Billinge: 26/03/2018

It was the first visit without a chill in the air and it even got warm enough to tempt a few bumble bees out but summer visitors were in short supply. I had expected a few Chiffchaffs to be back on territory and singing their hearts out but only one silent bird was present and that one may not have been noticed had it not been caught. Meadow Pipits were the most conspicuous migrant with at least 200 heading north over the course of the morning and another 30 or so were grounded. Some Woodpigeons were also moving north but that movement was partially masked by local birds moving between feeding areas. There was little else moving overhead with just a few Linnets, 2 Lesser Redpolls, a Siskin and a couple of alba Wagtails being noted.

While this was the first Chiffchaff to be ringed this spring the first one was seen at the site on the 24th.

Winter visitors provided some compensation for the lack of summer migrants with totals of 7 Redwing and 9 Brambling recorded. They also provided the ringing highlights as 4 of the Redwings and 2 of the Bramblings found their way into the nets. As I have mentioned before I don't usually catch any Redwings at this site in late winter or spring but the 4 caught brought the total for this year to 10, all of which have been caught in the last couple of weeks. The 2 Bramblings were even more unusual in that they were the first to be ringed at the site in spring.

Ringing another 4 Redwings certainly made up for the lack of Chiffchaffs.

Catching 2 Bramblings was an unexpected bonus, both were females and neither was carrying any fat so they may be around for a little while yet.

All in all it turned out to be good morning for late March with some really nice spring weather and a decent variety of birds too.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 26/03/2018 were: Goldcrest 2; Blue Tit 2 (1); Great Tit 2 (4) Chiffchaff 1; Long-tailed Tit (1); Blackbird 1; Redwing 4; Robin 1; Brambling 2; Chaffinch (1); Bullfinch 1 (1);  Lesser Redpoll 1. A total of 17 new birds and 8 retraps.