I had an enjoyable morning although things didn't start off very well, as when turning into the car park, I became aware something was wrong with one of my tyres, and when I looked, it had gone completely flat! I called out the RAC but as they didn't arrive till nearly the end of the session I was still able participate in the morning's activities.
I accompanied the two ringers, Simon and Jonny while they finished setting up the mist netting, and then we went to retrieve the first few birds, which included a juvenile robin and a chiffchaff. I was fascinated watching how each bird's feathers were carefully examined to find out its age and what stage of moulting they were at each bird was weighed and wings measured and if unringed, given a ring, before being released.
We made several tours of the nets, each time collecting about half a dozen individuals. I was able to hold several of the birds and then release them and Simon then gave me the opportunity to weigh, measure and ring a juvenile robin myself! I was surprised how small the birds seem when in your hand compared to looking at them in the wild. We had a range of species (of which many were juveniles) which included blackbirds, wrens, blue tit, spotted flycatcher, marsh tit, blackcaps, chiffchaffs, robins, dunnocks, long tailed tit, bullfinches, and garden warblers.
Our most exciting catch was the spotted flycatcher, which apparently are rarely caught in the area. We also had a marsh tit which had to be coloured ringed as part of a project.
I am very grateful to Simon and Jonny for allowing me to join them and share their knowledge.
juvenile blackbird
juvenile blackcap
female bullfinch
male bullfinch
chiffchaff
garden warbler
male blackcap
juvenile marsh tit which hung around a bit before flying off
dunnock
juvenile robin
spotted flycatcher
sounds really interesting!
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