Good selection of birds ringed in Charnwood forest today included Nuthatch (below) and Woodcock (right). Woodcock easy to age as an adult by white undertail tips and showing the remarkable all round vision as the bulbous eyes can be seen even from behind.
Usual winter ringing over the last few weeks. 37 new birds ringed today including 4 Goldcrest and 16 Chaffinch. One bird we caught today was a partial albino Blackbird. The image below right shows the effect of this rare genetic blip. This bird had a few feathers which were wholly free of pigment. In this case one isolated secondary and a tertial. Very occasionally some individuals are all white which is perhaps the ultimate identity crisis for a Blackbird! The rarity of this trait is indicated by the bird ringing records of two Californians. Among 30,000 birds they captured over a ten year period, only 17 showed any degree of albinism.
An interesting bird caught today in the shape of a Grey Wagtail. This bird is showing black and yellow feathering sprouting around its head and throat as it changes from winter plumage in to breeding plumage. In some birds this occurs by growing new feathers known as a pre-breeding moult (as in this case) whereas other birds, such as Reed Buntings, acquire their very well marked blackish heads by the wearing away of the pale tips of fundamentally dark feathers, revealing the black below.
One of the group put a net out for 2 hours at lunchtime and caught 19 Siskin for ringing. The set up consisted of a 6m net set horizontally ie parallel to the ground with poles resting on fishing rod rests. Below empty seed feeders, the birds were feeding on spilt sunflower seeds.
6th March 2006
Interesting adjunct to the Siskin report, we have just had news of a control R958931 an adult male Siskin ringed in the same Shepshed garden back in March 2004 and controlled 28.03.2005 Schonebeck, Germany, just west of Berlin, in Prussian Saxony.
Nigel has continued to catch Siskins in his garden. Current total is close to forty birds. Dave Bradley has been busy at Swithland including floating the refurbished tern raft. The raft was towed to the west shore and cleaned of weed. As much soil as possible was removed and all was washed thoroughly, then gravel was redistributed and some fresh gravel was added (kindly donated by Mick Winterton, Wanlip NGP). The whole thing was then towed back on station and anchored. A job well done. Photo taken after refurbishment and just before re-launch. Angled and half rounded shelters for chicks to hide under from elements and predators.
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