Early October, scrub taping and start of Redwing roosts.

Although most of the Blackcap and Chiffchaff had now left our area, there were still Goldcrest and Meadow Pipit to catch, plus autumn Siskin/Lesser Redpoll/Redwing still to arrive. With four members ringing at Nanjizal, Cornwall (see blog) for the first week, we still managed a decent run of visits "tape luring" in the scrub area, starting with Peter on Friday 6th. His catch was 27 + (5) which included 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 + (1) Blackcap, 5 + (1) Goldcrest, and 8 Siskin.

Carlton was there on Saturday 7th, for 22 + (2), which included 5 Meadow Pipit, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 + (1) Blackcap, and 7 Goldcrest.

On Monday 9th, Peter again (joined by Jerry) for a catch of 22 + (1), which included 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Blackbird (potentially a northern migrant with "all dark bill"), 1 Blackcap, 5 Goldcrest, and 6 Siskin.

Tuesday 10th saw Jeremy ringing for the morning, and a catch of 12 + (1) by the time he left (including our 1st Redwing of the year). Carlton took over for the afternoon, and although it was quieter than the morning (sunny), he succeeded in catching our 1st Lesser Redpoll of the year. The day ended with 20 + (1), including 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 8 Goldcrest, 2 Redwing, and 2 Lesser Redpoll.

Redwing have arrived

The species totals for the four days was - 11 Meadow Pipit, 4 Wren, 2 Dunnock, (3) Robin, 1 Blackbird, 2 Redwing, 7 + (2) Blackcap, 6 Chiffchaff, 25 + (1) Goldcrest, 12 + (1) Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Treecreeper, 14 Siskin, 2 Lesser Redpoll, and 1 + (2) Bullfinch.

After a wet night, Jerry was back on Thursday 12th (as the last of the rain passed), he was joined by Peter/Ruth at lunchtime, who took over for the afternoon. They stayed to try our first roost (joined by Andy), now that the Redwing had arrived. The catching was relatively slow during daylight, but included Meadow Pipit, 2 Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 6 Goldcrest, Lesser Redpoll, and 2 Siskin. The roost produced 5 Song Thrush and 4 Redwing (could have been more but by then the mp3s were beginning to die), and the day ended on 30 + (3).

On Saturday 14th, Jerry tried an early afternoon - roost session. It was a tad breezy, with a short shower at 15.00, and catching was slow. The roost attempt was curtailed at bit early when part of a "tit" flock was captured (as they entered the netting area), and the nets dropped before more of the flock arrived. The session's catch of 12 + (5) included 3 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird, and 1 Chiffchaff.

Sunday 15th saw Andy doing a similar afternoon/roost session, but had a disappointing 9 + (2), which included another "all dark billed" Blackbird (see above), and 6 Goldcrest.

Monday 16th was forecast to be the end of the settled spell of weather, with some prolonged windy and/or wet weather on the way, suggesting there would be few ringing opportunities for the foreseeable future. Jerry started the session late morning, before Jeremy and Robin took over for late afternoon and the roost. The total of 21 + (4) was split almost across the two parts of the day, and included 2 Redwing, 3 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 7 Goldcrest, and 1 Siskin.

The species totals for the 4 days was 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 + (2) Wren, 2 + (3) Robin, 9 Redwing, 8 Song Thrush, 3 Blackbird, 6 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 19 + (2) Goldcrest, 7 + (5) Blue Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 4 + (1) Long-tailed Tit, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Lesser Redpoll, and 3 Siskin, and (1) Bullfinch.