My first 1000! - 29th September/1st October 2011

The first SCAN weekend of Autumn 2011/12 saw us mist-net on the Friday night on the marshes. Setting 5 nets, we caught a selection of Curlew, Redshank, 3 Dunlin, 3 Lapwing, a Mallard and an adult female Eurasian Teal. I have never ringed Curlew before so this was a first. I have also never ringed adult Lapwing, so ringing the last bird was a real treat. The highlight however was the pleasure of ringing the Teal which was truly superb! It was so small and so placid in the hand...superb!

The main catch of the weekend was on Saturday where a very impressive 448 Oystercatcher were cannon-netted near Llanfairfechan. This was another new species for me and 77 birds down the line, I was able to confidently age (and even sex in some cases) the birds.
Since returning home after the catch, I have discovered that the bird above, which was the last bird I processed, was actually the 1000th bird I have processed since 29th January 2011! An impressive total for only 8 months of ringing!

Thanks to Steve, Rachel and Dave for coordinating and well done to Matt Bruce for getting through your first cannon-netting session!