Today had a very different feel as we opened the nets just before 4am- a fresh west wind was rising and fewer birds were moving. We also decided to use tapes for quality rather than quantity, although that strategy changed when it became clear that we were not going to be awash. Nevertheless we did catch steadily and Dave got one of his wish list birds in the form of a Lapland Bunting. Quite a few of these passed over during the morning but they were reluctant to land.
Then it happened--Ferg and John pulled a Thrush Nightingale out of their nets and so early in the trip Anders became a satisfied hombre. This is the first record of this species so far north in Norway and by early afternoon it had made the local radio news!!!
Final total including a few hours in the afternoon messing about in the garden were;-
House sparrow 9
Fieldfare 1
Willow warbler 20
Redpoll 21
Arctic redpoll 7
Meadow pipit 76
Reed bunting 22
Bluethroat 12
Brambling 7
Dunnock, Lapland bunting, Thrush nightingale, Red-throated pipit, Great tit, Greenfinch and Willow tit all 1 each.
Total 182
An early evening wader attempt was aborted due to lack of birds--which was a bit of a shame as Col wanted to enhance his herding technique with the use of a set of reindeer antlers--eager readers will be kept informed on developments.....
PS not content with one failure we have decided to try for another--no one has ringed Storm Petrels up here so we thought we would try and be the first-- results tomorrow!
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