A very cold morning in Devon

I went back over the border to Devon this morning for another Canon netting session on the Axe. The weather was a lot colder than before which hopefully meant we were in for a larger catch. This was certainly the case with 57 birds caught and a nice variety of species. Whilst waiting for the net to be fired we overheard the word Shoveler on the radio which made a few people ears prick up. Not long after the net was fired and we ran (well some of us younger ringers did!) to start extracting and bagging up the birds ready for ringing. Did we catch any Shoveler? I think the photo’s answer that question.

Shoveler was a new species for me to ring as was this little chap.

Shelduck were the most numerous species caught this morning with about 30 or so birds. It was really good to have a look at the different ages and sexes. Luckily the catch contained a few stonking adult males, though the one in the photo below was subject to a few knob jokes.

I should probably explain the knob reference as I am fully aware that not all readers of this blog are birders. The knob is the area above the nostrils which is only present on males. This particular bird wasn’t gifted in that area hence the Michael being taken.