Porridge and ‘Polls

 The forecast for today was for a brisk Northwesterly and possibly intermittent showers so our hopes weren’t too high. However, most of the nets were reasonably well sheltered and weather conditions didn’t stop birds from migrating. As a result we ringed 396 new birds of 15 species more of which later.

But first, “All Hail the Porridge!” We get at 4 in the morning and cups of tea and coffee keep us going until the magical appearance (provided by our hostess, Sissel) of bowls of steaming hot porridge enhanced by local berries and honey. To say that it hits the spot and revives the spirits, and I for one, have become a convert……




Back to the birds……

Yet again, the most numerous migrant we caught was Common Redpoll, with a staggering 339 individuals. 

The vast majority of the redpolls are birds of the year, but occasionally we get full adult males with a lovely red breast as in this picture

The rest of the cast included another 5 Siberian Tits, Bluethroats and Brambling; 13 Reed Bunting and 7 Redwing. Rather disappointing were only 2 Meadow Pipits, a species we are hoping to catch in big numbers when they start to migrate any day now. 2 new species for the trip were single Song Thrush and a very welcome adult White Wagtail which you can see below.



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