More Waxwings!

OK – this post is just an excuse to get more photos of these wonderful little birds onto the blog!!

6 more birds caught today, along with 6 Blackbird (+2 recap) and 1 Starling.

Ciaran with his favourite bird!

Also caught today – 14 Coot, 19 Black Headed Gull & 1 Common Gull.

Well they arrived!

I awoke this morning to the sound of Waxwings outside of my bedroom window. So jumping up & pulling back my curtains I was amazed to see around 100 Waxwings outside! I quickly grabbed some apples & made a makeshift apple tree in the garden & to my surprise around 20 birds came to feed on them!

Throughout the remainder of the day, the birds commuted between ours & a neighbours garden, with the birds coming down just low enough to catch – we placed a net up & caught 12 birds this afternoon, along with 9 Blackbirds.

With there being so many in the Greater Manchester area, we’ve been expecting them for a while here in Atherton & at long last they arrived!

Unfortunately we did find three dead birds, which were results of window strikes. Recovery rates for Waxwings are quite high mainly due to these collisions, so it’s well worth checking any dead Waxwings for rings!

Wader & Waxwing Weekend.

This weekend Craig & I joined our mate Chris, along with his ringing group (SCAN) for some wader ringing along the north Wales coast. A totally new experience for me & Craig as we've never really been involved in wader ringing.

Friday evening was spent mist netting at Llanfairfechan catching 104 new birds & 13 recap or controls.

Snipe - 1

Knot - 2

Curlew - 6

Oystercatcher - 20

Dunlin - 42

Redshank - 28

Lapwing - 4

&

Starling - 1

Saturday morning we set a cannon net near Bangor harbour, catching 66 Redshank, which consisted of new birds & a number of retraps or controls.

And this morning we set a cannon net near Aber Ogwen for Redshank. 250 were on the pool, however they were spooked by something and unfortunately didn't return in numbers, so we packed up & called it a weekend.

Back in Bangor (where we were staying with Chris) Zac Hinchcliffe alerted us to a flock of around 40 Waxwings. Chris made arrangements to meet Kelvin back in Bangor & soon we had a net up and caught a single bird.

** I've since heard that Kelvin & Chris have managed to catch more Waxwings in Bangor (along with a few Robin & Blackbird!) Hopefully the ringing of these birds will help in understanding the movements of this attractive winter visitor in the UK.**

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Thanks to the following people for making us feel welcome & for allowing us to be involved - Chris Bridge, Steve Dodd, Richard de Feu, Kelvin Jones and David Coker.