A new site, a new challenge

So, last weekend the weather looked pretty miserable, and Steve was not convinced that we would get out for some ringing. Having missed a couple of sessions while I've been galavanting in Scotland, my fingers were definitely missing the fond pecks of those pesky Tits.
Friday evening we got an e-mail saying there might be a couple of hours break in the weather Saturday morning, so alarms set for 6am. It was amazing getting up that early and hearing the dawn chorus, the first time I've really noticed it this year in all it's glory - Spring is definitely here! On my way down to the harbour for pick up, I tried to decipher some of the songs, and managed Robin, Blackbird, Wren, Song Thursh and Dunnock. I actually disturbed a pair of Dunnocks in the act of twitterpation and watched as they sang their annoyance at being interrupted before scurrying into a bush for some more privacy!
We were setting nets at Treborth Botanical Gardens, part of the University. When I was a child (from 6-9), I competed on the Athletics track at the end of the road, and must admit that despite driving past at least once a fortnight, I never noticed the greenhouses or impressive plant collections! Chris had returned for some more mist net practice, and Jaani also joined us for the morning. Chris and Steve set one net and I helped Rachel set the other. I must get some knot practice in with some pieces of string - I'm actually embarrassed by how badly I tie knots!
The first net round was mostly tits, so myself and Chris had plenty to work with. I seem to be having a problem with Blue Tits getting net around their thighs - they're so fluffy it's often difficult to see if the leg is clear before you start clearing the toes. The difficulty is that when they are "thighed" the net is held with a bit of tension to the leg, so you don't have much slack to work the rest of the bird free from the net. This happened a couple of times the last time I was out, and happened a few times this time round. We ringed a few birds then left Jaani with Rachel to do the second net run. As we came round the corner of the buildings, a Jay flew and landed in the tree above a net so we backed off a bit, hoping it would go in. Unfortunately, the feeder was already occupied by a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which somehow avoided the net to get to the tree, sending the Jay packing. After a few minutes, it flew off too, leaving a quiet net round of more Tits.
On our next round, we found a GSW which I was given the task of extracting from the net. In case anyone doesn't know, Woodpeckers are noisy, and I don't mean when they drum against trees. Imagine sitting on a bus while two babies have a screaming match and you're almost there! Grabbing the feet is difficult as they have really short legs for scurrying up trees, so you haven't got much to hang onto. While I was working on clearing the feet, this guy went quiet and I suddenly got rather nervous! Sure enough, that's when the pecking started, but thankfully I was only "got" twice on my thumb, drew a little blood but made a change from being in agony and having nothing to show for it (like with the Tits!) Woodpeckers are also an awkward size for the nets we were using and often (as in this case) get part of the wing through the netting over the carpal joint, making it incredibly difficult to extract. Steve took over at that point and received a few pecks of his own. I then joined Chris in extracting a few of the smaller and less noisy birds. While I was finishing with a Coal Tit, Chris checked the other net and discovered another GSW!

A Male Great Spotted Woodpecker (age code 5)
Photo by Rachel Taylor

Back at the truck, myself and Jaani had one each to ring and age, and it was a lot easier having two males to compare with. My initial thought was that mine was a younger bird, due to a single red feather in the otherwise black crown (juveniles have a red crown), but after looking through the book and following the clues with Rachel to guide us, we determined that my bird was a 6, or maybe an 8 (6 meaning it had done at least 2 complete moults since leaving the nest), while Jaani's was a 5 (meaning that it was hatched last year) We decided on this by looking at the spotting pattern on the wings - younger birds have a white spot at the tip of each primary whereas adults don't. There was a slight variation in the colour of the coverts too, which should be jet black for adults and have a brownish tinge for juveniles. When handling birds, many like to hold onto a finger for some support, particularly Tits and birds that scurry up trees, like woodpeckers. My friend was clinging to my little finger like his life depended on it, successfully driving his talons through my skin and crushing my finger in the process. When I started trying to extract my poor finger, Rachel said "Unless it really, REALLY hurts, you'd be better off leaving that where it is"... ah, the things we put up with for birds!
When I got back onto extraction duty, a Blackcap was heard, so we put on a recording to lure it in - within 10 minutes we had a lovely male, the first one I've seen this year and a lovely example of a usefully descriptive English name!
Shortly after the Woodpeckers and Blackcap, the heavens opened so we quickly finished processing the birds we had and took down the nets. A couple of hours in the drizzle resulted in almost 40 birds, which isn't too bad given the weather.
Once again, keeping fingers crossed for some good weather over the coming weekends! Can't cross my little finger though - resembles being jammed in a door at the moment!