Just too bright!

Last night the forecast was for rain throughout the night and for once this could have been a good thing! The week or so around full moon is usually hopeless for lamping and gives a welcome break to re-charge the batteries. Given the cloud and rain though I reckoned it was worth giving it a try so Vince, Jane and I headed up to the Ceri Ridgeway in search of more Golden Plovers.

A total of about 60 Golden Plovers and 4 Woodcock were seen but, Sod's Law, even in 2012 when you actually want rain your can't get any! Without the rain it was just too bright and all we managed to catch was a couple more Golden Plovers,  a Woodcock, a Redwing and 2 Fieldfares. Surprisingly perhaps Fieldfares (and Redwings less frequently) are often encountered and caught whilst roosting on the ground (over 50 ringed last winter). These were the first this autumn though and are quite a bit later than the first ones last year.

Winter fare! An adult male at the top and a 1st winter female below

 (pale tipped greater coverts just visible in the photo)