First Redwings and a glut of Goldcrest.

There have been some reasonable arrivals of Redwings on the east coast and in the northern isles over the last week so I thought there would be a good chance of seeing and possibly catching my first of the autumn at Billinge this morning. I was so keen I got up extra early and had the first net set up in the top willows before it started to get light but I didn't hear any nocturnal flight calls of Redwings or any other thrushes for that matter. I quickly set another 3 nets (my usual set up of 3 nets generally becomes 4 once Redwings start to arrive) and while I still didn't hear any Redwings flying over there were 2 or 3 Song Thrushes calling in the bushes as it it started to get light.

Initially there wasn't much moving through the bushes or overhead but that changed after the sun was up and it became quite an eventful morning. There wasn't a huge amount moving overhead but there was a quite a bit more than there has been recently. A Redwing, my first of the autumn, was heard shortly after sunrise and groups of 4, 2, 4 and 15 were seen subsequently. A couple of high flying Song Thrushes and 4 equally high flying Blackbirds were also seen and likely to be migrants from the continent. The morning was punctuated by the occasional calls of Siskins and Meadow Pipits but the stand out highlight was a flock of 19 Crossbills which passed me at eye level and close range as they flew SSW over the SE flank of the hill. Other birds on the move included small numbers of Woodpigeons, Goldfinches, and Chaffinches.

The nets were quite productive and produced one of the best catches of what has been a below par autumn so far. Highlights were 26 Goldcrests (the highest day total this autumn by some margin), a Redwing (obviously the first ringed this autumn), 3 Song Thrush (all likely migrants) and 8 Coal Tits (the highest day total for the site and suggestive of irruptive movement). Also of note were 2 Lesser Redpolls but only because they were both adult males; there haven't been many Redpolls this autumn and the appearance of adults without any first-years doesn't bode well for the rest of the autumn.

It was a return to something like normal numbers of Goldcrests today but the big question is will it last or is it just a one off improvement. One thing is certain only time tell.

It is always good to see and ring the first Redwing of the autumn and hopefully there will be some really big movements to come. The forecast for the middle of next week (Wednesday into Thursday) is looking promising at the moment and may bring the first really big arrivals of the autumn, lets hope so.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 07/10/2018 were: Coal Tit 8; Blue Tit 3; Great Tit 7; Long-tailed Tit 2 (4); Chiffchaff 2; Goldcrest 26 (1); Wren 2; Redwing 1; Song Thrush 3; Robin 3; Bullfinch 3; Lesser Redpoll 2; Goldfinch 1; Reed Bunting 2. A total of 65 new birds and 5 retraps.