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

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

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

A walk in the woods

dead branches

brambles

Siskins: male (top) and female

Dunnock

Chaffinch

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

Lodge lunchtime/bathtime

Male Siskin taking a dip (they were very quick so unfortunately this is the best shot I got)


Male and female Great Tits in the pond together


Male Chaffinch


Robin


Male Chaffinch awaiting his turn on the feeder


Great Tit doing the same


Male Great Tit


Blue Tit

A very gusty day which seemed to spook the birds a bit, with alternating periods of bright sunshine and dull cloud. Some more work to be done here, I think... Watch this space.

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