Ouch!

Thursday morning was much colder than expected and the feeders that I had placed in the woodland ringing ride at Lound Lakes were soon attracting good numbers of tits and finches. Most birds were caught in the first couple of net rounds but later in the morning saw a greater variety caught with Goldcrests responding readily to the MP3 lures.  Sadly Redpolls didn't with only one Lesser Redpoll being caught and despite playing MP3 lures of winter thrushes only a single Redwing was trapped; several small flocks of Fieldfare responded well to the lure but remained well above net height chuckling as they flew over.

1st Winter (3) Lesser Redpoll

Not long before packing up it was a pleasant surprise to find a Jay that had somehow manage to become caught in the bottom shelf. Jays are a common feature in the woodlands surrounding Lound Lakes and screech loudly as they give chase or find a roosting Tawny Owl.

Ouch! This Jay is clearly unimpressed

One female chaffinch displayed a particularly interesting colour aberration with two primaries and a primary covert having been replaced with leucistic white feathers.

Female chaffinch with colour aberration

Totals - 41 new, (3) retraps

Robin  - 1

Blackbird - 1

Redwing - 1

Goldcrest - 6, (1)

Long-tailed Tit - 3

Blue Tit - 12

Great Tit - 12, (2)

Treecreeper - 1

Jay - 1

Chaffinch - 2

Lesser Redpoll - 1