In total, we visited seven nests, with another one predated, one unused (but seems to have been unused as an adult perch by the amount of poo), one with four very small young and an unhatched egg and four other occupied nests with 3, 3, 2 and 2 chicks ringed (above and below with Kevin).
Meanwhile, Wes was ringing at the Capel reserve and managed to catch 23 new birds involving as highlights an impressive seven species of warbler, a Jay and three Nightingales (two being retraps). But most amazingly he did not catch a single tit!!! (Photos to follow)
Birds ringed:
Grey Heron - 10 nestlings
Robin - 2
Reed Warbler - 1
Whitethroat - 5
Blackcap - 4
Garden Warbler - 2
Chiffchaff - 1
Willow Warbler - 3
Song Thrush - 1
Jay - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Nightingale - 1 (2)
I liked the wee video of the heron chicks. Hope the wee criter makes it. Yours appear to be a couple of weeks ahead of ours up here in NE Scotland. We are thinking about colour ringing herons and I was wondering where you get your rings made?
ReplyDeleteMany thanks,
Raymond Duncan (Grampian RG secretary)
Hi Raymond
ReplyDeleteI got the rings from a company in Poland for which their website address is on the BTO colour ringing application form. They are not too expensive, but do make sure you do your application and ring order well in advance to make sure all is on time!
We have found that the large rings that we are using are best applied to birds that are about three weeks old as the tibia takes longer to grow compared to the tarsus and could only be fitted to a few that were younger than this.
Hope this helps
Sam