Two weeks have passed

In those two weeks things have moved closer to the shortest daylength, now just five weeks away, and there has been a small amount of movement. During weeks 45 & 46 in other years (all three, big deal), I have caught 21 different species and averaged 26.33 new birds per week. The only species that has been trapped but not turned up as a new bird is the Long-tailed Tit. This year, I have achieved 32.00 new birds per week covering just 14 species. Below I've tabulated all 21 species, with the average number of new birds over the last three years alongside this years.

1CY female Chiffchaff

1CY male Chiffchaff

These are the two Chiffs from this period. Athough the same species and approximately the same age, they look much different (and not just because of my photography skills). This female was greener and yellower than the male. It was a pity that my new trainees were not around when these were caught, but there will be plenty of opportunity for that at a later date, rest assured.

As you may be aware, I love my 'Stillits' (that's Norwegian for Goldfinch) and I'm having a good year for them. Of the 14 retraps, 5 were males, the oldest 467 and 348 days from ringing, the others ringed as juveniles this year. The other nine were females, three of which were returning adults, the rest all juveniles with the oldest ringed back at the beginning of July. Female Goldfinch X105685 was ringed 1397 days previously as a 3CY bird. She will be about five and a half years old by now. It happens to be the 92nd Goldfinch that I ringed, in my first ten days here, while there was snow on the ground. [See http://masterringer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/king-of-kings.html] With a long history of being caught in different months, I suspect that she breeds and remains locally.

Note: average new for weeks 45/46 shown in square brackets [-] thus. As always, current retraps, counted once only if more than one re-capture during this period, in brackets (-).
Collared Dove [0.67] - 1; a 1CY bird from early in the year
Gt. Spot. Woodpecker [0.33] - 0; a cracking adult male, noisy too!
Magpie [0.33] - 0
Goldcrest [2.33] - 2 (1); both males, one an adult renewing part of its tail that "came adrift" elsewhere
Blue Tit [10.00] - 7 (4); two adults, the rest youngsters
Great Tit [1.00] - 1 (1)
Coal Tit [0.67] - 1
Long-tailed Tit [0.00] - 0
Chiffchaff [0.67] - 2; 1CY of opposite sexes
Blackcap [3.67] - 2; both males, the first a full adult (Euring age 4)
Wren [1.00] - 0
Blackbird [4.67] - 2; both young males (probably fairly local, going by wing legth)
Song Thrush [0.67] - 0
Redwing [0.67] - 0
Robin [1.00] - 2 (2)
Dunnock [1.33] - 0 (2)
House Sparrow [2.33] - 1 (1)
Chaffinch [2.00] - 1
Greenfinch [4.33] - 1
Goldfinch [14.67] - 39 (14)
Siskin [0.33] - 0

However, the following period started with a Sparrowhawk, a Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, a Goldcrest and another Blackcap (makes eight so far this season), all of which would have improved the figures. I get the impression that autumn has been about two weeks late this year (compared to recent years) and as yet we haven't seen any Redwing movements and many of the trees are still carrying a lot of leaf. More about them in a fortnight's time, fingers crossed.