Wraysbury GP - 17th December 2017

We returned to Wraysbury today with thrushes being the aim again. Although it was cold with a lot of frost and ice, this morning had a very different feel to the previous visit. The numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare were well down. It had only been a few days, but it looked as though the hawthorn bushes had been all but stripped and the remaining birds seemed to be feeding on rosehips.

Fieldfare with male pattern crown feathers

We put a single in an area by the stream that has recently undergone some pretty severe clearance. The first time of checking the net was very frustrating, as in the top panel was a bird that has never been ringed by Runnymede Ring Group before. It didn't look as though it was snagged in any way. The wings were both folded next to the body, the legs were bent at the knee and the neck appeared to be tucked down the front of its body. I was fairly sure it would get out really easily - and I was right. I was only abount 12 feet away when it lifted its head, straightened its legs then having cleared part of its body from the panel opened its wings and went. That was the closest I and Chris have come to ringing Little Egret.

One interesting observation was that something had clearly happened at the swing gate. There was a lot of hair, mainly on the C6 side of the gate and the soil had been dug away. A dog walker relayed that a Roe Deer had been stuck with its head in the railings for some time and it had eventually taken two men to man handle the animal out of its predicament.

Total: 15 (3)

Blackbird - 1(1)
Fieldfare - 2
Song Thrush - 1
Redwing - 4
Goldcrest - 1 (1)
Great Tit - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 4 (1)
Reed Bunting - 1