Meisen Wood - Silence of the Siskin

Date: 8 – 4 – 2018

Nets: 95m

Sounds: Chiffchaff and Blackcap

Weather: Calm, bright and sunny; 14°C at start rising to 24°C

Ringers: CS and EB

Species	Ringed	Re-trapped	Totals
Blackbird	1	1	2
Blackcap	4	1	5
Blue Tit		5	5
Bullfinch		2	2
Chaffinch	2		2
Chiffchaff	3		3
Coal Tit		1	1
Dunnock	1	1	2
Firecrest	1		1
G S Woodpecker		1	1
Goldcrest	3	2	5
Great Tit		3	3
Greenfinch	2	2	4
Hawfinch	1		1
Robin	3	3	6
S T Treecreeper		1	1
Siskin		2	2
Wren		2	2
Totals	21	27	48

On Wednesday the Woodland Choral had experienced a tonal shift with the departure of the Siskin singers.  Now the thoroughly delightful Woodland Chorus was composed of the melodious, trilling, whispering and fluting Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Goldcrest and Firecrest with some occasional percussion contributions from drumming Black Woodpecker and wing-clapping Wood Pigeon. 

The Siskin departure had been expected but such a sudden, almost complete, exit was a tad surprising.  In the last Siskin spring of 2016 there had been a gradual decline in their numbers.  Today there were just a few flashes of Siskin green and gold.  Consequently we were returned, almost shockingly, to a more normal spring ringing session with a total of 48 birds captured.

Pleasingly this total included, albeit in low numbers, more Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Firecrest and the year’s first Blackcaps.  Interestingly the five Blackcaps included two females.  In previous years female Blackcaps have been caught ten days to two weeks after the first males.  The re-trap Blackcap was a male originally ringed in spring 2016 and has not been caught since.

Firecrest are always a pleasure to admire: small bundles of feathery beauty.  Many bird names are derived from their appearance and the Firecrest is a classic example with its flaming yellow and gold crest.  The origins of other bird names are not so obvious.  The German name for Firecrest is Sommergoldhähnchen – a name almost longer than the bird – that roughly translates as: summer golden cock (banish those ribald thoughts).  As the name suggests the bird is a summer visitor and its arrival is traditionally considered to indicate spring is here and summer is coming.

The re-trap Goldcrest, a female, has an interesting ringing history, almost a partial biography, which goes: October 2016 originally ringed as a juvenile; March 2017 aged as a second calendar year bird; late September 2017 aged as an adult as she was today.  Clearly we are on this dame’s migration route; where its two termini are, is unfortunately an unanswered, though intriguing questions.  Many German captured Goldcrest originate from the Baltic States and points further north and east – a considerable distance for such a diminutive bird to travel.

With the temperature rising to 24°C by late morning and few birds, compared to the previous couple of weeks, our ringing was somewhat languid.  We were very content with this as we could enjoy the heat, after what has seemed like a long cold winter here on the north German Plain.  It also gave us time to watch the wildlife around us: long-tailed tits carrying feathers and hair; red squirrels dashing helter-skelter around the conifer trunks and boughs; a male wren singing with unbelievable gusto in front of its completed nest – magic!  And above all we had time to enjoy and appreciate the birds in hand – that wonderful privilege of bird ringing. 

Chris