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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bill moss" data-source="post: 1354756" data-attributes="member: 28305">HI Val,Could be a Winter visitor we do get birds from Europe, but mainly from Northern and Eastern, and they are usually seen more on the Eastern side of the country. There is also now known to be an overwintering population with numbers building up since the mid 1940s, which also corresponds to an increase in numbers and range in N Europe.Back in the first Winter Atlas in the early 1980s it was estimated that the then Winter population was about 3000 individuals and we know that numbers have increased since then. It will be very interesting to see what comes from the new Atlas survey that is taking place 2007-11.We know from the ongoing breeding counts that breeding numbers have increased dramatically; back in the late 1970s it was estimated at about 400.000 birds (200.00 breeding pairs) wheres in 200 this had increased to an estimated 930.000 breeding territories. In theory this should mean a big increase in over-wintering.This is why it's important for people to tell their Recorders when they see them. These attractive little birds are one of the success stories of recent years.And I STILL don't see them in my garden!Bill.</blockquote>