Went and helped Phil May out with a ringing Demo at a fun day they were having at this woodland near Falkirk - organised by Falkirk Council.
We put a couple of nets up near some feeders that the rangers had been keeping topped up during the week. Our backs were hardly turned when the first bird was in - a retrapped Coal Tit. Phil had ringed here before.
That set the day up and we had a steady trickle of birds throughout the day to keep people interested. Mainly kids came but they brought their parents in and it is fantastic the enthusiasm (sometimes over-enthusiasm) of the kids when they see birds in the hand, up close.
We had a good suite of species, mostly typical of a patch of mixed woodland, Great and Coal Tits, Siskin, Chaffinch but also a couple of migrants, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Whitethroat and Blackcap were singing away close by but declined to come into the nets.
The major surprise of the day was this fella:-
Much excitement until we realised that neither of us had any B+ rings. Plenty of B's but Crossbills take B+, made of steel, so they can't remove them. So all the bird got was his photo taken and a mental note to oneself to order some B+'s and NOT get caught short again.
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