Zoo Saturday 15 August - a successful day

We had a surprisingly successful day at the Zoo on Saturday exceeding my expectations of 50-60 birds. We caught 96 of 7 species with 58 new and 38 recaptures. We had near perfect weather conditions with light winds and cloudy. There was a relatively small group of banders but with the majority being very experienced and a steady flow of birds the day went well.

Species caught were - (recaps in brackets)
Blackbird - 4 (1) the recap was banded July 2011
Song Thrush - 1 (0) the first caught at the Zoo this year

The first Song Thrush at the Zoo this year

Dunnock - 1 (1)
Chaffinch - 4 (1) the recap banded Nov 2011
Greenfinch - 10 (10) a good proportion of recaps with 4 banded here at Hornsey Rd.
House Sparrow - 13 (13) again a surprisingly high recapture rate. The oldest was banded in March 2010 and is the oldest House Sparrow we have caught for a year.
Silvereye - 26 (12) more than I had expected as most SE's appear to have left my place.

This Silvereye had a poor eye ring around its right eye, the other side was normal
Not sure if it was delayed moult or perhaps a parasite problem.

Several birds including Dunnock, Blackbird and this Silvereye showed signs of  developing brood patches.

Mallard - not a bandable bird but we caught a number. I had pre-fed a funnel trap with the hope of catching some net shy birds but when we arrived a Mallard duck with a dozen small ducklings were inside the unset trap. Managed to usher them out and set the trap. However although the duck couldn't get back in the ducklings did.

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