It was yet another cold, dark-grey, full cloud morning and I didn’t fancy yet more photography at ISO800 or above so vowed to stay home, catch up with IPMR records and sort through other paperwork clogging up the desk. Then when we finally opened the bedroom curtains there seemed to be a number of Blackbirds in the back garden, just as there had been everywhere else in the last day or two. In fact there were 12 or more Blackbirds, 4 Fieldfares and a single Redwing.
I tried a couple of shots at ISO400 and 1/50 but quickly gave up in favour of Plan B, paperwork plus a bit of ringing. The Fieldfares seemed to have dropped their aggressive behaviour to each other and the Blackbirds as today they fed a decent distance apart without expending energy chasing off other birds.
I caught 7 Blackbirds, 1 Fieldfare, 3 Robin and 2 Coal Tit, the Fieldfare the first one caught in my garden. Within fifteen minutes of catching the Fieldfare it was back feeding on the windfall apples and learning from its experience, neatly avoided the net for the next hour or two.
It was very interesting that all of the Blackbirds carried visible fat reserves with their weights varying between 111 and 139 grams, each one of them heavier than the bigger, normally heavier, but today noticeably lighter Fieldfare of 105 grams.
So whilst I didn’t get far birding, Plan B generated valuable data, and fingers crossed I may have picked up a few Brownie points by staying home for once.
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