Hornsey Rd 4 July - Silvereye

Set the funnel trap here this morning with considerable success.  I caught 95 Silvereyes with 34 new and 61 recaptures. There were 36 recaps that were banded this year, 9 last year, 4 in 2011, 7 in 2010, 1 in 2008 and the old one that was also caught last week banded in 2005.

On Tuesday I had a net up for a while until the wind got too strong.  I didn't catch a lot but did catch a Silvereye that was not one of ours (a control).  It appears that it was banded by Lindsay Rowe in Kaikoura back in Sept 2004 so, not only is it our longest distance recap and only the second to cross Cook Strait, it is also our third oldest recapture of a Silvereye. I suspect it probably arrived last week with the 100+ km wind up its tail and probably it would have taken about 1 1/2 hours to get here. The distance as the bird might have flown is just over 150 kms

This morning I also caught a bird with an unusual band number which I am still checking out.