A successful day starts with BO!

It is apparent from hearing what other ringers and nest-recorders have been finding that Barn Owls are having an absolutely amazing year this year. About time too as the past few years have seen a big decline in numbers following a succession of hard winters and wet summers. Chris Griffiths has been out and about ringing a few second broods in Montgomeryshire so, not to be left out of the action, I decided to check a few sites in west Wales too that I either hadn't checked previously or where an early first brood had already fledged.  Not really expecting that much it was very nice indeed to ring 10 more pull and 1 new adult yesterday morning from two sites out of the four I checked. Spurred on by this unexpected success I think a few more boxes might get checked in the next week or so!

A nice late brood of 6 Barn Owls in a site that was vacant 

for the first time in a long time last year

After doing the Barn Owls I met Andre at Borth fto have a go at netting the Swallow roost. Soon after we arrived large numbers of Swallows were quickly circling the tape lure, over 1000+, but this wasn't surprising given the millions upon millions of nasty, bitey midges that were particularly vicious in the perfectly calm and muggy conditions and absolutely ate us alive. 107 Swallows and 2 Sand Martins were ringed along with Andre's first ever Greenshank, caught in broad daylight in a net over the river. This is also the first Greenshank I've ever caught in broad daylight, usually their eyesight is faultless! Hopefully it was one of the two that narrowly evaded capture a few days before!