Blue Skies and Redwing

Friday, November 29th 2019

Clear blue skies were a welcome sight after weeks of wet weather.

Throughout the week, flocks of winter thrushes have been observed on the reserve such as these Fieldfare.

These along with Blackbirds and Redwing are attracted in by the huge amount of red berries. Hawthorn and Rosehips will soon disappear as branches are stripped bare by these birds as they refuel on their long migration paths.

A further eight Redwing were caught and ringed today in the hopes of learning more about their incredible journeys.

Nuthatch were also caught, these birds already had a BTO ring fitted, this is no surprise as they tend not to stray far from their nest sites. Ringing species like this is still extremely valuable as a lot can be learned about their survival and longevity.

Many common garden birds were ringed too such as this juvenile Robin.

A few young Bullfinches also made an appearance. These continue to thrive at Foxglove and can almost always be seen feeding in the garden behind the Field Centre.

A more unusual sighting was of not one but two Green Sandpipers on the far bank of Spigot Mere. Most of these waders go to Africa in winter, except for a few that overwinter on inland pools. It will be interesting to see if this pair choose to remain here over the next few months.

Thank you to Elizabeth for providing the photographs for today's blog.

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