CES Visit 5 - Priory Country Park

Todays bird ringing session - CES visit 5 at Priory Country Park - was dominated by juvenile birds.

41 birds of 13 species, 32 new & 9 retraps (retraps in brackets).

Chiffchaff 4 (2) - 5 of these were juveniles
Great Tit 4 (0) - all 4 juveniles
Wren 1 (1)
Blue Tit 7 (0) - all 7 juveniles
Long Tailed Tit 1 (0) - a juvenile
Bullfinch 1 (0) - a juvenile
Dunnock 1 (2) - of these 2 were juveniles (the other being a retrap adult)
Blackbird 4 (0) - 4 new juveniles
Robin 2 (1) - including 1 new juvenile
Blackcap 4 (2) - including 1 new juvenile
Greenfinch 1 (0)
Chaffinch 1 (0)
Song Thrush 1 (0) - a juvenile

That's a total of 27 juveniles. Here are some of the cast:

Above: A juvenile Blackbird on the left and an adult female on the right for comparison.

Above: A juvenile Song Thrush - note all the thorn shaped markings on the wing.



Above: A juvenile Chiffchaff.



Above: A juvenile Robin (left) and adult Robin (right) for comparison. It will be a while yet before the baby Robin gets its own red breast - it has to replace and grow more feathers before that happens.

Above: A juvenile Bullfinch

Last weekend, we made a visit to 'the crescent' where we caught 20 different adult Reed Warblers moving between the reed bed and surrounding vegetation. Of the other 10 birds we caught, of only note was our first juvenile Blackcap of the year at this site.

Now to hope the wind dies down a bit so I can make the most of my weekend ringing activities.

Late news of CES 3 & 4

CES 3 - Priory Country Park (27/05/12) - Total 17 = 6 new, 11 retraps
Dunnock 0 (4)
Blackcap 0 (1)
Reed Warbler 2 (0)
House Sparrow 1 (0) - the first one ringed in the Rough since Oct 2008
Robin 2 (1) - including 2 juveniles (not the first of the year)
Blue Tit 0 (1)
Garden Warbler 1 (0)
Whitethroat 0 (2) - including a retrap from 2007
Wren 0 (2)

Last year CES 3 at Priory CP (22/05/12) we had a total of 26 birds. Included in this catch were juvenile Blue Tits and Dunnocks. The bad weather seems to have made the juveniles fledge later this year.

CES 3 - The Thorns - Total 26 = 14 new, 12 retraps

Jay 1 (0) an adult female with brood patch

Long-tailed Tit 1 (2)
Wren 1 (1)
Great Tit 2 (1) - two new youngsters
Garden Warbler 2 (1) looking like a good season for these
Blackcap 5 (2) … and these
Chaffinch 1 (0)
Blue Tit 1 (0)
Chiffchaff 0 (1)
Whitethroat 0 (1)
Dunnock 0 (2)
Robin 0 (1)

CES 4 - Priory Country Park (05/06/12) - Total 19 = 11 new, 8 retraps
Blackcap 1 (2)
Chiffchaff 4 (2) - including 3 juveniles (first of this species this year)
Robin 2 (0)
Chaffinch 0 (2)
Dunnock 2 (0) - First juveniles of this species this year
Wren - 1 (1)
Whitethroat - 0 (1)
Blue Tit - 1 (0) - First juvenile of this species this year

Last year CES 4 at Priory CP (05/06/12) we had a total of 47 birds. Included in this catch were juvenile Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Great Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Chaffinch and Coal Tit. Further evidence to support that the juveniles are fledging later this year.


CES 4 - The Thorns - Total 30 = new, retraps

Kestrel 1 (0)
Dunnock 1 (2)
Robin 1 (0)
Blackbird 0 (1)
Lesser Whitethroat 2 (0)
Whitethroat 0 (2)
Garden Warbler 0 (1)
Blackcap 3 (1)
Chiffchaff 0 (1)
Long-tailed Tit 4 (1)
Great tit 1 (0)
Treecreeper 0 (1)
Chaffinch 3 (0)
Bullfinch 4 (0)

Thanks to Guy & Chris for the totals from The Thorns.