Another Siskin and 2 Blackcaps

At the end of August I was down at Linacre ringing with Sorby Breck Ringing Group, when we caught a Siskin, the first one to be ringed at Linacre. Well, yesterday I was back down there, and we were lucky enough to catch another one! The first bird was an adult male, whereas yesterday's bird was a young bird, born this year. Hopefully, these 2 birds are just the start of a winter influx.

In the 5 hours that we were there (06.45 - 11.45), we managed to catch 49 birds, with the totals as follows (new/retrap): Dunnock 2/0, Robin 0/2, Blackbird 1/0, Blackcap 1/1, Goldcrest 2/0, Coal Tit 3/2, Blue Tit 7/3, Great Tit 6/5, Nuthatch 1/1, Chaffinch 1/0, Goldfinch 6/0, Siskin 1/0, Bullfinch 3/1.

Along with the Siskin, the other highlight of the morning must be the two Blackcaps. Its always good to see this species, especially as the year progresses, but yesterday's catch included a bird that we had caught back in June (see here).

As well as the ringing, we also recorded a very nice skein of 75 Pink-footed Geese flying NW over the site, my first record at Linacre for 2015. We also had a Tawny Owl calling as we arrived, Skylark flying over and a Mistle Thrush.

Pink-footed Geese

The sun was out for most of the session, and by the time we were packing up, we'd manage to record a few butterflies as well, namely: Red Admiral (1), Comma (1), Speckled Wood (3) and Small Tortoiseshell (1).

                                   

                                                                  Small Tortoiseshell