Not Quite as White

Saturday, January 14th 2017

The snow was still lying in places around Foxglove this morning.

It looked quite pretty sitting in the hollows.

But it was not as white as Signy!  Stacey wrote these notes to compliment the photographs she sent.  'We have had some nice icebergs. I quite like this one as it is unusually square.

Because they are so big, they get partially grounded around the island. These then move slightly with the tides and strong winds, and either slowly break down, filling the bays with small chunks of ice or slowly drift away to be replaced by others, which gives us an ever changing view to look at.'

Her penguins are doing well. 'The adelie chicks are getting quite large now. They are big enough to not be eaten by the predatory skuas. Many are no longer being guarded by their parents, although the two in the photograph are still being guarded, and instead the juveniles creche together for warmth and protection, which enables both parents to spend their days out fishing, returning in the evenings to feed them. The chinstraps are busy hatching.'

The bird ringers also had a black and white bird visit the ringing room, a tad smaller than the chicks above!  A Coal Tit.  It was hatched in 2010 so is coming up to seven year old and was showing its age a little, being quite grey.

Not many nets were raised but nearly 100 birds were processed.  Species ranged from Blackbirds to yet more Blue Tits, Siskin, Redpoll and Robin.  More Bullfinches are making an appearance.

One species we did not catch was the Crossbills, seen feeding near the outdoor classroom.

Many thanks to everyone who helped today, and Stacey for her photos.  It was cold but the snow did thaw a little on the moor and by mid-afternoon it was almost green again.

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