White - Well Almost

Sunday, July 10th 2016

Pink sky in the morning, shepherd's warning.  The weather was a little mixed at times.

The bird ringers were in at 4am, a lie in next week, start time 0415.  During the day 173 birds were processed.  Twenty seven new Chiffchaffs received their rings, many of them juveniles.  One Chiffchaff received some special attention as it was very light coloured, almost white.  It was probably not an albino as its eyes were not red, but a beautiful bird.  Its wing was very gently opened so the colouration could be seen.

A close up photo shows the colours of its feathers.

Not many Blackcaps have been processed this year but this one made its mark with its white feathers on its cap. 

Some people ask why we ring birds.  Our reply is that by ringing we can monitor longevity, migration and breeding.  Tony had received an email from the BTO informing him that our data, along with that from other CES sites had been used in three reports recently.  The BTO thanked everyone for all their hard work and dedication.

At Foxglove, the bird ringers are supported by many volunteers and those volunteers were praised today, by the ringers, for repairing many of the net poles and pairing them up, so making life much easier when poles were required for new net rides.

Having had two 'white' birds it seemed appropriate to find other white flora and fauna around the reserve.  No white fauna were found!

There was a white Self-heal.  You could just tell it was white from the couple of petals it had left.

Its usual colour is dark purple/blue.

Three different species of clover grow across the reserve, Red, Zigzag and White.  Each clover supports different bees, because of the length of the tube of the flower.

Our Common Spotted Orchids come in a variety of shades of pink, with occasionally an almost white one.

And finally, not white but rather cute, a female Mallard with her three young.  She was talking to them as they swam gently down the lake, in the early morning light.

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