If you're interested ...

Went over to Blunham today to ring last night's catch in the duck trap. For a fuller picture, please go to http://ivelringinggroup.blogspot.com/2009/12/duck-day.html .

"What have you got there?"

Christmas cheer

View west, Sunday 27 Dec. Rain on Ice on compacted Snow.

Spent the holiday in Snowy Norfolk - and all of that was at J's house (apart from Christmas day dinner with "the mother" in the care home). Managed a little ringing on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day but it was more of the same; 40 birds, 21 of which were recaptures of ringed birds. However, I was able to get a better handle on the potential numbers of birds coming to the feeders.

Here are this weekend's figures, followed by this sessions retraps (in brackets), then by the December total (=2 visits), retraps this month from last, and Novembers totals. Any retraps during the same month have been removed.
Dunnock    0, 1, 0, 1
Robin    1, (2), 3, 0, 0
L-t Tit    1, (2), 12, 1, 7
Marsh Tit    0, 3, 1, 2
Coal Tit    3, (5), 38, 8, 24
Blue Tit    10, (11), 37, 4, 52
Gt. Tit    3, (1), 21, 2, 17
Chaffinch    0, 4, 0, 6
Grenfinch    1, 4, 0, 1

View east, back garden gate leading to Ling Common (a wood)

A recalculation of  the figures confirms "population sizes" of ~100 Coal Tits and ~130 Gt. Tits. However, the latest numbers would suggest there may be ~400 Blue Tits in the area. Long-tailed Tits remain a bit nebulous with a recalc., somewhere in the range 50-75, so I'll stick with ~63.

So far, no Siskins or Brambling on the feeders, although we are starting to get Goldfinch and Pied Wagtail now and again as winter progresses. Normally, we don't see a change until January or even February.

Brrr....

Bitterly cold last night when we went down to -6C; today wasn't much better as we couldn't quite get to zeroC.

Not much in the way of bird activity after the dawn raids by the pair/trio of Dunnocks, the winter resident Robin and one of the two male (unringed) adult Blackbirds. A lone male Goldfinch (ringed) and a juvenile female (ringed) Greenfinch attended the upstairs restaurant briefly before it all went quiet.

Nets up. Four House sparrows messing about in the tops of the trees. Nets partially visible against the clear blue sky. The moderate to strong north-easterly wind has gone and been replaced by a light/gentle westerly. One of the Collared Doves sits pensively and all fluffed up in the Crab Apple tree by the garage. Hope its not sick; shouldn't be - there's plenty of food laid out.

Still nothing in the net. Have to pop round to see my younger brother in the residential home and take his mail, etc. Just furl the nets while I'm gone; whoops, got a 1CY male re-trap Blue Tit. Biggy with a 66.5 wing and weight of 11.8g; no probs there, then.

Back and unfurled the nets. I'll go and run through the three quarters of a million plus viruses, trojans and malware on the computer in the mean time. Time for a coffee and a sandwich, just check the net, oh a 'sparrow' has just flown in, better take it out. "Blow me down with a feather!" (polite version), I says to myself, loudly.

It's only another female 'Bavarian' Blackcap. I'll get this away quickly. Ringno ...845, wing 73.5mm, weight 20.8g, fat 2, muscle 2, tail shape adult/rounded. Take a couple of quick photographs while I'm at it.
[The one on the 8th was a 3F, wing 77, wt.20.7g, F3 M2]

I have three Leycesteria bushes, one in the front right and two up the side but none in the back. I do have 5 or 6 seedlings sprouting in the front gravel, ready for setting in the back, though. Originally given to me by a 'C' ringer when I moved here, they are attractive to Blackcaps, Robins and Blackbirds with their syruppy 'seeds'.

Just finishing up the blog and a third bird for the day - an adult, poss 'continental', female blackbird, doing OK so far (wt. 111g)

Whitey

The day dawned fine after the 9mm of rain yesterday. The sun was up, hardly a cloud in the sky and little or no wind. Bit parky though! Dossed about - my excuse to let the birds have a good feed early, after a cold night. (Really went and had a bath). Opened the garden nets about 10am and caught 7 birds of 5 species pretty quickly; the second Wren of the year was a surprise extraction. By midday the wind had got up and the wind chill forced the temperature down. Time to furl. Shortly after, the snow started to fall, gently at first. Within the hour, a gritter went up our road, which is used as the unofficial northern by-pass!

