Sheffield Ringing - 29th October 2011

Spent a few hours at a private site in Sheffield with the ringers from the Sorby Breck Ringing Group this morning. Despite a reasonable forecast, when we got there the wind had already picked up which meant the nets were billowing and the birds were keeping their distance. Having said this we did manage a reasonable total of 24 birds and included a new species for me: Lesser Redpoll.

The redpoll were the last birds in the nets today, and we had 3; 1 adult male, 1 juvenile male and 1 adult female. Here's a picture of the male and female adults. Note the extensive red feathering on the male bird, lovely!

Lesser Redpoll

Other birds ringed this morning were: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Tree Sparrow and House Sparrow.

Other birds seen flying over were: Redwing, Fieldfare, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Crow and Jackdaw.

In addition to the birds I managed to age and sex a Great Tit correctly (juvenile male) and  Ray, my trainer, said he thought it was time for me to apply for my trainee license- hurrah!! When this arrives I'll be able to get even more hands on and begin to ring the birds as well as checking any recaptured birds: recaps. Can't wait!!