Hello
Yesterday (Sunday) and John Woollett caught and ringed a female Blackcap in his Astcote garden. The bird was heavy and carrying fat so was presumably still on migration.
Today (Monday) and a solitary south-bound Hawfinch was the only bird of note at Harrington Airfield; the bushes were pretty-much devoid of the usual thrushes. A flock of (presumed migrant) Chaffinches on the outskirts of Old village numbered about a hundred birds and included a female Brambling.
A relatively short ringing session at Christies Copse in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this morning provided 75 captures which included a Goldcrest, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 35 Blue Tits, 6 Coal Tits, 16 Great Tits, a Willow Tit, 2 Robins, 5 Chaffinches and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers. However star of the show was a stunning Woodcock flushed into a mist net, providing an excellent opportunity to study this sensational bird. At least seven of these birds were present on-site.
Birds noted included a Great White Egret and a pair of Ravens and a second Willow Tit was around the copse too. However there was some significant migration on-going all morning over the Walgrave Bay with a good passage of Bramblings heading west and constant flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares, a Siskin and a couple of Redpolls doing much the same thing. A single Hawfinch was going the same way at 10am but then pitched down in trees and bushes near to the copse (but wasn't seen again). At 1.40pm, as we were walking away, a vocal Snow Bunting flew over us heading south west but also dropping and may have landed in nearby fields.
Regards
Neil M
Yesterday (Sunday) and John Woollett caught and ringed a female Blackcap in his Astcote garden. The bird was heavy and carrying fat so was presumably still on migration.
Today (Monday) and a solitary south-bound Hawfinch was the only bird of note at Harrington Airfield; the bushes were pretty-much devoid of the usual thrushes. A flock of (presumed migrant) Chaffinches on the outskirts of Old village numbered about a hundred birds and included a female Brambling.
A relatively short ringing session at Christies Copse in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this morning provided 75 captures which included a Goldcrest, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 35 Blue Tits, 6 Coal Tits, 16 Great Tits, a Willow Tit, 2 Robins, 5 Chaffinches and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers. However star of the show was a stunning Woodcock flushed into a mist net, providing an excellent opportunity to study this sensational bird. At least seven of these birds were present on-site.
Birds noted included a Great White Egret and a pair of Ravens and a second Willow Tit was around the copse too. However there was some significant migration on-going all morning over the Walgrave Bay with a good passage of Bramblings heading west and constant flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares, a Siskin and a couple of Redpolls doing much the same thing. A single Hawfinch was going the same way at 10am but then pitched down in trees and bushes near to the copse (but wasn't seen again). At 1.40pm, as we were walking away, a vocal Snow Bunting flew over us heading south west but also dropping and may have landed in nearby fields.
Regards
Neil M
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| Adult male Great Spotted Woodpecker. |
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| The Woodcock. A bird generally seen in flight at dawn or dusk or flushed from undergrowth during the day. It isn't often you see one well enough to truly appreciate these very special birds. Superbly camouflaged, fast and strong flyers, and an amazing head shape with the eyes high on the side of the head provide for excellent all-round vision. Now a very scarce breeding bird in the county, the vast majority of the ones we see in the winter months are from Russia and eastern and northern Europe. |
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