Man vs egrets

I joined Jim Lennon and Adrian Blackburn of North Notts Ringing Group today on a Little Egret ringing session at Mons Pool. We arrived at 10am, and they were still going when I made my excuses just after 3pm. There were 16 of us in all, with three tree climbers all kitted up in harnesses and hard hats. People had come from far and wide to help, including Essex and County Durham. Kieran and Harry were two of the Durham contingent, young birders and ringers. The former was the lucky lad who timed his BB-funded stay on Fair Isle last summer with the appearance of the Swinhoe’s Petrels! 

Climbing the first tree

Processing the first batch of Egrets

The ringing was slow going, as the Egrets (unlike the young herons, apparently) leave their nest (which are small and rather pigeon-like) and start clambering around in the tops of the big hawthorns as soon as they're approached by the climbers; trying to catch them then proved very, very tricky, as they were surprisingly agile, using legs, wings and bill to scramble around. Some proved just too hard to capture!

Checking a ring

Processing some more

A gratuitous cute Egret picture

Little Egret on the left, Grey Heron on the right

I ringed one bird, with a metal BTO ring on its right leg and a blue darvic ring on the left; my bird was AF, and I’m looking forward to seeing if I can find this individual around Collingham later in the year.

Me and AF

Another gratuitous cute Little Egret picture

Needless to say, I didn't see much else bird wise, although I happened to glance up through a hole in the canopy just as yesterday’s Red Kite drifted lowly overhead.