After almost three weeks of rubbish weather I feared there would be no ringing ever again. The perpetual winds eased on Monday when Andy managed to get up to Oakenclough for the first time since 1st March. I couldn’t make it but was hopeful for later …
Author: Phil Slade
Wren
Up here on the Lancashire coast March lived up to that old adage of “In like a lion, out like a lamb”. At the moment the Atlantic Jet Stream sits over us like a heavy wet blanket bringing just this morning a hoolie of wind, rain, sleet and hail, plus a…
Bits And Bobs
The Wednesday trip to Oakenclough wasn’t very productive despite our enthusiasm for an early start. I’d met Andy at 0700 to a cold but bright morning of 5°C. Although there was an early movement of small finches overhead, and from their quiet “jiz…
Tuesday Time
Mondays are a no go for me. In my enforced absence Andy made it up to Oakenclough where he caught the first Lesser Redpolls of the year. The BTO Migration Atlas tells us that “return movements in spring from southern to northern England have begun…
Consolation Prize
The Linnets gave Andy and me the run around again this morning; they just weren’t having our attempts at a catch. After three hours of watch and wait we came to the conclusion that the 150 or so Linnets of recent weeks are now wise to our antics. This …
Now’s The Time
A Tawny Owl hooted from the trees in the next door neighbour’s garden: it was very dark with little time to look, but the owl was very close. The owls breed in a nearby copse, our garden on the edge of their territory. This morning was my first ri…
An Improving Picture
Monday is something of a no-no for me with Grandparent duties the priority so I declined Andy’s offer of the first ringing session of 2019 at Oakenclough. He caught the first Siskin of the year plus several Goldfinch and Chaffinch, but otherwise he wa…
Snowflake Birders
When extreme feminism, faux outrage and the ensuing kowtowing to such stupidity infects the everyday common sense world of birding, we know the world has gone truly mad. This apparently true story is from The Daily Telegraph of 5th February 2019. …
A Better Result
Regular readers will know of recent blog posts and the often poor catches of Project Linnet. Before today and despite a good number of visits, our total caught during the winter of 2018/2019 was a miserly 87 only; this in comparison to the winter …
Gulf Matters
Almost three weeks had flown with very little birding and even less ringing to brighten grey days. Our last ringing session at Gulf Lane had been 9th January with an embarrassingly low catch of Linnets. We’d pencilled in a day last Wednesday but when o…