Tit Refill

In between the studying of the exams I have next week I couldn't resist to participate in some ringing this morning. I got on the bus early this morning and went to the Ooijse Graaf to help out Bram. I arrived around 8.30, right on time to help with the tits.

Yesterday Bram caught 270 Great Tits, 120 Blue Tits and so on ending the day with 477. Today was just as spectacular with a total number being exactly the same as yesterday, 477!

We had 160 Great Tits, 100 Blue Tits, but also other good numbers of birds: 50 Robins, 78 Song Thrushes(!) and 13 Tree Sparrows. With the clapnet we caught 7 Skylarks, 2 White Wagtails, and 1 Meadow Pipit, not bad! Among the Great Tits we had a Moskva-control, very nice!

Check it on trektellen.nl: http://trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=748

Migration during the morning and early afternoon was simply amazing: 1000s of Chaffinches, Woodpigeons, 100s of Thrushes and Larks, many tens of Buzzards passed by, but also decent numbers of Sparrowhawks. Highlight were two Red Kites I discovered as I was walking back to get the bus around 13.20 in the afternoon. They were migrating together with some 20 Buzzards. Bram and co had another one over the ringing station later in the afternoon.

I didn't have my proper camera with me, so here are just some photos taken with my phone:

 Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)

 White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)

Skylark (Alauda arvensis)