Bertha

Fresh back from a few days with my family in Somerset I decided to spend a few hours ringing in the garden after a leisurely start to the day! Unfortunately the remnants of  Hurricane Bertha meant we had torrential rain and strong winds at times but there were patches of good weather that enable me to set a couple of mist nets.

Not many birds were caught but some interesting ones - a new juvenile Blackbird and only the 3rd Nutchatch I've ringed in the garden. Another unringed bird was also visiting the bird feeders later in the day.

The young Blue & Great Tits are making great inroads into my supplies of sunflower hearts and all have a healthy fat score with the furcular pits bulging.

The occasional juvenile bird, like this Great Tit was caught with fault barring on the tail suggesting a period of food stress during the nest stage. These feathers will probably be replaced during the post juvenile moult as Great Tits do moult their tails during this moult. if not it'll be during the post breeding moult next year and by then will be pretty battered and worn as the fault bars are a weak spot. it is possible that the bird may accidentally lose its tail and grow a replacement before the annual moult.

It appears that our local Goldfinches have successfully reared a 2nd brood as the adults are returning with more juveniles in tow.

The observant will note that the above photo is one I took a month or so ago before losing a finger nail on my right hand as seen in the other photo's! That was the result of banging my finger instead of a nail whilst repairing one of the heligoland traps on Hilbre.