The temperatures relented a little this morning and after being on standby for several days, the sight of a frost free car and zero wind led to a quick 9am decision then off to Will’s garden for an “at last” ringing session. There had been a number of finches in the garden for a couple of weeks but only now could we have a crack at them.
In the 3 hour session we caught precisely 50 birds, 41 new and 9 recaptures: New birds, 21 Chaffinch, 7 Goldfinch, 6 Coal Tit, 2 Robin, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Greenfinch and 1 Brambling. Recaptures, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Coal Tit, 2 House Sparrow and 1 Dunnock. There were several Brambling in the area of the garden plus approximately 90 Chaffinch, 20 Goldfinch and 6 Greenfinch, although we didn’t catch any of the 8 Siskin we saw and heard in the top of the alders.
We caught a very heavy Song Thrush with fat bulging from the furculum, and at 97 grams the bird’s weight was more equivalent to that of the bigger Blackbird.
The catching kept us pretty busy but other birds seen this morning included single Jay and Kestrel and a fly through of 6 Redwings, a species that has all but disappeared to warmer climes in the last two weeks. Normally we might expect to catch a Blackbird or two in Will’s garden, but none this morning, with just one or two about – maybe they all went off with the Redwings and Fieldfares?
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