Bird Ringing

Sunday, August 13th 2023

At long last the weather was settled enough to be able to raise the mist nets, although initially there was light rain but it soon cleared up. The Swaledale Ringing Group welcomed guest ringers this morning. There was a mixture of birds ringed, including Nuthatch, Dunnock, Robin, Chiffchaff and Chaffinch. It was also nice to see a Blackcap. This was a male as it had a black head, the females have a brown cap. It will not be too long before the summer migrants head south on their long journey.

The Bullfinches are still being ringed! This one was a late youngster and was still in its juvenile plumage.

Thank you to all the bird ringers who helped with the session.

At the minute no blog can be complete without its photograph of one of our lizards! They had been conspicuous by their absence as the wind was cool and sun 'did not have its hat on!' We checked the sky on a regular basis, looked for shadows to no avail. Then there was a little more warmth, less cloud and out came the sun, followed quite quickly by the Common Lizards! This one, probably a female, was a little shy and was not leaving her hidey hole completely.

Binoculars and cameras are needed to search for the fritillary butterflies. Unfortunately the ones we keep seeing and photographing are rather battered but it does not stop them flying very strongly. And consequently disappearing!

Tim managed to take this photo of a Silver-washed Fritillary last week. Thanks for this.

One butterfly that looked pristine was a Comma feeding on the thistle flower.

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