Some points of interest

 Team members have been out over the last few days, and although the catches have been modest, within them there have been some interesting points-I hope you agree.....

First, it's great that Greenfinches seem to be getting back to something like their previous numbers after a dreadful lung disease wiped out so many. This birds is a cracking adult male:-

The overall brightness and the amounts of yellow on the tail and wing tells you this is a male ( along with other features)--and the broad round tips to the tail feathers suggests this is an adult. A close inspection of the wing shows that it has three other features also confirming it as an adult:-

The greater covert feathers (1) are all the same age and colour with no suggestion of some of the outer ones being fawn; the primary coverts (2)all have a green outer edge and tipped in grey paint; and finally the large alula feather (3) is very yellow. Keep a look out for these features if you have any on your garden feeders.

I hope we will be seeing a lot more of Siskins over the coming weeks, here's the head of a smart male:-

But here's a shot of the bill of this bird from an unusual angle.......

You can clearly see the shape of the bill starts quite broad as it leaves the skull but then rapidly narrows from either side to form a sharp point. One of the favourite natural foods of Siskin is the seeds of the Alder tree, which are held in small cones. This shape of bill is ideal to be able to get into the cone and winkle out the seeds--brilliant!.

Another bird I hope we will see more of is the Brambling, a cousin of our Chaffinch which nests at much higher latitudes on the continent. Males like this one are coming into breeding condition now, so that when they arrive back on their breeding grounds they can get on with things quickly. You can see that the head feathers are showing through black as the pale tips wear off. The pale tips hid the black to reduce the aggression between males during winter when they feed in flocks-brilliant again.

Any time we catch a bird of prey such as this Sparrowhawk, is an exciting event. This is a young male. The small size of the bird is the clue to it's sex, and the yellow eye ( orange in adults) and the heart shaped markings on the breast ( horizontal bars in adults)-both point to a bird hatched last calendar year:-

More excitement to come soon--I hope!!