We didn't start ringing too early today - we let the first feed of the day go undisturbed as it was another cold night but nowhere near as cold as it had been. There were plenty of birds in the area and it seemed that we've had reasonable survival of our resident birds. The main draw today was the return of the Lesser Redpolls as I have been seeing a few more of late so it was unsurprising that we captured a few new ones today along with the male we trapped a couple of weeks ago.
However, we started at a more genteel pace compared to previous sessions with a steady flow of birds through the garden an into the nets. The first highlight was a couple of young Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
Next we were delighted to get a Goldcrest and this adult Wren along with the first of several Goldfinches
And then the Lesser Redpolls started to arrive - mainly youngsters like this one.
And then a garden ringing tick - we trapped four Starlings as they've been coming down to eat the fat recently. Two of them were a devil to get out of the nets
One key feature of today was the number of Robins we caught including some retraps and one from two winters ago. There were also a surprising number of new Blue Tits and that great rarity, a retrap Goldfinch! Also worth noting is that we've trapped 16 Bullfinches this winter so far.
No sign of the Brambling today and the Grey Wagtails continued to evade capture but overall a good mornings catch of 69 birds.
However, we started at a more genteel pace compared to previous sessions with a steady flow of birds through the garden an into the nets. The first highlight was a couple of young Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
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| Checking the age of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker from the greater coverts |
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| Female Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Male Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Wren |
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| Juvenile Lesser Redpoll |
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| Juvenile Lesser Redpoll |
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| Female and male Starlings |
One key feature of today was the number of Robins we caught including some retraps and one from two winters ago. There were also a surprising number of new Blue Tits and that great rarity, a retrap Goldfinch! Also worth noting is that we've trapped 16 Bullfinches this winter so far.
No sign of the Brambling today and the Grey Wagtails continued to evade capture but overall a good mornings catch of 69 birds.
Full grown | Retraps | Total | |
Great Spotted Woodpecker | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Wren | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Dunnock | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Robin | 4 | 4 | 8 |
Blackbird | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Goldcrest | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Coal Tit | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Blue Tit | 6 | 2 | 8 |
Great Tit | 4 | 5 | 9 |
Starling | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Chaffinch | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Greenfinch | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Goldfinch | 11 | 1 | 12 |
Lesser Redpoll | 5 | 1 | 6 |
Bullfinch | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Total: | 48 | 21 | 69 |
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