Blast!

Although the 'currant bun' is shining, the wind is still greater than Beaufort 4 and the nets are flailing about. They are furled and tied back but that hasn't stopped them from advertising their presence. It also looks as if this month is going to be as wet as July was.

For the last week or so, the garden has been full of birds in the early mornings. There are 10-12 Goldfinches with smaller parties following on while I sit there eating my breakfast; there could well be 30 different birds and quite a few are ringed among the early risers. Collared Doves now number 9 individuals all at once, some on the feeders, some on the ground. With plenty of food on the deck, why do they hog the feeder trays, ports and lids? The Starlings are back after a lean couple of months, gardenwise. Up to now, they have been feeding on the verges and the large landscape areas around the 'new build' and the autumn sown fields beyond.

I haven't seen a Great Tit in the garden for 'yonks' but a couple of Blue Tits come mid-morning. The 'Lottis' come regularly too but are ignoring the fat-balls and feeding on the various roses instead. With day-time temperatures up around 14-15C, I'm not surprised that there are insects to be had still. Another new-comer is the Magpie, coming once or twice daily but not on the feeders or bothering to go down on the deck. It has been a couple of years since we regularly saw one of those in the garden. The same goes for Sparrowhawk although we did have one on consecutive days in early autumn; he left empty handed.

Down below on the lawn and in the shrubbery, the several Dunnocks and the lone Robin clear the small seeds and the Robin gets an extra treat in the form of sultanas that I put out for "him" and the Blackbirds. The latter are non-existant at the moment and I am beginning to think that they have emigrated to 'warmer climes' in southern counties and that the 'continentals', which we have been catching at the country park, are not yet being forced into gardens. The Hawthorn trees are still laden with berries and there are plenty of other fruits as well.

One old friend, living not too far away, is getting Blackcaps and even had 3 males the other day; previously he was seeing females. The Whitebeams and Crab-apples are laden with fruits along our road, just ripe for a party of Waxwings! - but we won't be seeing them until after Christmas.

The day the Blue Tits came

Took my eldest grand-daughter to Norfolk for the weekend; we stayed at Jenny's with the object of taking her bird-watching. It also helped her parents who are "between houses" and staying with Ali's parents and her sister in their small house making 6 persons, sometimes 7, and a fat Labrador!

Here's the little princess with 'Floppsy Rabbit' ready to return home.

The weather was not good but I did manage to get in some ringing on the Saturday morning before more rain. The session was dominated by Blue Tits with 28 individuals out of the 47 trapped.

Totals were - Blackbird 1, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 3 + 4 r/t, Blue Tit 13 + 15 r/t, Gt. Tit 3 + 6 r/t & Chaffinch 1 r/t. The oldest bird was a GT from September 2007 while another bore an NOA ring from March 2008. [They ring occasionally in Fred Cooke's garden at the other corner of the wood, Fred being the NOA president).

On Sunday morning, we set off early (for us) and arrived at Snettisham before the 9.30 high tide. Apart from Oystercatchers and Turnstones on the tide line and a few large gulls and a lone Cormorant, there was little on the seaward side. At peak tide, a mere 6.0 metre one, a flock of 50 Knot headed south towards the inner Wash and RSPB Snettisham. We prefered to stay in the relatively sheltered 'so called' country park.

The main interest was the Meadow Pipits along the outer sea wall and the squadrons of Starlings arriving from the continent. They numbered from 6 to 60 with many in the 15-20 range, coming over every few minutes during the hour we were there. We also noticed a few Linnets, the odd Blackbird, a small party of Redwing and several noisy Wrens. From the inner sea wall there was little to be seen; I suspect it had been shot over the day before. The Wigeon, numbering several hundred, of a month ago were gone.We did, however, find a group of 30 Curlew, some Mallard and a few Coot.

Next it was a trip to the nursing home to visit "the mother", who is coming 95. Here we could get close to some splendidly colourful Mallard, Coot and Moorhens in the grounds. The weekend was a bit of a 'wash-out', I'm afraid, but Erin made it safely back to mum

Watch this space

My grand-daughter, Erin (whose initials also spell Erin), sometimes known as Renee, has been pestering me for ages to take her bird-watching. She's just 5y 5m and keen to get going.
So this week-end I'm taking her to NW Norfolk. At worst, she can sit in the conservatory and watch the birds on the feeders. But, knowing her, she will want me to do some ringing - AND take her to the "seaside" which will mean a jaunt along the beach at Snettisham. Good job we have a 'freebie' parking slot at the caravan.
Just hope the rain keeps off for her.

