Some wind

A week plagued by windy conditions with some amelioration on a couple of afternoons. Not the sort of weather for putting up mist nets. Lots of birds around early doors, coming in to feed after the frosty nights but, alas, much too windy.

I had to be content with a couple of very late morning into early afternoon sessions. However, it was not a complete disaster as the following list of 11 species shows:
Collared Dove 1, Blue Tit 1, Long-tailed Tit 5 (1), Blackcap 2, Blackbird 1 (2), Robin (3), Dunnock (2), Chaffinch 3, Brambling 6, Goldfinch 10 (1), Siskin 1.




The male above is the 4th ringed in the last 3 weeks and the female is the 1st of her sex to be caught, although she (or another) has been around for about 10 days. Both were Fat3+; all have been last year's birds. Maybe I should have asked to colour-ring them but not having any experience of this area before, one can only learn by one's own experiences. The total of newly ringed Goldfinches now tops 130 for the month; Bramblings 42.

Hopefully, we have two good days to come - before the wind is back ... and we get some rain, both from the south-west, a much, much warmer sector than we have been having.