Recent Ringing

After speaking to Bob and reading about his Israel adventures I have been jealous and emotional about his new lifers and the great time he had! Rather than carry on feeling blue and envious I decided to recap on my recent adventures and no longer feel quite so bad ;-).

Its been a busy few weeks and I don't feel like my feet have touched the ground however I have managed to grab a few hours ringing here and there. My main focus has continued to be my Garden and the Goss Moor but I did manage a little trip to Devon today to catch up with my trainers and collect some rings. This of course ended up with a little trapping session and tutorial! 

Garden Update

The Garden has seen a steady flow of birds visiting the feeders which are predominantly made up of House Sparrow, Gold Finch and Starlings. I have managed to process several more of each and the Starlings are now ending up in the net a little more frequently due to wintering birds bolstering the local population. I am also seeing a few more Blackbird turn up, again due to wintering individuals seeking easy pickings from the local garden food larders. 

Greenfinch 

I was delighted to catch and process this Greenfinch, not only the first I ringed in the Garden but the first I had even seen at the new house! Worrying that their population seems to have taken such a hit locally in recent years. I do hope they bounce back and that this decline isn't detrimental! 

Goss Moor Update

The Goss hasn't thrown up a huge number of birds but there has been plenty of variety and some little gems amongst them. This started with a little afternoon session on an open Gorse patch of the Moor. I wasn't to hopeful of anything spectacular as all I managed to process in the first hour was 10 Wren! 

( I did not know they moved to this type of habitat to over winter)! I also caught an interesting Blackbird that was large winged and had a several characteristics that some might suggests are evident that it is of foreign origin. As the afternoon progressed so did the species that I processed and I was happy to add several Meadow Pipit, a Linnet and a handful of Reed Bunting to my totals.

Wren

Large "continental" Blackbird

Linnet

Reed Bunting

My largest catch of late was made up of a winter flock of Tits and Gold Crests and 54 birds were processed in a 3 hour session. A day after on a different part of the Moor I had nowhere near the same number of birds but arguably more quality in the form of an adult Marsh Tit and another sublime female Firecrest, both fantastic records for December. 

Adult Marsh Tit

Female Firecrest 

Some great ringing results that are making the winter months a pleasure. Long may it continue in this manner!