Exactly a week ago the ringing session up at Oakenclough proved rather quiet and uneventful, a result Andy and I assigned to the onset of frost with minus temperatures which caused regular birds to depart the site. This morning was warmer if more than a little on the dull and dreary side but following a week of mornings without frost we enjoyed a much healthier sum of birds. Our four hours of work included a good selection of finches.
We totalled 49 birds of 10 species, 34 new birds and 15 recaptures.
New birds: 7 Chaffinch, 7 Goldfinch, 7 Blue Tit, 4 Coal Tit, 3 Great Tit and 2 Lesser Redpoll, plus one each of Blackbird, Siskin, Treecreeper and Robin.
The Treecreeper is not a species one might associate with bird feeding stations but they do tend to join in with flocks of tits which very much frequent feeding stations.
Treecreeper
Recaptures: 5 Goldfinch, 5 Coal Tit, 3 Great Tit plus one each of Blue Tit and Siskin.
We are hoping that both Lesser Redpolls and Siskins will begin to appear in larger numbers once they begin their Spring push north through the UK in late February and into March.
Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Redpoll
Today’s Siskins, a male and a female were caught at the same time and so released together. Recent BTO Garden BirdWatch data show that Siskin numbers usually start to
increase in gardens by the end of the year, as the amount of natural
food diminishes and the weather worsens. However initial results suggest
that at the end of 2014, Garden BirdWatch saw the lowest proportion of
gardens reporting Siskins since the survey began in 1995.
According to the Forestry Commission, 2014 looks like it was another good year for Sitka Spruce which, combined with a relatively mild and dry winter so far, could be why Siskins are missing from gardens this winter.
According to the Forestry Commission, 2014 looks like it was another good year for Sitka Spruce which, combined with a relatively mild and dry winter so far, could be why Siskins are missing from gardens this winter.
Siskin
Siskin
Chaffinch
The morning was so gloomy and overcast and the visibility so limited that birding was nigh on impossible, and therefore nothing to report in the way of other birds.
On the way home I did see 3 Kestrels with single birds at St Michael’s village, Out Rawcliffe and finally at Stalmine Moss.
On the way home I did see 3 Kestrels with single birds at St Michael’s village, Out Rawcliffe and finally at Stalmine Moss.
Kestrel
There are more birds in a little while from Another Bird Blog, including another instalment of Lanzarote birds. Don’t miss it and log in soon.
Hello Phil, gorgeous collection of birds and images.. Great post..Happy Birding!
ReplyDeleteSo cute. My favorite of these is the lesser redpoll.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely Wednesday.
Seems to me that a few Frost-free Finches translates to a Boffo Bonanza of Banded Beauties Tastefully Trapped on a Tuesday by that Slick Sleuth Slade.
ReplyDeleteall such beauties!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous collection of the birds.
ReplyDeleteBest regards, Irma
Weird!!! Sweet that you found a Treecreeper. They are the coolest birds and they certainly do like to creep along with all the other little birds. We have the Brown Creeper here. Nice!
ReplyDeleteHi Phil,
ReplyDeleteYour birds are gorgeous, I love this series.
How to you catch/hold the birds?
ReplyDeleteThat Treecreeper looks so tiny and fragile in human hands!
ReplyDeleteI don't quite follow the connection between good Sitka Spruce numbers and few Siskins. Do you mean that the Siskins haven't had to migrate so far or gather in large numbers because the spruces in their homelands are getting them through the winter?