First Day Back

Yesterday was the first autumn ringing session at the 'obs' for Ian and I and we caught quite well. The day dawned with clear skies and it was absolutely flat calm; perfect for operating mist nets. Well, except for the glare on the nets from the sun I suppose. We processed 43 new birds (recaptures in brackets) as follows:

Robin - 3
Whitethroat - 8
Dunnock - 3
Blue Tit - 2
Sedge Warbler - 1
House Martin - 1
Swallow - 3
Greenfinch - 11
Wren - 5
Blackbird - 1 (1)
Goldfinch - 5

 Blue Tit

The ringing was good and it was a great start to the autumn, but the birding was relatively slow. A singing Grasshopper Warbler at first light was one of the better birds and any 'vis' was limited to around 17 Swifts and a single Crossbill.

 Robin

There was a good sized flock of 130 Goldfinch, that kept getting flushed by a male and female Sparrowhawk that were on the prowl. It was easy to locate the presence of the 'Sprawks' or indeed the Kestrels by the alarm calling Swallows and House Martins, that were feeding low over the meadow on insects.

House Martin

Brown Hawker