Some signs of spring

These two "luvlies" are billing and cooing on our chimney every morning. They are just one of the four or five pairs hanging around the small industrial estate between us and the railway. It can get quite noisy when they are joined by one of two pairs of Collared Doves on the electric wires, a pair of Jackdaws and the nazal twang of the Greenfinches. It is all part of the celebration of spring which cannot be far away now. [First Bluebell in the garden this morning]

Ringing has been very slow with the north-east wind blowing the nets and keeping the "feels like" temperatures close to freezing. This is completely different in a friends garden which is on a west facing slope, protected from the current wind and also benefitting from the sunshine more than we do.



The dominant species this week was Greenfinch; a male and female 'second years' from this week are in the photos above. Just 13 birds ringed but a total of 10 species handled over the seven days.
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Wren (1)
Blackbird 1 (1)
Robin (4)
House Sparrow 1
Chaffinch 1
Brambling 1
Greenfinch 6
Goldfinch 1
Siskin 2

If you multiplied these totals by 10, you would be close to the numbers of bird ringed by my two nearest ringing neighbours. C'est la vie. Welcome to West Somerset! (Thanks, Denise).

And, finally, down the lane at the back of us, the Rooks are extremely busy refurbishing last years nests and building new; 12 pairs/occupied nests counted this morning.

Not every thing is spring-like yet. The Hazel catkins are fully elongated but the small red female flowers have not yet burst; the same goes for the Alders. There were 7 Redwings on the (now unoccupied) sheep field by the Doniford Stream and I also picked up a Little Egret, a Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Bullfinch and a Buzzard during my short walk with the dog. There are still some Bramblings around, with a loose flock of 9 flying over to roost.