Rubbish, but ...

Rubbish just about sums it up! Lousy week's ringing, thanks to clear skies, northerly winds and, today, murk and a stiff north-easterly. Think I'll have a stiff one myself.

"Wot we got" - 11 new & 15 r/t

Goldcrest (1) r/t male from March
Blue Tit 1 (1); a new juv
Great Tit 2 (1); all juvs
Long-tailed Tit 1 (2); all juvs
Chiffchaff (1) the 5M
Wren (1) the resident male - again
Blackbird 3 (3); new juvs & retrap adult nesters
Robin 1, another juv
Dunnock 1 (2) a juv & the orchard pair
House Sparrow 1, a fem with BP
Chaffinch (1) nesting female from March
Goldfinch (2); an M & a F from Jan
Bullfinch 1, a 'full on' male

There's still alot of birds either on eggs or tending young, either for the first time or for the second. After all, it's only the first week in June; time yet for many more youngsters to take to the wing. The top ranking off-spring caught so far have been the Robins, Blackbirds and, in the lead, the "bumbarrels" or "feather-pokes" [Long-tailed Tits].

One of these latter juvvies has five outer primaries pure white but only on its right wing.
(See poor photo below)



There was some good news from Ed, my 'C' ringer, who is undertaking one of my long-running Constant Effort Sites back in Bedfordshire. He caught Blackcap N344841, which I originally ringed as a 2CY male in mid-June 2004, 2580 days prior to this last capture. It was recaptured in '06, twice in '08 in different places, and then in '09. At just shy of 7 years (it will be 8 years old by now), it is the oldest Blackcap in the group's 20+ years existence.