Another carbon-copy day, calm and heavily overcast throughout; the ringing was again dominated by Redpolls as I managed to catch 51 Common and 6 Lessers but missed out as another Coue’s Arctic Redpoll was seen around the nets, feeding right underneath but failed to get caught, the only other bird of note caught was a distinctive Greenfinch – a massive adult male with a wing of 97 and a nice grey cast all over, unusual for an adult male, probably from way north and east!
Other birds seen through the morning comprised a total of at least 96 Whooper Swans with flocks dropping in and moving off all day (I probably missed some though), 27 Shelduck (my highest count here), 2 Shoveler, 420+ Mallard, 385+ Teal, 14 Goosander, an increased 1,364 Lapwings in the bay, 3 Ruff, a Jack Snipe flying around the reedbed at dawn, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Peregrines, 4 Hawfinches (three high over and another single by the feeders) and a single Bullfinch.
It was another epic night for Corvids in the bay just before dusk as I broke my previous record with a massive 1,261 Hooded Crows gathering in front of the house right up until it got dark – I don’t know when and where the subsequently go.
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