I spent several hours one afternoon watching a large flock of Spanish Sparrows, a bird you rarely get time to look at properly when you are abroad. I scrutinised the females and became quite confident in their appearance (large bill, streaked underparts) compared to female House Sparrows. Unfortunately, the more i searched through the flock the more confused i got. There were several smaller billed female sparrows of which some had streaked flanks and some had none. Was i looking at variable Spanish or normal House?. I drove further up the road and watched Montagu's Harriers instead.