Firecrests are like buses....

The humble yet elegant Firecrest has, for me, been somewhat of a 'bogey' bird. That bogey was beaten thanks to Paulo Tenreiro on my recent trip to Portugal, where we caught three at Santa Olaia - a fantastic day! Having missed out on Firecrests due to bad timing and misfortune I was glad to break the duck, so to speak. Five ringing sessions later. Crosby Hall. One mile from where I grew up in Crosby. Two Firecrests in one day.

First-year (EURING code 3) Male Firecrest

Before the Firecrests turned up, I was already pretty happy. Although I started the session on my own, Moxey joined later on, in time to see a few Redwing (the first caught at CHET) and a young female Brambling (also the first caught at CHET). Unusually, there was a complete lack of finches, only one Greenfinch was seen, a couple of Goldfinches were heard. As a result, the session was dominated by Blue Tits and Great Tits, although seventeen Blackbirds were caught, fifteen of which were sampled for the Blackbird Project.

Goldcrest and Firecrest

The mp3 and speakers had, so far, brought in the Firecrests and a couple of Goldcrests and over the course of the morning and early afternoon, this increased to six Goldcrest ringed and one control, a young male, ring number BVK638 - if this is one of yours, let me know! Moxey reckons it might only be the second or third Goldcrest control that SWLRG has had.

The 53 and 122 to Crosby Hall

I am not really one for 'trophy' shots, however, this photo is a tribute to my friend Oliver Slessor, who volunteered at AuBO in Canada, when I was running the ringing and education program there. Oliver always had to have a photo taken with any 'new' bird. So here's to you Ollie!

The 'Oliver Slessor' Shot

Crosby Hall

Firecrest - 2
Goldcrest - 6 (1 control)
Redwing - 3
Blackbird - 14 (3)
Robin - 1 (1)
Dunnock - 2 (1)
Great Tit - 16 (14)
Blue Tit - 22 (12)
L.T.Tit - 10 (1)
Coal Tit - (2)
Chaffinch - 5 (1)
Brambling - 1
Wren - 1
Treecreeper - 1
Nuthatch - (2)

TOTAL - 85 (34) 1 control

The weather turned out a lot better than the forecast suggested, the winds were not as strong an it remained dry - definately a day worth getting out of bed for!

Brook Vale tomorrow, weather permitting - hoping to catch some more Redwing and break the duck with the Fieldfare! Here's a picture of last week's Woodcock from Fulwood:

Woodcock