Thursday ringing

Hello

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a quiet day in the county but there were four Stonechats in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and today (Thursday) there were just two!

Also yesterday birds at Pitsford Reservoir north of the causeway included a Great White Egret, a Raven, two White Wagtails and at least one Yellow-legged Gull and a pair of Stonechat between Maytrees Hide and the causeway.

Today and birds noted at Hollowell Reservoir were a Dunlin, a Redpoll and four Stonechats.

Birds at Stanford Reservoir today included a Merlin, a Marsh Harrier, four Red-crested Pochards, a Great White Egret and a Caspian Gull with a Goosander, ten Lesser Redpolls and a Redwing yesterday.

Stortons Pits hosted some ringing today which provided sixty captures of which only nine were re-traps from previous sessions. Twenty Blackcaps indicates a slow-down of this species moving through the county and interestingly no Chiffchaffs after very large numbers locally in recent weeks. Other birds processed included sixteen Long-tailed Tits, six Blue Tits, two Wrens, three Robins, five Dunnocks, four Blackbirds, two Cetti's Warblers and two Goldfinches.

Another ringing session took place at Christies Copse in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir with seventy-five birds being processed. Again no Chiffchaffs were caught and only eight Blackcaps and no other warblers were encountered. Other birds were made up of two Blackbirds, fourteen Goldcrests, twenty-eight Blue Tits, fourteen Great Tits, a Marsh Tit, two Long-tailed Tits, a Wren, three Robins and two Chaffinches.

Up to four Grey Wagtails were attracted to the new ponds in Christies Copse, a Barn Owl was seen pre-dawn and other birds noted included a Raven and several Siskins and Redpolls.

Regards

Neil M

Female and male
Stonechats.

The humble Rook!

The finely-marked and 
handsome drake Gadwall.