Monday’s weather didn’t disappoint with a start of zero wind, zero rain, and a hint of a sunny morning to come. I met up with Will at 0715 and we set just a couple of nets, single panels for finches in the seed plot together with a 60 footer alongside a hawthorn hedge.
We didn’t wait long for the first Linnets to arrive from the north and east, following their trajectory that is inevitably the same north to south direction as the set-aside seed plot. The route became busy as many small groups and larger flocks passed through and eventually totalled over 450 finches when we packed in about 1030.
Not all were Linnets in the catch of 30 birds and the good mix of species - 16 Linnet, 5 Greenfinch, 2 Robin, 1 Great Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Wren, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Redwing.
The percentage of Scottish type Linnets is increasing at each visit now with our 16 Linnets today almost exclusively of that type. If and when “ferocious” storm Babet hits Scotland it will surely send more Linnets our way.
Redwing
Greenfinch
Reed Bunting
Linnet
Chaffinch
The concentration of finches brought in a Sparrowhawk on at least two occasions and although we didn’t see a kill, the hawk would not be without a meal for long when so many birds were on the move. A cream top Marsh Harrier flew around hunting for a while where it disturbed Teal and Mallards from their shallows haunt before it too set off to try its luck out on Pilling Marsh.
Other birds seen in our 3+ hours included 10 Redwing, 8 Skylark, 10 Chaffinch ,2 Cetti’s Warbler, 20+ Reed Bunting, 3 Pied Wagtail, 6 Meadow Pipit, 4 Whooper Swan.
Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting
Linnet
Fingers crossed that Storm Babet is another figment of the weathermen’s imagination and that we can enjoy another excellent morning of birding and ringing very soon.
Storm Babet - Wednesday night
Stop Press. I studied several weather charts. You heard it here first.
Already I am downgrading Storm Babet to a bit of a blow. They are trying to frighten us again!
Linking at the weekend to Eileen's Saturday blog
12 comments:
Hello Phil,
It does look like you caught a nice variety of birds.
The photos and birds are beautiful.
The Reed Bunting is one of my favorites.
Take care, have a great day!
Lovely close-up views of the birds.
Nice selection Phil. I'm a bit hampered by the weather at the moment. Take care.
Mike.
I always love your close-ups, it gives me a chance to study birds I seldom see and some I will never see.
It sounds like a good day ringing and I hope you get some answers back from all the time you spend.
I hope all is well, sorry I am far behind but I am trying to catchup!! Cheers Diane
Lovely bird photographs Phil.
Unfortunately I had to go out yesterday!
The weather was dreadful and I blame Storm Babet.
Keep as dry as you can!
You have to feel sorry for the wildlife as they shelter as best they can.
Happy end of week wishes.
All the best Jan
Hello Phil,
I always enjoy seeing the birds up close in your photos.
They are all beautiful. I hope the storm did pass you by, there are times I think the weathermen do like scaring us. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend.
It sounds like you had a great day on Monday with perfect weather for birding! The variety of finches you encountered is impressive, and the photos are excellent! Let's hope Storm Babet doesn't disrupt your future birding plans!
I hope you have fair weather and can get outdoors. We have so many storms come through Florida and some fizzle...and we are always thankful when they do. Love your birds today! Enjoy your weekend!
You had a successful day indeed. The shots of the birds are great.
Sounds like a very productive session Phil. Not sure how Babet turned out for you, but being a little further South than you, it got a bit blustery here and one bad day of rain. Hopefully you've been able to get out a bit more than the forecast suggested. Good to see a decent mix in your nets too.
Finches really were on the move! Quite an impressive showing. Your mix of captured birds seems pretty good, too.
I checked Google Earth just now and it seems Lancashire is still where it was last week, so hopefully you weathered the worst storm in history with minimum worry. Keep an eye out, though. I feel certain more disastrous meteorological mayhem is on the horizon.
Happy to know you are out ringing as it reassures me that some sense of normal life is occurring in at least one other spot on the planet.
Gini had a bit of a medical bump last week but is doing very well. I think if we just stop visiting doctors so often we shall feel much better, in spirit at least.
Birding and exploring about to resume so all is good in our world.
Awesome close-ups of the birds, Phil.
Loved the variety of finches you photographed.
Happy Saturday!
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