We have several pairs of Blackcaps nesting in the wooded areas of the reserve and we have all been lucky enough in recent days to see one of the Cordite families fledge their young and feed them in the undergrowth.
Steve Edwards got some lovely 'family moment' images the other day and whilst looking back at them I noticed that the female has got a small leg iron. Where she got ringed is anyones guess but with a Reed Warbler nearby also sporting some bling, it just goe to show the importance of bird ringing to retrap these birds to see where they have come from and perhaps how far they have travelled. It is just a pity that the numbers are too tiny to read in the field....
The whole family together.....the youngsters start out brown like their Mum and the males moult in the black during the winter.
17-5-14