Tawny Owl chicks.

Craig & I have just got back from spending an enjoyable few days birding with our mate Ciaran around Norfolk. Ciaran has got himself a nice little job with the RSPB, wardening at Strumpshaw Fen & Buckingham Marshes. He showed us around both reserves as well as RSPB Minsmere & Titchwell reserves and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing some quality birds as well as watching breeding Lapwing, Redshank & Snipe on his doorstep! But all good things must come to an end, and Me & Craig had to head back north for work, but also as lots of pulli were in need of rings!

Over the weekend, phone calls back to home alerted me that a Bullfinch was seen in the garden carrying nesting material, so I was pretty excited to get back home to have a scout around. We're doing quite well for nesting birds in the garden this year - with both boxes containing Blue & Great Tit, Blackbird in the front garden & Song Thrush sat on eggs to the rear of the house. Goldfinch are setting up home in a conifer which they have previously bred in and the Bullfinch... well I did find their nest which they are still building. Fingers crossed all succeed in hatching and raising their broods!

So back to those pulli that needed rings! Me and Craig were out working in Atherton Woods this evening, monitoring nest boxes and ringing anything we could catch.

First stop was a Tawny Owl box - 2 pulli & adult ringed.

Then checking other owl boxes, catching an adult Stock Dove

2 adult Blue Tits were also ringed + 1 recaptured (ringed in 2009)
3 pulli Song Thrush ringed
2 pulli Blackbird ringed.

We also managed to find two Blackbird nest (complete with 4 eggs each), Chaffinch (incubating female / 4 eggs) and a Collard Dove with 2 small young.