Eligro Bird Crop - Sunday 18th December

A large team, comprising George, Ron, Carola, Elinor, Jerry and Andy (who managed a couple of hours), turned out on a "perfect" morning. It was calm, with sunshine breaking through the high cloud, and a covering of mist over the Lake, when the nets were put up. But it didn't look like there were many birds present for the first hour, then numbers slowly built up - Yellowhammer numbers were probably down on the previous visit, while some Reed Bunting were now visiting the crop. The team only had one "decent" catch, as the birds were mainly associating with the small House Sparrow flock near the garden hedge. The garden also produced a rare sighting of David Featherstone (Group members from the 1980's will remember him), back home for xmas from Glasgow where he now lectures in Geography.
But back to the catch, which ended on a respectable 59 + (6), comprising Wren (1), Robin 2 + (3), Dunnock 2 + (1), Blackbird 2, Great Tit 1, House Sparrow 6, Chaffinch 1, Reed Bunting 8 and Yellowhammer 37 + (1).

Adult male yellowhammer


Rounded tail feathers of an adult male in December