Slow day (1)

Ringing from 8 'til 1 produced 28 birds, 10 of them re-traps with only 3 adults (a male Bullfinch and 2 Dunnocks). One of the Dunnocks recaptured was in its 6th year.

Wren - nil, Dunnock (3), Robin 1 (1), Blackbird (1), Blackcap 2, Chiff 1, LTT (1), Blue Tit 2, Gt. Tit 5 (3), Goldfinch 7, Bullfinch (1).

The Wren numbers are well down on last year - which was a bumper one for them. We have now caught 81 new Blackcaps so far this year and 55 new Chiffs, the highest ever. If you exclude pulli ringed in boxes, we have also ringed more new Gt. Tits than ever before. On the other hand, 4 Greenfinches is the lowest (at the moment), but they have been suffering again as they did at the beginning of the 'nineties.

As I was coming in, I saw several Song Thrushes and at a quarter to eight, as I was busy putting a net up, I had a calling Y-b Warbler pass over, moving from one bush top to another [4th for county, 2nd here]. The Goldfinch flock today consisted of 17 birds.