We put up 6 nets with a good deal of bird activity all around as we moved from place to place. The first round yielded 13 birds, mainly Chiffchaffs and it was looking promising. Things were ticking along nicely with some young Goldcrests, more Chiffchaffs and not too many tits - when we checked a net that had been fairly quiet all morning to find that a sizeable flock of tits and chiffs had headed straight into it. That net held a third of the morning's total! We separated AA from A ring birds and I (DKL) started ringing the chiffs and lottis first, while CL extracted the last remaining Blue Tits. The backlog was soon cleared and the normal routine resumed. It was a good catch and the vast majority of birds processed were hatched this year. The last bird was ringed at midday.
Additional birds seen during the session included Kingfisher (2), Red Kite, Oystercatcher, Goldeneye and Little Egret (3).
One of three juvenile Goldcrests
Adult treecreeper (one of only three adult birds in the whole catch).
Total: 97 (1)
Wren - 5
Robin -7 (1)
Dunnock - 2
Blackbird - 1
Blackcap - 7
Garden Warbler - 2
Chiffchaff - 29
Goldcrest - 3
Chaffinch -1
Blue Tit - 23
Great Tit -11
Long-tailed Tit - 4
Treecreeper - 2