Tree Sparrows

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Its a horrid day here today. We are at the leading edge of storm "Christoph" and the rain has been building up all day. I went to the bird feeding station at Smardale as I had seen some rats there yesterday and thought I might photograph them. I saw the rats but failed to get acceptable photographs. My camera was getting so wet that I abandoned it but managed to get these images of tree sparrows before I left.  This site is only couple of miles from my house but we never see tree sparrows here. Just a subtle change in the tree cover is all it takes. To the untrained eye they look very similar to the well known house sparrow. The distinguishing feature is the these birds have a black patch on a white cheek (and unlike the case with House Sparrows both sexes in this species are the same). 
When I was a boy the books listed a "hedge sparrow" as another type of sparrow but this is known as a Dunnock these days.

Diary Notes.
A near neighbour reported that he had seen a stoat in its white (ermine) winter coat. I had a glimpse of a stoat here last week but it was brown. I'm curious as to why the two animals would be differently clad. Possibly genetic factors but possibly because the neighbours house is at the foot of the higher hills. The colour change is caused by a combination of day length and temperature. Both our houses are at the same sort of height above sea level (200m). Its a mystery!  I have dropped off a camera trap at his house to see if I can photograph it.
Another small flock of about 8 long tailed tits paid us a visit. They seem keen on the fat balls at our bird feeder.

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