Ringed a few House Sparrows in the garden this week and several of the juveniles had obvious fault barring on the tail. A sign that the adults have struggled to find food to feed the youngsters durign the horrible wet summmer we've had. Fault barring is a sign of stress during feather devlopment and is normally associated with a lack of food restricting growth.
House Sparrows undertake a complete post juvenile moult so hopefully the recnt better spell of weather will ensure these youngsters have enough food to grow a decent set of feathers!
Not much else around locally but return passage seems to have started with the odd Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff by the pond and a Green Sandpiper on a flooded field margin.
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