Sixteen days of dark

Hi again. We are nearly at the point when the evenings (theoretically) start to get lighter! I'm a SAD old git! and won't be waking up properly until mid Feb. Such is life.

A bit low on pics but I either forget to take one that will illustrate a point I want to pass on, or forget to get the camera out. [It's only a Fuji compact]. Ringing, or, more correctly, id in the hand is not always as straight forward as some will have us believe - nor as difficult as a few sceptics would either. The exchange of photos of "good" and "bad" birds can but help the less experienced to learn a bit more and avoid pitfalls.

Male Goldcrest - orange crown just visible

Ringing at home was a bit hit and miss, partly because of the weather and also because I was away 'up country', delivering Xmas presents, seeing old pals elsewhere and attending the 80th BTO Conference in north Derbyshire (mainly ringing, of course!) BUT, it's been good when I tried with just the two (semi-permanent) nets. I cleared the leaves twice and talked to the trees - but they didn't listen.

Immature female Goldfinch
with retained median/greater coverts

The biggest hit were the King Harrys (Goldfinches) which have only just started coming to the feeders in any number. 

Immature female Goldfinch
that has moulted all its coverts

They brought a few Siskins with them, too. The Redwings and Fieldfares are still taking berries but the occasional one sits in an apple tree, picking at the apples that are still left hanging on, up there where I can't get them. 

Redwing

My efforts up to the 11th succeeded in catching:

Collared Dove 1 - f.g. female

Goldcrest 1 (3) - 3 males

Blue Tit 5 (6) - birds of the year, except for 2 first-time breeders

Great Tit 1

Coal Tit 1 (2) - 1CY's

Long-tailed Tit 19 (5) - 16 together in one net!

Blackcap 7 (1) - the re-trap was feeding up for 'the off' (F1>F4)

Wren (2)

Blackbird 10 (1) - 4 adult females, 5 imm. females, 2 imm. males.

Fieldfare 2 - ad. male & 1CY female

Song Thrush 1 - adult

Redwing 1 - immature bird (123 wing)

Robin (3)

Dunnock 1 (1)

House Sparrow 2 (2) - caught during a chase (3 males!)

Chaffinch 3 - females, 2 adult

Goldfinch 59 (16) - 75 different birds, oldest from March 2011 and its first recapture; of the rest - 21 adults, (10 males, 8 females, 2 unsexed), 54 immatures, (25 males, 25 females, 4 unsexed); the females were prevalent in the earlier catches.

Siskin 3 - all adults

NB. I've taken out all the same period re-traps from the figures to give some idea of the number of birds present/ passing through. I always do this and put the recapture totals in brackets after the newly ringed birds.

Adult male Fieldfare 

End of a difficult summer

Ringing activities have been confined to the garden/orchard these last 8-9 days. It has been somewhat different for the time of year when compared to other years. So far, there has not been an appreciable movement of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps hereabouts. In part this may be attributable to the low numbers of Blackberries that have ripened so far, which, apart from providing sugar rich food for migrating birds, also attract significant numbers of diptera and other insects for these travellers to feed on. Also in the boundary hedge, our Honeysuckle has a profusion of berries but they are not palatable yet.

Honeysuckle berries

Back to the species list for this time period. For the sake of a couple of nets open for a couple of hours most mornings (commencing about half an hour after sunrise), it turned in a reasonable total of 28 new birds and 18 re-captures across 11 "garden" species.

Blue Tit 2 (2) - 3 young birds (2 potential males, 1 potential female) plus a 2CY male

Great Tit (1) - ad. male, ringed in the spring

Blackcap 3 - a handsome young male, & 2 females undergoing PJ moult

Wren 3 - all unmoulted juvenile males (on size & weight)

Blackbird 2 (2) - 3 young birds & a 3CY male

Robin 3 (3) - juveniles & post-nuptial females

Dunnock 1 (1) - 1 juv., 1 2CY in moult

Chaffinch 1 - juv. male at the replacing its ogc's stage (2ogc). This bird had replaced a few tail feathers (retrices) on one side. The photo shows the differing shapes between juvenile feathers (pointed) and replacement/adult ones (more rounded)

Juvenile (male) Chaffinch with rounded replacement
tail feathers (LHS) contrasting with the pointed juvenile ones

Greenfinch 4 (3) - 3 females, 2 males & 2 juv. males

Goldfinch 9 (6) - in the last 2 days - 7 moulting adults & 8 youngsters in PJ moult.  The adults all had 2-4 old outer primaries and 2-3 growing feathers. They had all begun to moult their secondaries, too. Previously, almost all recent birds have been juveniles in entirely juvenile plumage (before the PJ moult starts)

Siskin 1 - a juvvy juvenile (i.e. recently fledged!) and female.

