Variation is key

Today was the best day in a long time. My day started early, or actually, yesterday. Around 23:30 I left the station with a thermal viewer, torch and net. I caught a young tree pipit, a partridge and another skylark. 

 

 

When I got back at the station, a short rain shower arrived as well, but it was just short and I decided to wait for it to pass by and open the nets. After one round of nothing, there where suddenly 2 birds in the few nets. A bullfinch, always nice, but also a red-backed shrike, my research species. It was probably the male I have been seeing 100m from the ligthouse, so I colourringed it and let it go.

 

 

I went on for in total 10,5 hours of ringing, of which the last 2 hours I had 1 new recapture, but I had a good number for the time of the year with 26 birds in the nets, 16 new and 10 controls. Especially the variety made it fun, a lot of them where young birds, like dunnuck, crested tit and common whitethroat, but best of all a mistle thrush. Not a common bird to capture here and a new hand species for me, absolutely amazing!

 

 

It was an exhausting day for me, but the birds made it all worth it!