10th November - More Bluetails

Peter Hog was out birding in the coastal park and found the third red-flanked bluetail this year at Whitburn.  It was being chased by robins in the southern end of the coastal park along the eastern edge of Shearwater Estate.  It is remarkable how many bluetails have now turned up in and around Whitburn coastal park.  The total now stands at 5 birds with the first bird being found in Marsden Quarry in 2002.  The second and third birds were trapped in the coastal park in 2009 and 2011.  The forth was found in Whitburn in 2011 and the fifth in the coastal park in 2011. 


Lets hope the bird turns up in one the nets at the weekend!!

8th November

Easterly winds have been forecast for today for the past week.  John and I arrived at the coastal park and it was still blowing easterly with fog.  It looked good for a mega or good numbers of migrants, however the day started slow with a few blackbirds and a blackcap being trapped. Throughout the day the birds trickled into the nets and a total of 50 birds were trapped.  Frustratingly a woodcock got out of a net just as I got to it.  Today was likely to be one of the last sessions in the coastal park as migrant numbers drop off.  Depending on the weather a session may be done at the weekend.

Ringing totals included 26 blackbird, 10 robin, 5 redwing, 4 song thrush and blackcap plus a single siskin.

5th November

Another morning at Whitburn with John, Jason and Phil.  It was a fairly good start to the day with a few song thrush and blackbirds being trapped.  A total of three woodcock were caught, with two in one round!!  The afternoon was very quiet though with very few birds about.  A firecrest was present in the big mound and made a few flights over the top of one of the nets but it was net shy and was not trapped.  Another sparrowhawk was trapped which brings the total to 5 ringed this year at the coastal park.  The sparrowhawk was trapped with its dinner which happened to be one of the redwings that had been ringed a few hours beforehand.

Ringing totals included 10 blackbird, 4 song thrush, 3 chaffinch and woodcock, 2 redwing and lesser redpoll, and singles of blackcap and sparrowhawk.

Retraps included 5 blackbird and blue tit, 2 goldcrest, and singles of great tit, robin and wren.