We captured 18 birds today. Not too much of note although the Yellowhammers were very nice. Catch also included some juvenile Dunnocks and re-trapped Goldcrest, Robin and Chiffchaff from previous sessions.
One bird that was not ringed was a Red-legged Partridge that managed to find the net, and was successfully held. Quite an achievement for a superfine net (supplied by Merlin) to hold such a weighty bird.
Although it was not possible to ring the partridge, this being a species that is bred and released on a large scale on many estates (but not from this farm) for shooting. We were able to give it a check over for flat-flies as we participate in a project to monitor these parasitic flies and it may have been possible to collect a specimen for the Hippoboscidae work. The following link is to an article with some images and interesting details about these insects.
https://entomologytoday.org/2015/05/18/hippoboscidae-flies-live-birth/
The partridge, however, did not have any such parasites and was then released un-ringed.
Total: 14 (3)
Wren - 2
Robin - 0 (1)
Dunnock - 5
Whitethroat - 2
Blackcap - 2
Chiffchaff - 1 (1)
Goldcrest - 0 (1)
Yellowhammer - 2