This week's juvenile female Siskin

This small group of eighteen re-traps has provided some interesting data. 

Firstly, a female Robin (L601), ringed as a juvenile here in early July 2011, goes missing whenever she is nesting. In mid-April 2012, she was caught three days apart with a vascularised brood patch, indicating that she was starting to incubate. This was just before our big "downpour" (= major flood). She was not re-caught for a further 162 days (or 23 weeks) when she was coming to the end of her complete, post-nuptial moult. But her brood patch was still visible, although feathering up. Between these two dates it is wholly possible that she reared three broods, which is quite normal for a fit member of the species, providing there are no mishaps.

In 2013, however, she was caught in mid-March and mid-April. Between those dates, going by her brood patch, she had laid, incubated and hatched a brood. This struck me as "odd", since the weather had been cold (but dry) up until the end of the first week in April. Perhaps cold-and-dry is preferable to mild-and-wet for starting a brood of Robins. Anyhow, she wasn't to re-appear for another 106 days (15 weeks), time enough for another two broods. Once more she was completing her annual moult, just some body feathers to finish changing, and some 5-6 weeks earlier than last year. 

Next, male Blackbird (LC36), ringed as a 1CY bird in mid-November 2011, is a regular visitor to the garden and can be recognised by his plumage pattern (which is less obvious since his latest moult). Last year he disappeared for 373 days (29 weeks). He was last spotted the day after the big "downpour" and returned about the time the rains eased off. During his absence, we had 711 mm of rain (28 inches), which is 55% more than normal. I wonder what he was doing and where he went to escape the waterlogged soils?

Then there is a Greenfinch (TL94). First ringed as a 2CY female on my birthday (mid-Feb) 2012 and not seen again until this week, 568 days later. The weight was the same and the wing length a tad longer, and she was starting her annual moult. Has this bird been around all the time or does she just come for the winter and the sunflower hearts?

Lastly, the Goldfinches. Six of those adults have a record. X843 is a 2010 male bird that hasn't been recorded since mid-June 2011, a gap of 820 days. His wing length is 1mm shorter than when he was a juvenile; a normal occurence in this species, whereas in some species it increases with age (e.g. tits). X882 is another male, born in 2009 or earlier, that was ringed in April 2011, re-caught in May 2012 and then again this week. He is currently in the 2nd stage (of 4) of replacing his primaries. Male L713 and female L963 were both immature birds when trapped in 2011. Neither have been seen since, a gap of 765 and 671 days respectively. Now in their third year, they were moulting and are 1 gram heavier than when they were young (approx. 7%), in keeping with the other healthy birds. The other two, males Y819 & Y930, were caught during last winter when their weights were higher than they are now; the current night time temperatures are 7C higher and daytime ones 13C higher, which explains the need for carrying extra fat in winter in order to keep warm overnight.

Young male Goldfinch acquiring its red cap

PJ = post-juvenile;   CY = calendar year;   ogc = old greater coverts;   juv. = juvenile

A dreary autumn - I hope not

Back from my visitations and trying to catch some birds for ringing once more. We have managed to get in 7 short, early morning sessions since last time, but only one of these has been at the meadows, the rest in the garden.  This has involved between 60-130 ft. of netting that was open for about 25 hours in total. Last week the local riding school held gymkhana training for the young ladies, including using the stream/fords. Unfortunately a pony had to be put down (shot) and consequently the other horses have been allowed  out of that enclosure to roam; we don't like mixing horses that have free access and our nets - for both our safety's sakes. This is why we only use the site for half a year or less.

Things seem to have dried up, or, at least, come to a temporary stop bird-wise. There are plenty of birds down the eastern side of England but little over here, excepting the usual hot-spots. DJO, a visiting friend, and former county recorder for 14 years, picked up a pair of Ravens over the garden early one morning and spotted a migrating Hobby on another evening. We regularly attract 23-31 species of bird to the garden each week [GBW survey figures]; the garden list currently stands at 77 in or over after just 38 months.

