With Will in Scotland I had to go it alone for this morning’s ringing session on the moss. So I dropped one of the net rides to save the leg work and as a safeguard against a rush of finches hitting the nets all at once as they sometimes do. It’s not necessarily the taking the birds out of nets that takes the time, but the processing and documentation of each bird’s age, sex, wing, weight and fat score.
It worked out fine as steady catching kept me busy but not rushed. My session lasted 5 hours by the end of which I had caught 39 birds of just 5 species, 38 new and 1 recapture. New birds: 25 Chaffinch, 10 Meadow Pipit, 2 Blackbird and 1 Chiffchaff with 1 Goldfinch recapture.
The overhead Chaffinch passage was quite strong this morning but the Meadow Pipit numbers less than earlier in the week, or the week before. There seemed to be banks of cloud to the west and north but the moss was bright and sunny if a bit breezy this morning, with wispy clouds early on which made it again difficult to see high-up birds. “Vis Mig” numbers 0645 to 1130: 400+ Chaffinch, 45 + Lesser Redpoll, 30 Siskin, 8 Greenfinch, 10 Reed Bunting, 200+ Meadow Pipit, 3 Swallow, 3 Song Thrush, 30+ Alba wagtail.
The juvenile female Goldfinch below is now attaining colour and beginning to resemble an adult Goldfinch.
Ringers tuning in to the blog will note the large proportion of juveniles (age code 3) today, not unusual of course in autumn. Also today, of the 25 Chaffinch ringed, 15 were juvenile females, another not uncommon occurrence in September/October a time when UK Chaffinches from northern regions head south and west.
Other birds today: 2 Tawny Owl calling from nearby woods at dawn, 10 Snipe, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Peregrine, 2 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Jay.
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10 comments:
I just love all the birds you get to hold.
Cinco horas de buen trabajo amigo Phil, como me gusto Escocia cuando estuve de vacaciones en diciembre, un lugar precioso. Buen trabajo Phil, un abrazo para ti
wow, you are great with birds, look at those owl, i wonder how big that owl is
wow!
what adorable photos!
and what a lovely bird.
have a great week end!
visiting via CC.
You seem to have a very nice job, doing research and taking down the numbers of birds you see in a day:) What a delightful passion and profession.
Thank you so much for verifying my peregrine. I'm pretty new at this.
Como siempre estupendas las fotos que nos dejas.
Saludos y un abrazo.
It must be harder to band an owl than a chiffchaff. (I love the name chiffchaff! It sounds like someone sneezing.)
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel
fun photos! thanks for sharing.
Admire your spirit Phil! Like the part where you say, you were busy but not rushed. Excellent pictures, especially the Tawny Owl.
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