Marsh Tit plus

Ringing in Norfolk this last weekend was brief, owing to the heavy rain and blustery winds. It still resulted in 43 birds but just 18 were new birds. The junior 'pecker had a mix of moulted and un-moulted feathers, including un-moulted P9 & P10 as can be seen in the photograph.

Result for the session was - Gt. Spot Woodpecker 1 (a young female), Wren 1, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 4 + 7 retraps, Blue Tit 2 + 14 r/t, Gt. Tit 5 + 3 r/t, Chaffinch 3 + 1 r/t and Greenfinch 1.

The re-trap adult male Chaffinch had lost its left leg completely since ringing on 25th August 2008 as a 6M (hatched 2006 or earlier).

This was the 9th new Marsh Tit of the year. I like their Hitler moustache! I have caught 21 of these since coming here and 13 have been re-captured. The interval between re-trapping varies from just 5 days to 500 days. The average is 16 weeks 3 days but the median is less at 11 weeks 1 day. The large majority of birds ringed have been 'birds of the year'.

As well as the Woodpeckers putting in an appearance at the feeders, the Long-tailed Tits were back, albeit just two. The feeders have been very busy for most of the day in the strong winds, just as if we were having a January cold spell.

Reflections on Armistice Day.

I was thinking about my forebears and how they have served our country in wartime.
My father, Ernest, was in a reserved occupation. He was posted to East Anglia, at first to Biggleswade, not far from where I lived for nearly a quarter of a century at Gamlingay. His job was to prepare airfields for our bombers. Later he was moved to Witchford, the last war-time airfield to close. Whilst here, he had to 'camouflage' Ely cathedral to make it look like Peterborough's and mislead German bomber pilots. He would take the train back to Guildford every weekend but would then pedal off and be a relief air-raid warden and first-aider at Perry Hill, Worplesdon.
My uncle, Bernard, worked for A.V.Roe, the aircraft manufacturer at Woodford, near Manchester. He was conscripted into the RAF as part of the 'ferry team'. He was stationed in Hampshire and Oxfordshire for much of his time, although he did do a tour in Northern Ireland. They used to patch up incoming bombers that had been "shot up" and fly them back to the factory for full repair and then bring a "new" one back. He used to spend some of his short leave with us in Guildford. One of his last jobs involved preparing the Avro Vulcan for the Falklands, a war I played a small part in. Funny that we should be linked in this way, on the same aircraft mission.
Their cousins, with whom they were brought up, served as well. Three volunteered for the 2nd/3rd Commandos, while one made parachutes, and another served as a sergeant in the Tank Corps in north Africa, Crete and Italy. The latter was much decorated but never spoke of the war, not even to his wife.
My grandfather, Daniel, was wounded at the Somme in WW1. He was 'shot' in the elbow and suffered a blast injury to his side. He was repatriated, first to Barnsley and then to Hove, where he died in 1919. He served in the "Post Office Rifles", part of the Middlesex Regt. His name and those of other 'fallen' are displayed in the main Guildford Post Office. It used to be on some lovely glass panels when the Office was further down North Street, now it's just a plaque high on the wall.
At least two of his brother-in-laws also served in WW1. Arthur Ernest Childs (after whom my father is named) joined the 1st Bn Queens (the 1st regiment of foot - our local regiment that had its barracks next to my primary school and where 'Carry on Sergeant' was filmed) and was a POW (prisoner of war) in Germany. I know he survived becaused there is a letter written to my father by him from Bristol, sent after his wife, Alice, died. His younger brother, Mark Bernard Childs (after whom my uncle was named), also joined the ranks of the Queens Royal West Surrey Regt. but was transferred to the 12th Middlesex. I believe he also died during the conflict.
The war memorial outside Ewhurst church (and the old Post Office that my grandfather ran) bears the names of my grand-father, relatives and near relatives. Ironically, my first civil engineering job was to design a lay-by out side the old village school, which is directly opposite both the memorial and the PO.