The last Chiff caught was a week ago and the  three Blackcaps have been 5 days apart. Nevertheless, we have managed to trap 15 species (one new), to ring 33 birds and recapture a further 14. This is similar to the two previous year - 42 of 16 (2011) and 31 of 10 (wet 2012) - when the predominate species were Chiff, Blackcap, Blue Tit and Blackbird. This year the mix is somewhat different.

Woodpigeon 1 - one of the breeding pair
Green Woodpecker 1 - an un-sexable youngster, 2nd for the garden, 1st to be ringed here.

Juvenile Green Woodpecker
[sexable once the malar stripe appears at the end of their
 partial (or post juvenile) moult]

Blue Tit 2 (2) - this year's birds
Great Tit 5 (1) - 1 adult male in fresh plumage; all the youngsters were moulting tails

Coal Tit 1 - first post-juvenile of the year
Long-tailed Tit (2) - returnees from the previous post 
Chiffchaff 2 - both in the early stages of PJ moult
Blackcap 3 - 2 females in PJ moult and a sub-adult male
Wren (2) - "our male" (moulting) and a juvenile
Blackbird (1) - ringed as a 1J
Robin 1 (2) - 2x 3JP's and our resident female (in her 3rd year)
The adults have finished their moult but the juveniles are mostly about half way through their partial moult, as can be seen right now by the red breast but with a speckled head.
Dunnock 2 (2) - a male, a new female & 2 juvs
House Sparrow 1 (1) - both female, one at least 3 years old
Greenfinch 7 - 6 juvs of equal sexes & a moulting adult female
Goldfinch 10 (1) - 6 young males & 4 females; r/t a 2011 male

Juvenile Robin undergoing post-juvenile moult

We trust that the weather patterns will be in our favour soon. Previous Septembers have proved to be good for catching Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch [in that order as the month progresses]. The next three weeks will make all the difference.

Where have all the Blue Tits gone?

More wet and more to come

Christmas and New Year are destined to be the wettest for a while and the bird ringing has not been very good so far this holiday. We're already 25% down on numbers ringed  compared to last year, my first at this location when I hadn't really got sorted out. We are also destined for some windy weather; last night ripped the fences down, pulled the guy anchors out, overturned the bird tables and amputated a few branches.

6M (adult male) Bullfinch

During the first four months of the year I caught 53% less birds than last year. This continued into the four months of the breeding season (May - Aug) with a slight improvement, just 52% down, thanks to a slightly positive May total. In part this was due to the fact that the water meadows were 'out of bounds' most of the time, thanks to the flooding. The final four months of the year really were a salvation, since the totals are 70% UP on last year, all of this taking place in our small orchard. 

3M (young male) Blackcap

Mmmm. Whereas it used to be Blackcaps in East Anglia, it is "King Harry's" (Goldfinches) that dominate down here with me. Apart from the aforesaid and Chiffs (and passage Willies in spring), I hardly see a warbler down here. Those Welsh boys (Cardiff ringers, etc.) don't seem to pass any over the Bristol Channel! It's not that far!

Mmmm. A grab-it-while-you-can week; 14 species, 26 new birds plus 16 recaptures.
Wood Pigeon 1
Blue Tit 1 (2)
Great Tit (1)
Coal Tit 2 (3)
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Blackcap (1)
Blackbird 3
Robin (1)
Dunnock (1)
Chaffinch 4
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 12 (4)
Siskin 1
Bullfinch (2)

2 (6M) old male Long-tailed Tit (retrap)

Mmmm. Maybe the last time we'll be able to get any ringing done before the close of 2012. When the wind drops, there is a hive of activity out there - but it's still raining. The only time it "shuts up" is after dusk / tea-time for a few hours - and then there aren't any birds - or many owls round here (few woods, loads of soggy sheep pasture) to nab!

Happy New Year to all you folks out there, whoever you are (I do know a few of you!).
May you enjoy your birding and/or your ringing over the next 12 months! I certainly intend to!

Another flood over

I meant to say " another week over", so there.

1CY controlled Coal Tit

The flooding that occurred in the early hours of Sunday has subsided and those affected in the village have finished mopping up but are a long way from getting back to normal. The worst affected had three feet of flood water in their downstairs accommodation. However, I know of one family that has had to move out altogether in the interim; there may be more. Our plasterer could be in for a hectic period once the dehumidifiers are out.

Part of Robert Street, post flooding

This week has been characterised by cloud, 56 mm of rain and a stiff breeze for the first half, and then frost, sunny mornings and light winds for the remainder. Both these conditions have rendered bird ringing a little on the adventitious side, grabbing a few hours when the weather and temperature allowed. Nevertheless, I have managed to ring 30 new birds, including two chance Blackcaps, and recapture a further 20 birds of just 12 species.

