Set me back a few bob as I got through about a hundred rings. Before this weekend, I had ringed 211 new birds of 19 species in this garden; I had also clocked up 139 re-traps (re-captures from previous visits/years). Among them were a Sparrowhawk, a Stock Dove & a Collared Dove (awkward things to catch), a couple of Bramblings and 44 Siskins.
Now, almost the first bird out was a male Great Spot. that I had ringed as a 2CY back in 2007. As time went by, the following plopped into the net (re-traps always in brackets). Dunnock 1, Robin 4, Blackbird 1, Blackcap 1, Marsh Tit 4, Coal Tit 11 (2), Blue Tit 33 (8), Great Tit 32 (1), Chaffinch 11 (1) & Greenfinch 2. The only adults I caught were the Blackbird, both Greenfinches, a new and two re-trap Coal Tits, a re-trap Blue Tit and the Dunnock. That makes a total of 105 young birds this session.
The majority of the Tits were youngsters undergoing their post-juvenile moult; only one of the Blue Tits was shedding part of its tail, whereas most of the Great Tits that were in advanced stages of moult were dropping their tails and growing new ones.
I had to let one bird go. It was a fg male Greenfinch that had severe leg mange. It had lost all its claws (but was able to stand on the feeder bars) and was also a bit thin on top.
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