What is this bird?

[foxesinsockses]

I am so surprised there isn't a birdwatching topic (or if there is I have missed it)! I'll try to get a photo but it's exactly like a tree sparrow in size and shape but completely brown and very speckled across the breast and head, a bit like a wren's wing. Looks and behaves definitely like an adult. No idea what it is! It's been coming to my bird feeder the last week and I am a bit baffled. Any ideas

A fledgling dunnock - but old enough to behave like an adult?

www.google.com/search?q=fledgling+dunnock&sxsrf=ALiCzsa5KfT_WV6GMkBApkuClGujgvXl5Q:1652881484002&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9sNatl-n3AhW5Q0EAHbveDSUQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=874&dpr=2

That, my friend, is exactly what it is. Well that was quick! :-)

Only quick because I saw one in the garden about 5 days ago and ran inside to look up what it was

Right place, right time!

There was a thread on here not so long ago about how nice it is to watch the birds in the garden. It made me pay more attention... and now I own a bird identifier book and binoculars Until I looked, I assumed everything was crows, starlings and sparrows. Turns out we have way more tits and finches in this neighbourhood. There are only 6 sparrows I see regularly together.

I recommend the BTO Garden Birdwatch. Not an annual one-off like the RSPB one, but weekly (you don't have to submit records every week) so you gradually build up a picture of what birds you have, whether their numbers are going up or down , and feel real excitement every time you spot a new bird. It’s fun to look back at previous years’ records and see how things have changed, especially if you’re deliberately planting for wildlife.

I love watching the birds.I have spent some time -as in far too much time - today watching my new baby sparrows, who are as fat as butter compared to their poor harassed parents, have the most ridiculously inadequate wings and are the most adorable little fluffy dumplings, but very noisy and demanding, just like new borns have that compelling cry, baby sparrows have a really insistent tweet. I think sparrow mums deserve a medal, they do not stop for a second from morning to night.