrote:
;783094']I'm bad indeed at bird recognition but I saw one the other day
that I really
do not recall before. It was a very little larger than a sparrow and
much
the same colour but while it was on the ground, its tail had a
constant
'bobbing' action, rather like a wagtail. Can anyone help me ID this
one?

Pipits are dull brown birds allied to the wagtails, bob around a bit.
Little brown jobs all three regular species here, probably need an
electron microscope to tell them for sure.
Whitethroats are fairly dull have quite a long tail which they bob, but
I've never positively identified one. Long-tailed tits aren't remotely
sparrow coloured.

I've changed my birdseeds this year, and we have attracted an entirely
different crowd from usual. Goldfinches are now the most common bird in
my garden. I used to put out niger seeds, but they didn't attract them,
it is pre-shelled sunflower seeds that has pulled them in, the lazy
wotsits. Siskins and bramblings have been frequent, birds which I had
not positively identified before. I initially mistook the bramblings
for (winter plumage) linnets, which we have had occasionally in the
past.



I don't think that's what I saw but we do have them around here and often
see quite a few darting in and out of hedgerows along the lanes.
I've put a lot of niger seed in two feeders and nobody seems interested in
it so I'll have to re-fill with the mixture. Peanuts are going down well as
are sultanas and bits of left over cake and scone crumbs!


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 8/4/08 12:47, in article , "The
Old OakTree" wrote:


I'm bad indeed at bird recognition but I saw one the other day
that I really
do not recall before. It was a very little larger than a
sparrow and much
the same colour but while it was on the ground, its tail had a
constant
'bobbing' action, rather like a wagtail. Can anyone help me
ID this one?

Sounds as if it could be a Dunnock? It used to be called a Hedge
Sparrow, and it looks superficially like a sparrow, though it's
not actually a sparrow but an accentor. They do flick their
tails, though I wouldn't describe it as wagging like a wagtail.

Yes I think that's the most probable. It's not the almost constant wag of a
wagtail but the occasional flick, yes, so I think that clinches it. Thanks
everyone, this has been so helpful!


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 8/4/08 13:30, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:

On Apr 7, 11:47*pm, Sacha wrote:
I'm bad indeed at bird recognition but I saw one the other day that I really
do not recall before. *It was a very little larger than a sparrow and much
the same colour but while it was on the ground, its tail had a constant
'bobbing' action, rather like a wagtail. *Can anyone help me ID this one?

--
Sachahttp://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

I think birdwatchers have a term for those... LBJs, as in Little Brown
Jobs :-)

Cat(h) (who only recently cottoned on that what she took to be girly
sparrows were in fact dunnocks).

I saw Echinosum had used that but didn't know it was a technical term. ;-))

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 8/4/08 12:47, in article , "The
Old OakTree" wrote:


I'm bad indeed at bird recognition but I saw one the other day
that I really
do not recall before. It was a very little larger than a
sparrow and much
the same colour but while it was on the ground, its tail had a
constant
'bobbing' action, rather like a wagtail. Can anyone help me
ID this one?

Sounds as if it could be a Dunnock? It used to be called a Hedge
Sparrow, and it looks superficially like a sparrow, though it's
not actually a sparrow but an accentor. They do flick their
tails, though I wouldn't describe it as wagging like a wagtail.

Yes I think that's the most probable. It's not the almost constant wag of
a
wagtail but the occasional flick, yes, so I think that clinches it.
Thanks
everyone, this has been so helpful!


--
Sacha


Very easy to confuse. I have had great difficulty with that one. You are not
alone.

Happy Twitching

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.

"Donna Ludlow" wrote in message
...
Dunnock???

That's what I think.

They tend to keep close to the ground. We've had a pair for years.

Mary

On Apr 8, 2:40*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 8/4/08 10:40, in article , "Donna

Ludlow" wrote:
Dunnock???

Very much looks like it. *It was certainly on its own and was fossicking
about at the base of a laurel hedge. *I think that may well be it and now
I'm going to have to go and see if I can see it again! * I'll throw some
seed out where I first spotted it. *Thank you, Donna.








Hmmm.. Fossicking. I've just learned a new word.
Thanks Sacha!

