A Surprise

Monday, January 30th 2012

The wetland ponds were frozen this morning.

View from the wetland

Foxglove leaves were coated in frost.

Frost on Foxglove leaves

And the splashes from this fast rushing stream had caused icicles to form on the vegetation.

Icicles on vegetation

Cold weather meant that the birds had emptied the feeders over the last few days so the bird ringers refilled them.

Bird feeder being refilled

Due to the very cold temperatures net rounds were carried out frequently and birds returned to the ringing room.  Lesser Redpolls, Reed Buntings, Long-tailed Tits and Siskins were amongst those birds processed.  And then quite a surprise - two Crossbills had been caught!  Although regularly heard and seen on the reserve this species is rarely caught in the nets and these two were only the 7th and 8th ringed at Foxglove. This is a young female.

Female Crossbill

The young male is more colourful.  You can see their crossed bills which they use to extract the seeds from pine cones.

Male Crossbill

 By the end of the day 200 birds had been processed, adding to the large amount of data already collected over the past 19 years.


(0) Comments:

There are no comments for this blog post yet. Why not start the discussion? - use the form below:


Leave a Comment:

Please complete this field, it's required. Your email address will not be displayed but it's required.

Your email address will not be displayed but it's required.

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?


Back to Top

Help Support Foxglove

Friends of Foxglove

The Friends of Foxglove Covert is for those individuals, families and organisations who would like to support the reserve through an annual membership subscription. Friends receive a regular newsletter and invitations to attend our various activities and social events.

More Details

Upcoming Events


Access to the Reserve: CLOSED

Thursday 24th October 2024 |

As of 24/10/2024 the reserve is temporarily closed to due safety concerns related to the reserve access gate.



November Wildlife Wander

Wednesday 6th November 2024 | 2pm-4pm

Join reserve staff for a guided walk around Foxglove Covert in early winter.

2pm-4pm.

Donation of £3 per person. Free for Friends of Foxglove. Booking essential.



VIEW ALL EVENTS

Recent Blog Posts

Blog Archive