Half Term

It is ten days since the last posting, during which time the children have been off school, Easter has come and gone, the wind has got up and we have had our first rain for two weeks. Goldfinch migration has slowed during this time, but, not with standing, some of the local birds are nesting with at least one pair feeding small young. The same must be true of the Siskins as well.

Euphorbia

Last year (2013), Willow Warblers dominated my ringing effort at this time. The cold weather brought the birds down to the ground looking for insects in the lawns and gathering what pollen there was. The first port of call was undoubtedly, the Euphorbia plants of which we have a good supply. The warblers were mostly caught in single panel nets placed an the lawns/mown grass; 74 in three weeks. As you can see from the table below, this year is different, the birds passing high overhead in the fine weather that has lasted for two weeks.

Species                                                    New birds                 Pulli         Retraps               Total

             Woodpigeon                                       0                       0                       3                       3

             Collared Dove                                     1                       0                       0                       1

             Goldcrest                                             3                       0                       7                     10          

             Blue Tit                                              11                       0                     10                     21

             Great Tit                                             5                       0                       3                       8

             Coal Tit                                               0                       0                       2                       2

             Long-tailed Tit                                    2                       0                       8                     10

             Chiffchaff                                          12                       0                       2                     14

             Willow Warbler                                   1                       0                       0                       1

             Blackcap                                              8                       0                       4                     12

             Wren                                                   4                       0                       3                       7

             Blackbird                                             7                       0                     22                     29

             Redwing                                              2                       0                       0                       2

             Robin                                                   6                       0                     23                     29

             Dunnock                                             7                       0                     27                     34

             House Sparrow                                 11                       0                       8                     19

             Pied/White Wagtail                             2                       0                       2                       4

             Chaffinch                                           25                       0                       3                     28

             Greenfinch                                         32                       0                       9                     41

             Goldfinch                                          301                       0                   155*                  456

                                                                                                       (* of which 74 are NFY birds)

             Siskin                                               128                       0                     31                    159

             Lesser Redpoll                                   3                       0                       0                       3

             Bullfinch                                               9                       0                       6                     15

                           Annual Total:                      580                       0                    328                   908

The period has also been taken up with the final, rigorous checking of the 2013 national database for errors and omissions that involved hunting through pages of data. The net configuration, meanwhile, was reduced to a lone 60' (18m) between the mature apple trees, where the trays and feeders are permanently kept. The start of this period also saw clear skies by day and night and the feeling is that many birds have passed over us and across the Bristol Channel, making landfall in south Wales, going by the latest reports coming from the ringers there.

The trickle that was left amounted to:
Goldcrest (2)
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Blackcap 3
Blackbird (1)
Robin (3)
House Sparrow 1 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 3 (3)
Goldfinch 21 (8)
Siskin 3
Total - 33 new birds, 19 recaptures of 10 species.
In a week's time, when migration will be almost over, our attentions will turn to the species that frequent the water meadows. Weather permitting.