Margaret's funeral

Jenny asked me to come and support her at her mother's funeral, which was yesterday (10th). Couldn't turn down a second visit in a week, could I? Joking apart, I felt I had to go and wish this sweet lady farewell anyway, along with all the King clan.

I took advantage by putting just the one net out early, hoping to catch more 'continental' Blackbirds. Both days were dull and the temperature never got above +6C, having climbed from near freezing. There was no frost however, the wind keeping it at bay. The one sign that spring was somewhere over the horizon and about to descend on us was this female Goldfinch. Her presumed mate was singing his heart out in an Ash tree above the garden. These are the first we have seen or heard since the late autumn.

The total haul was a mere 23 birds of which 9 were recaptures as follows:
Dunnock (1),  Robin (1),  Blackbird 7,
Long-tailed Tit 1,  Marsh Tit (1),
Blue Tit 2 (3),  Great Tit 2 (3),
Goldfinch 1.

A fairly even split with the Blackbirds; 2x each of 6M, 6F & 5M plus 1x 5F. There were 2 possible 'continentals'; a whopping 6M had a wing of 144mm and a weight of 139gm and a 5M with 135 & 118 respectively. The oldest known bird was a Blue Tit caught as a full adult (4M) in December '07.

Fred Cooke reported 30 odd Siskins in the Babingley valley, which is not very far away at all. None so far heard in our part of the wood. I suspect his were in the Alders on the Castle Rising Estate.

Cakes & ale rejected

A mid-week trip to Norfolk, principally for the Norfolk Ringers annual meet. A good night was had by all, thanks to Allan, the county ringing co-ordinator.

But, as always, a session in the garden is what really stirs the brain into action - especially at 06:30 on a frosty (-4C) morning. Now that the sun is climbing in the sky, I only get about 4 hours before the nets are 100% visible to all and sundry. Nonetheless, 40 birds of just 7 species was good enough. It would have been better if the Siskins had returned from their winter haunts, possibly as far away as Catalonia (thank you, Jeff K) - Barcelona, Spain for the uninitiated.

Robin 2 (1)
Blackbird 8 (2)
Coal Tit (2)
Blue Tit 1 (8)
Great Tit 4 (4)
Greenfinch 6
Chaffinch 4


First up was this large (wing 139) male 'Blackie' with a crossed bill; as a >/=3CY it must be managing OK. It was not as heavy, at 115g, as some which I caught later that reached 132g with a good fat load (scored 3).

At the same time I had this female, a normal 'English wing' sized bird. However the 4 old greater coverts show up much better in the photo' below than in the hand. Many 'continental sized' birds habitually have these deceptively coloured covert feathers. This female had a lovely mottled breast - which took my fancy.

aaaaa

Jen had mentioned that her Garlic shoots had disappeared. Her thoughts were that a mouse or similar had had them because the mesh cage over the plot stopped any birds getting to them. Lo and behold, what should appear on the feeder hanging under the climbing rose but "Mr. Country Mouse"

I was able to get fairly close and eventually 'it' stopped hiding round the other side of the peanuts. Finally, a couple of Coal Tits frightened it back to its underground home below the patio.

Whether? or Weather?

Was pencilled in to give a ringing demonstration to the local Watch group at their base in the Marston Vale. Ha,ha.

Nineteen millimetres of rain from midnight to noon and a Force 4-5 northerly put the kibosh on that happening! That's the Renhold Brook opposite my house - running full to bursting.

Watched the birds coming and going, feeding in the back garden instead. It's a start of a new week for the local garden bird survey. As I'd never done it before, I dug out my ST80HD and tried to read a few rings. That's harder than you think. I did manage to "observe" a Goldfinch and a Dunnock, both of which I had trapped a fortnight ago.

I did also have a go at digiscoping - and decided that it's a bit more difficult than you first imagine. My camera is an old Fugi F610 compact, which I just stuck in the rubber surround to the eyepiece.

The first shot was of one of the five Greenfinch feeding on the "waste" sunflower hearts that the Goldies scatter everywhere. The 'Greens' have only just started to reppear in the last few days, so I suspect that there is a bit of return migration going on - at last.

Here is the brook from the same spot - after the water level had subsided back down to a more normal winter level:

Let's hope that that is the last of it!

Bird (sp)ringing!

After the snow storm had turned to slush, I just had to put a net up. Today, Sunday, is a good deal warmer than yesterday, despite it having been sunny then. It's what is known as "a grey day" at present.

 

Initially, two new male Chaffinches, both 2CY, fell in. The second bird was much heavier and was in far better condition than the first. It had little fat and was 17.5% lighter than its congener.Next up was a female Dunnock. I gave her a good blow and she revealed a brood patch at stage 2 (well defined - almost).

Next up was a 5F Goldfinch from 3 weeks ago. Then, the above Wren. I had seen her, for she too was getting a brood patch, in the bottom of a Berberis pulling away at something. Initially, I thought it was a bent and the bird in question was the above Dunnock, but with the bins I could see it was a Wren, pulling away at something fatter. The bird kindly moved to where there was more light and unobscured from my vision. Lo and behold, it was hacking away at a long, fat, pale green, juicy caterpillar! Eventually, after cutting it in two, it ate it - with difficulty. Luckily, I netted her as she returned to the shrubbery for more; last November, she was a 3F.

Todays tally for a couple of hours effort was:

Wren (1)

Dunnock (1)

Greenfinch 1

Chaffinch 2

Goldfinch 1 (1)

A relaxing morning after yesterday - looking after the grandchildren for 10 hours while No.2 son moved into his new house. Now the sun is out and I can put on my wellies and go and top up the feeding station.

For the second time ...

... this month, I caught a Collared Dove. More often than not, they forcefully manage their way out of the net. These two times, I've been on hand, seen them go in - and pounced! Today's victim!

As a by-catch (I kid myself), I caught four Goldfinch, three new and one recapture. The retrap was a bird of last year and all the others, 2 males and a female, were all full on adults. The bird in the photo gave me "an old fashioned look" before I let it go.

The Snowdrops have been out for over a fortnight now. These are genuine Yorkshire ones.

 

The weather forecast promises a deteriorating situation for the coming week. I've another busy schedule so I won't be so miffed if ringing is off the cards!

Another tough old bird is Jenny's mum. She's got to hang in there for another 10 hours until the morning - when she will have reached the ripe old age of 95! Happy Birthday, Margaret.