A Siskin Day?

Friday, March 9th 2018

Some of the bird ringing team were in for a morning's ringing.  The aim, to catch some of the many Siskin that had been seen at the back garden feeders throughout the week.  Some Redpoll would also have been welcome.  Nature does not always read the same page as we do, so needless to say it was Redpoll none, Siskin one!  However there were other birds caught, including a Great Tit that had been ringed in the nest box in May 2014 and a Robin initially ringed as a juvenile in July 2015.

Greenfinch numbers have been low and so it is always a pleasure to catch one.  I should not make comment on the look of the bird, but its stare made me think that it was pretending to be a Sparrowhawk, with those two bright eyes looking straight at me.

Lottis have been flitting in and out of the garden so it was no surprise that we caught two.  Usually when we photograph these birds we only manage to get the head but today this one sat with its tail at just the right angle.

Blackbirds have also been busy feeding in the back garden and this young male received its ring.  It was hatched last year, and one of the pointers to this was the fact that it still had some brown colour on the top of its yellow beak, along with some mud.

Althought the temperature reached double figures it was very cold initially with frost catching some of the vegetation.  This moss was ice covered.

I was amazed to see that this piece of ice, if you could call it a piece, was still hanging over an open space, defying gravity.

And finally a piece of fun - how about a game of noughts and crosses?

And a second finally, thank you to all the volunteers who assisted with various jobs including filling feeders, ringing and habitat management.

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