There has been a lot of activity in my garden this summer: lots of juvenile Blue Tits, even more juvenile Starlings, of which I caught a fair number earlier this month using my Potter Traps. With the wind forecast to be low enough to set some nets, I set up two 6m 5-shelf nets either side of the feeding station. To reiterate: I do still feed seed and peanuts, plus fat balls, mealworms etc. However, yesterday I put up freshly cleaned and sterilised feeders, and they will be empty by tonight. With no rain and no great flocks of Greenfinch, just a steady trickle throughout the day, I am quite comfortable with my feeding regime. That I haven’t seen a Tricho suffering Greenfinch or Chaffinch since I ditched the bird table speaks volumes.
Anyway, I have a very early start tomorrow, so thought that I would just open them when I awoke, which I did at 7:45. I caught my first birds at 8:00. A bunch of juvenile Blue Tits and these two:
This is the first juvenile Coal Tit my team has caught so far this year. That was followed by this:
If you look at the colour developing on the lesser coverts, I would hazard a guess that this is a male bird, but I wouldn’t hang my hat on it. Again, the first juvenile House Sparrow my team has had this year and, to be honest, they don’t know that I have got these either.
The other two new for the year were adult, and very healthy looking Greenfinch. I don’t currently have any arable farming sites, so miss out on quite a few finches unless they come to the garden.
Anyway, the list for the morning was: Blue Tit 11; Great Tit 1; Coal Tit 1; Starling 1; House Sparrow 1; Greenfinch 2. Totals : 2 adults ringed from 1 species and 15 juveniles ringed from 5 species, making 17 birds processed from 6 species.
I shut the nets for two reasons: the wind was gusting much stronger and, secondly, I wanted breakfast. It got much stronger so I have not reopened them.
I was contacted by Andrew, one of the local farmers who have put up Barn Owl boxes. Andrew has two, one hasn’t had anything so far, the other has had Jackdaws in the second year. This year they had noticed a Barn Owl hunting over their fields near the box. The plan was to shut my nets between 10:30 and midday and pop out to check their owl boxes. I was on site at 11:15 and Andrew and I went to check. The box where they had seen the the owl flying around had this beauty roosting in it:
Its plumage was pristine and the wings and tail exceptionally clean and beautiful:
It was a beautiful, and very feisty, bird: I have a few spike holes in my fingers!
Anyway, a lovely morning and much better than I was expecting.