Help Identifying Mystery Bird

[daisymay]

Can someone identify this bird please. Typically, I didn't have a camera with me. It was 27 October last year, after a day of strong wind, when this unusual bird appeared at my feeding station. It was ground feeding, Chaffinch size, and at first I thought it might be a Brambling but when I checked the books the detail was not the same. This is the description I wrote down at the time: 'strong black bars on light tan over the back (I assume I meant wing bars), darker tan speckles on nape, buffy tan breast and shoulder, pale head with black around beak and chin, thick yellow beak, no white except very thin tail outline, pale legs'. Sorry the description's a bit of a jigsaw but I hope there is someone out there who can point me in the right direction.

[Milvus]

Not many with a yellow beak. Try a female brambling

[emeritus]

Bearded Tit ?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/beardedtit/index.aspx

[Chipchopper]

Assuming it may be an escape from an Avery, I'm tempted to think, it could be a Chinese Hawfinch.

[Milvus]

Another to check is the Twite. This rather depends on where you live. It isn't generally seen in the south or midlands

[daisymay]

Thank you for your suggestions Milvus, Emeritus and Chiphopper but it wasn't a Brambling, Bearded Tit or Hawfinch. The most striking thing about this bird was the contrasting black and tan of the wings as they crossed over the back and the lack of white anywhere except for a very thin line along the tail; the beak wasn't as thick as a Hawfinch's.

[Chipchopper]

I started to think, maybe it was a WHEATEAR, with the description but after Googling a whole bunch of images, none seemed to have the thick yellow bill.

[daisymay]

No, but thanks for making the effort Chipchopper - maybe it was one of the oddbods who gets blown off course in high winds. In fact, your Chinese Hawfinch did excite me when I first checked it out on Google but on closer inspection, no. Trouble is, of course, it's six month's now since I saw it, so memory fades. Let's hope it turns up next year - I keep a camera by the window now!

[carrust]

Reed bunting?

[Chipchopper]

Carrust's suggestion of Reed Bunting let me to check on images of Snow Bunting.
They are winter visitors to the UK and also resident in parts of Scotland.
The bill is also yellow.

[carrust]

I would also look @ yellowhammer in transitional plumage

[daisymay]

Not a Yellowhammer or Reed Bunting Carrust, nor Snow Bunting Chipchopper but the beak is close

[carrust]

Probably a juvenile finch species.