I've struggled

What with the recent weather and a couple of family commitments, last week's ringing total was somewhat subdued! I still couldn't get on to the meadows because of the wet ground and that probably meant missing out on ringing some Sedge, Garden & Willow Warblers.

However, it was ten new birds and three re-traps caught and ringed, just enough to avoid severe withdrawal symptoms -

Adult (4) Collared Dove - note deep red eye

Collared Dove 1 - a red-legged adult (female)
Blue Tit 2 (2) - new juvs
Coal Tit 1 - fresh juv
Long-tailed Tit (1) - another adult in full moult
Blackcap 1 -
Wren 1 - yet another juv
House Sparrow 3
Bullfinch 1 - the last of fledglings? (makes 5)

We don't have any berries yet, black or elder. Our plums are still not ready for picking, either, which means a seasonal shift of about three weeks.

Hard, green Blackberries (mid-August)

Over the last two weeks the garden has been full of butterflies; Large White, Small White, Comma, Red Admiral, Peacock, Hedge Brown and Meadow Brown. The Hedge Brown (or Gatekeeper) has been the most prolofic. The Holly Blue has already gone through its second generation early.

Gatekeeper or Hedge Brown

The forecast for getting any ringing done during the coming week is poor - a rapidly moving mix of showers, periods of rain, thunderstorms and high winds does not bode well for any ringing ... and my step daughter, Bex, says it's going to be very warm at the weekend, to make matters worse.

Family commitments accomplished included a trip to Wells and the cathedral and the bishop's palace. We didn't chase round the city looking for all 42 swans!

Swan sculpture - one of six by the Bishop's Palace, Wells.

And to cap it all, I have had to look out for these two "charmers". They are not a threat to any birds in the nets, but they do follow me about quite closely. [H&S trip hazards!]
[Lakeland X puppy belongs to "her indoors" and the 12 year-old DSH tom-cat is "next door's"]

Amber & Misty

When does it stop?

This English summer, this unseasonal summer, this wind of no change.

I have managed a little ringing over the past 12 days. On eight days the nets were open in the early morning, before the wind found its strength, the sun its altitude or the rain its power. Twice the weather got the better of me and twice I had to commit to family matters.

On the 25th, we got the nets up down at the meadows. Nine birds of five species were our reward. It is still not possible to drive round the site for two reasons; the grass is extremely long, too long for my little estate car, and the ground is repeatedly softened by the heavy rain, constantly drying and then being re-wetted. The main stumbling block for us though is the relentless wind that is a feature of the present weather system.

Our reward was the following:
Great Tit 2 - juvs starting PJ moult
Chiffchaff 2 - one a female commencing primary moult (MS=06)
Blackcap 3 - all juvs and potential females
Song Thrush 1 - juv-juv
Dunnock 1 - an adult female with a BP feathering over and a PMS of 13
... and no re-traps.

I have been managing to achieve three to four birds of a morning to ring in the garden, sometimes with just 60' of netting, some times with double that. With 28 new birds to ring over the eight days, a respectable total of 14 species was reached, including a new one, Herring Gull. This was a bit of a cheat as it, a recently fledged bird from the factory roof "next door", clipped my neighbours TV aerial and crash landed in his garden. After a bit of TLC, inclusive of a present of some BTO bling, it was reunited with its parents.

Herring Gull 1
Goldcrest 2 - both juv-juvs
Blue Tit 1 (3) - the new bird was an adult male (6M), the others juvs starting PJ moult
Great Tit 4 - all juvs PJ-ing happily
Long-tailed Tit (2) - both ringed as adults last spring but with out any fledglings with them this time.
Blackcap 3 (1) - all PJ males, mostly 2 ogc and no fat
Wren (2) - a juv plus a 2CY female curtailing her breeding season
Blackbird 2 - a 3JM and a 6F
Song Thrush 3 (1) - mum this time, with 3 more of her former brood

Recently fledged Song Thrush

Robin 3 (1) - all of an age, probably from a third brood in the back hedge
House Sparrow 4 (2) another batch of recent fledglings
Pied Wagtail 2 - male with a 'club foot' & 1 of the off spring
Goldfinch 2 - both 1J's, just able to get from bush to bush
Bullfinch (2) - both from "our nest", one unfortunately hit one of our windows

Recently fledged Pied Wagtail

Adult male Pied Wagtail with 'club foot'

It was de rigeur that I attended the Taunton Flower Show last Friday; the consolation was the 'dog & duck show', the jousting and the Yorkshire Marching Band. If you ever get the chance, go see @the Sheep Show' - very entertaining as well as informative.

Marching Band at Taunton Show

I also had to attend a family wedding in Peterborough - the reception and the drive home took place during some torrential and prolonged thunderstorms, making driving into a setting sun a real hazard. Absolutely knackered but the day was worth while, none the less.

The weather forecasters have promised us warmer and better weather later on this week. Let us hope that it is more settled and conducive to some mist netting. My bones need it, too!

Yesterday was the third anniversary of my starting this personal blog (then known as "Tits and Things"), having started the Ivel Ringing Group blog some 15 months earlier. This becomes blog number 236.