Ringing and stuff

Last Thursday and Saturday I went to do some more bird ringing over at Belvide with Brewood Ringers. On Thursday we had a reasonable session with 52 new birds ringed. The main highlight of the day was getting to hold a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). We also got to see a Hobby hawking over the res after Swallows.

Dendrocopos major (photo courtesy of Rebecca Stallard)

On Saturday we only managed 34 new birds. When you take into consideration that we had about 12 nets up across the site, 34 birds really isn't many per net (2.84 birds per net)! This would have been disappointing enough but it was even more so when you take into account that I'd only had two hours sleep before hand. I'd been out to Stafford the night before to watch one of my friends play in a cover band Spiral Six (which was a really good night, despite the poor turn out). I did get to see my first Leopard Slug though.

The main birds that we tend to catch are Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Blue Tits and Great Tits, with a few other common birds thrown in at times. Despite the low numbers caught I am finding it highly addictive as you never know what is going to turn up. There are some Grasshopper Warblers that have bred in the area and I'm hopping we'll catch another one of these (the first one this year being caught at a session I couldn't attend).