Blackcap in the Garden

We saw a pair of blackcaps earlier in the winter feeding on the sea buckthorn berries near Dunrobin Castle - link here - but we've now had the pleasure of watching a male which appeared a week ago in our garden. We expected him to be passing through but he's stayed, probably because he developed a taste for the odd bits of peanut which fall from the feeders when the sparrows are on them, so....

....he has spent much of his time in the caging which protects the small birds' food from the crows.

Most of our birds come into the garden only for a while but the blackcap has become a permanent resident, much to the discomfort of the other birds because, to put it mildly, he's a bit of a bully. Only the robins and some of the larger male sparrows are not intimidated.

We've watched before as our small birds discover how to work a new feeder, usually seeing the tits on it first followed by the sparrows.  We've always assumed that they learn from watching other species.  Well, the blackcap is a quick learner because, this morning, we spotted him on one of the peanut feeders which is usually the preserve of the sparrows.