Tim writes: Well I normally like to isolate my photographic subjects but this perch wasn’t quite what I had in mind for my first Siberian Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides), which is usually now known simply as Meadow Bunting. I have long been fascinated by this species which was illustrated in Thorburn’s Birds as it was once thought to be a genuine vagrant to Britain. This was on the strength of a male that was supposedly caught alive at Flamborough Head in November 1866. But it was found to be of the far eastern race (with an unstreaked chestnut back) and the specimen (now in Birmingham Museum) has a worn patch on its face suggesting that it had been kept in a cage. So it was removed from the British list and has never been reinstated. It is unlikely to turn up in Britain as it is largely non-migratory. I photographed this male perched on a roadside crash barrier in Sichuan and it was the only one we saw.
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