Billinge 30/09/15

The last ringing session of the month was a modest affair and it was no surprise that Goldcrests and Lesser Redpolls made up the majority of the 29 birds ringed. As usual the Lesser Redpolls showed some variation in the ground colour of their plumage as shown below. Quite a few of the birds caught this month have been like the paler bird on the left so it is not a particularly unusual individual by any means.

These birds show some of the variation in ground colour of the birds caught today. Ideally they would have been photographed side by side but I don't have enough hands for that.

Although there have been a lot more Redpolls than usual this month the number moving through the site is likely to increase further during October. 

Visible migration was fairly low key with few birds on the move and no highlights, unlike yesterday when 7 Crossbills went east and the first 2 Redwings of the autumn were recorded. However, there were more Sparrowhawks around with a minimum of 3 females and 1 male seen and some of these are likely to have have been on the move.

Ringing totals for 30/09/15 were: Sparrowhawk 1; Blackcap 3; Chiffchaff 3; Goldcrest 12, Great Tit 1; Treecreeper 2; Lesser Redpoll 7. Total 29 new birds.

I don't catch Treecreepers very often but 4 have been caught in the last 2 days.

So September is over, well it will be in a few hours, and a total of 934 birds of 36 species were ringed at Billinge and I have shed a few pounds in the process. The top 5 species ringed during the month were:

Goldcrest            258
Lesser Redpoll   158
Chiffchaff           125
Goldfinch             60
Blackcap             56

..........................and it all starts again tomorrow.