Thwarted Before We Started

Alice and I met at 0515 yesterday at the Willow scrub and reedbed at the Obs to attempt a ringing session, but alas we were thwarted before we started. I only have a five-minute drive to the site, but as I was driving there, I could see rain on my windscreen! All three forecasts that I checked had assured me that it would be fine, with just a 4% chance of precipitation at most! Alice was already there, and as I got out of the car to have a moan about the weather, it was the wind strength that hit me. It was easily double figures north-westerly, and as our net rides all run NW - SE, the decision was easy, but frustrating, and we called it off. There's always next time.

I, and many other Bloggers, have been having issues with 'Blogger' of late, with the main one being the image behind the blog title changing size when changing the image. The other issue that I was having, was not being able to edit the ringing totals in the side bar. I got round the header image issues by changing the template, but actually I now quite like not having an image behind my blog title, so I haven't bothered. I thought the new template had solved my editing issues, and it sort of has, as I can now edit the ringing totals, but for some reason it won't list them in a column, as you can see if you look to the right. I am still working on it, but for now it will have to do!

 

Below you will find the top 3 ringed in July, and the top ten 'movers and shakers' for the year. Only one new species ringed during the month was new for the year, and that was Barn Owl.

 

Top 3 Ringed in July

1. Blackcap - 29

2. Whitethroat - 13

3. Reed Warbler - 11

It's nice to see a trio of warbler species top of the table for a change. It seems like it's been a good year for Blackcaps, and our totals are reflecting this.

Top 10 Movers and Shakers

1. Lesser Redpoll - 158 (same position)

2. Sand Martin - 123 (same position)

3. Blue Tit - 112 (same position)

4. Linnet - 60 (same position)

5. Great Tit - 57 (same position)

6. Chaffinch - 50 (same position)

7. Blackcap - 46 (straight in)

8. Goldfinch - 38 (down from 7th)

9. Robin - 29 (same position)

10. Coal Tit - 27 (down from 8th)

      Blackbird - 27 (down from 9th)

So, not much movement at the top of the table, but nice to see Blackcap straight in at number 7. Depending on how August turns out, it could easily climb to 4th during the month. Fingers crossed!