Sparrows and a Redstart

31 July

Turned up a pair scruffy Sparrows* - one at least perhaps let out to play for the first time. Having a problem on a pile of wood chips to get their feathers all under control.

*Now, the question is, which species? One at least is very young and their feathers are in a mess. I confess to having been conflicted initially about identification … either Chipping Sparrow or Songsparrow. I can see differences, I think with CHSP below and SOSP above - but on the other hand it seemed to be pretty unlikely so close to each other, no more than two feet apart. Marcel, my pro-guru in these matters has had a look and agrees that I have a scruffy adult Chipping Sparrow, probably molting while or just after raising its young in the lower image and the one above is a Songsparrow youngster. He further suggests that, although they are close together, which is unusual, there is probably overlapping breeding territory.

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American Redstarts are not a particularly rare species but if we see one in the garden in a summer season we reckon we have done well. This year, however, they have been fairly regular, albeit always fleeting, visitors that are never around long enough to grab a camera … until yesterday morning when a female went for a splash in the waterfall. It did it’s best to hide behind foliage but I got a couple of satisfactory record shots which, after having been heavily denoised and super-sharpened in Topaz, I present for your delight.