Mid January Ringing

On Sunday morning, John, Steve and I headed down to Antrim to meet with the guys from Copeland Bird Observatory for the next instalment of their winter ringing training program.  It is a great opportunity for trainees who visit the Obs to get in some extra ringing and keep themselves well practised over the closed season.  I had been eagerly anticipating the freezing forecast conditions for the weekend but they didn't materialise, particularly on Sunday when the forecast -8°C came in at +5°C.  The plus side was safer driving conditions and all fingers & toes are still attached. 

The site was heaving with birds on arrival around 8.30 with large flocks of finches drifting about.  There were much fewer thrushes around, compared to the last visit but a flock of c30 Redwing  appeared late in the morning and a flock of mixed thrushes were noted in the open fields on departure. 
The catch itself was much smaller than previous visits but it was nice to get 11 Lesser Redpoll following a record year at the Observatory with over 500 ringed and also 7 Linnet from the cereal cover crop. 

Ringing Totals   17/01/2016                                     
                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

Blackbird                       1                1

Blue Tit                          2                3

Chaffinch                       3             

Coal Tit                                            2         

Great Tit                        5                6

Goldcrest                       1                1

Goldfinch                       4                                                                           

Lesser Redpoll             11               2

Linnet                             7

 

Total                              34              15       

  

 

 

 On Saturday morning I opened the nets in the garden bright and early in cold and crisp conditions.  I only had the nets open for around an hour before the rain started and I had to close up.  I had opted for an extra 12m net, so the rain was probably a blessing in disguise as the birds were coming thick and fast and I only have one pair of hands.  The catch was decent for the limited time and it was pleasing to ring another three Siskins.  The majority of the retraps were from the last session but there were two Great Tits from Dec 2012, who would appear to be a pair. 

 

 

Ringing Totals   16/01/2016                                     

                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

 

Blue Tit                          4                8

Chaffinch                       6             

Coal Tit                          2                6         

Dunnock                        1    

Great Tit                        4                5                                                               

Long-tailed Tit              1                1

Robin                                               1  

Siskin                             3

 

Total                              21              21       

 

 

Ken also had a one to one session in his garden for one of his trainees on Saturday, but like myself, were held up by the rain.  They were able to open the nets in the scrub after 1pm and managed to process 22 birds