Wet & Windy

This morning we were joined by another potential trainee, who, for the purposes of this blog, will be nicknamed Daniel O'Donnell - for his uncanny resemblence to the Irish singer and the continuing theme of trainees being named after musicians. The forecast wasn't giving much promise for a successful session, strong winds and intermittent rain don't make for ideal ringing conditions. As an Evertonian, I am used to pissing in the wind...eternal optimism....with little reward. Therefore, a catch of 71 birds of which 30 were new, including two Treecreepers and one Goldcrest, was quite rewarding.

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

In conditions such at those found here on Merseyside today, it helps to have a multiple ringers - one, in this case Moxey, keeping an eye on the nets and another, myself, handling the ringing away from the nets. The birds were promptly extracted during intermittent drizzle and sent down to the ringing table, where they were promptly processed and released. If I had been on my own this morning, we wouldn't have been able to operate as efficiently as this.

Due to the weather, we stuck to the three nets around the feeding station, not wanting to get caught short if the rain came down heavy. As a result, we were low on diversity, with Blue Tits making up 2/3rds of birds ringed. Daniel O'Donnell showed off his identification skills by picking up on the Treecreeper in the net before I had, from range I might add!

Ince Blundell

Blue Tit - 20 (19)
Great Tit - 2 (22)
Treecreeper - 2
Goldcrest - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Blackbird - 1
Chaffinch - 2

TOTAL: 30 (41)


Myself, Tineke and Canela headed down to Crosby Marina following the Ince Blundell session for a walk and a bit of birdwatching. I counted 45 Coot, 5 Tufted Duck, 8 Canada Geese and about 60 Mallard on the boating lake. A quick scan of the Marina gave 64 Black-headed Gull, 2 Coot and 3 LBB Gulls - nothing special, but the two intrepid windsurfers and the swell weren't making things easy. A loaf of bread brought the first Coot and Canada Goose of the year, much to the amusement of Canela, from a distance!

We then headed off to Brook Vale to feed up, disturbing a small mixed flock of Goldfinch and Siskin from the feeding station. Following the recent rainfall, the water level has risen several centimeters and the Water Rail have become very quiet!

Coot (Fulica atra)

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

Crosby Marina

Coot - 1
Canada Goose - 1

Fingers crossed the weather will not fulfill the forecast tomorrow, the plan is to head to Crosby Hall with Neil Diamond - taking time out from his busy recording schedule, apparently the album is almost finished!