Bird Ringing

Monday, March 31st 2014

Calls of Tawny Owls, Curlew and Chiffchaff greeted the bird ringers as they arrived this morning.  The nets were raised in the mist, but there was a forecast for sun and warmth.

Brambling are still feeding in the back garden and 20 were seen at the feeders by the lake.  Eight new ones were processed today.  Twenty two Lesser Redpolls came through the ringing room, 16 of them had not been ringed before. Their numbers are increasing at the feeding stations in the back garden and elsewhere on the reserve.  A Willow Tit was also retrapped which was over 3 years old.

Grey Wagtail were seen on the weir, whilst the Dipper preferred the duck raft.

This beautiful male Siskin was one of 13 to be handled in the ringing room.

Two Goldfinches were caught, one of which was a control.  This means that it was originally ringed elsewhere.  The data will be sent to the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and they will inform us of whence it came.

At the end of the afternoon the last birds were returned to the Field Centre and to everyone's surprise two Mealy (Common) Redpoll were processed.  These birds are larger than the Lesser Redpoll and are more grey coloured.

By close of play Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming, Blackbird and this Robin (below) were singing, and the ringers headed home in the mist - still waiting for the sun and warmth!  Today we caught a 3 yr old Chiffchaff, a 7 yr old Long tailed Tit, a 4 yr old Lesser Redpoll and two Chaffinches 6 and 5 yrs old respectively - a total of 139 birds altogether.  We also had about 40 visitors eager to see what we were up to - some quite overwhelmed.

Volunteering at Foxglove covers many different areas.  The bird ringers were busy all day.  Other volunteers identified moths, took photographs for displays, made tea, welcomed visitors and helped tidy up at the end of the day.  Thank you so much for all your help, it is greatly appreciated.

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