They think it's all over

The sun has come out and stays out from dawn 'til dusk. Shade temperatures in the garden have touched 20deg C. and the first of the Apple trees has decided to flower. Not good news for a bird-ringer in two ways - the birds either move off to pastures new, i.e. their breeding territories further north and east, or really get on with the business of nesting in our hedges, trees and shrubs, and, secondly, the nets become very visible in the sunlight, even with a background, except for a short while at each end of the day. 

Bullfinch, adult male

Five different Bullfinches were caught, comprising two pairs and a lone/spare 2CY female. They always reappear when the buds are swelling, just before the Apple trees come into flower. This was also the time period when the Whitethroats appeared; for this (coastal) part of Somerset, they were two to three days later this year than normal. They  seem to disappear in spring but show themselves again in July. The Willow Warblers seemed to stop abruptly on the 27th; the one pictured in the previous blog (re-shewn below) was a late male (25th) that looked quite different from our more normal, yellowy-green birds. 

Common Whitethroat (male)

Well defined head markings and paler rear underparts
(and late date) suggest
  Phylloscopus trochilus acredula

Given the current weather situation (SUN!), one could put in a lot of effort for very little reward. The only times that catching is viable is early morning and late evening. Even so, things can be pretty dire. We will have to think of alternative methods.

The last week's assortment is on record as:

Woodpigeon 1 

Collared Dove 1 - a young bird [Euring 2I] that hatched either at the end of last year or early in this. The only bird ringed so far this month (May).

Chiffchaff 2 - females on the move

Willow Warbler 5 - females, none after 27th

Blackcap 2 (2) - female ringed on 13th weighed 20.4g on 27th 

Garden Warbler 1 - my one and only for the year?

Com. Whitethroat 4 

Starling 1 

Blackbird (3)

Robin 2 (1) - all males on CP

Dunnock (2) - the garden is "over-run" with them

House Sparrow 1 (1)

Pied Wagtail (1)

Chaffinch (1)

Greenfinch 2 (1)

Goldfinch 14 (1) - birds on the move but with little/no fat reserves

Siskin 7 - suspect they are mainly local breeders

Bullfinch 1 (4) - 2 pairs & a spare female

Total (excluding double counting) - 44 new + 17 re-captures of 18 species. 33 species were seen in or over our garden during this period, including the Com. Swifts.

Between myself and John, who rings at the other side of the village, we ringed over 550 new birds of 37 species last month (April). He "grabbed" a Collared Dove, Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, (Goldcrest), (Jay), Com. Crossbill (4) and Yellowhammer. For my part, he was "missing" Herring Gull, Woodpigeon (3), Pied Wagtail, Garden Warbler, (Coal Tit), Magpie, Starling (2), Brambling (2), and Linnet. I'm usually the one who misses out on the Linnets.

Egrove Lane - May 2013

As far as the trees are concerned, they've got a lot of catching up to do. Blackthorn not flowering until late April - ridiculous!

I'm am hopeful of returning to the water meadows next week for the summer months and also to go and catch a few Swallows at the stables, if the wind permits. We'll have to wait and see.