After work late this afternoon a quick whiz around Seaton and Blackhole Marshes revealed very little - except Chiffchaffs! There has obviously been a bit of a fall of these today; there were at least ten in the Borrow Pit, three more besides the sewage works on Seaton Marshes and several calling and singing from the gorse hedge which runs along the southern edge of Blackhole Marsh.
Whilst on the subject of Chiffchaffs, I will now talk about the only bird we caught (whilst I was there anyway) at Colyford Common yesterday, a Chiffchaff. This Chiffchaff in fact...
We caught it in the net by the bird feeders!!??
We had fun ageing this bird, a look at its tail showed a nice fresh central tail feather amongst the grotty old ones...
Making it a 5?
5 is ringing jargon for a bird which is definitely in its second calendar year (so a bird born last year).
BUT if any bird was to loose an odd tail feather for one reason or another, a new feather would be grown in its place. If the bird was a young-un, the new tail feather grown would look adult-like, so hmmmmm... But then we had a gander at a wing....
The finger is pointing to the inner most greater coverts
I'll blow them up a bit...
Notice the nice green edged inner GCs, compared with the rest which look much greyer and paler
So that does makes it a 5... we think!!!?
Now time for the only non-Chiffchaff part of this post.... Whilst ringing at Colyford my first Swallow of the year flew over heading south. Yes it was going in the wrong direction, but I don't blame it as it was damp, foggy and windy!! It's certainly the way I would have been travelling if I were a Swallow!
Whilst on the subject of Chiffchaffs, I will now talk about the only bird we caught (whilst I was there anyway) at Colyford Common yesterday, a Chiffchaff. This Chiffchaff in fact...
We caught it in the net by the bird feeders!!??We had fun ageing this bird, a look at its tail showed a nice fresh central tail feather amongst the grotty old ones...
Making it a 5?5 is ringing jargon for a bird which is definitely in its second calendar year (so a bird born last year).
BUT if any bird was to loose an odd tail feather for one reason or another, a new feather would be grown in its place. If the bird was a young-un, the new tail feather grown would look adult-like, so hmmmmm... But then we had a gander at a wing....
The finger is pointing to the inner most greater covertsI'll blow them up a bit...
Notice the nice green edged inner GCs, compared with the rest which look much greyer and palerSo that does makes it a 5... we think!!!?
Now time for the only non-Chiffchaff part of this post.... Whilst ringing at Colyford my first Swallow of the year flew over heading south. Yes it was going in the wrong direction, but I don't blame it as it was damp, foggy and windy!! It's certainly the way I would have been travelling if I were a Swallow!
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