I was out trying to catch twites and goldfiches yesterday, with no luck. I did manage to see the twites carduelis flavirostris this Sunday, however, and can also add the subspecies cabaret of the Redpoll Carduelis flammea, which means I'm able to add two species. Together with EHocking's shoveler, Kestrel's Wood duck and goose, we're now at 210 species.
I'll be out catching tomorrow again, probably, and again on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, but I won't be in the same places as yesterday, so I'll likely miss the Goldfinches again.
Of some interest is that I managed to get lice from three birds yeaterday, two Blue tits and one Siskin. The Blue tit louse, Menacanthus sinuatus can be found on all tits that have been studied, and will be subject of molecular studies to see if there's some cryptic speciation going on later during my PhD student period. The Siskin louse is Philopterus of some sort, but none is known from the Siskin (according to the most recent checklist), implying that it may be a new species. I'll of course have to check the morphology and sequence it, but I might be able to describe a new species sometime soon. I have another possible new species from the Barn swallow, two from the Jack Snipe, and one from the Ring-necked dove, so if you're following parasitological news of European wild birds, keep your eyes open in the quasi-near future!
EHocking: I'll try to get the family division done as soon as possible, but everything seems to collide all the time... and I do try to spend a lot of time in the field these days, so... We're planning to erect a more permanent banding station at a place near here, so me and a few other people are going to evaluate the site during the spring.
