Goldfinch in Garden

Back to Halifax and full of cold. It never fails to interest me that when you look at your feeders in the garden and you see 3 Goldfinch on the nyger, you think oh nice 3 Goldfinch the next time you look you see 2 and you think oh 2 Goldfinch. Today ringed 20 Goldfinch coming into feeder no re traps and no birds seen with rings on either. So just goes to show you never know how many different comings and goings there are to one little feeding station.

Back to Halifax and full of cold. It never fails to interest me that when you look at your feeders in the garden and you see 3 Goldfinch on the nyger, you think oh nice 3 Goldfinch the next time you look you see 2 and you think oh 2 Goldfinch. Today ringed 20 Goldfinch coming into feeder no re traps and no birds seen with rings on either. So just goes to show you never know how many different comings and goings there are to one little feeding station.

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Gulls in the garden

5 More Herring Gulls ringed in my Garden in the Isle of Man a fantastic weekend with some great weather, sunshine and no wind.

House Sparrows, Chaffinch, Wren, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Gt Tits and a Jackdaw.

other birds about

Hooded Crows coming into Garden and a small flock of Siskin in Scotch Pines.

5 More Herring Gulls ringed in my Garden in the Isle of Man a fantastic weekend with some great weather, sunshine and no wind.

House Sparrows, Chaffinch, Wren, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Gt Tits and a Jackdaw.

other birds about

Hooded Crows coming into Garden and a small flock of Siskin in Scotch Pines.

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18 Sep 09 - Burnham Overy Dunes - A taste of autumn

Headed out to the north coast this morning for a dawn(ish) raid on Burnham Overy Dunes. Got there at about 7.30 and bird the dunes, into the west end of Holkham Pines until 14.30. I was pretty knackered by the end of it, having kicked and booted every likely looking bush from Gun Hill to Holkham. The highlights of the day was a fly-over Lapland Bunting and a nice Snow Bunting (perhaps my earliest Norfolk record ever?) on the boardwalk which decided to fly off just as I got my camera on it. There were quite a few migrants in the dunes, although nothing to get exited about: 8 Redstarts, 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 6 Northern Wheatears and 2 Pied Flycatchers (in the pines), as well as about 1000 Pink-footed Geese over Holkham freshmarsh. Still plenty of hirundines about, with roughly 200 Barn Swallows over the staithe on the high tide.


Northern Wheatear



Common Redstart (male)

Headed out to the north coast this morning for a dawn(ish) raid on Burnham Overy Dunes. Got there at about 7.30 and bird the dunes, into the west end of Holkham Pines until 14.30. I was pretty knackered by the end of it, having kicked and booted every likely looking bush from Gun Hill to Holkham. The highlights of the day was a fly-over Lapland Bunting and a nice Snow Bunting (perhaps my earliest Norfolk record ever?) on the boardwalk which decided to fly off just as I got my camera on it. There were quite a few migrants in the dunes, although nothing to get exited about: 8 Redstarts, 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 6 Northern Wheatears and 2 Pied Flycatchers (in the pines), as well as about 1000 Pink-footed Geese over Holkham freshmarsh. Still plenty of hirundines about, with roughly 200 Barn Swallows over the staithe on the high tide.


Northern Wheatear



Common Redstart (male)

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My Garden Birds | Do Birds Think?

What determines a birds activities, where it goes, what it does, Do Birds Think?I sometimes wonder as I look at my garden birds, do they have a conscious mind, are they capable of thought processes like we humans, or are they merely living automatons following a set of inbuilt complex instructions.When they awake each morning do they think "Ooh what a lovely morning, nice to see the sun again,

What determines a birds activities, where it goes, what it does, Do Birds Think?I sometimes wonder as I look at my garden birds, do they have a conscious mind, are they capable of thought processes like we humans, or are they merely living automatons following a set of inbuilt complex instructions.When they awake each morning do they think "Ooh what a lovely morning, nice to see the sun again,

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Young Wood Pigeon Pictures

A few days ago this young WoodPigeon visited our garden, making good use of the feeder tray that still held some grains of seed. I managed to capture a few Young Wood Pigeon Pictures before he flew away.This is the second youngster of this species that we have seen in the garden recently. How many actually survive to this age I do not know though I am sure many perish before attaining this

A few days ago this young WoodPigeon visited our garden, making good use of the feeder tray that still held some grains of seed. I managed to capture a few Young Wood Pigeon Pictures before he flew away.This is the second youngster of this species that we have seen in the garden recently. How many actually survive to this age I do not know though I am sure many perish before attaining this

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More Twite

This morning spent at Rishworth with another 38 Twite caught.

Since Sunday i have caught 55 Twite here with only one retrap today from Sunday.

36 new birds ringed and 16 of Nicks Pulli .

and 3 birds i ring at whiteholme in August.

I Text Nick as i re caught his birds and the phone rang straight away, T627937 was of a brood he thought had been predated over at Wessenden so some good news .

as i packed up i caught 5 more birds and the last one was T627938 so at least two of the brood made it.

Also i caught a bird Nick Carter had seen at Flyflats 3 days ago. These magic little birds travel around our moors so frequently. 70 odd Twite seen still feeding in the quarry at Rochdale yesterday and a flock of 40 at Cant Clough. Also the weight of the birds is improving majority of the birds ringed in August were around 14.5 grams Septembers birds now up to 15.8 and some over 16 so feeding up for the cold of winter and the migration down south.

This morning spent at Rishworth with another 38 Twite caught.

Since Sunday i have caught 55 Twite here with only one retrap today from Sunday.

36 new birds ringed and 16 of Nicks Pulli .

and 3 birds i ring at whiteholme in August.

I Text Nick as i re caught his birds and the phone rang straight away, T627937 was of a brood he thought had been predated over at Wessenden so some good news .

as i packed up i caught 5 more birds and the last one was T627938 so at least two of the brood made it.

Also i caught a bird Nick Carter had seen at Flyflats 3 days ago. These magic little birds travel around our moors so frequently. 70 odd Twite seen still feeding in the quarry at Rochdale yesterday and a flock of 40 at Cant Clough. Also the weight of the birds is improving majority of the birds ringed in August were around 14.5 grams Septembers birds now up to 15.8 and some over 16 so feeding up for the cold of winter and the migration down south.

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2 Years On

On Sunday Andy and i re caught a colour ringed Meadow Pipit from 2007 at Kex Gill re caught at the same site and only a day away from the same date.

What the Vismigers had to say

"Speaking to Andy J last night. He says that yesterday they re-caught a mipit at Kex Gill N Yorks which they had originally colour ringed exactly two years ago (all but a day!) at the same site.... suggests at least that mipits might use the same migration routes at the same time of
year!..... interesting! !"

"For a Meadow Pipit, I think that's an amazing result! All the more so since adult Mipits are so much harder to catch than 1y birds. Nice one Andy. "

On Sunday Andy and i re caught a colour ringed Meadow Pipit from 2007 at Kex Gill re caught at the same site and only a day away from the same date.

What the Vismigers had to say

"Speaking to Andy J last night. He says that yesterday they re-caught a mipit at Kex Gill N Yorks which they had originally colour ringed exactly two years ago (all but a day!) at the same site.... suggests at least that mipits might use the same migration routes at the same time of
year!..... interesting! !"

"For a Meadow Pipit, I think that's an amazing result! All the more so since adult Mipits are so much harder to catch than 1y birds. Nice one Andy. "

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