A song thrush on the goat willow branch

I drove Helena to work at the 'other' doctor’s surgery which she uses as a base for her job every Monday. With most people still on holiday the roads were very clear so the trip took little time. The day was dull, overcast and damp. When I came home I made my regular pot of fresh coffee and sat at the dining room table with a delicious almond croissant that Helena had bought for me yesterday.

I continued to watch the bird feeder hoping to see the ringed female blackcap I blipped two days ago. I’d heard back from a moderator of the Gloster Birder website whom I’d contacted about trying to find out more information about ringed birds. I was told that the information on the bird’s 'ring' on its leg wasn’t clear enough for them to be able to check on its origin. 

A colleague of his, who also rings birds locally in the UK, had intimated that if I could get better pictures they might be able to find out the ring’s origin. He'd said that the letters and numbers on the ring suggest that it might come from a known ringing site in Arnhem, in Holland, but he can't be certain. They also suggested that catching the bird in a net (which they offered to try to do) was another way they could get the information, but I don’t want to do that.

So this morning I sat with coffee looking out on the nearby garden and took a few more pictures of the same feeder. A female blackcap did land on it and fed for several seconds, but I could see that it didn’t have a ring on its foot, and presume that it is our resident female blackcap. I'll keep looking out at the blackcaps which is no hardship.

Another visitor to the adjacent tree was this song thrush which is a very occasional visitor. usually looking under the suet feeder for scraps dropped by other birds. This is the first time I’ve managed a good portrait of it, and i like the way it seems to be looking at me through the double-glazed patio doors!