On Monday, October 21st, at about 9.50 p.m., a neighbour and I saw what appeared to be a red-headed bunting on a telephone wire in Sandymount. The bird was vivid yellow with reddish-brown face and breast. It stayed for at least 10 minutes, constantly emitting a loud "tweet" at a rate of about one per second. Have other sightings been reported?
M.Carroll, Sandymount, Dublin 4.
The appearance of the red-headed bunting is unmistakable, and your description fits. But it is a rare vagrant, and most of the occasional sightings in. this country have been regarded by the experts as escapes from captivity. There is a trade in these birds. It belongs and breeds in central Asia from the Caspian Sea to north-west China.
