A day in the life..

Sunday, February 27th 2011

With only a few ringers at the reserve today they were kept busy with 239 birds to process.  The stars of the day were over 50 Common and Lesser Redpolls some of which had been ringed previously. 

This photograph of a Song Thrush was taken by a visitor during the morning.  By lunchtime it had become the first of the species ringed on the reserve in 2011.  It was seen on the gatepost just behind the boardwalk to the Wetland Hide.  There is a period of about four months during the winter when there are no Song Thrushes at Foxglove and they are replaced by Fieldfares and Redwing.  This was the first we are aware of that has returned; it was a young bird hatched last year. 

More Frogspawn was seen by the first dipping platform on the Scrapes. A Frog can be seen to the top left of the picture. Although they are definitely around, none could be heard croaking.

The feeders outside the Field Centre were very well supported with almost a dozen species seen just outside the kitchen window!  This Marsh Tit was spotted but only briefly.  Seventeen species were ringed including Siskin, Brambling, Reed Bunting, Robin, Goldcrest, Robin, Bullfinch and Wren. Interestingly, exactly 700 new birds have been ringed on the reserve already this year - more than double any previous year at this stage during the last 18.  In 2010 only 166 new birds had been ringed by the end of February - what will be the relevance of such an increase if any?   Perhaps we might see a bumper breeding season!

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