A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 20 new birds: 5 Long-tailed Tit, a Chiffchaff, 3 Robin, 2 Goldfinch, a Dunnock, 7 Blackbird and a Starling; and a retrap Blackbird.
November 9th. Birds present, including those trapped, were 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Snow Bunting, 12 Twite, 2 Bullfinch, a Stonechat, a Kingfisher, a Hen Harrier, a Merlin, 4 Woodcock and 1800 Pink-footed Goose. On Tennyson Sands were 2 Water Rail and a Greenshank. Flying south were 12 Whooper Swan, 2 Siskin and a Brambling. In off the sea came a Woodcock. There were 2 Tawnny Owls calling at Aylmer at first light and one calling from Sykes Farm whilst a Barn Owl was at the back of the Mere hunting nearly all day.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 36 new birds: a Goldcrest, a Wren, 3 Robin, a Blackcap, 3 Song Thrush, 25 Blackbird, a Woodcock and a Sparrowhawk; and 8 retraps: 2 Robin, 3 Blackbird, a Dunnock, a Goldfinch and a Great Tit.
Meanwhile at Aylmer Avenue a long ringing session was underway, taking advantage of the near perfect ringing conditions with no wind and thick cloud for most of the morning. The result was very good with 80 new birds ringed including a new species for the year for the Observatory in the shape of a Cetti's Warbler, whether this was the bird seen at Shovelers Pool remains a mystery as this bird was captured in a net within 10 yards of the road near North Car park. The new birds were 30 Blackbird, 15 Goldfinch, 8 Greenfinch, 6 Goldcrest, 5 Robin, 4 Chaffinch, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Dunnock, 2 Blackcap, 2 Sparrowhawk and singles of Starling, Woodcock and Cetti's Warbler. The 64 retraps were 11 Great Tit, 10 Blue Tit, 7 Greenfinch, 6 Dunnock, 6 Robin, 6 Long Tailed Tit, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Wren, 2 Blackbird, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Blackcap and a single Coal Tit.
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| Cetti's Warbler, ringed 9th November 2014 Photo - Mick Briggs. |
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| Cetti's Warbler, ringed 9th November 2014 Photo - Mick Briggs. |
Going south were 5 Whooper Swan. At Aylmer Avenue there was a single Tree Sparrow.
A wind-restricted morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Georgina Scott, produced 8 new birds: a Song Thrush and 7 Blackbird; and 3 retraps: singles of Redwing, Dunnock and Robin.
Meanwhile at Aylmer Avenue the strong wind curtailed a planned long ringing session, resulting in just 26 new birds being ringed. They were 12 Blackbird, 3 Goldfinch, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Wren, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Greenfinch and singles of Dunnock and Song Thrush. The 20 retraps were 4 Great Tit, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Blue Tit, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Blackbird and singles of Goldfinch, Dunnock, Coal Tit, Robin and Blackcap.
November 7th. Strong southerly wind, rainy spells.
Around were a Goldcrest, 3 Peregrine, 2 Merlin, 1000 Pink-footed Goose, 4000 Golden Plover, 6 Redwing and 12 Fieldfare. Flying south offshore were 144 Common Scoter, 243 Wigeon, 331 Teal, 18 Pintail, 10 Great Skua, 27 Eider, 7 Goldeneye, 47 Mallard, 8 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Shoveler and 2 Bewick's Swan.
No ringing was attempted.
November 6th. Birds around included 1800 Pink-footed Goose.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 26 new birds: a Goldcrest, 2 Reed Bunting, a Goldfinch, a Greenfinch, a Redwing, 19 Blackbird and a Woodcock; and 6 retraps: 2 Dunnock, 2 Robin, a Blackbird and a Wren. One of the Blackbirds ringed was partially leucistic.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Mike Polling resulted in 59 new birds: 2 Goldcrest, 11 Goldfinch, 4 Chaffinch, 4 Robin, a Great Tit, a Blue Tit, a Blackcap, 20 Greenfinch, a Song Thrush and 14 Blackbird; 43 retraps: 16 Great Tit,10 Blue Tit, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Dunnock, 2 Chaffinch, a Wren, 4 Blackbird, 3 Greenfinch and 2 Robin; and a control (ringed elsewhere) Greenfinch.
