All week we had Friday pencilled in for a trip to Oakenclough where the hillside location a mile or two above Garstang requires a still and preferably sunny day. The Autumn/Winter weather of 2022/23 had kept us away for months.
Fortunately for us and any birds still around the area, Will had kept the feeding regime going with good numbers of finches in attendance. He confidently predicted a catch of 20 plus birds.
We met up at 0730 to a cold but fairly bright start. The morning improved, cloud broke and the sun arrived following a spot of drizzle and a rainbow to the north that lit up distant Morecambe Bay.
Will’s prediction was off the mark when we finished at 1130 with 54 birds in the bag. Goldfinches formed the majority of the catch - 37 Goldfinch, 9 Chaffinch, 4 Blue Tit, 3 Coal Tit and a single Lesser Redpoll.
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Lesser Redpoll
It wasn’t too obvious that so many Goldfinch were around, they just arrived in fours and fives all morning. We counted about 15/20 Siskins flying over while the Lesser Redpoll seemed to be the only one of their kind.
Otherwise a quiet morning with a single Grey Wagtail at the water’s edge and a distant Raven.
Grey Wagtail
Morning Rainbow
There's more birding, ringing and photos soon here on Another Bird Blog.
Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.
17 comments:
Incredible Captures There And So Dig That Goldfinch Shot - Be Well Brother
Cheers
Hello,
Beautiful rainbow. Your bird photos are awesome, great closeups.
The Goldfinch is beautiful and the Redpoll is always a favorite.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend.
So glad you were able to get a good session in Phil. 54 seems like a good count. Is that about normal? Love the Lesser Redpoll. I had about a dozen close to home in the snow a couple of weeks ago. Fingers crossed the weather stays good for you to be out ringing regularly now.
Great captures! Nice to see the familiar Grey wagtail. The rainbow shot is awesome.
The Rainbow is gorgeous! WOW! Love your bird photos this week too. We have lots of Goldfinches right now but they have dull colors for winter. Enjoy your weekend!
Hello Phil,
Wow! That was a good catch, 54 birds in your nets is much more than usual. Before I forget I must tell you that your header is lovely, and all the birds, and that rainbow picture is very special.
Have a great weekend
All the best.
Your Goldfinch looks so different from ours which are dull now but are bright yellow in summer.
How good it is to see climate change is working for you. Hopefully, the settled science will continue on course. If so, we should soon experience Spring, followed by Summer, etc.
Over 50 birds! Careful, that's almost approaching enough effort to be considered "work". We wouldn't want that to happen!
The close up portraits continue to offer us non-ringers details we don't often have a chance to observe.
As others have pointed out, your rainbow image is stunning! The travel brochure folks should be in touch with you any day now.
Gini and I are doing really well. Lots of bird-filled days. Our own science-based climate change is pretty much on the same schedule it has been, well, since someone started keeping records. Winter shall end. Spring shall begin. Birds will fly back and forth.
Best of luck to us all as a new week is on the horizon!
Oh my, that is a beautiful morning rainbow.
Nice to see the birds too.
Enjoy this last weekend of January.
All the best Jan
Phil - you are welcome in Montana any time, with Bald Eagles and many other birds in store! Love the rainbow at the end of your post!
At last!! Successful day, and an added plus (the beautiful rainbow!!)
It was great having you link in this week at IRBB Phil! Thanks for taking the time to share with us.
A good day, and the photos of the birds are beautiful.
I'm consistently started to see the differences between your robins and ours, your goldfinches and ours. They look nothing alike!
Thanks for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2023/01/weighing-heavy-on-my-mind.html
Beautiful clear and sharp images of the captive and free-flying birds. The rainbow is special.
Wonderful bird images - like them all but the goldfinch is really pretty - your morning bow is marvelous!
Glorious captures, Phil!
Your bird photos are incredible as always!
Dear Phil, I am pleased that Will's prediction has more than doubled. Beautiful photos! Amazing what you were able to catch and ring - and the birds in your photos are very pretty! I also enjoy the sight of the rainbow!
Best wishes - have a happy weekend and stay healthy,
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2023/02/costa-rica-4-kapitel-streifzug-durch.html
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