Yet again the day's highlight came within the last hour of light... A stroll with Jess and Harry from Musbury up to Musbury Castle rewarded me with two sightings of Hawfinch. One flew low north east over my head and landed in distant trees half way along the footpath from Musbury to Higher Bruckland Farm (just within the patch boundary!). Then when we returned to the car, which was parked in the small car park by the Church in Musbury, I could hear Hawfinch calling. It took some searching but I finally located it in the top of a tree just down and across Church Hill from us. Also saw 250+ Redwing and four Yellowhammer in the fields below Musbury Castle.
Earlier in the day, two adult Dark-bellied Brent Geese were sat on the sea with the Wigeon flock off Seaton Beach. They didn't stay long though, and after five minutes flew off west. January is easily the best month of the year to connect with this bellied-variety of Brent here, although most records are of birds passing offshore.
It was nice to get a mist net up for a few hours today too, my first bird ringing session of 2018. Although it was a modest catch with just eight new birds ringed, there was one rather nice highlight. It's a species that comes into the garden frequently, but up until today has always managed to avoid my nets...
Am sure you all recognise that eye, yes a Jackdaw...
As you can just about see in the above photo, this bird had a few white/partially white feathers in its wings. This leucism is quite common in corvids, although I see it most often in Carrion Crows and less so in the other species...
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