More King Harrys

We just seem to carry on catching finches in Will’s garden. Today we passed 75 new Goldfinch for the year, with during that period a handful only of retraps which shows a continuous and consistent passage of birds through February, March and to date in April, with perhaps today a hint of them tailing off.

Total of new birds caught this morning: Coal Tit 2, Goldfinch 7, Chaffinch 4, Lesser Redpoll 1, Siskin 1, Collared Dove 2, Robin 2 and Great Tit 1.

Retraps came in at one each of Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Greenfinch, Great Tit , Blue Tit and Dunnock.

Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Redpoll
Siskin
Goldfinch
Nuthatch
Coal Tit
Collared Dove
The Nuthatch were busy in and out of their tree hole this morning and remained undeterred from their activities when we caught the already ringed male which returned to its labours immediately after release. Likewise busy in nest boxes in the garden were Jackdaw and Coal Tit.

Other birds seen today: Buzzard, Stock Dove 2, Lapwing 4, Swallow 4, already busy in and out of the outbuildings, Grey Wagtail 2 and Grey Heron 3.

It was an enjoyable session that started deliberately late at 0800 on the assumption that tomorrow will be the early 0600 start if that high pressure holds. Watch this space.

Cabaret Time

Its ages since I caught any Lesser Redpolls, Carduelis flammea cabaret. It is another one of those species that just got scarcer, especially in this neck of the woods. So it came as a pleasant surprise to catch a couple in Will’s garden today when we grabbed an afternoon ringing session in fine weather between the bouts of wind and threatened rain. Will has noticed a movement of finches through his garden in the last few weeks, mainly Goldfinch and Chaffinch, but with small numbers of Siskin and Lesser Redpoll feeding on the black magic.

A couple of nets and three hours saw us catch 32 new birds: 14 Chaffinch, 14 Goldfinch, 2 Great Tit and 2 Lesser Redpoll. We added to this with 9 retraps: 2 Chaffinch, 3 Great Tit, 3 Goldfinch and 1 Dunnock.

It was good to see birds reaching their colourful best today.

Male Lesser Redpoll
Female Lesser Redpoll
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Will told me that Nuthatches have nested in the garden for at least the last 11 years, as we watched them going off to a nearby stream to return with mud with which to plaster up the chosen tree hole. Both adults were caught earlier in the year.

Nuthatch
Other birds today included a single Swallow, singing Mistle Thrush, nesting Jackdaw and breeding Lapwing and Oystercatcher in adjacent fields.

A Little Ringing

Just a little open window of opportunity this morning was the only invitation we needed to get a little ringing done somewhere, but nothing too ambitious that might tempt the weather devils of wind and rain.

Will’s garden then. Not so much a page from a Gardener’s World catalogue, more like a birder’s ideal garden with ornamental and fruit trees, a hedgerow interspersed with mature trees and small holly, then beyond that, a farmer’s maize field as a neighbour. Add in the rural wooded location near Garstang within a stone’s throw of Bowland and we have a pretty good mix of things where it’s possible to catch a few target species. The proximity to the Pennines means it’s a pretty good location to “vis mig” if the weather is suitable but not this morning as despite the dry start with a couple of Swallows overhead, it remained cloudy with intermittent drizzle.

We reached a fairly respectable total of 28 birds caught which included 1 Great Tit first ringed in 2008. “New” birds as follows: Dunnock 3, Robin 2, Nuthatch 1, Collared Dove 1, Chaffinch 17, and Blue Tit 3.

The locality has a healthy population of Chaffinch all year round, but at this time of year we would expect to begin to catch larger, brighter birds of continental origin and birds from Scotland or the higher Pennines. Very good then that we caught two corking adult males with wing lengths of 92mm & 94mm, and although there is also an element of older birds also having longer wings, the first bird is a “probable” continental, the latter almost certainly from mainland Europe.



There were at least a couple of Jays hanging around the garden today but fortunately we didn’t catch one. I use the word “fortunate” because whilst they are fine to look at through binoculars, I do my best to avoid handling them as even a momentary lack of concentration might allow them to give a nasty, sometimes painful nip from their bill. It’s a trainee’s bird really, builds up the experience and confidence of carefully taking mystery birds out of bags.

Also in the garden today were a gang of about 20 Greenfinch sticking to the feeders near the house together with plenty of Greats and Blues. It was just a pity that the Grey Wagtails decided to mainly stay on the roof, flitting off occasionally to disappear from view for a while.

We caught a fine male Nuthatch which caused us to open up “Svensson” to help ageing and sexing it because in the normal course of events down in the Fylde lowlands we catch very few.

Likewise, catching a Collared Dove called for opening up “Non-Passerines Guide” that spends most of its life in the glove compartment. What an eye colour that dove has!






On the way back home at midday I noticed a Buzzard near Rawcliffe Hall, about 15 Swallows at Town End, Out Rawcliffe then four more in Hambleton.