Murk Stopped Play

The weather this morning wasn't quite as good as forecast, particularly from a wind strength perspective. At first light at the Obs I had virtually clear skies with a 5 mph SE wind, but the wind soon picked up to a good 10 mph necessitating the closure of one of my nets. It wasn't foggy at first but after a couple of hours some murk rolled in from the southeast and virtually curtailed the vis, bringing my ringing session to a halt.

I ringed 30 birds as follows (no recaptures):

Dunnock - 1
Greenfinch - 17
Wren - 1
Blackbird - 2
Meadow Pipit - 5
Chaffinch - 1
Robin - 1
Great Tit - 2

 Robin

 Great Tit

There was some vis this morning, up until when the murk came in, but there wasn't quite the variety of yesterday. My totals included 176 Meadow Pipits, 14 Chaffinches, 182 Jackdaws, 28 Alba Wags, a Collared Dove, 40 Greenfinches, nine Woodpigeons, six Skylarks, eight Grey Wagtails, three Magpies, 40 Pink-footed Geese and a Reed Bunting.

 Meadow Pipit

There was little evidence of grounded migrants this morning mainly because I was at a fixed location but they could have included eight Blackbirds and a male Stonechat, although this could easily have been yesterday's bird.

It's only work related birding for me tomorrow as I have a bird survey to do in north Cumbria, but I'm hoping be to be back out on the patch on Tuesday.