Thursday 19 January 2012

You little beauty!!

Last night I joined up with Tony Cross and Adrienne Stratford to help out with their colour ringing Chough Project on Anglesey. A long and enjoyable night was had with great company and great birds. Highlights last night including catching these 3 Chough at their roost site, with 2 New birds and 1 Retrap being caught. The retrap was more than welcome during the night, as it was a bird that I ringed as a chick back in May 2010, so it was good to see that it had survived the harsh winter.

The 3 Chough behaved incredibly well and have to be one of the best birds I have handled so far this year. Let there be many more experiences like this one to follow.

After the clocks turned to the early hours of the morning, Tony and I dropped Adrienne back off at her car and carried on into the night to see what we could find.

Finding a tidal inlet on Anglesey was well worth it and a combined effort between us both brought 3 Little Grebes. I have always wanted to ring one of these little beauties but to catch 3 in under half an hour was exceptional. Tony Cross sure is the man with the lamp as far as I am concerned. However now that he has passed on his expertise I will soon be out dazzling with my new acquired lamp with the intention of catching some superb species.

All 3 Little Grebes were absolute gems in the hand and never have I been lost for words when I've been handling a bird, truly awesome! I intend to try and catch some in North Wales in the next few weeks once my new torch arrives.

A massive thanks are in order to Tony and Adrienne for a truly unforgettable experience.

For Tony's account of the night please visit Tony's Blog here.

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