Had to go to town via the surgery. Got togged up, checked for my 'bus pass and set off the 100 yards to the bus stop. It was snowing moderately but the NE wind was blowing hard and the snow/shrapnel was coming in at 15 degrees to the horizontal. There was a young lady snow man at the bus stop; we don't have a shelter and she had to have been there less than ten minutes 'cos we get six buses an hour to town. After just three minutes standing there, I had to rake an inch of snow off the back of my neck. The driver didn't see my pass - he thought I looked old enough (i.e. a good 60 years old!) even though he could just about see my face behind the snowed up specs.

A quick gallop into the surgery to drop off a 'scrip and back to the bus stop. Here things are civilised, not like in the country, and I was able to shelter in the lee of the 'bus shelter for five minutes or so. Surprising what a little bit of snow does - everyone suddenly jumps into their car and, hey presto, a big traffic jam on the main road going into town. It took us about 25 stop-starts to get to the first set of traffic lights. However, once there, the traffic flowed.

As I got off the 'bus the snow eased but the wind continued, unabated. I passed a woman just as her umbrella inverted itself. Business over, I made my way to the 'bus station. By now the 'buses were in chaos and behind schedule. The one we boarded turned out to be late and the one that all the school kids would now be on. More delays as we weaved our way in and out of parents' parked cars and "lollipop people" ushering crocodiles of middle school deserters across the road. By the time we got "home", another later bus had overtaken us. The snow had melted on the pavements and had now turned to sheet ice. 

I spent almost all the rest of the day going through IPMR with a new 'C' ringer and setting up his computer ready for his first birds.

In a Norfolk garden

A round-the-clock session (midday-midday) produced 76 birds. These in turn produced some interesting figures.

Any road, the totals were 21 new birds and 55 re-traps:

Dunnock 1,

Long-tailed Tit 4 (5) - comprising 4 adults and 5 'young',

Marsh Tit 1 (1) - 1 adult & 1CY (1CY with 4ogc nearest in photo),

Coal Tit 6 (23) - 13 adults & 16 '08 juvs, oldest a '3' on 18 Nov '05,

Blue Tit 2 (11) - 3 adults & 10 'juvs', oldest a '6F' on 27 Jan '06,

Gt. Tit 3 (12) - just 2 adults, the rest this year's young,

Chaffinch 2 (2),

Greenfinch 2 (1).

Last month, I managed to catch 113 individuals altogether. Apart from new Gt. Spot., Wren, Dunnock & Blackbird, I caught/re-caught the following from which we can make some deductions.

Long-tailed Tit  7 - don't know which were adults,

Marsh Tit 2 - both this year's young birds,

Coal Tit 14 (10) - 6 adults & 18 1CY class, oldest the same bird as above,

Blue Tit 20 (33) - 15 adults & 38 youngsters, oldest bird a '3' on 2 Oct '05,

Gt. Tit 9 (8) - of which 6 were adult, + 11 "this year's birds",

Chaffinch 4 (2) - 2 adults & 4 youngsters,

Greenfinch 1 - probably means 'winter passage not started here'.

A few bits of jiggery-pokery and 'hey presto' we can reckon on

5-6 family flocks of Long-tails (~63 birds),

~100 Coal Tits present ... and non-stop at the feeders!

~230 Blue Tits roaming the neighbourhood (wood and gardens),

~ 128 Gt. Tits, although at times it seems as if they dominate the feeders,

and a constant stream (trickle) of Chaffinches passing through the garden.

The Greenfinch is one of those 1CY birds that have moulted all its greater coverts and 'half' its alula and replaced primaries 6-7-8. Suspicion is that these are birds from the far continent (Russia?), with a more pointed wing shape as well. [If PP 6-7 only moulted, perhaps from near continent?].

I have ringed 9 juvenile Marsh Tits here this autumn. 6 of these have been caugh/re-caught in post-juvenile plumage and we know from recent results that 3 are still alive. If they are from nearby and from the same pair, then mortality is ~ 67% post fledging, which one would possibly expect. We'll see how we go, as they're regular at the feeders, too, and seem to do well if they get this far in life - at least until the breeding season.

PS. A pair of 'Squizzers' were collecting dead Oak leaves to line their nest in the ivy clad Ash tree that overlooks the garden. Their nest won't be the only thing that's warm!