Waiting for a surge

Adult male Kestrel - July

Ten birds between two trainees - but what quality! The above adult male Kestrel was a site 'ringing tick', even though the pair is visible around the area all year. He was in heavy moult (MS=31) and not expecting his way to be barred by a mist net.

More quality followed two hours later, when the Green Sandpiper that has been around for three or four days 'collided' with our net over the river. Normally the bird flies well over our heads, constantly calling, dropping in to feed out of sight.

An old friend of mine, Tom Kittle, wrote a paper on this species for R&M back in 1975. The weight of our bird coincides nicely (at 69g) with his graph and it could easily put on 10-15g before it leaves the UK for a wintering spot in the Mediterranean basin or Africa, even as far south as Cape Province.

Green Sandpiper - retrices (July)

The full list for the morning consisted of 7 species: Kestrel 1, Green Sandpiper 1, Blackcap 4 (1), Whitethroat 2, Wren (1), Blackbird 1, Robin 1. The Whitethroats were a breeding pair, the re-trapped Blackcap a breeding female first caught as a juvenile at the beginning of July 2011 and one of the new Blackcaps was also a breeding female, this time a bird hatched only last year. Everything else was a juvenile. A kingfisher escaped from the top shelf of the net over the river and a Dipper passed underneath. Win some, lose some.

A single net in the garden the following day yielded 7 birds, including a 'strange' Long-tailed Tit. As it was ringed on the left leg, I am assuming it's one of John's from the far side of the village,>2 km in a WNW direction. The rest:- Blue Tit starting PJ moult, a juvenile Long-tailed Tit in full moult, a locally bred young Chiffchaff, two second/third-brood young Dunnocks and a retrap 2CY female Pied Wagtail.

We'll wait and see what next weekend brings.