Saturday 7 February 2009

What Snow? 7th February 2009

Whilst most of the UK has been at least ankle deep in snow, here in the Fylde we haven't had any other than a flake or two! However, it has made a difference at my feeding station as there has been an increase in birds there.

As per usual I have been putting 1-2 buckets of seed down every other day at Moss House Farm and over the last few days there has been a few birds about. Thrushes have increased in numbers with up to 10 Blackbirds & Song Thrushes and 8 & 65 Redwings and Fieldfares respectively. Raptors have been thin on the ground with only single figure counts of Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.

At the feeding station itself I have had up to 142 Tree Sparrows, 128 Chaffinch and today 15 Yellowhammers. Corn Buntings have been conspicuous with their absence with only a maximum of 3 recorded on the 3rd. In the stubble field to the north of Curlew Wood I have been seeing a flock of 75 Linnets and these have also been feeding in the 'big' stubble field.

The large numbers of Woodpigeon and Jackdaw remain with 3,500 and 340 respectively being the maximum count over recent days. A male Stonechat in the sunshine in the horse paddock next Curlew Wood was a nice sight and my first here for a couple of weeks. The 1st male I had was with a female, but this bird was definitely on its own and it looked a smarter male than the previous one.

The forecast is looking reasonable at the moment for the possibility of some ringing tomorrow, so I'll let you know how I get on if indeed I get there. The forecast has a habit of changing when you make a last check before getting all your ringing gear together!

I have shown a few pictures of American Kestrel in the past, but this female in the hand from Nigel is so good I make no apologies for showing it.

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