A Bird in the Hand

This morning there was a bird ringing demonstration down by the Reedbed Boardwalk of the Mill Lakes, and I was keen to help Steve - the ranger - with setting up. However, it was also the first weekend in about six months that we were child free. The previous evening we'd been to our friends' for dinner and drinks, which meant forcing myself out of bed after just three hours' sleep, to get to the Mill Lakes before 7am.

On the way down, I stopped for a minute or two to listen to a strange 'reeling' call coming from the dense hedgerow at Orchard Corner. The bird didn't show itself, but surely it was too late in the season for a Grasshopper Warbler? Having no previous experience, all I had to go on was a recollection of the song to compare to online recordings when I got home. It was a good fit, but I'll put it down as a "possible, but unlikely" - although I can't think what else it might have been.

Steve had been at the Reedbed for a good hour already, and two 100-foot nets were already up. I'd had no previous experience of ringing, so Steve showed me how to put up the final 60-foot net along the Reedbed Boardwalk, before going through the equipment, and the routine. The weather wasn't ideal, since the wind was blowing the nets, making them more visible to the birds. The Boardwalk net was our best hope, and sure enough, by the time Steve had gone through the basics, three birds were in the net.

The first haul yielded a Chiffchaff, a Robin, and a Lesser Whitethroat. Steve extracted them from the net and bagged them, before passing the bags to me. All three required rings, and I scribed the records as Steve did all the hard work. Steve showed me how to hold the birds with the famous ringer's grip, and I was allowed to hold and release the Robin and Lesser Whitethroat - a great experience for me.

Next up was a family party of Great Tit: one adult female and three juveniles - all very determined to take a chunk of finger with them. Two had been ringed previously, including the adult. After the last was ringed, Steve insisted that I release it, thus ensuring I got a few pecks too - it looked worse than it felt, though.

As Steve went to check the Reedbed nets, I watched another Chiffchaff fly into the Boardwalk net. A further bird -possibly a Robin - also got in, but managed to free itself. Steve was back in no time, because nothing had been caught on the Reedbed - it was still too windy. The Chiffchaff had been ringed previously; in fact, last year at this same spot. As we headed back to measure and record the details, Rob - another ranger - arrived to help with the demonstration.

Several others turned up, also keen to get a close look at the birds. Steve checked the nets again and came back with an unringed juvenile Wren and an unringed Willow Tit. A further check of the nets brought us a juvenile Reed Warbler that required ringing, and whilst the rangers were answering some of the questions, another Robin flew into the Boardwalk net - a retrapped female that was ringed here prior to 2004.

After the session had finished, we were doing a final check of the nets just in time to see an adult Bullfinch flying towards it, spot it, and then backtrack into the Alder Carr. However, an adventurous juvenile from the same family party was already in the net. This was the highlight for me, because after it was ringed I was allowed to release it. It seemed quite happy to hang around, staying in my open hand for about fifteen seconds - until Steve gave it a little hurry-up nudge.

Afterwards, I had a quick walk around the lake to see if anything obvious was about. We'd already heard and seen a Green Woodpecker as it flew over the lake during the demonstration, and I didn't expect to see much at that time because the park was busy in the late morning sunshine.

At the north end of the lake, a good number of Black-headed Gull had gathered in the water, with new birds coming in to join them from the north. I did a count of 62, which is my highest count in a while, and noted the mix of moult stages; from just starting to lose the brown heads, to seemingly full winter plumage. A single adult female Teal was sat in the shallows by Mud Island - my first in recent months. I headed back home via the Broadvalley Stables route, but the only notable sighting was a male Pheasant in Big Wood School Field - probably the same one from last week.

A brilliant morning for me. Aside from seeing and handling some great birds close up, I learnt quite a bit about the ringing process, and how birds are identified, aged, and sexed. I think I was actually of some help too, and I can't wait to do it again.