Greenfinchfest

Did some more ringing today in the garden. One species dominated proceedings... can you guess which?

The totals:

• Greenfinch, 51!
• Blue Tit, 6 (+ one retrap originally ringed here in 2007)
• Dunnock, 6 (all juveniles)
• Great Tit, 3
• Goldfinch, 2
  

We kept going until we used up the whole series of 50 'B' rings (the size that Greenfinches take). It was a bit windy - we could have had even more. I'd seen up to 30 in the garden in recent days so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at the number we caught. This afternoon there are yet more unringed finches in the garden!

Most of the Greenfinches had purple, sticky beaks. They've been eating berries - blackberries and elderberries, I guess. Most birds like berries for the sugary pulp, but Greenfinches and Bullfinches take them for the seeds hidden inside. That means lots of bright purple poos.

Near-misses included Chaffinch, Robin, Swallow and Sparrowhawk...

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640