First come, first served

Well, at least ringed!

Between chores, in the middle of the day on Friday, the first juveniles of the year were caught and ringed.

Number 1 was a male Blackbird with black tail feathers. [Females have a dark brown tail]. He was "a bonny lad" but has a little more growing to do. 

Next up was Number 2, a short-winged Robin (66 mm) with its primaries still showing the remains of their sheaths. I hesitate to suggest this may turn out to be a female

Then we did it all over again - another male Blackbird and a longer winged (male?) Robin from the same broods (taken from the same net).

The Robins parents were a female ringed as a juvenile last year, while the father was ringed as a juvenile in 2012. I suspect the Blackbirds parents are the 2CY birds breeding in my neighbours hedge as the older pair, both having bred before, are somewhere at the bottom of the garden, most likely in the tall leylandii hedge belonging to another neighbour. Laying took place in the last few days of March.

Next up? Will it be Siskin, Dunnock or Goldfinch? The race is on. Outsiders are the Greenfinches that are probably two weeks away, going by the development of their brood patches.

Experienced ringers tend to age juveniles by their very soft plumage, much of which they shed during the post-juvenile moult, which they reach when (about) three months old.