Woodcocks and wagtails......Jays and Jack

This Woodcock should be on migration, a retrap we were delighted to catch on the 2nd April. Initally ringed in January 2011 and not seen over the last 26 months ! Three more woodcock were ringed this week, surely our last ......
Out on the marsh at our Mallard Hide site last night - only 1 Sand Martin in the air and a few wagtails came to roost. Our first White Wagtail of the spring along with 6 Pieds caught. A wander with a lamp on the commercial reed cut found a few Jack Snipe....but only after I had already caught one in a waterside two shelf !

Small as ever, this one weighing 52.7g

Earlier in the morning the Group had a pre-CES session preparing the site, including new access to the CES reedbed. A few Chiffchaffs caught, but the highlights being 2 Jays and 2 Treecreepers !!

Useful to catch birds of different ages at the same time to compare moult.
Wendy also caught a Jay in her garden sited Potter Trap too..

A post on Siskins soon...
New birds, retraps, females with brood patches and other birds with fat scores of 5...all this week. Local breeders and birds on passage. With approaching 400 ringed during spring 2013, by far our highest ever, some good data to crunch....