Final bird crop sessions & Lesser Redpoll recovery

There was a brief break in the weather on Wednesday 6th February, so Ron, Andy and Jerry tried a final catch at the Llangorse bird crop. The flock size had decreased (since the weekend), but there was still some 40/50 Yellowhammer (making up over half the flock). However in four hours they had caught just 6 + (1) birds - comprising Dunnock 1, Blue Tit 1, Great Tit 1, Chaffinch 1 and Yellowhammer 2 + (1). The retrap was ringed in Feb 2016 at the Llangorse crop, and caught there again in Mar 2016 (so becoming our oldest retrap). The bird was initially thought to be a male (very bright yellow), but the crown feathers had extensive dark fringes (too much to wear away by the breeding season), and the wing length was only 86mm. In 2016 it was ringed as a young female, so now an "old" female taking on some features of a male (as is known in other finch/bunting species eg Greenfinch/Reed Bunting). Most ringers might be pleased with a  catch of 3 Yellowhammer, but the team was a bit disappointed.

On 11th Andy netted his Pennorth feeders, for a catch of 15 + (5), made up of 8 + (3) Blue Tit, 4 + (2) Great Tit and 3 Long-tailed Tit.

Despite a prolonged spell of settled weather for most of the "mid month" period, we were unable to get a team together to net the Pennorth bird crop, but on 21st, Jeremy, Andy and Jerry tried. There were 100+ birds still present, mainly Chaffinch, but with c30 Reed Bunting and c10 Yellowhammer. There were also about 40 Skylark on the adjacent stubble, the largest number yet recorded there. A new configuration of nets was tried - based on where the birds were gathering when Andy had recently visited. The sun and breeze were against them, and few birds were caught, so some nets were moved to the previous positions. The session ended with just 8 + (2) - made up of Blue Tit 1 + (1), Chaffinch 1, Reed Bunting 4 + (1) and Yellowhammer 2. The r/t Reed Bunting had been ringed at the jetty in July, and one of the new birds was a strange colour, with the black parts of the greater coverts (and some other feathers) now silvery grey - presumably a nutrient deficiency when these feathers were being grown (photo JR). Andy returned for a short (early morning) session on 22nd, but the wind had picked up a bit, and more birds escaped the nets than were caught. His catch was just 3 birds - Dunnock, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Lesser Redpoll, S932753, was ringed in the garden on 18 October 2018 (age 3), and was controlled at Dalditch, Devon (as 3F Common Redpoll!!) on 26 November - 39 days, 143 km, 183 degrees. The recovery data was submitted in DemOn (based on the new sexing code P = distinct plumage difference). Svensson/Demongin says that first winter Redpolls cannot be sexed (unless they have a lot of red on the breast = male), so data entry in DemOn could do with being more controlled, to prevent such anomalies being accepted.