Seven Finch Thursday

Last night I had planned to go lamping in North Wales with Dave Smith and then try catching Hawfinches first thing in the morning. At about 4 pm Dave text to say the weather was 'dangerous'. Now lamping can be good in wet and windy weather but dodging falling trees and flying roof tiles is a step too far. In an almost unheard of move I decided to cancel the lamping session and travel up first thing. It proved only slightly less dangerous though as I managed to lose control of the car in the snow on one bend which woke me up a bit!!

Since early February Dave has been feeding a traditional Hawfinch feeding site and this morning was our second attempt at whoosh netting some of the birds coming down to feed.

Whoosh net set for catching Hawfinches

Our first attempt, about a week or so ago, proved fruitless when the net failed to fire, twice, on the only occasions we had birds safely sat in the 'zone'. Todays efforts were more successful and eight Hawfinches were caught comprising six new birds and two retraps from previous years.

Angry Bird. A 'grumpy' C48 this morning.

C48 in more relaxed mood, photographed by Suzanne Williams in her garden in Bontddu.

Also caught alongside the Hawfinch were six Chaffinch and five Greenfinch. On the way home I stopped off briefly at one of our Brambling feeding sites and added another six new Bramblings. Meanwhile, back in his garden in Crossgates, Paul managed to catch a few more Siskin, Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll giving us seven species of finch ringed during the day! Now that doesn't happen too often, shame about the missing Bullfinch!