The two first year female Blackcaps [30-11-12]

We have had two flocks, totalling at least 20 birds, of different Long-tailed Tits through the orchard. They were on the same day, about three hours apart. The unfortunate few were 'low fliers'. Two of the re-traps were first ringed here in mid March and early June last year. But, two other birds were first ringed by neighbouring ringer, John, at the end of January 2011. Both these birds, accompanied by two of mine, have a long re-trap history of passing between our two sites, which are approx. 2-3 km apart at opposite ends of the parish.

The orchard list (Sat - Fri; 5 sessions)

Collared Dove 1 - an immature from this spring

Goldcrest (2) - includes the adult female

Blue Tit 6 (2) - 4 of the new birds were adults, the rest 1CYs

Coal Tit (1 control) - 1CY bird - Y0874nn - ex Quantocks?

Long-tailed Tit 7 (5 + 2 controls)

Blackcap 2 - both weighty imm. females

Blackbird 3 (2) - all young birds

Redwing 1 - a lone adult, 1st this autumn

Robin (4) - there are at least 8 birds about

Dunnock 2 (1) - 

Greenfinch 3 - all females

Goldfinch 5 (1) - 4 new adult males and 2 juv males

Male Greenfinch (Nov)

As a matter of interest, over the last month (November), there have been at least 38 different Goldfinch in the garden, 35 different Blue Tits, 19 Blackbirds and 15 Greenfinch, as these are the numbers that I have trapped. We never see that number of birds, of course.

The met. people are forecasting more heavy rain for the beginning of next week. Hey ho!

TW3

Migration has certainly slowed down now. There are two reasons for thinking this. One, is the daily passage westwards of a flock of up to 100 Starlings shortly after dawn from their roost on The Levels to their daytime feeding areas, somewhere Minehead way. Two, there was a flurry of Redwings and Fieldfares on Monday, that built up to more impressive flocks on Tuesday and then waned on Wednesday. These latter birds were all moving north-east over the Quantocks in groups varying around the twenty mark, sometimes coalescing into flocks of c. 100. Up the lane, the owner has planted many berried trees and shrubs that attract them; it was quite impressive in the mornings, but tailing off before noon. Several thousand must have passed through.

John, who lives "the other side of the pylons", managed to catch a few of these thrushes recently, namely 12 Redwing and a single Fieldfare - plus loads of Blackbirds. I should add that the pylons skirt the north of the village and John lives in an area detached from the main village by an area known as 'Danesfield' where there was a battle with the Viking invaders, many, many, many moons ago. That also makes us twice as far from the coast as he is.

This week, I have again managed to catch 48 birds, as last week, but only 36 of them were new, all requiring BTO bling. As last week, the species tally was also 14. At long last, the painters have left and the scaffold has been taken away. Just leaves another week for the jobbing builders to come and do the 'snagging' and the unfinished jobs. Peace and quiet will then reign and perhaps the birds will deem to grace the feeders, etc. in the usual manner.

Top dog, sorry - bird, was the Tom Tit, followed by King Harrys, much the same as last week, with Blackie replacing the Golden-crested Wren. [These are the country-side names]. New Coal Tits are still coming through as are Blackcaps. Just the other day, I noticed a singing Chiffchaff that had taken up residence where there were two breeding territories in the summer.

The all important list:
Gt. Spot. Woodpecker (1) - ad. male first caught this Sept.
Goldcrest 1 (1)
Blue Tit 9 (3) - 5 of the new ones were 'adult'
Gt. Tit 1 (1)
Coal Tit 2 (1) - 
Long-tailed Tit (1) - from early Jan this year
Blackcap 1 - a female this time
Blackbird 6 (1) - more females than males
Robin 1 (1) - the new bird was still in PJ moult
Dunnock (1)
House Sparrow 2 (1) - all males
Chaffinch 3 - all females, 2 adult
Greenfinch 1 - a 3F
Goldfinch 8 (1) - no adult females

Male House Sparrow (1CY) November

Male Gt. Spotted Woodpecker (2CY) November

Female Blue Tit (adult) November

Female Blackbird (1CY - 4ogc) November; immigrant?

Male Blackbird (1CY - 4ogc) November; immigrant?

