Three more Blackcap sessions

September ended with Jerry trying for Blackcap on 27, 28 and 29th, with day catches of 23 + (4), 8 + (5) and 29 + (4). The low Sunday catch was due to less effective tape playing - the battery had to be taken home to charge, so the tape player/timer had to be set up in the ringing hut, and by the time the sound reached the speakers it wasn't really loud enough. The total comprised 18 Chiff, 1 + (1) Goldc, 4 + (1) Wren, 1 Lotti, 5 + (4) Robin, 19 Blaca, 1 Greti, (2) Bluti, 2 + (2) Bullf, 7 + (1) Dunno and 2 + (2) Blabi. The relatively low numbers of Blackcap indicating that most have now moved through. The small run of new
Robin/Dunnock probably suggests dispersal from somewhere just beyond our usual ringing area, but maybe they have come from further afield - still things to learn about our common species. Prior to the Group's formation Jerry used to use Martin Preece's rings, and because Martin didn't think the resident birds would produce any interesting movements, wasn't too bothered about ringing them, so Jerry used his "own" rings.
One autumn morning, Jerry had a similar run of new Dunnock, and muttered something about where they might be coming from - after a few moments thought, Martin said "I think we should use my rings". At the end of Sept we had ringed 1983 birds, well ahead of last year when we didn't reach 2000 until 30 November.