Not much to report from the cold weather.

The recent cold weather didn't result in any significant increase in birds visiting my garden and perhaps that is because we didn't get much snow in this area. Siskin, Long-tailed Tit and Starling actually visited less frequently and in smaller numbers than they had before the onset of the cold weather, which was a bit of a surprise. The smaller numbers of Siskin and Long-tailed Tit was mirrored by a dip in the BirdTrack reporting rate so it wasn't just a local phenomena as far as those species were concerned. On the other hand, the reporting rate for Starling increased on BirdTrack so my garden bucked the trend in that case. Garden birds just didn't seem to be pushed for food in this neck of the woods and the only unusual visitor I had in the garden was a Black-headed Gull that dropped in and took some bread from the lawn. It was a one legged individual and would have found feeding more difficult at the best of times so the fact that it risked landing in a small enclosed garden, crossed by telephone lines, during a severe cold spell is not as surprising as it otherwise might have been.

I have seen some effects of the cold weather when out an about including a few Woodcock in unexpected places, a sizeable flock of Redwing foraging in a woodland and a few displaced Meadow Pipits, but that is about it for me. Several checks of the Black-headed Gulls on Orrell Water Park have only produced one ringed bird that I have not encountered before and that bird was ringed as an adult near Hempsted in Gloucestershire on 13th  January 2007. The Scottish and 2 German ringed Black-headed Gulls have been seen from time to time and all 4 ringed Black-headed Gulls were photographed yesterday along with a ringed Coot that was originally ringed in south Wales. 

EL71428 first photographed on 28/02/2018 and again yesterday.

It rarely kept still so I had to take quite a few photographs before I managed to get the full ring number - EL71428

Scottish ringed Black-headed Gull EZ33149 has been a regular this winter.

German ringed Black-headed Gull DEH IA141745 almost has a full brown hood now.

 German ringed Black-headed Gull DEW 5437612 has barely started to get its brown hood.

Coot GR03863 was originally ringed at Comeston Lakes, near Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan on 23/12/2010 and has been recorded at Orrell Water Park on numerous occasions since. 

Blogger's block

There is not much to report so this post could equally have been titled 'Same old same old', 'Shite weather', 'Roll on Spring' and so on. Yes there was some sunshine this morning but it didn't last long and the gloom soon returned in all of its forms. At least the next named storm (Imogen) is having the decency to deliver the worse of the forecast wind and rain much further south and is due to impact southwest England and south Wales tomorrow. It is not that I would wish such weather on those regions but the north of the country has had more than its fair share recently so it is a relief of sorts.

So if you haven't guessed already the birding, like the weather, is largely stuck in a rut and remains rather samey. If I did a school type register for birds visiting the garden there would be around 96% attendance from the usual suspects. Numbers of Goldfinches, Siskins and Redpolls haven't really changed, the Grey Wagtail attends everyday but misses lots of lessons, House Sparrows wag it (are absent, play hooky) nearly all of the time and the Belgian-ringed Blackcap remains the 'more often than not' foreign exchange student. Things have got so predictable that a one legged Great Tit stood out (well sort of wobbled out) as an obvious newcomer to the feeders today.

Away from the garden the birding isn't much better at any of my usual haunts, not that I have ventured out all that much. The best I can offer in the way of sightings and photographs are of a drake Mandarin that often frequents Orrell Water Park and was there again today. Even for a Mandarin this is a particularly 'plastic' duck as 'plastic ducks' go as it comes to bread and frequently displays to female Mallards. There are naturalised Mandarins that breed in the area but they keep to type and generally frequent rivers, canals and ponds in mature woodland and don't usually hang around with bread loving Mallards in parks.

Drake Mandarin, Orrell Water Park 07/02/2016.
Fine feathers, flesh and blood but 'plastic' nevertheless.
For readers of this blog that may not be familiar with the term 'plastic' being applied to a bird it is a term that is generally used for a none native species (mainly wildfowl) of dubious origin. In the case of a Mandarin in the UK this means a bird of recent captive origin rather than being from the naturalised (wild breeding) population. In other species of duck the term plastic means being from captive origin rather than being a genuine wild vagrant where such vagrancy is a possibility. For smaller species (mainly passerines) the term 'cage hopper' is often used instead of  'plastic' where escape is the likely source of the occurrence.

Drake Mandarin, Orrell Water Park 07/02/2016.

Drake Mandarin, Orrell Water Park 07/02/2016.
Not the rear of the year in my eyes but those sails (modified tertial feathers) are worth a look at from all angles.

Drake Mandarin, Orrell Water Park 07/02/2016

A drake Mandarin may be a stunning looking bird in its spring finery but the fact that it features in this blog shows how stagnant the birding is at the moment. Hopefully I will have something better to blog about next time although it is unlikely to look as good.

Getting in the good books

The strong and gusty winds ruled out any mist-netting today so I decided to do a few chores around the garden. I have been neglecting my domestic duties due to ringing and it was an opportunity to do a bit of catching up. I decided to tackle the back of the house first but I still managed to get in a bit of garden birding in between bouts of clearing leaves, cleaning drains and doing some pruning.

Amongst the regular garden visitors were around 50 Goldfinches that made frequent visits to the feeders in the front garden. A Pied Wagtail fed on crumbs that had fallen from the fat cakes and a male Blackcap made fleeting visits to feed on the fat cakes in between visits by groups of squabbling Starlings.

 

Two of the six feeders in the front garden. These need topping up at least every other day.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis), they often fluff their flank feathers over their wings.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii)

male Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

male Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) looking very big footed in this pose.

On the next dry and windy day I will have to tackle the front garden or tidy out the garage. A ringer’s work is never done or likely to be weather permitting.