Goldcrests on a high.

When I checked the weather forecast on Saturday night the weather for Sunday morning was due to be dry and if any showers developed they would only be from late morning onwards, but when I got up at 5am it was chucking it down. A check of the Met Office rainfall radar revealed a narrow band of showers tracking across the country from Newcastle area on the NE coast and running southwestwards towards Liverpool and north Wales, taking them over my home and the ringing site at Billinge in the process. There were gaps between the showers so I decided to head up to the ringing site as it looked like there may be a dry slot just after sunrise. Before smart phones and mobile Internet I would have gone back to bed but having the ability to check almost real time rainfall radar has changed things and makes it possible to take advantage of opportunities that would have been missed in years gone by.

I set 3 nets in the top willows and while I thought I would only get a dry hour or so, at most, the showers that were heading in my direction largely skirted the site and the session remained dry, apart from the odd very light sprinkle. Technology and an old fashioned eye on the sky really paid off and the session ended with a total of 57 new birds and 3 retraps. Goldcrests led the way with a total of 34 being the highest of the autumn so far. The species is what you might call a bread and butter bird at the site in autumn and while catches of 10 to 20 are not unusual in September and October catches of 30+ are much less common. Today's catch of 34 brings the number of Goldcrests ringed this September to 148 and we are only just over half way through the month.

1cy male Goldcrest

1cy male Goldcrest

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 17/09/17 were: Goldcrest 34; Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 2; Chiffchaff 8 (1); Blackcap 6;  Long-tailed Tit (1);Wren 1; Blackbird 1 (1); Robin 1; Chaffinch 1; Bullfinch 1;Reed Bunting 1.