Sitting pretty...

After a very slow start to year, the Kites have finally got round to laying their eggs and are now incubating them. Normally around this time of year Red Kite chicks would be starting to hatch!!

This sunset was a very nice end to a very busy!!

 

Butterflies and Bees...

Despite it officially being spring for several weeks, today was the first day that actually felt like it was! Lots of Butterflies and Bees were making the most of the hot sunny weather. I saw at least 6 Small Tortoisehell Butterflies and large numbers of Bees (several different species, but I'm not up to scratch with my Bees).

 

 

I want one of those...

While out and about in mid Wales today, I was very envious of two para gliders hanging in the thermals with at least 6 Red Kites!

 

I wonder if I can convince the Welsh Kite Trust we need one of these to monitor the kites??

Just out of reach...

While carrying out Merlin surveys, Tony spotted a Raven nest up on some craggy rocks. After a quick look from ground level we decided that they were reachable, and we would climb up and ring the chicks. Unfortunately, when we got to the top we realised that they were just out of reach!!

 

 

On the plus side it was good to see that the chicks were healthy, which is pretty amazing considering the weather we've had recently!!

Pullus season begins...

For those who don't know 'pullus' is the term ued for ringing chicks in the nest before they're fully grown. Normally around this time of year several species of birds are well on their way to fledging their their young, but with the awful weather we've been having so many birds have put off nesting for at least another 2 or 3 weeks!! I was a bit conserned that a clutch of Dipper eggs wouldn't hatch, as they had been laid right in the middle of our sub zero spring!! Thankfully when I went and checked them today, there were 4 hungry mouths looking at me. These will hopefully be the first of hundreds of chicks ringed by myself if the weather improves.

 

 

It was also a good chance to check on some of the adults that had been ringed earlier on during the winter months.

 

 

 

Ring(ing) Ouzels...

After a very near miss yesterday, when a Ring Ouzel set off one of the spring traps and managed to get away, myself an Tony decided to have another go this morning. After slow start, we managed to catch a few Wheatears, and then eventually this cracking adult Ring Ouzel!!

 

With Ring Ouzels fast declining as a British breeding species, we are now colouring ringing any we catch in the hope to increase re-sightings of ringed birds, to try and understand more about their movement and why they are declining so much!!

A total of 16 Wheatears, and 1 Ring Ouzel were trapped and ringed.