Some Vis, Some Ringing and A Moth

This morning Craig, Ian and I met at the 'obs' at 6.00 a.m. and we were greeted with virtually full cloud cover with a 5 mph WNW wind. We put the nets up in the half-light and prepared ourselves for a morning of early Spring migration monitoring.

We had some 'vis' this morning and though there weren't huge numbers of birds it was typical for early Spring. On the move were 92 Meadow Pipits, 6 Linnets, 4 Grey Wagtails, 24 Alba Wags, 5 Curlews, 8 Goldfinch, 20 Siskin, Raven, 3 Skylarks, Sparrowhawk, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting.

We ringed 15 birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):

Meadow Pipit - 7
Dunnock - 2
Linnet - 4
Greenfinch - 2
Blackbird - (1)

 Linnet

The forecast is looking okay for the next few days, but due to work commitments it will be Tuesday before I can get back to the 'obs' again.

Back home I checked my moth trap and I had my first moth for 2012 in the form of a Common Quaker.

Common Quaker