Blackcaps are often quite 'furtive' - they only visit with us when the weather is harsh and then sculk around the shrubbery, tidying up after the more 'outgoing' birds like sparrows, chaffinch & goldfinches.
I'd go for Reed Bunting..especially as you have a river quite near..used to get these on my feeder when i lived virtually on the Broads...still quite near now lol
I get Reed buntings up here every winter, but we have lots of marshy ground and patches of reedmace and flag iris to make them feel at home. They feed on the flat roof just outside the landing window and go on the feeders and the fat balls. They are much less nervous than the chaffinches who live here all the time. Smart little birds, I like them.
A photo would be good. I have a couple of female blackcaps that have been resident all winter but of course their head is brown not black,as only the male has a black cap.
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Blackcaps are often quite 'furtive' - they only visit with us when the weather is harsh and then sculk around the shrubbery, tidying up after the more 'outgoing' birds like sparrows, chaffinch & goldfinches.
I took me ages to ID the reed buntings when they first turned up. I didn't expect them on garden bird feeders (and I'm not very good at IDing birds)
In the sticks near Peterborough
I'd go for Reed Bunting..especially as you have a river quite near..used to get these on my feeder when i lived virtually on the Broads...still quite near now lol
I get Reed buntings up here every winter, but we have lots of marshy ground and patches of reedmace and flag iris to make them feel at home. They feed on the flat roof just outside the landing window and go on the feeders and the fat balls. They are much less nervous than the chaffinches who live here all the time. Smart little birds, I like them.
A photo would be good. I have a couple of female blackcaps that have been resident all winter but of course their head is brown not black,as only the male has a black cap.