Ringing in Spring

This morning was a great ringing session and it was a beautiful, clear day with lots of sunshine. Which makes a change from the usual cold mornings! We had a wide variety of birds, including Reed Bunting, stunning Yellowhammers, Siskin and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (2 female and 1 male), which I was lucky enough to ring one of the females for the first time. They have such powerful beaks and wonderful plumage.

We saw an Osprey flying north, probably to Scotland, that was a fabulous sight to see so close to home, because the last time I saw an Osprey was a lot further away - Belize! We had lots of Redpoll zooming past our heads. We saw plenty of Curlew too. I love their call! Whilst ringing I heard a rustling in some bushes, so I went over to inspect and discovered a male and female common Lizard preparing for their midday sunbathe on a nearby stone! We then went looking for Adders, unfortunately we didn't see any. However we came across a few Toads.

To top it all off, later in the evening we spotted a Hedgehog visiting our garden - which was lovely to see.