Kev, Gary, Jim and Duncan very kindly helped to undertake another ringing demonstration for the NTU students at Brackenhurst. The demonstration was advertised by NTU's Conservation Society and was well attended by students, some of whom stayed all morning!
We had a lot of birds at the start of the morning but a sharp decline towards midday. Nevertheless, there was a good variety of birds to show the students. Highlights were 21 Yellowhammers (a mixture of males and females of different ages to show the students), a good number of Chaffinches and 1 male Goldcrest. Interestingly, one of the Yellowhammers had a deformed bill - something the senior ringers had not noted in this species before.
We caught 51 birds, 21 of which were retraps. Species totals were as follows (new/retrap): Dunnock (2/4), Robin (0/3), Blackbird (1/0), Goldcrest (0/1), Blue Tit (1/0), Great Tit (4/4), Chaffinch (6/3), Goldfinch (1/0) and Yellowhammer (13/8). Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the day (to some) was the arrival of two of Simon's famous lemon drizzle cakes - YUM!
Thanks to the students who provided so many lovely photos too.
Louise
That goldcrest looks rather non-plussed by that hairstyling job!
ReplyDeleteFor any readers not aware - the crown feathers of Goldcrests are inspected to determine the sex of a bird. Yellow indicates female, but if there is orange as well it is a male.
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