We cancelled today's ringing session, which would have been at the Greenham Estovers Feeder, due to the weather forecast being for rain. The were some very light rain pulses through this morning occasionally but not that much so decided to put a 6M net up in the Garden. We've had good numbers of Goldfinches coming each day, including a flock of 17 regularly attending. They are consuming two 400mm long standard feeders of sunflower hearts every two days. 
One of today's Coal Tits, 1st year male (size and brightness of plumage)
Biometric at the top of the range and quite a heavy looking bill for this species
I haven't ring much in the garden since 2017 as the birds have stopped coming in the numbers that they once did. Our house once on the edge of the residential is now in the midst of it, so I presume there are plenty of alternative feeders available. On the odd occasion I do put a nets up around five (usually Goldfinch) is the maximum if any in sometimes four hours of nets up. So, todays capture of 11 in two hours of nets up is an improvement. I knew that two Nuthatch occasinally visited, male and female, and thought that there was just one Coal Tit. Today I ringed three of the latter and a male Nuthatch as well as the expected Goldfinch, seven ringed. Typically the flock of 17 that has been coming every day for the last couple of weeks hasn't turned up so far today! (JL)
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