Thursday 23 October 2008

Redpolls & Redwings . . . 
Tuesday was a bit of a wash out day once again. Highlights were increasing numbers of Geese, Whooper Swans & Redwing. One Grey Phalarope was still present in South Haven. 3 more Snow Bunting were trapped & 1 Tufted Duck, Purple Sandpiper & Woodcock were also ringed. Wednesday saw better weather with force 6-7 westerlies, sunny spells & the odd hail-filled shower. Ventured south in the morning, photographing a smart NW (Iceland/Greenland) Redpoll at Barkland on the way down. This bird had been ringed the day before. There were a lot more Redwing about & at least 2 Merlin hunting the flocks. A few Redwing (Islandica) were very approachable for photography as was the Lesser Whitethroat which fed frantically on an apple (!) in the Obs heligoland trapping area. The evening saw another 'dazzling' session with 2 Juv Whooper Swans caught, 1 at Da Water & 1 at Field Pond as well as more Greylag Geese, taking the number caught to 22 in 3 days . . . .