Sibthorpe, Sunday 24 February

The prospect of watching the mighty Hatters live on Sky at midday meant it made more sense to ring here in Sibthorpe. Issie, Vicki and I put up four nets in ours and a neighbour's garden. The morning was calm and foggy, and then sunny. Altogether pleasant ringing, and we handled 56 individual birds, before the kick-off intervened.

It was not just the weather that contrasted sharply with the session Pete and I had had the previous Thursday, but also the mix of species caught with lots more finches evident rather than House Sparrows. It was nice to ring a few Greenfinches for a change. See the wing and tail images below which clearly show the difference between first winter and adult male Greenfinches.

Species totals 42/14 (new/retrap), total 56: Woodpigeon 1/0, Blackbird 2/1, House Sparrow 12/4, Blue Tit 2/0, Great Tit 0/1, Dunnock 0/2, Robin 2/1, Chaffinch 2/0, Greenfinch 8/3, Goldfinch 11/2, Starling 2/0. Oldest retraps were a Great Tit and House Sparrow from early 2016.

Jim

 First year male (left) and adult male (right) Greenfinches.