March is a time when our wintering garden birds begin to leave and early migrants arrive for brief refuelling visits. During early March this year we were visited by many Common (Mealy) Redpolls
Arcanthis flammea flammea and Eurasian Siskins
Spinus spinus devouring all eatable food put out for them. With them was an
Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll / Polarsisik Arcanthis hornemanni on the 4th, which was a new species for the garden list but only discovered while processing the images taken earlier. We also had several short visits of several Bohemian Waxwing
Bombycilla garrulus flocks of up to ca.60 birds devouring the remaining berries before they quickly moved on again. However, during January & February these flocks could total up to 200 birds. On the 26th a second year male Blackcap
Sylvia atricapilla, our first this year, visited for a couple og hours and found some remaining apple morsels to eat.
Photographing birds through closed windows so as not to disturb them, does not always result in good images, but it is always nice to capture images for future reference. In the case of the Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll it was absolutely necessary, as this bird would probably not have been identified and certainly not confirmed by the photos taken.
 |
| Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll - second year male showing pale and loose (fluffy) plumage |
 |
| Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll - second year male showing pale unmarked rump |
 |
| Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll - second year male showing pale unmarked rump |
 |
| Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll - second year male showing pale unmarked rump |
 |
Common (Mealy) Redpoll C.f. flammea - compared to Hoary Redpoll, generally darker and less loose plumage,
heavier streaking on flanks, streaking on rump and larger and longer bill.
|
 |
| Eurasian Siskin - male |
 |
Bohemian Waxwing - part of a flock of 200 from February
|
 |
Bohemian Waxwing - closer view of a flock of 200 from February
|
 |
| Eurasian Blackcap - second year male |
 |
| Eurasian Blackcap - second year male |
 |
| Eurasian Blackcap - second year male |
No comments:
Post a Comment