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| Woodcock, ringed 6 November 2014. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Partially leucistic female Blackbird, ringed 6 November 2014. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Partially leucistic female Blackbird, ringed 6 November 2014. Photo - George Gregory |
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 16 new birds: a Yellow-browed Warbler, 2 Goldcrest, 5 Robin, a Reed Bunting, a Chaffinch, a Song Thrush and 5 Blackbird; and 2 retraps: singles of Dunnock and Goldcrest.
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| Yellow-browed Warbler, ringed 5 November 2014. Photo - George Gregory |
Birds around included 1500 Pink-footed Goose, a Hen Harrier and 2 Peregrine. On the Mere, then later on Tennyson Sands, were 2 Bearded Tit. Going south were 12 Whooper Swan and a Snow Bunting. Sea-watching provided 2 Little Auk, on the beach before flying off, and 9 Red-throated Diver.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 14 new birds: 4 Goldcrest, a Robin, 3 Reed Bunting, a Song Thrush and 5 Blackbird; 5 retraps: a Goldcrest, a Blackbird, a Redwing and 2 Dunnock; and a Control (ringed elsewhere) Robin.
A Pectoral Sandpiper on the beach on 18 October was identified later from a photograph, which can be seen on the blog entry for that date.
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| Little Auk, 4 November 2014. Photo - Mel Thorn |
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| Little Auk, 4 November 2014. Photo - Mel Thorn |
Around were a Black Redstart, 2 Bullfinch, a Hen Harrier, a Common Buzzard and 500 Pink-footed Goose. Heading south over land were 9 Whooper Swan and 2 Brambling, south over sea 5 Eider, 9 Great Crested Grebe, 10 Red-throated Diver, a Kittiwake, a Goldeneye and a Little Gull, and north over sea a Great Skua.
A wind-restricted morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 11 new birds: 2 Goldcrest, 2 Robin, 2 Goldfinch and 5 Blackbird; and 3 retraps: singles of Robin, Redwing and Wren.
November 2nd. Strong but gradually decreasing south-westerly wind, prolonged rainy spells.
The Spoonbill remained on Tennyson Sands. Also there were a Kingfisher, 2 Water Rail, 3 Greenshank and 114 Black-tailed Godwit. On Jackson's Marsh was a Goldeneye. Birds around included 45 Redwing and a Bullfinch. A Grey Phalarope and a Black-throated Diver flew south at sea.
No ringing was attempted.
November 1st. Around were a Cetti's Warbler, 3 Stonechat, a Black Redstart and a Merlin. At Aylmer Avenue were 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Bullfinch, 6 Brambling and 10 Siskin. On Tennyson Sands were a Spoonbill and 6 Greenshank. Offshore were 7 Little Gull. Flying south were 30 Whooper Swan, 250 Pink-footed Goose and 20 Tree Sparrow.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Georgina Scott and Jenni Godber, provided 20 new birds: 3 Goldcrest, a Blackcap, a Robin, a Dunnock, 2 Song Thrush, 11 Blackbird and a Sparrowhawk; and 5 retraps: 3 Dunnock, a Goldcrest and a Robin.
At Aylmer Avenue Mick Briggs was ringing and the result was 91 new birds and 28 retraps. The new birds were 39 Greenfinch, 19 Goldfinch, 10 Chaffinch, 8 Goldcrest, 5 Blackbird, 5 Blackcap, 2 Dunnock and singles of Robin, Chiffchaff and Bullfinch. The retraps were 10 Great Tit, 5 Blue Tit, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Greenfinch, 3 Dunnock, 2 Chaffinch and single of Goldfinch and Wren.
