30th March and 1st April 2010 - Mallard and Redpoll

Forgot to mention that Jake and I made a quick excursion to Horsham Park Pond on 30th March and Jake managed to catch an adult male Mallard within seconds. This seems to be the case with this site, you know within the first minute whether you are likely to catch something!
Today, I was joined by a potentially new member of the team Louise Greenwood, a trainee from just over the border. We spent a morning ringing at Warnham LNR, catching just six new birds, with the highlight being a Redpoll (above with Louise), which is the first that I have caught outside the winter months and the first Louise had seen in the hand. Also caught were three retrap Chiffchaff (two from 2008 and one from 2009) and three retrap female Dunnocks with well developed brood patches (BP3). Other sightings included a male Blackcap singing, three Swallows that were nearly caught but just avoided the net and my first House Martin of the year.
Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 2
Goldfinch - 2
Redpoll - 1
Greenfinch - 1