Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Slowly Does It

Tuesday proved to be another non-event with just 5 birds caught and zero records for the migration stats. 

I'd met Andy at 0700 for another ringing session, hopefully one where the weather on the day matched the forecast of Monday evening; at last, a south-easterly, no rain, patchy cloud and 5mph. the prediction. A change of wind direction that would surely produce new migrants? The potential problem was that the south-easterly airflow actually originated off northerly winds in the North Sea on the east coast. 

That was the problem because a catch of five birds is pretty terrible. Two Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Robin was all we had for our five hours work. At least two Willow Warblers in song but we didn't catch one. 

Lesser Redpoll
 
Goldfinch
 
While we wait for migrants to arrive from south of here the local Greylags have been getting on with life.  A pair appeared with five very newly fledged youngsters, not bad going for 13 April. Look closely at the photo - the youngsters' egg teeth are clearly visible. 

Greylags

The incubation period for Greylags is about 30 days, give or take a few. Incubation begins with the last egg laid of between 5 and 7. This means that our pair of Greylags had completed their nest and laid their first egg during the first few days of March. 

Such a short post. Not to worry. We don't give up so easily and are due for another go later in the week. 

For an extra bit of fun I'm linking today to Rain Frances and her Thursday Art date at  http://www.rainfrances.com.

It's a difficult theme today of “coils” that set me thinking about birds and coils. So here's a few, the artistry of birds that make a nest through coils of dried grass and herbs. In this case, a Skylark.


Skylarks

And of course, bird rings, that are made from coils of metal and sometimes plastic.


Bird rings

Back soon. Don't go away.

In the meantime, linking to Eileen's Saturday  and Anni in Texas.


16 comments:

Elkes Lebensglück said...

If the nest with the cute boys or your bird rings is right, swimming in the water with the goose family is something for rains everywhere. They are all great photos again from your bird world. Thank you and have a beautiful day, hug Elke

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Great "coil" example...jp

DVArtist said...

Wow natures coils. Beautiful shots indeed. Have a wonderful day.

Christine said...

Love the skylarks!

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

Well you made the best of your day anyway. Love the Greylags and their babies. Wasn't it cold by you in March? Brave souls ... Love your coils, the perfect choice :) And how is it that your Gold Finch isn't Gold? In the states our Gold Finch is Bright yellow, as I am guessing you already know. I have never commented on your Barn Owl ... what a beauty. Barn Owls are growing extinct in my area sadly. The only ones I see are at the Raptor Center where I volunteer. We were involved in a project of raising barn owls and releasing them with telemetry to try to see where they were going. I live in the northern part of Illinois and all of our Barn Owls ended up in the deep south. They decided that the decreasing number of farms and barns in our area were the reason they would migrate. Nature and it's wonders ...

Andrea @ From the Sol

Mike Attwood said...

Hi Phil,
Ringing is something that I always wanted to. I did a bit with an expert friend of mine some years ago but never had the time. Now I am beyond it.
Stay safe.
Mike.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, Phil

Sorry about the no-show. the weather does not always cooperate. They are all beautiful birds and photos. I love the shot of the Geese with the goslings, they are adorable. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post! Take care, have a happy weekend.

Anu said...

Photo of Skylarks is just awesome. Great.

Shiju Sugunan said...

Wonderful closeups! I like your coil examples.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

You had some wonderful photos to share though! And there's nothing sweeter than baby birds!

Linda said...

Fine photos! A post does not need to be long.

Anni said...

So much to see. I appreciate you showing us the tags & the sweet hungry mouths to feed! The Finch is always a favorite.
We all at IRBB send thanks to you for letting us view your blog post!!

Rhodesia said...

Hi Phil, I am not going anywhere, lockdown makes sure of that! I am also not keeping up with blogs. So much to do in the garden, or in the house, depending on the weather. Looks like spring returns tomorrow after a very frosty week so back to the garden once again. Thankfully the insects are now arriving to be photographed while the birds seem mainly too interested in the sex lives. Cheers and take care, Diane

Adam Jones said...

We really do need that wind to turn 180 degrees so that we can get this migration season in full swing. It really does seem like a half baked one so fat. Or am I just too eager? It seems like a trickle at the moment, and I'm hoping the flood is waiting in the wings. Great looking Redpoll. Always a joy to see one of those turn up.

Rain said...

Hi Phil! :) I think you did a great job on "coils"!!! What lovely little birds...that Goldfinch sure is handsome. I think I saw American Goldfinch at the feeder the other day, but the darn bird cam's SD card was full so I didn't get a photo. Will keep an eye out. The Grosbeaks are still hanging around as long as I put out the black sunflower seeds...and I got some Purple Finches! Such fun! I'm very grateful to have that book you sent to me, another thanks for that! :)

Lowcarb team member said...

I do like the skylarks :)

All the best Jan

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