Redpoll ringing

With the Blue Tits in two of my nestboxes growing fast, we decided it was time to ring the chicks - eight in one nest an nine out of eleven in another (one was dead and another didn't look well!) I hope the weather improves in the next couple of days and we get a bit of warmth in the air as these birds will be fledging in a week or so.

We put up a net for a couple of hours to see what we might catch before settling down to watch Barcelona thump United. I was delighted to get four Lesser Redpolls, one of which, a female, was trapped on 28 Dec 2009. There had been several birds visiting the garden feeders lately and so it proved to be at least three different males and a host of females and a juvenile. one of the brighter males was ringed and I managed to read it as the ring obligingly turned around as it fed on the Nyger seed - another one from 28 Dec 2009!
Juv Lesser Redpoll
Juv Lesser Redpoll
Female Lesser Redpoll
Female Lesser Redpoll
Adult Female Lesser Redpoll
Adult Male Lesser Redpoll
Nothing much happening down at the reservoir today as fishermen were camped on the far bank and the Grebes were hiding in the willows still as the strong westerly wind continues to blow. A family party of Blue Tits were particularly noisy and young Pied Wagtails were being fed by a parent. As I walked along the edge of Cut Wood, my attention was drawn to a noisy family of Great Spotted Woodpeckers as the parent male fed them at the entrance to the nest site.

In the past week there had been a flock of six Dunlin and a Ringed Plover one evening but they didn't hang around long.

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