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 in the net

Early start - got up at 4.45am. Didn't get home til about 9.30pm. Between these times I was at Castor Hanglands, one of my old stomping grounds near Peterborough.

Lesser Redpoll

11 in the net!

We caught about 120 birds...

• Lesser Redpoll
• Siskin
• Chaffinch
• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Coal Tit
• Long-tailed Tit
• Marsh Tit
• Treecreeper
• Blackbird
• Redwing
• Song Thrush
• Tree Sparrow
• Goldcrest
• Sparrowhawk!

Juvenile male Sparrowhawk

For me, this was the highlight: a juvenile male Sparrowhawk. I haven't handled many birds of prey so it was a really good opportunity to deal with a bird that actually could hurt me - if it wanted to, and if I wasn't careful enough.

We got it out of the net without too much trouble, and put it in a cotton bird bag until we were ready to ring it. Then, I had to put my hand into the bag containing the hawk, and get the bird out again without letting it escape.

I could see the sharp talons sticking out through the cotton, so at least I knew where they were...

the eyes have it

Normally you identify the bird, put the ring on, and then do the ageing, sexing and biometrics (weighing, fat and muscle scoring, and measuring wing length).

With Sparrowhawks there's such a size difference between males and females they take different ring sizes (males being smaller). The wing length confirmed it was a male, and the chestnut-brown edges to the back and wing feathers show it hatched earlier this year.

The Sparrowhawk was surprisingly docile while I handled it. It had a look of rage in its eyes, though. When we were finished, it was a pleasure to release it. What a bird...

underwing...

and upperwing

now for something smaller - a female Siskin

and Lottie, who kept us entertained between net rounds with her stick-chasing and chewing

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D

Ferry Meadows Country Park

A 'celebration' of the Black-headed Gull:









Gadwalls performing nicely on Lynch Lake






... and Tufted Ducks on Gunwade.


The best kind of red-eye (on a drake Pochard)


Grey Heron on the meadow of the same name


Woodpigeon dozing in an oak tree




Lesser Redpolls eating seeds (rosebay willowherb, I think)


Autumnal leaves... in winter




Goldfinch fodder

digiscoped photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 62 with 16x eyepiece

Ferry Meadows

Lesser Redpolls (Carduelis cabaret) can be hard to pin down in the Peterborough area, so I was happy to find a small flock feeding in the alders on the north bank of the River Nene, near Bluebell Bridge. They spent quite a lot of time feeding on fallen alder cones on the ground.