Friday 20 March 2015

Birding The Eclipse

I was back at the Obs this morning for some more ringing, but could only put up one net due to a niggly south-southeasterly wind. I had full cloud cover and visibility was poor-average.

It was a funny old morning in that any migration action was coming through in pulses. I would think it was quiet and then there would be a flurry of activity and then I would think it was alright and it would go quiet! There was some vis, although intermittent, and this included six Fieldfares, a Sparrowhawk, six Woodpigeons, 88 Meadow Pipits, twelve Alba Wags, a Sisikin, eight Linnets, six Magpies, three Tree Sparrows (it's been a cracking spring for them), four Redwings, a Chaffinch, seven Lesser Redpolls and a Grey Wagtail.

 Meadow Pipit

Grounded migrants were four Goldcrests and a party of eight Redwings that arrived from the north and dropped into the ditch-side hedge. Besides the female Sparrowhawk that was heading north I had the semi-regular pair and also the resident pair of Kestrels (they use one of our boxes).

The ringing was even quieter than yesterday with just three Meadow Pipits and a cracking male Lesser Redpoll.

 Lesser Redpoll

Meadow Pipit

Afterwards I went to the water treatment works to take down the peanut feeders from the feeding station and to top up the nyjer feeders in the hope that we might get a few Goldfinches, Redpolls and Siskins through into April.

The eclipse showed on and off through breaks in the cloud and I took a few pictures which you can see below.




 I wonder how many thousands of blogs pictures of the eclipse will appear 
on today?

Back home my moth trap produced a few more moths than of recent days in the form of an Early Grey, a Hebrew Character, two Common Quakers and a Small Quaker.

 Early Grey

It's just going to be a touch on the breezy side for some coastal ringing tomorrow so it will hopefully be a morning of migration monitoring just the same, but without mist nets. I must remember to put my loppers in the car as there is an old net ride at the Obs that I want to resurrect.

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