This weekend we had two fantastic ringing sessions on my family’s farm in Wiltshire!
We put up nets in a few different places including round the cows, in a field of maize, in the woods and in between trees!
There was a massive flock of finches moving through, mostly continental birds heading back! In total we caught 80 Chaffinches – really big beautiful birds as well as a few Goldfinches and a Yellowhammer! Sadly a lot of the Chaffinches had a horrible disease called Bumble foot which is a type of cancer that starts on the feet and moves up through the body.
CHAFFINCH – Male (above) and female (below)Adult bird hatched before last year – rounded, glossy tail feathers (above) and young bird – pointed, thin, scruffy tail feathers (below)Male chaffinch with disease called bumble foot – a cancer which starts in the feet and makes its way up the body
Catching lots of Chaffinches was great in the sense we had lots of practice in ageing them (between 1st year and adult). We looked at the fringes on tertials – if they were a bit scruffy and didn’t have much colour on them, it suggested they were a young bird
Here the tertial fringes are in good condition and have a lot of buffy brown – indicating it is an adult bird born before last year
We also caught a few tit species including lots of pecky Blue tits and Great tits as well as a Coal tit and Marsh tit.
Pecky Blue tit
AGEING BLUE TITS – you can age blue tits from the contrast in colours between the greater and primary coverts, as seen in the photos below
The absolute highlight was two stunning 6 male (born before last year) Bramblings! It was lovely to see them in the hand and very exciting as it was a first for me!
I am a 14 year old, living in the South West of the UK, with a passion for nature and wildlife; especially photographing it! I particularly love capturing shots of birds, butterflies and bees!
I have an Instagram account ( @focus.photograph.y ) where I post all of my photos and a bit about them! I also hold some contests and quizzes about nature!
I am a RSPB volunteer, placing pin badge boxes locally around me and raising money for the RSPB!
I am part of a group called the Young Naturalists based at Blashford Lakes. The group does a range of different activities around the nature reserve, such as: making bug houses, nest boxes, birdwatching, checking out all of the hides and much more!
For my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh I am volunteering at the Main Plantlife offices. I am currently working with the Editor and Communications Team on two big features for the upcoming Plantlife magazines!
I hope to inspire others love for nature and the wildlife around them!
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Young Naturalist: Izzy Fry 