Late Willow Warbler

I nearly didn't go out this morning as the forecast said there was going to be more of a breeze than yesterday but the chance of catching more Redwings or something unusual got the better of me. The south-westerly breeze was a bit too strong for the net rides in the top willows so I opted for the more sheltered rides in north-east corner of the site. I set up the first net before it started to get light and unlike yesterday there were the occasional calls of Redwings flying overhead to give me some encouragement.

It turned out to be a much busier morning at the nets than I had expected so I didn't have much time for looking up to see what was passing overhead but at least 200 Redwings went south and many others would have been missed. Redwings were also the most numerous birds in the nets with a total of 19 caught but unlike yesterday there weren't many Goldcrests around and only 4 were ringed. It was almost a repeat performance as far as Coal Tits were concerned with a total of 7 ringed which becomes the second highest day total after yesterday's 8 and it increasingly looks like some are genuinely on the move. The poor autumn for Lesser Redpolls continued with only 3 ringed and 2 of those were adults which, as I said in yesterday's post, isn't a good sign. The most unusual capture was a Willow Warbler as it is a very late date for the species in this area.  It is only the second I have recorded in October but it still well short of the latest which was a bird ringed on 23rd October 2014.

Adult female Lesser Redpoll.

Ageing was straightforward as it hadn't finished moulting with the inner secondaries still growing in both wings. The tertials and coverts were also very fresh and similarly coloured as they should be.

If any further confirmation was required the tail was about as fresh and rounded as they get in adult Lesser Redpolls in autumn.

An October Willow Warbler is rarer than Yellow-browed Warbler at Billinge.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 08/10/2013 were: Coal Tit 7; Blue Tit 6; Great Tit 8 (2); Long-tailed Tit 7 (4); Willow Warbler 1; Chiffchaff 2; Goldcrest 4; Blackbird 1; Redwing 19; Song Thrush 2;  Robin 2; Chaffinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 3. Total 63 new birds and 6 retraps.