Female Goldcrest

  

For those of you young ones, TW3 (TWTWTW) was a satirical TV programme called "That was the week that was" with David Frost, John Cleese and many others of that genre .

The next two days

Two more mornings were spent down in the water meadow orchard (21 & 22 Sept). The Friday was cloudy with the wind easing and Saturday was brighter with the wind picking up again. Altogether, we had 33 new birds with a mere 3 recaptures.

Under-tail coverts of Grey Wagtail (1CY)

The red-letter bird on day 1 was another Grey Wagtail; the rest of the cast comprised mainly of 'King Harry's, a pleasing return to autumn ringing. With a small Mipit passage going on, I 'tape lured' two specimens, both 1CY birds with short (UK) wing lengths.

Simultaneous shedding of greater coverts in juvenile Goldfinch (late Sept)

Day 2 was less successful but we handled yet another Song Thrush and our first Goldcrest of the second winter period. However, the star prize 'today' was to be a 3F Reed Bunting, yet another 'new for year' species. 

The full count was as follows:
Goldcrest 1 - adult male
Chiffchaff 2 (1) - new birds both adults
Blackcap 2 - both males
Blackbird (1) - aged '4M' Aug 2011             
Song Thrush 1 - another juv
Robin 1 (1)
Dunnock 2
Grey Wagtail 1 - 1CY
Meadow Pipit 2 - 1CY

Contrast between greater and primary coverts - 1CY Chaffinch

 Chaffinch 3 - 2 adults & 1CY
Greenfinch 4 - all juvs undergoing PJ moult
Goldfinch 13 - no adult birds!
Reed Bunting 1 - a small imm. female

I spent the next week with our caravan up in NW Norfolk, enjoying the noisy Pink-feet and the swirling Knot flocks! ... and meeting friends and family of "her indoors", my partner Jenny. [I should say she spends much of her time in the garden or walking her dog, so a bit of a mis-nomer!!!]

Willy week

Phylloscopus trochilus

Since last time, I have managed early morning sessions in the garden every day so far. Things promised to be a little different as we were 'inundated' with thundery showers and stronger winds from 4pm Friday. However, it cleared up sufficiently and the NE winds died down before dawn on Saturday, returning with gusto by midday.

Undertail coverts of Dunnock aka "Hedge Sparrow" (above) & House Sparrow

Picking up from where I left off last time, Tuesday was a day of sunshine and showers allowing just 2 Willow Warblers to be caught early on before the need to furl, and Wednesday was clear with lighter winds enabling 4 new birds, including 2 more Willow Warblers, to be ringed. Thursday dawned cloudy but soon became sunny, a pity as the winds were light north-westerly (nets nice and sheltered). I caught 6 new birds in the morning including the first (2) female (on size) Willow Warblers of the season, followed by a retrap Dunnock and 3 new Goldfinches mid-afternoon at the feeders. We awoke to a stiff frost on Friday morning which heralded a beautiful sunny day until ... ... An early Great Spot. and a couple of Blackcaps featured.

Adult male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Saturday was another good day with 9 new birds including another Blackcap, 3 Willow Warblers, 5 Goldfinches and a 'control' adult female Blackbird from a couple of miles away, the first inter-change of this species between us.

Male "King Harry" awaiting extraction in the net

Gt. Spot. Woodpecker 1
Blue Tit (4)
Great Tit 1
Willow Warbler 10
Blackcap 4
Blackbird (2)
Robin (1)

Dunnock 2 (2)

Male House Sparrow

House Sparrow 1 (1)
Goldfinch 11

Total over 5 days: 30 (10); 10 spp.

Tomorrow we're scheduled to visit the water meadows, but I don't hold out much hope of a favourable outcome, because there is little or no cover down there at present when the sun shines, as witnessed during a recce on Friday. The weather is panning out to be more suitable (light winds plus cloud) on Monday!!

POSTSCRIPT: Bright sun and stiff NE wind on Sunday meant drawing a blank in the morning. Swallows passing through at the rate of 20-25 per hour. First one back at the garage nest site, sitting on the wires outside, singing.

The builder starts on the roof Monday and I have a site visit planned for Tuesday. Rain and strong winds forecast for the following few days and a coach trip to Swanage on Friday. Bah!

Evening all

The sun and the wind and the showers have persisted. A different tack was called for and it came in the form of calmer winds at the end of the day, or even a slight shift so that the wind came from the north where we are somewhat sheltered by 40' (13m) trees.

The beginning of this week has turned up a small but significant group of birds. The 2CY female Great Spot has been back again, this time in the net after feeding.


