It was not at all clear if the ringing demonstration would proceed yesterday as rain and windy conditions early on cast a doubt on proceedings. However, the unsettled weather moved through and the Goldcliff ringing group set their nets and the demonstration proceeded.
Overall, some 89 birds were trapped coming to the feeders including: 31 Blue Tit, 22 Great Tit and 2 Long-tailed Tit (always a favourite). There were also finches: 9 Goldfinch, 6 Greenfinch and a single Chaffinch. Reed Buntings were trapped in good numbers, with a tally of 13 individuals of both sexes and different ages, which allowed the group to show visitors key identification features of plumage.
By far the noisiest birds of the morning were the 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, both male and female birds putting in an appearance. The only warblers of the morning were 3 Chiffchaff, but at least these gave us some hope that Spring was eventually on its way.
It was good to also record birds that had already been ringed by the group. In all, the morning's catch included 11 birds, which had been ringed previously at the reserve. The oldest of these was a Great Tit first captured in October 2014. There were also two birds which had been ringed at the feeders at the RSPB centre, a Blue Tit and a Great Tit, both trapped in January 2015. The other retrapped birds were first ringed in 2016, 2017 and 2018. This shows one of the benefits of birds ringing in that life histories can be built up and the longevity of birds established.
The event provided visitors to see birds close up and to get an insight into how bird ringing can help gather valuable information for conservation purposes. We hope to see a return visit by the group later in the month.