All set up and ready to go

By mid afternoon most of the jobs were done and the rain stopped so we opened the nets for about 3 hours.

Surprisingly because it had been wet all day birds started to move around and we ended up with 91 in total across 10 species. Willow Warbler 26, Sedge Warbler 2, Common Redpoll 6, Fieldfare 1, Redwing 5, Meadow Pipit 20, Bluethroat 14, Read Bunting 10, Brambling 5 and the birds of the day Red Throated Pipit 2.

We also erected our ringing station a Lavvu tent which is a temporary dwelling used by the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia. It's design is similar to that of a North American tepee.
Please take a look at the Varanger ringing web site for more information.

http://varangerringing.blogspot.no

Above is the Lavvu being erected by Dave, Colin and Stuart without reading the instructions.

 Male Bluethroat

Red Throated Pipit

The Red Throated Pipit was a lifer for me never ever seeing one or ringing one before. In the hand it is very similar to the Meadow Pipit but for the distinctive coloration of the throat and dark marking on the upper tail coverts. Juveniles are more difficult to separate also sexing is not easy as the red throat is seen in both sexes.