Sunday, June 21, 2020

A Short Saturday

June is a quiet month for both birding and ringing. Many birders hang up their bins for a month and take a well-earned respite from the 'ping-ping' of WhatsApp messages. Ringers carry on through the quiet days knowing that although catches may be small, the data they collect is vital, more so if they have nest boxes to process. 

June is the period when young and recently fledged birds begin to discover their surroundings and the local area, learning it well enough so as to return to the same location next year. It’s a little like human infants that once having learnt how to crawl on all fours then begin to explore the small world around them in ever expanding circles. While human young take months and years to learn the ropes and to gain their independence, most young birds have just weeks before they head off alone to far  flung places. 

With such thoughts in mind I set off to meet Andy at Oakenclough for a bright and sunny start. Unless we hit a freakish patch we knew the morning would be quiet, and with luck, our catch into double figures. 

So it proved with just 13 caught - 3 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Wren, 2 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Dunnock . Ten of the thirteen were young birds of the year. The three adults caught were those recently breeding on site - a male Willow Warbler first caught here on 22 April 2020 and two new male Blackcaps. 

Blackcap - adult male 

Willow Warbler - juvenile

Young Goldcrests show zero colouration on the crown, unlike adults that are sexed according to the colour of their crown feathers. 

Goldcrest - juvenile 

The morning’s hatch of insects brought in p to eight Swifts and several Swallows aerial feeding around us. Otherwise birding was unspectacular apart from a Cuckoo that called as it patrolled the edge of a nearby plantation. 

And now for Sunday afternoon - Father’s Day. We await the arrival of kidsand grandkids bearing gifts that might include a bottle or two. That’s Sunday evening sorted. 

Back soon with more birding and ringing from Another Bird Blog. Maybe next week we’ll get the much promised heatwave? 



15 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Happy Father's Day Phil! Great birds and photos. Enjy your day, have a great new week!

Dr. Vandana Sharma said...

A nice sight to see the feathered beauties!

The Padre said...

Incredibly Amazing Clarity In Your Photos - Well Done - Dig WhatsAPP For Sure - Take Care This Week

Cheers

NCSue said...

Always nice to visit your site and to know you visit mine! Thanks for linking up at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/06/bath-time.html

Wally Jones said...

I love summer birding! As you point out, the new youngsters are flexing their wings and many "birders" are resting their eyes until fall migration brings potential rarities.

The diversity during summer may be less, but how exciting to watch a young Osprey fling itself from the edge of its nest for the first time! Or to see the young Cardinals furiously flapping their wings with open gapes, only to have Mom hop away and eventually force the kid to feed itself.

Very happy to read of your ringing efforts continuing apace!

Hope your prediction of a couple of Father's Day bottles materialized!

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

glad you had a good day to be out with the birds

A Bit of the Blarney said...

They look so fragile, these wee little fellows. Thank you for sharing!

Tanza Erlambang said...

catching 10 young and 3 adult showing the "breeding" season still on going.... interesting.

Happy father day. Have a wonderful celebration.

# I am following you

Stevenson Q said...

I was gone for a couple of days and I am so happy to be back! Thank you for these cute trio you shared to us!

I just hope I'm still not late in greeting my dear friend Phil a Happy Father's Day! Wish you all the best and many more healthy and happy years! Stay safe my friend!

Fun60 said...

Glad you managed to find a few different species. The heatwave will be with us from Wed onwards in the SE with temps in the mid 30s predicted. Hope you get your share of the heat in the North.

Stewart M said...

Hi there - how are you going in these crazy times?

The almost feel by week change in the activity of birds between March and June in the UK is remarkable - things are more more consistent here (sadly!)

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Veronica Lee said...

Happy Father's Day Phil!

Glad you had a good day with the birds!

Rhodesia said...

Love that little Goldcrest so cute. The owls are very active but no signs of babies 😥 Have a good day, stay safe, Diane

Karen said...

Cute birds!

Lowcarb team member said...

I enjoyed seeing the birds in your photographs.

Yes, Eddie had a bottle or two for Fathers Day too :)

All the best Jan

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