At last after some very poor catches in the last few weeks which were simply not newsworthy Nigel got home this afternoon to find a flock of Siskin eyeing the niger seed in the feeders in his Shepshed garden. A net was erected and the following catch was made:- 10 Siskin, 2 Bullfinch both male (he thought there was only one in the garden)., 4 Greenfinch, 1 House Sparrow , 1 Blue Tit and 7 Goldfinch. It is interesting to see how things change over time, by this time last year we had already ringed almost 100 Siskin, so by comparison a scarce bird in these parts this winter.
The story gets better .... another 11 Siskin ringed today. Some of the birds on the move this time of year are of continental origin. A friend of ours in an adjoining county has caught a bird carrying a Belgian ring.
We were invited to do a ringing demontartion for the Leicesterhire & Rutland Wildlife Trust volunteers.Fifty birds were ringed including Nuthatch and two Willow Tit. Demonstrations of this kind (you may have seen the excellent demo's at the Bird Fair) allow us to show the 'public' what we do, how we do it and why. We often find great interest especially if people haven't seen birds in the hand before.
Nigel's run of Siskin continues. Seven more today (that's 28 since 9th March) along with good selection of other species ringed in Shepshed.
Very limited numbers now to be found at our traditional winter sites, and migration has barely got started. March and early April are often quiet, so we are able to spend a little more time looking closely at birds like this female Reed Bunting (left) caught this afternoon, which are just getting themselves in to breeding condition. Although it is easy to distinguish male & female Reed Bunting at this time of year, they look alike earlier in the winter (until abrasion of head feathers reveals the black which is charecteristic of males). Ringers though have an advantage when they have this species in the hand because females have these dark arrow shaped crown feather centres whereas males have half round centres. A big bonus whilst Neil Hagley was ringing this afternoon came in the shape of a White Stork which flew over the ringing site at Wigston Sewage farm then over Hospital Lane Blaby towards Wigston (it was later seen over Swithland Reservoir).
A brief session in 'the forest' produced 26 birds and our first migrants of 2004 in the shape of 3 Chiffchaff. Nigel & Chris had the rare opportunity to examine Willow & Marsh Tit in the hand at the same time. Nigel commented how different they are when compared side by side. An old ringers 'aid memoir' is the 'sh' sound on the end of Mar'sh'. (see right)
An intrepid amphibious team lead by Andy Smith set off around the islands at Watermead this morning and ringed 8 heron chicks. This is a real landmark as it brings the total ringed at the site to 100.
Another trip out on the water to complete the Heron ringing for this season resulted in great disappointment as only one chick was ringed. Each year we find that cold/wet periods (as we had following the first sucessful session on the 3rd) results in significant mortality, as appears to have happened again. Cool wet springs are now sadly a regular occurance.
On a positive note recces produced Tree Pipit and Grasshopper Warblers in at traditional sites and efforts will be made to ring birds over the next few weeks.
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