Before we went to Fetlar I had the idea of taking a mist net and doing some ringing in the nicely enclosed garden of our accommodation. Contacting the ShetlandRinging Group I found no one was active on Fetlar so there wouldn't be an issue. Thanks to Rebecca Nason & Phil Harris I was able to borrow some poles.
With Jase being a C permit holder it seemed an ideal opportunity. We'd decided to bait an area with bird seed in the hope of attracting migrant finches and buntings and it certainly worked! initially we only got House Sparrows and Starlings down (Shetland race zetlandicus) but also caught severa lRobins, Blackbirds and Shetland Wrens. These birds are huge compared to our Wrens and again are a separate race (zetlandicus) so it was nice to see them in the hand. The Wrens are bigger and darker than the ones we see at home.
After a day or so we attracted the 1st Brambling and eventually the flock built up to 60+ birds. We ringed 23 in two short sessions first thing on the morning and just before dusk.
Bramblings are really beautiful little finches and it was a privilege to catch so many. Hopefully we'll get a few in Cheshire this year.
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