All quiet on the Ringing Front!

Despite several ringing sessions recently numbers seem to be down. I have caught some Lesser Redpoll, but not in the numbers I had by this time last year. Perhaps things will pick up as autumn progresses.

 However, it was nice to catch this first winter Magpie. I have only caught one at Thornton, that bird ended up as a Tawny snack!

 Ringing at Watermead reed bed was very quiet with not much being caught. So it was great to recapture this Cetti's warbler that we had rung as an adult in March 2011. It has obviously taken to the perfect habitat that has been created in the area.

Shetland Redpoll Treats!

Recently back from a week in Shetland and with Redpoll on my mind I had to pop these in.

 I had gone up expecting lots of Common Redpoll, but instead we were treated to this Hornemanns Arctic Redpoll. Referred to as The Snowball it attracted many admirers.

 None of the Redpolls I saw seemed very grey and these two were considered to be the Greenland race rostrata. It would have been interesting to have known the measurements of these birds.

Second brood Barn Owls.

It was great to ring another brood of three Barn Owls recently, and from a site that produced four chicks in June.

The first Lesser Redpolls of the Autumn.

I made my first small catch of Lesser Redpoll recently, one was this smart male.

Hopefully there will be more to follow as we have now had four recoveries from the birds rung last autumn.