Well Chiffed!

Starting at 5 o'clock, the weather was admirable for ringing, sort of grey at 6 oktas. Not that many birds were awake and moving around searching for breakfast - a Song Thrush was first off the mark, a male just starting its full moult. A Dipper 'purred' overhead and dropped into the stream. Soon there was a smattering of young birds on the wing and falling prey to my three nets, Blackcap, Wren, Dunnock, Chiffchaff and, best of all, another young Kingfisher in Net 1.


Juvenile (female) Kingfisher

Net 2 started well with a family party of Whitethroats but faded after a couple of Chiffs and a Willow Warbler once the sun got up and exposed the netting.

I had set a 60' in a new site among the group of mature apple trees the other side of the stream where it would intercept, hopefully, some birds as they worked their way along the banks of "Policeman's Helmet" [Impatiens glandulifera - a noxious weed much loved by bees and insects] that line the stream. Finally, at about 7 o'clock, it took a good hit with a mix of species. This included a juvenile retrap Great Tit and an adult Blue Tit in heavy moult that was originally ringed in the garden back in mid-March. This net continued to pull in the Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs until I decided to abandon the session as the wind had picked up considerebly.

Back at Net 1, yet another Kingfisher to finish the morning.

After lunch, the wind had ameliorated and I went back to the "Apple net" to see what passed through as often birds move again about an hour or two after sidereal noon. It gave me a chance to sit and watch how the moving birds behaved, with the possibility of positioning a net to intercept them some other day. It turned out to be a good 90 minutes with some new Chiffs for ringing.


The sole juvenile male Chiffchaff of the day


Today's numbers covering 12 species were:
Kingfisher 2
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Great Tit 2 (1)
Chiffchaff 9 (1) - a preponderance of females today
Willow Warbler 1
Blackcap 7
Whitethroat 6 (1)
Wren 2
Blackbird (1)
Song Thrush 1
Dunnock 2
Goldfinch 1 - my first juvenile of 2011

Total 34 (5)