Sunday morning and the wildfowlers were out long before me. I heard the sound of their gunfire as I put the first net up in the semi darkness. Ropes left out for a speedy job were frozen solid after Saturday night’s frost.
Soon after 10 am four guys and four dogs, young and old, came walking towards me with their spoils, two geese to share between them - not much to show for around five hours laid out on the frozen marsh. We exchanged pleasantries as they trudged off to their cars and me back to the job in hand.
Wildfowling
I had slightly more luck than the shooters with ten birds caught, not as good as I’d hoped but more grist to the mill of Project Linnet with 8 new Linnets and a by-catch of 1 Chaffinch and 1 Great Tit.
Linnet
Not a lot else to report except for a female Sparrowhawk looking for breakfast, half a dozen Skylarks, and the 80 or more Linnets that produced my catch.
Sparrowhawk - female
Monday started with the 0830 school run to Hambleton followed by a sprint to Pilling to meet up with Andy who’d been on site since 0645. I’d taken the precaution of five layers on top and two below to ward off the frost. I was glad I did because it was pretty cold out of the sunshine.
I missed early Redwings but caught up with a new Greenfinch, a Chaffinch, more Linnets and a fine adult male Reed Bunting.
In all we had 16 new birds - 5 Redwing, 4 Linnet, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Greenfinch.
Reed Bunting
Chaffinch
The forecast for Tuesday looks good. The morning is already pencilled in for five layers and more ringing.
