Up close and personal with garden birds

With the tree seed (alder, birch etc) finally running out, Siskins are flooding into gardens. This male was a 'control' - a bird already ringed somewhere else when we caught it

Here's a female Siskin - less colourful but still beautiful. See how fine the bill is for getting those seeds

Another male, the first I caught in my garden

Here's another tree seed-munching finch, a Lesser Redpoll

and a female Goldfinch

Here's a Nuthatch, the third I've caught in the garden

I 'retrapped' her 15 days later. Here's a close-up of the claws that mean Nuthatches can climb down trees headfirst

I originally caught this Treecreeper on New Year's Day 2012, so it was good to see it's still going strong

A Goldcrest, Europe's smallest bird, weighs about 5g (the same as 5 paperclips)

And a male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Read more about bird ringing in the UK on the BTO website

Birds I haven't ringed lately

Whoa! Firecrest!

Firecrest (left) and Goldcrest (right). They're actually the same size

Whoa! A massive bird of prey!

Er, no, not really. Just a little male Sparrowhawk hatched this year

Sadly, I didn't get to ring either the Firecrest or the Sparrowhawk, though I have done both before so it was only fair that someone else had a turn (grits teeth).

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

Ringing at Beeston

We we were on track to get the 2,000th bird ever to be ringed at Beeston today, and so we did. And at least it wasn't a Dunnock or Blue Tit (though they're nice in their own ways, we catch them all the time). It was a handsome male Goldfinch.

Male Goldfinch - the 2,000th bird to be ringed at Beeston

We also caught a handful of Siskins, which we don't normally... The first bird of the day was an adult male which was laden with fat (fuel for migration) and weighed in excess of 16g. The other Siskins we trapped were more around the 13g mark. Quite a big difference for a small bird.

First bird of the morning - an adult male Siskin

Smallest, lightest bird of the day - a male Goldcrest, which tipped the scales at less than 5g!

Male Reed Bunting caught in the garden

Mistletoe - untouched by birds!

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM