Back to Reality

Just to show that we who were left to hold the fort for the last two months haven't been entirely idle, here are a few of the 17 Lesser Redpolls that were ringed during our last session on the Teifi Reserve a few days ago.

Ageing and sexing Redpolls isn't always easy by any means, so this was a very good opportunity to refresh our skills. The two above were an adult female and an unsexed '3', i.e. a bird fledged this year; with their colouration enriched by the light of the rising sun.

No one could be in any doubt about this adult male though, resplendent in his freshly moulted plumage - and by far the brightest of the bunch.