I was joined at Ravensroost by Andy Palmer, the newest recruit to the West Wilts Ringing Group, and we had a productive session. The highlights were our first two Lesser Redpoll of the winter and a retrapped Treecreeper originally ringed as a newly fledged bird on 4th July 2009. Treecreepers generally live for about 2 years, so for this bird to be still going 5 years and 4 months later is a decent feat of survival. This is the fourth time this has been processed. It weighed 7.6g at initial ringing, 8.4g in November 2011, 9.7g in April 2013 and 8.0g yesterday. Perhaps old age is catching up. The oldest ever recorded was just over 8 years old.
The total list was, new (retrapped): Treecreeper (2); Blue Tit 6(1); Great Tit 6(4); Marsh Tit (2); Long-tailed Tit (5); Wren (4); Blackbird (1); Goldcrest 10(1); Chaffinch (1); Lesser Redpoll 2. Totals: 24 new, 22 retrapped.
The photos show the two Lesser Redpoll, the first is an adult female, the second is a juvenile.
