It was the beginning of the February half term, and being in the 3rd national lockdown for me this simply meant a break from the relentless online zoom lessons and a chance to do more photography. The previous week had seen much of the country get hit by an icy blast, and even where I am in Sussex we saw temperatures down to -5 degrees centigrade, widespread frost and ice, and the first snow since 'Beast from the East' in 2018.
One morning I went out with the intention of photographing the local Bullfinches. I was successful in this, but coming back I spotted someone looking intently along a garden hedge. Assuming they were just casually birdwatching I didn't take much notice but I began to become more curious when the next day there was a small gathering of birdwatchers in the same place. I had recently been told by a friend about a 'south african bird'( it later transpired that this was in fact the american sparrow) that was in the area and on the 3rd day of me seeing a small group of people my curiosity got the better of me and I asked them whether they had seen anything interesting.
Although I suspected it was something unusual, nothing could have prepared me for what I was going to hear next. "There's a White-throated Sparrow in that hedge, its been there for a week" they said. I was totally amazed. I had never seen a White-throated Sparrow before but I knew it was from North America and by reading old bird reports I also knew that this was a 'mega' (what twitchers call a very rare bird). The very helpful people there explained that it had a routine and had been seen previous days at around 10:15. I looked at my watch, which said 9:30, which meant I had just enough time to get home and have breakfast before heading back out to look for it.
Half an hour later and I was back out there. I was told I had missed it, but this time I had scarcely waited 5 minutes before it appeared at the top of the hedge. It immediately struck me as being chunkier and larger than the house sparrows of which it was associating with, and its belly was predominantly quite a washed out grey. It had an intricate zebra-like head pattern, a creamy white throat patch and a streak brown back and wings. However what struck me the most was a small, mustard yellow splash it had just above its eye. When it called, it was monosyllabic and similar to the house sparrows but noticeably more metallic and high pitched. I ended up getting 3 very good views of it, more than I could have ever hoped for, and hopefully it sticks around a bit longer!
It transpired that this bird was the same individual that had been in Kent earlier in the year; I wish it well and hope it manages to find a way back to its breeding grounds come the spring.
The White-throated Sparrow
Another one of it looking alert
And a plump cherry red male Bullfinch - I have to thank the Bullfinches as if not for them I would have never found out about the sparrow!
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