Will and I turned out for a 6am ringing session at Rawcliffe Moss this morning hoping for a better catch than of recent weeks. During our 4 hour session we achieved a decent variety of species we expect in August but once again the catch proved short of the hoped for numbers. Just 16 birds of 10 species, a figure which included 3 recaptures.
New birds: 3 Robin, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chaffinch and 1 each of Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Wren. Recaptures; 1 each of Wren, Blue Tit and Willow Warbler.
Except for the recaptured Blue Tit, every other bird proved to be a juvenile.
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Coal Tit
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Whitethroat
The Garden Warbler had very pronounced fault bars in the tail. Fault bars are transparent bands in the feathers of birds which are produced and grown under the stressful conditions induced by poor weather/lack of food.
Garden Warbler
Fault bars - Garden Warbler
Birding today: 8+ Siskin, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 1 Little Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Golden Plover, 170+ Lapwing. A rather distant flock of circa 160 finches contained both Goldfinches and Linnets, the majority of the flock probably the former.
Tune into Another Bird Blog soon for more birding, ringing or photographs.
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