Apple Attraction . . . Suffolk 16th December 2008.

We have permission to ring at a fabulous old orchard site near Woodbridge where we have in past winters, noted Fieldfare coming down to feast on good numbers of apples which are not harvested but left in situ. On our first attempt at the site, we caught 6 Fieldfare which we were really pleased with (no tapes used here). There were 50 or so noted feeding on fallen apples throughout the day. We have high hopes for a lot more Fieldfare here as the winter progresses (Interestingly there were only 9 Fieldfare ringed in total in Suffolk in 2006).

At last a Jay! Cambridgeshire Ringing Site . . . 11th December 2008.

Finally I (Becca) have managed to get rid of my ringing 'bogey' bird - the JAY! A fine example was caught whilst coming to a peanut feeder at our Cambridgeshire ringing site. These birds are hardy, strong and very aggressive! There is power in that bill! Jays take a 'D' ring, the same as Lapwing, Green Woodpecker, male Sparrowhawk and Redshank to name but a few. This bird was an adult (4) based on the black bars on the blue feathers on the primary coverts being aligned with each other (see below).

Spring Trap Sandpiper - Suffolk - 3rd December 2008.

A Green Sandpiper was trapped and ringed on the Deben Estuary on the afternoon of the 3rd December. The spring trap was set up at the waters edge of  a small reservoir within our ringing site, where several Sandpiper had been seen feeding along the water margin. 

Suffolk Redpolls . . . . .17th November 2008.

Back at our Deben site post Fair Isle, we managed via tape-luring, to catch 7 smart Lesser Redpolls. 

Suffolk Sewage works - Revisited . . . .November 19th 2008.

We visited the Sewage Work site again in Mid November but unfortunately had little success. Although there were a few wagtails, both Pied and Grey in the vicinity, the numbers were smaller than previous visits. After spending the afternoon and evening in the area, we only caught one Pied Wagtail with two 40 ft mist nets up and a tape lure. The bird caught was a first year (3) Male. See the bottom image below which shows the new, dark greater coverts in contrast with the brown old retained ones.