It seems Islay plays host to yet another rare breeding bird!! The reserve warden on the RSPB Oa Reserve rang to say that the male Tree Sparrow we'd spoken about previously is still "on territory " and chirping away but that, also, there is a pair at another location with young!!
Great news indeed for a species that was thought to be extinct ,as a breeder , within Argyll for around the last twenty years. With the population within the UK having reduced substantially, and dramatically, in recent times it's intriguing to consider where these birds might have originated. It made me smile afterwards as this is going to be depicted, in the eventual publication relating to the BTO Atlas, as one of those very isolated dots way away from other breeding strongholds that ,very often, produces a "What on earth?" reaction!! Such is the interest that Argyll county listers are known to be visiting shortly ( which eventually will include me )!!! The first step towards being the Inner Hebridean "" Fair Isle"...................
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