A record of my adventures of birds and bird ringing


Thursday 30 December 2010

First catch

By yesterday the snow had finally melted enough to make a catch feasible, and after a week of feeding the birds were very familiar with the feeder!

Nets were up by 7.15, and by 8.15 I had started catching.

Suprisingly almost all of the birds had entered the net on their way to the feeders (I had though they would go in on the way from the feeders to the bushes as the net was far less visible that way) so I think they were quite used to flying in for a morning snack.

All in all we caught 24 birds, including a Chaffinch, two Coal Tits, and many great/blue tits.

Saturday 18 December 2010

Update.. finally!

It's been a while since I've posted but there's been not much to post about.

Since moving here I've tried to get in touch with the local ringing group, but havent had much luck. I have also been scared of approaching the landlord about permission to ring in the garden because I'm not technically a tennant. The situation is also complicated by the fact that the garden is overlooked by a boarding house which is occupied most of the time by school kids. In addition to having no car (and so being unable to find myself another site), this has ment I havent been able to ring on my own for a while.

But I plucked up the courage to ask and I have permission to put up a net. I really wish I'd done this earlier! I put feeders out today, and although I'm not planning to catch whilst the snow lasts, it should give the birds some time to find the food.

In other news, the Christmas WWRG trip has been cancelled, which is very disappointing. I would have loved to spend Christmas catching waders. Still, I might be able to spend Christmas morning catching passerines instead now!