Sunshine!

After six days of inclement weather - and 14mm rain Friday evening - the sun came out, just, at dawn today, Saturday. The tops were shrouded in cloud and the hill fog was creeping down the north facing slopes. Fortunately the brightness stayed with us and the south-east wind was light, if not in the best direction.

I ventured to the water meadows, a very soggy water meadows with the stream running brown and high. I stopped barely 50m inside the gate to avoid getting stuck and proceeded to erect just the one 18m net in the newer part of N1. to say the least, it was a peculiar morning with very little movement at lower levels, i.e. with the slightest hint of being interceptable by my net. The water was high enough to stop the very big grey (horse) from crossing the stream today.


As usual, the thrush family were the first to venture out on the look-out for their breakfast. The Blackbirds hereabouts have wings some 3mm shorter than those in the east and even shorter than northern birds. We're still waiting for their arrival. Then a long wait before I intercepted the first tit group, which included a flock of Lottis that normally hang around my garden. An hour or so later, another group that contained the Lotti flock I associate with this end of the meadows site (there is a third that tends to concentrate downstream, only coming as far as the orchard and N2).

First off, my presence made three Roe Deer skitter off to the next field, where they would not be able to see me because of the tall hedge. Birdwise, I was greeted by a squealing Water Rail that shuffled across the narrow end of the grass to spend the morning in the wet ditch the other side of the metalled trackway. About 80 Starlings made their way west in 5 groups between 09:30 and 10:00. I could see the local 8-bird, Herring Gulls' club perched on a factory roof beyond the railway station, but their 'wailing' was drowned out by the noise of a diesel loco that ran non-stop (while stationary) for over 90 minutes. A white, farmyard goose accompanied a Canada on the next field and was joined lated by a similar coupling. About 10 Mipits made their was leisurely southwards, a slightly different direction than the "main push".

Two flocks of Goldfinch were working the Alders. One consisted of 20 birds, the other 10. Joining them from time to time were small parties of Siskin, of which there are about 40 all told in the immediate area. There were one or two Goldcrests around but the three Chiffs seem to have moved on.

With the second batch of tits, I caught both Goldfinches, and, right at the last knockings, the second, this time unringed, Song Thrush.


A pleasant morning at a pace that would have suited a trainee.
Blue Tit 1 (2), an adult and 2 1CY's
Great Tit 1, a 1CY male
Long-tailed Tit (8), 2 distinct groups
Blackbird 1, adult male (above)
Song Thrush 1 (1), both Euring age3 (above)
Robin 1 (1), both adults, with 4 tiny spots on their greater coverts
Goldfinch 2, both age 3, a male and a female on rictal bristles
Total: 7 new (13 retraps)

Let's hope for some fair weather from now on; it might mean colder nights and improved catching! See you again soon, and thanks for dropping by.