A quiet day

I travelled up to Haigh Country Park to ring at the baited site as there still seemed to be a few finches about. I was also hoping a few more warblers had arrived despite the recent cold spell. I set the usual dog leg up by the feeders but it was obvious there were no new warblers within earshot. The only warblers singing were two Chiffchaffs that have been around for more than a week and both have been ringed.

Plenty of birds came to the feeders but many were already ringed and were clearly wise to the nets with only a few being retrapped. Slow but steady was the order of the morning with a trickle of new birds. A new Nuthatch and Coal Tit were a nice surprise as I have only been getting retraps for a few weeks now.



Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)



Coal Tit (Parus ater)

Goldfinches were still coming to the feeders in reasonable numbers in contrast to Greenfinches which were unexpectedly thin on the ground. The only Greenfinch caught being an adult female with a brood patch so she must already have a nest with eggs somewhere nearby.



Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

A Great Spotted Woodpecker turned up and was soon in a net. I expected it to be the male I have caught a few times now but when I got to the net it was an unringed male. Always nice to catch these birds.


Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

The final tally was 17 new birds and 5 retraps.
Goldfinch 5 (3)
Chaffinch 4 (1)
Bullfinch 1 (1)
Blue Tit 2
Coal Tit 1
Great Tit 1
Nuthatch 1
Greenfinch 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1