Revtangen BO December 30th

Light-moderate winds from the SE, mostly cloudy. Nets open from dusk til dawn, which at the end of December is approx. 08.30-16.30. Netmeter hours approx. 2300. Playback on Fieldfare. Lots of Fieldfares and also unusual amounts of Redwings are in western Norway now, probably pushed south by heavy snowfall in the northern half of the country.

Ringed: Bohemian Waxwing 3, Redwing 4, Fieldfare 38. Total = 45. Also 5 controls. 

There was still room for another species at the 2017-ringing total. Bohemian Waxwings have been very scarce this autumn in SW-Norway, but a small flock of 5 wisited the garden today and 3 were trapped. Adult male left, adult female right. Sidensvans, ad. hann til venstre og ad. hunn til høyre.

Observations: Hen Harrier 1-2, Sparrowhawk 1, Fieldfare 200+, Redwing 20+. 

Renate Berg, Asbjörn Folvik, Alf Tore Mjös and Morten Stokke.

Ringing December 2017

Revtangen BO never close completely. We keep a feeder running through the winter, and sometimes there are more than just the local sparrows and finches. We've thrown out a lot of apples since more thrushes are still around than what we usually see at this time of the year. The last week we've put up the nets four times, twice for a couple of hours and twice from dawn till the early afternoon. 

Ringed 10th - 17th December:

Common Snipe 1, European Robin 1, Common Blackbird 8, Redwing 18 (1 coburni), Fieldfare 26, Great Tit 2, Blue Tit 1, Common Starling 5, Common Magpie 1, House Sparrow 4, Tree Sparrow 11, Chaffinch 6, Brambling 1, Mealy Redpoll 8, Parrot Crossbill 1. Total = 93. 

We've seen it before - for some strange reason Common Snipe can enter the garden when the fields freeze over. Today the weather changed and we saw the end of sub-zero temperatures for a while, so hopefully they can feed normally soon. Enkeltbekkasin.

First-winter male Parrot Crosbill at Revtangen BO December 17th, the second in 2017. Furukorsnebb.

Ringers: Renate Berg, Espen Helgsen, Haavard Husebö, Eddie Fritze and Alf Tore Mjøs.

Revtangen BO December 2nd

Cloudy, very little wind. Rain from 11. Nets open 08.30-11. Playback on Fieldfare at dawn, then Redpoll. Netmeter hours approx. 750. 

Ringed: Common Blackbird 5, Redwing 1, Fieldfare 6, Great Tit 1, Blue Tit 1, Tree Sparrow 3, Chaffinch 1, Greenfinch 1, Maly Redpoll 1, Arctic Redpoll 1, Yellowhammer 3. Total = 24. Also 11 controls. 

Observations: Black Woodpecker 1, Sparrowhawk 1 (ate a Common Snipe in the trapping garden). 

Renate Berg and Espen Helgesen