October Week 3

The weather for the start of the week was a bit breezy, but Jerry managed to fit in a few sessions, except when remnants of hurricane Ophelia passed through. 
On Sunday 15th, he had a relatively quiet morning with 16 + (2), the best of which were 6 Goldcrest and a Lesser Redpoll. 
On Tuesday, the improved catch of 22 + (4) comprised mainly
"tits" moving away from the feeders, getting caught in gn4A.  A handful of Redwing were feeding in the church yews (along with greater numbers of Song Thrush/Blackbird, and a few Mistle Thrush), but none were attracted to the tape. The last net round produced three Redpoll, two of which were typical "Lessers", but the third was much paler (with reduced buff on the face/breast and cleaner underparts) and was long winged. It didn't look to be quite good enough for Common (having an intermediate
plumage) so was recorded as Redpoll sp.  On Thursday, there were some light showers in the morning, before heavier rain set in at midday, resulting in a shortened session.  Despite this, a useful 15 + (9) birds were caught, incl 5 Goldcrest and 2 late Chiffchaff.  Hornets were still visiting the net lanes and three were released from the nets.

Redpoll sp. shows lack of buff on face & throat typically seen in lesser redpoll

On Friday, Jeremy and Jerry started a session late in the morning, continued until dark, and had a decent catch of 38 + (15).  About 50 Siskin were feeding in the alders, and three were caught, (together with three Lesser Redpoll), though they appeared to be visiting the water points, rather than coming to the tapes. The roost produced three Song Thrush (no Redwing) and the only Chiffchaff for the session.

Summary of the four catches - Blackbird 2 + (2), Song Thrush 6, Robin 2 + (1), Dunnock 1, Wren 2, Chiffchaff 4 + (2), Goldcrest 19, Blue Tit 22 + (19), Coal Tit 3 + (1), Great Tit 8 + (2), Long-tailed Tit 3 + (1), Treecreeper 1, Nuthatch (2), Lesser Redpoll 7, Redpoll sp 1, Siskin 3 and Bullfinch 7.