Gardenfare to start with ......

This could have been three posts rather than one but this is my attempt at stringing them together. A real dump of snow closed the M6 overnight and brought overall snow levels to around a foot deep. A Fieldfare which took up residence in the garden on Tuesday continued to eat and guard all the apples I have been putting out on a daily basis. It drives all the Blackbirds out of the garden as soon as they appear and won't tolerate them anywhere near the apples. There had been up to 8 Blackbirds feeding in the garden on a daily basis prior to the Fieldfare moving in but they don't get much of a look in now.




Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)



Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

I started taking photos of the Fieldfare from an upstairs window at first but it allowed me to go into the garden and approach it to within 4 metres; a stunning bird. The garden was quite busy with other birds coming to the feeders and I also  managed to get a good photo of Siskin and Pied Wagtail in the process but my focus was really on the Fieldfare.



Siskin, (Carduelis spinus)

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii)

Satisfied I had some good shots of the Fieldfare I walked over to Orrell Water Park. The German ringed Black-headed Gull was still present on the lower lake and was the only ringed bird out of about 110 Black-headed Gulls present. A group of 9 Moorhens were stood on the ice and looked rather forlorn. There were 12 Coot present and I watched one dive down and lift a cluster of muscles on to the ice (presumably zebra muscles) and eat each muscle whole.



Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus)



Coot (Fulica atra)

Coot (Fulica atra)

After lunch I went up to my baited site at Haigh to top up the feeders. I put up one 60ft net while I was there and caught 44 birds over the next couple of hours or so. All of the birds caught were in good condition and some were carrying good fat deposits. Only 8 birds were ringed with the other 36 being retraps. A new Redwing was the first for they year as were a retrap Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.


Redwing (Turdus ilicacus)

Nuthatch (Sitta europea)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

Ringing totals 26/01/12 with retraps in brackets.
Redwing 1
Blackbird 1
Brambling 2 (4)
Chaffinch 3 (2)
Robin 1 (1)
Blue Tit - (10)
Greenfinch - (6)
Great Tit - (3)
Coal Tit - (4)
Nuthatch - (1)
Long-tailed Tit - (3)
Great-spotted Woodpecker - (1)
Goldfinch - (1)
Totals 8 new and 36 retraps.

Christmas is coming

I went up to Haigh this morning as I have been baiting the site all week and it also offered the best chance of shelter from the cold northerly wind. It felt more like winter than late October with a very sharp frost. I soon regretted wearing wellies with thin socks as I quickly lost the circulation in my toes; very painful.

I put up a 60ft and 30ft net in the usual dog leg and also set up 3 MP3 lures. In general the catching rate was what you might call steady all morning but there were far fewer Chaffinches than expected given the habitat. The MP3 lures added 8 Goldcrests and 4 Lesser Redpolls to the catch and possibly helped the Greenfinch totals too.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
 

Visible migration was dominated by Pink-footed Geese with at least 750 birds in 5 skeins flying south-east. At least 4 other skeins were heard and not seen so the total could have easily exceeded 1,000. Around 80 Redwings were seen flying west and 3 Fieldfares flew north. Only 6 Redpolls were recorded, 4 of which were caught and a group of 3 Siskins flew north.

Ringing totals were (recaptures in brackets):

Greenfinch 28 (1)

Goldcrest 8
Lesser Redpoll 4
Goldfinch 1
Chaffinch 7 (1)
Bullfinch 2 (1)
Great Tit 13 (1)
Blue Tit 7 (2)
Coal Tit 1 (3)
Robin 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Dunnock (1)
Totals 73 new birds (+10 retraps)



Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

After returning home and lunch I walked across the road to Orrell Water Park to check out the Black-headed Gulls for rings/darvics. I took the big camera and long lens so I could photograph any ringed birds. The only ringed Black-headed Gull was an adult wearing a chunky foreign type ring. I managed to take enough photos to get the full number and address which showed it was ringed in Germany. This is the first German Black-headed Gull I have controlled.

 

German ringed Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) photographed Orrell Water Park 27.10.12

 

A quiet day

I travelled up to Haigh Country Park to ring at the baited site as there still seemed to be a few finches about. I was also hoping a few more warblers had arrived despite the recent cold spell. I set the usual dog leg up by the feeders but it was obvious there were no new warblers within earshot. The only warblers singing were two Chiffchaffs that have been around for more than a week and both have been ringed.

Plenty of birds came to the feeders but many were already ringed and were clearly wise to the nets with only a few being retrapped. Slow but steady was the order of the morning with a trickle of new birds. A new Nuthatch and Coal Tit were a nice surprise as I have only been getting retraps for a few weeks now.



Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)



Coal Tit (Parus ater)

Goldfinches were still coming to the feeders in reasonable numbers in contrast to Greenfinches which were unexpectedly thin on the ground. The only Greenfinch caught being an adult female with a brood patch so she must already have a nest with eggs somewhere nearby.



Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

A Great Spotted Woodpecker turned up and was soon in a net. I expected it to be the male I have caught a few times now but when I got to the net it was an unringed male. Always nice to catch these birds.


Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

The final tally was 17 new birds and 5 retraps.
Goldfinch 5 (3)
Chaffinch 4 (1)
Bullfinch 1 (1)
Blue Tit 2
Coal Tit 1
Great Tit 1
Nuthatch 1
Greenfinch 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1