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19 Nov 2013

Ringing - Tits & more tits!

A great day Friday ringing in Bazzers garden as part of our annual study into Blue & Great Tit survival. A total of 95 birds were caught of which 74 were new. As well as the Blue & Great Tits we caught 16 Goldfinches & 2 retrap Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Not the busiest day we've had here but still more than expected. What was noticeable was the lack of Great Tits and Coal Tits. compared to previous years.

Saturday saw me driving over to Hilbre in the dark to get there before the high tide. Seawatching was again the order of the day with the highlight being 2 male Velvet Scoter amongst the 450+ Common Scoter milling around in small groups.


Most of the Scoter were moving west but a small group spent the tide flying down the east side.

Once again the roosting waders provided good photo opportunities.






The habitual female Kestrel is still hunting voles and seems to be spending a lot of its time on Hilbre without venturing to Middle Eye.


There are at least 6 Robins on the island including 2 that have set up winter quarters in the Obs garden.




Sunday was a shopping day but once that deed had been done I spent the afternoon tidying up in the garden whilst carrying out some ringing. In contrast to Barry's the Great Tits outnumbered the Blue Tits and I managed to catch 2 more House Sparrows making the garden total now 20 new birds with the oldest being ringed as an adult male 1 year & 176 days ago and caught again this weekend.

With a Western Orphean Warbler in S Wales, belated news of a Dusky Thrush in a Devon garden at the beginning of November  and hot news of A Yellow-breasted Bunting in Norfolk it seems the twitching year isn't quite over yet. Another wintering American passerine? Ovenbird would do nicely.                                

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