Apologies for the lack of posts for almost 2 months!! It's been pretty manic on several fronts--but that's quite a lame excuse considering all the excellent effort put in by the team. So here is an attempt to redress the balance.
The headline is that in November we ringed an astonishing 1400 new birds! The great majority were Redwings, which finally arrived a couple of weeks later than normal--and teams were out in force to ring them. Actually, the numbers about were unusually variable, but we have still ringed almost 1500 as of now.
Feeding stations and demonstrations have filled most of the rest of the time, and Gareth and Kevin started to get to know one of our sewerage treatment works ( never let anyone tell you ringers don't go to superb places for their hobby......) These first three pictures are from one of their visits to the works:-
This is a very familiar Pied Wagtail--lots of these find plenty of insects on the filter beds...
This very smart bird is a Grey Wagtail--easily identified by its grey back with prominent yellow under the tail.
This is a Meadow Pipit ( related to wagtails) which also find insects on the beds--and although it's cold as I write this, it was very mild when this was caught-meaning lots stayed around. I suspect this frosty weather will have pushed most of them south and west looking for milder conditions.
This is a male Blackcap--a warbler which is increasingly being found in the UK during winter. Milder weather, and lots of available food in gardens seems to be altering the migratory patterns of at least some of these birds--this one was at Patshull while Kev was catching Redwings.
Some people wonder if they have seen a female Blackbird-or a Song Thrush. This is a classic female Blackbird, with brown splodges on a brown background. Song Thrush has black spots on a white background. So what on earth is this............
This is actually a juvenile male Blackbird which has a type of genetic mutation causing some of the feathers to be light brown--a bit weird in the field.
This is a stunning adult male Kestrel. We catch very few of these so this bird was a real treat for the ringers involved--as it was for the audience at the demonstration. Another 'wow' bird turned up at another demo......
Jays are stunning birds--and always impress visitors. They are also very feisty, and the ringer involved always comes away from an interaction with a Jay--with several bloody scars on their hands.
The moon and weather conditions haven't been very good for our thermal imaging catches, but Jen managed to catch this Common Snipe--as can be seen by the very long straight bill. These are particularly difficult to catch so well done to the team.
Pat at his Siskin City garden has not been as active as he hoped after tearing a muscle in a sporting accident. However, he 's been soldiering on --even though Siskins are in short supply so far. This picture of a tiny Treecreeper shows the bill very well,
This illustrates brilliantly how evolution has resulted in this long curved bill--just the job for a bird which feeds on insects and spiders deep in bark crevices--perfect!!
We are nearing the end of the year and the annual report will need to be written soon. We are getting very close to a record catch for a year--but this very cold spell has cut down on our catching so that birds can feed--so we may not make it. I'll post the actual result in my next post--which I promise will be in good time!!
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