Cat(h)

Any time I only thought it could be a dunnock after seeing a sparrow
like bird in the garden and wondered what on earth it was myself. The robin
doesnt like it in the garden that is for sure, always chasing mine away...
Poor thing... lol...

On 8/4/08 17:22, in article , "Donna
Ludlow" wrote:

Any time I only thought it could be a dunnock after seeing a sparrow
like bird in the garden and wondered what on earth it was myself. The robin
doesnt like it in the garden that is for sure, always chasing mine away...
Poor thing... lol...


Here, the robins and blackbirds seem more preoccupied with chasing each
other! The blackbirds are particularly aggressive and all ours have the
orange bills we see on Scilly. They can spend hours hammer and tonging it
either side of a pane of greenhouse glass!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 8/4/08 16:52, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:

On Apr 8, 2:40*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 8/4/08 10:40, in article , "Donna

Ludlow" wrote:
Dunnock???

Very much looks like it. *It was certainly on its own and was fossicking
about at the base of a laurel hedge. *I think that may well be it and now
I'm going to have to go and see if I can see it again! * I'll throw some
seed out where I first spotted it. *Thank you, Donna.


Hmmm.. Fossicking. I've just learned a new word.
Thanks Sacha!

Cat(h)

;-) I have no idea of its origins or even if it's a 'real' word but it does
describe such an action perfectly.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 8/4/08 16:52, in article
,
"Cat(h)"
wrote:

On Apr 8, 2:40 pm, Sacha wrote:
On 8/4/08 10:40, in article , "Donna

Ludlow" wrote:
Dunnock???

Very much looks like it. It was certainly on its own and was fossicking
about at the base of a laurel hedge. I think that may well be it and now
I'm going to have to go and see if I can see it again! I'll throw some
seed out where I first spotted it. Thank you, Donna.


Hmmm.. Fossicking. I've just learned a new word.
Thanks Sacha!

Cat(h)

;-) I have no idea of its origins or even if it's a 'real' word but it
does
describe such an action perfectly.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossicking



Kind regards

Mike

--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.

Hmmm.. Fossicking. I've just learned a new word.
Cat(h)

;-) I have no idea of its origins or even if it's a 'real'
word but it does
describe such an action perfectly.
Sacha

It's real enough - I wondered if it was ultimately derived from
Latin 'fossa' meaning a ditch or excavation, but according to
Chambers Dictionary, it is an Australian term, possibly
connected with an English dialect word meaning a troublesome
person.

On 9/4/08 09:24, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:44:01 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 8/4/08 17:22, in article , "Donna
Ludlow" wrote:

Any time I only thought it could be a dunnock after seeing a sparrow
like bird in the garden and wondered what on earth it was myself. The robin
doesnt like it in the garden that is for sure, always chasing mine away...
Poor thing... lol...


Here, the robins and blackbirds seem more preoccupied with chasing each
other! The blackbirds are particularly aggressive and all ours have the
orange bills we see on Scilly. They can spend hours hammer and tonging it
either side of a pane of greenhouse glass!

The green parakeet is back in the chestnut tree. It rips buds off at an
alarming
rate. I wondered why the lawn was covered with buds yesterday. I can imagine
that they aren't popular with fruit growers.

I wonder why they do that. It's a bit like sparrows or whatever-it-is
tearing the middles out of Primulas.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 9/4/08 09:28, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:45:01 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 8/4/08 16:52, in article
, "Cat(h)"
wrote:

On Apr 8, 2:40*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 8/4/08 10:40, in article , "Donna

Ludlow" wrote:
Dunnock???

Very much looks like it. *It was certainly on its own and was fossicking
about at the base of a laurel hedge. *I think that may well be it and now
I'm going to have to go and see if I can see it again! * I'll throw some
seed out where I first spotted it. *Thank you, Donna.


Hmmm.. Fossicking. I've just learned a new word.
Thanks Sacha!

Cat(h)

;-) I have no idea of its origins or even if it's a 'real' word but it does
describe such an action perfectly.

Cornwall via Oz?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossicking

Well there you are! I'm bilingual and I didn't even know it. ;-))
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'