The severity of this winter has inevitably been the cause of casualties but the fact this birds head was missing when I found it beneath a tree in the Ocean Lab car park suggested a more violent demise at the claws of some predator , possibly a sparrowhawk?None the less it was extremely thin , its breastbone prominent under the gorgeous covering of its breast. Sadly it would have been a paltry meal for its captor but whatever that was had dropped it and I was the only one to get minimal benefit. It is in my freezer at the moment if anyone wants it.
It always surprises me how small birds in the hand are and this was no exception. The subtlety of its plumage makes it one of my favourite winter visitors.
Not a difficult one to ID but it might amuse any newcomers to our hobby trying to guess it...