GRSWO - 2CY female with old greater coverts and white tips to the primaries

The fully adult Blue Tit pair have been foraging in the apples for a while now and both were caught, separately, on Tuesday. It should not be long before they bring their new offspring to the orchard.

Apart from re-trapping one of the four young Robins, a noisy, and probably unsure, >3CY male was caught and ringed; the last "resident" male was trapped on 14th February. The pair with the fledged young at the bottom of the garden have taken them off in the opposite direction to the one the interloper came and left.


ROBIN - adult male, the "interloper" 958


SISKIN - 2CY female

Three Siskins were caught over three evenings but the most pleasure was had when four 1J (just fledged) Goldfinches turned up close together in a net with one of the parents singing/calling madly by the end of the net. They most likely bred in the front hedge where there is also a second pair.


EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH - age class 1J

11 new and 4 r/t of 7 species:
Gt. Spot. W-pecker (1)
Blue Tit (2)
Robin 1 (1)
House Sparrow 1 (incubating female)
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 5
Siskin 3

Some surprises

A slow, but steady, week so far. We were promised better winds but the light southerlies did not materialise, just a very light and variable breeze yesterday. Even today, when we were promised southerlies, the wind is in the north-west, off the sea.

I did manage a few birds, though, but not as many as last week. However, a couple of surprises were in store.

The Goldcrests are either nesting in our one, remaining conifer, or the one on the other side of the road junction. This female was the first of these for a month.


The Siskins also returned after a month's absence; I caught 2 of 2 Friday and 1 of 2 on Saturday (today). The latter was a breeding female with an engorged and wrinkly belly. Her partner stayed calling from above the net.


Total catch - 38 birds. The 'King Harrys' still dominate the catches with every third new bird another Goldfinch.
Goldcrest 1 female with BP
Blue Tit (1)
Great Tit (1)
Willow Warbler 3 - all females
Blackcap 2 - 1 of each
Wren (1)
Blackbird 6 (3) - a new '6 male' looked as if he was working hard (see below)
Robin (3) - 2 brooding females
House Sparrow 1
Goldfinch 12 (1) - mainly migrants carrying fat
Siskin 3



There was a C.Whitethroat singing loudly this morning two doors away! And the male Sparrowhawk came straight down the middle of the net lane and over my head later.

200 up

... in eleven weeks and now is the time for a break from ringing for a few days. That's my girl! The 200th Goldfinch (this year) appeared in the last net as I was taking them in before a short holiday. Just as well you have to open a furled net to gather it up into the bag! A record shot of X105900 below.

A reasonable couple of days this week with 25, now 26, new birds ringed and 10 re-traps.
Blue Tit 2 (1)
Great Tit 1
Chiffchaff 4
Willow Warbler 3
Blackcap 1
Wren (1)
Robin (2)
Dunnock 1 (1)
House Sparrow 2
Chaffinch 1 (1)
Greenfinch 3 (1) + 1 local control
Goldfinch 7 (2)
Siskin 1

Two decent sightings this week - a Peg high-over west from the garden (more usual to see it on the south side of the village) and a Kingfisher carrying a fish away from the Doniford Stream, presumably to "the wife or kids" somewhere upstream.

The first non-wintering Chiff was caught on the 13th, the first non-wintering Blackcap (see below) was caught on the 22nd (our female is still present), and the first Willow Warbler on the 27th.

I positively expect the garden to have changed appearance when I get back - the daffs and primroses are at their best now and the blossom on the fruit trees is only just emerging. Here's to some more beautiful sunrises and equally fortuitous catches in the early morning stillness.

Sunrise over the Quantocks yesterday.

500

It almost passed me by, the 500th new bird at Fairmead. The ring was given to a 5F Brambling at 5.30 pm on Monday 21st. This intermediate target was achieved in 69 days - and I've not been able to ring all day every day. At present, it's about 8 new birds a day, with Goldfinches approaching the 200 mark.

Some 40 percent

So far, I have managed 30 ringing sessions (of varying length) at the new house. Every day bar one I have ringed a new Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis; 8 birds were ringed on the blank day (Jan 31st) of 6 species but no King Harrys put in an appearence.

To date, 162 new Goldfinch have been trapped and ringed, which is exactly forty percent of the all-up total, the other 60% being spread over 19 other species.
Goldfinch was also a characteristic of my previous house where they formed 26.5% of the ringing total over seven years.