21st September
We thought there may be quite a few birds around today and Margareta came to lend a hand with extracting birds. However, the morning seemed slow and we wondered whether we would exceed the hundred mark. It was quite surprising to find out just how many had been processed.
The catch included our first Goldfinch, a very young Lesser Redpoll with an unusually pale head and an adult Lesser Whitethroat.
Total: 140 (12)
Meadow Pipit - 19
White Wagtail - 1
Wren - 11
Dunnock - 5
Robin - 25 (7)
Song Thrush - 1
Sedge Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 8 (2)
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Blackcap - 20 (1)
Chiffchaff - 12 (1)
Goldcrest - 1
Blue Tit - 3
Great Tit - 2 (1)
Tree Sparrow - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Reed Bunting - 26
22nd September
There was a cloudy start to the day, low wind coming from the South East and a steady trickle of birds. Bo dropped in for a while to extract. There were quite a lot of recaptured Robins and Blackcaps, birds still feeding up before the next leg of their journey.
We could hear finches flying overhead and the Bearded Tits were flying around a lot, seeming quite restless.
Total: 121 (17)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Meadow Pipit - 20
Wren - 1
Dunnock - 5
Robin - 9 (8)
Redstart - 0 (1)
Blackbird - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Reed Warbler - 5 (1)
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Whitethroat - 3
Garden Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 24 (4)
Chiffchaff - 18
Goldcrest - 1
Bearded Tit - 1 (3)
Blue Tit - 1
Great Tit - 1
Tree Sparrow - 2
Reed Bunting - 24
In the afternoon we went about 17km up the road for a walk in a beech woodland nature reserve. The landscape was very interesting with mature trees growing over and between rocky outcrops.
We thought there may be quite a few birds around today and Margareta came to lend a hand with extracting birds. However, the morning seemed slow and we wondered whether we would exceed the hundred mark. It was quite surprising to find out just how many had been processed.
The catch included our first Goldfinch, a very young Lesser Redpoll with an unusually pale head and an adult Lesser Whitethroat.
Lesser Redpoll with unusually pale head - post-juvenile moult not yet started.
Adult Lesser Whitethroat
Juvenile Goldfinch
We have been using the new ringing guide by Demongin in conjunction with Svennson and have been usung some useful indicators for some species. To date we have ringed 300+ Reed Buntings, a species that we don't often get at home. Detailed below are useful ageing and sexing indicators.
Two examples of adult type second tertial feather.
Juvenile angular pattern for comparison.
Female pattern of crown feathers, dark centre ending in point.
Male pattern, black feather with brown fringe to top.
This is useful in addition to looking for white neck feathers emerging, as females also show a small amount of white. This method is completely unambiguous.
In the afternoon we drove up the coast to a spot where waders come in quite close to the shore.
In the afternoon we drove up the coast to a spot where waders come in quite close to the shore.
Curlew Sandpiper
Dunlin
Pink Thrift
Total: 140 (12)
Meadow Pipit - 19
White Wagtail - 1
Wren - 11
Dunnock - 5
Robin - 25 (7)
Song Thrush - 1
Sedge Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 8 (2)
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Blackcap - 20 (1)
Chiffchaff - 12 (1)
Goldcrest - 1
Blue Tit - 3
Great Tit - 2 (1)
Tree Sparrow - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Reed Bunting - 26
22nd September
There was a cloudy start to the day, low wind coming from the South East and a steady trickle of birds. Bo dropped in for a while to extract. There were quite a lot of recaptured Robins and Blackcaps, birds still feeding up before the next leg of their journey.
We could hear finches flying overhead and the Bearded Tits were flying around a lot, seeming quite restless.
Female Blackbird. UK code 3, Denmark 1k and Sweden 10.
Song Thrush
Total: 121 (17)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Meadow Pipit - 20
Wren - 1
Dunnock - 5
Robin - 9 (8)
Redstart - 0 (1)
Blackbird - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Reed Warbler - 5 (1)
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Whitethroat - 3
Garden Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 24 (4)
Chiffchaff - 18
Goldcrest - 1
Bearded Tit - 1 (3)
Blue Tit - 1
Great Tit - 1
Tree Sparrow - 2
Reed Bunting - 24
In the afternoon we went about 17km up the road for a walk in a beech woodland nature reserve. The landscape was very interesting with mature trees growing over and between rocky outcrops.
Beech woodland
The site has seen habitation in the past.
An elaborate means of transporting water.
Stream with one of two mill stones discarded on the bank.
In the evening we made a change from trying for owls (and largely failing - with the exception of one Long Eared Owl) and tried for waders on a coastal area outside the reserve. Unsurprisingly we were unsuccessful. The observatory doesn't target waders as they rarely get much - still at least we gave it a go. Tomorrow we'll target Starling in the evening.