I'm back with species number 19!

Species Number 19

The Redstart

Such a beautiful bird. I had seen a pair around last summer before I had started ringing at this site, so I'm happy to report they are still on site.

A pair of juvenile Great spotted woodpeckers were also ringed, aswell as a pair of Blackbirds.




Sorry I have not posted in so long. Me and my wife have been busy working extra hours and doing lots of training to be able to set up our own business!

We are setting up a Forest School site near Aberaeron. We will be doing after school clubs, Home ED groups and Parent and little one's groups.

Activities will include: Shelter/Den building, Tool use (knifes, billhooks, axes, palm drills, etc), Foraging and cooking, Bird ID, Flower & Tree ID, Woodland crafts, etc.

https://www.facebook.com/knightfoxwildaboutlearning

http://www.knight-foxwildaboutlearning.co.uk/

" screch y coed,"

Species number 18:  The Jay

" screch y coed," The screamer of the woods

Otter spraint was also discovered alongside the stream, which was quite a surprise because as far as I know there are only invertebrates in the stream and it can become quite shallow in the summer.

 Otter Spraint, oily, not an unpleasant smell.

The Otter spraint is located in the opening under the tree on the left.

But if an Otter can live in this habitat then maybe a Dipper could!

Species 17 to start 2017

5/01/17

The first bird of 2017 was a Redwing, followed by species number 17 ringed at this site, the Starling.

 Also ringed on this day, were 3 Chaffinches, a Great tit and a Blue tit.


21/01/17

Another two Robins, taking me up to 15 Robins at this site.

This session mainly consisted of retraps:

8 Great tit
3 Blue tit
And these 2 lovely Coal tits

Species number 16

The Redwing

I have now ringed 16 species and just over 150 birds at this site.

Thank you to the Teifi Ringers for their advice on how to catch the Redwing and thank you Charlie for the Latvian Redwing sound, which brought them down to the mist net.

 I caught the first one at 8:30am and then two more at 9:00am.

 

Other birds ringed this morning, starting at 6:45am, were: 2 Blackbirds, 3 Blue tits, 1 Chaffinch and another male Great spotted woodpecker.

Nice selection of species this morning.

125 birds ringed at this site so far.
                                                                  

                                                             

Treecreeper...........1                                          

Blackbird...............2                                             

Robin....................1

Blue tit...................2                                             

G.S.Woodpecker...1

Goldfinch..............4

Chaffinch..............1

Total.....................12

 

Goldfinch

 Great spotted woodpecker 

 Treecreeper

Blackbird

That enjoyable moment when the sun finally appears.

I was out three times last week, but not a lot to show for it. I ran out of sunflower seeds, so less chaffinches and no goldfinches. I did get another woodpecker though and a pair of bullfinches :)

 Male (red patch on the back of the head), Great spotted-woodpecker

 

Male, Bullfinch.  

                                        Female, Bullfinch.                                   

Common Darter

A few flocks of Redwing have flown over so fingers crossed.

Over 100 birds

Nice first net round with four new birds, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Robin and another Goldfinch.

 This is the 3rd Nuthatch I have ringed, so far I have had two males and one female.

The image below indicates that this is a male from the deep rufous feathers underneath its tale.

I also had two helpers for a little while, my wife Cathryn, who got to ring bird number 100 (Chaffinch) and my daughter Savannah who was just a bit of a heavy lump :)

Linnets and Goldfinches

Linnet ringing at Mwnt with the Teifi Ringers this morning, using a whoosh net. 64 linnets and 1 house sparrow, which was the highlight for Andrew, a trainee with the Teifi Ringing Group as it was a new species for him.

Later on I was back in my garden, where I'm happy to say I got a pair of Goldfinches, species number 15  :)

 Male Goldfinch, as the red on the face extends to behind the eye and has darker/blacker nostril whisker/feathers.

 Female Goldfinch, as the red does not extend to behind the eye and the nostril whiskers/feathers are greyer.

Species number 14

The Blackbird. I was surprised how long it took to catch one as there is at least 6 around.

and more chaffinches.

Due to rain, but mainly wind, ringing has been a bit quieter, so I have been spending more time getting the ringing shed cosier.

 

Here's my daughter Savannah doing some work in her woodland activity book.