A Raptor-ous Day!

Weather was correct for once, rain until 8.00am. We got up early to check, yes it was wet so we had a lie in until 7.30am. Got to our ringing site but it was apparent that the gusts of winds were going to make it difficult. Later in the morning it calmed a little and we managed to catch 174 birds.

Thanks to Dr Colin Hewitt for the above picture.

As we chatted around the ringing table this White tailed Eagle did a flyover at a distance. This is the second we have seen since we arrived. The first indication that it may be in the area was how unsettled many of the waders and gulls became as it flew over. Later we had a Peregrin go over the wader nets, it turned and flew back along the shoreline, every wader in the area were gone flying to safety.

Yesterday I wrote about a Merlin that was bothering all the birds in the nets rides and later she caught and killed a Meadow Pipit. We did say amongst ourselves we would probably catch her before we went home. We weren't wrong. We watched her fly into the net rides in the Scrub and before we new it she turned straight into a net. Paul legged it and within yards of getting to the net she got out. Half an hour later Dave went to do a net round in the Scrub only to find she had returned and was in the net. This time she did not get away and was processed.

Paul had not ringed a Merlin before. As you can imagine he was made up. We aged it as born last year and it being a female. Later in the morning we watched another Merlin in the Marsh flying around the nets,  we could not see a ring on its leg, so is this the same bird or a second one?

Species	Number Caught
Reed Bunting	7
Bluethroat	35
Meadow Pipit	30
Willow Warbler	15
Redpoll	74
Brambling	9
Sedge Warbler	0
Fieldfare	0
Great tit	2
Redwing	1
Greenfinch	0
Redstart	0
Arctic Redpoll	0
Lapland Bunting	0
House Sparrow	0
Pied Flycatcher	0
White Wagtail	0
Dunlin	0
Wheatear	0
Dunnock	0
Merlin	1
Total	174