Taking terns

With the tides high and the winds low we have managed to have a couple more goes at catching terns  and waders at Ynyslas over the past two nights. The number of terns present has dropped as they make their way south to find some warm weather but we still managed to catch another 21 Sandwich Terns (including 3 more controls), 1 Common Tern, 41 Dunlin, 6 Knot, 5 Oystercatcher, 2 Sanderling and a Redshank. In a clear demonstration of how birds of different ages can move at different times all the Dunlin caught this weekend were juveniles compared to mainly adults a couple of weeks ago.

Hooked by Hawfinch ringing, Dave Smith terns

 his hand to other species and becomes a new trainee.

Jerry Lewis, the Hawfinch maestro himself, lent a hand last night and 

got to grips with a species he hasn't handled before (and there aren't many of them left!)