Close Encounters of the Bird Kind: Ringing at... a sewage works?

Whilst the cold becomes the main bane of bird ringers lives at this time of year, the frost it leaves on the ground does create some impressive scenery. This was on full display at a sewage works site in Bakewell that I visited earlier this year, where the minus temperatures almost had the effect of making a sewage works look pretty!

We weren’t there to admire the scenery however and after the six nets went up the birds started rolling in. There were around 100 Pied Wagtails feeding on the filter beds all morning and it was these that made up the

majority of our catch, with about 30 of the 60 birds caught being this species. There were also a handful of Meadow Pipits on the beds and a few of those manged to find their way into the nets, an unusual catch for winter ringing in our group.

I was also able to bag a couple of new species. A nice Grey Wagtail was a special treat, but I was more impressed with the 4 Starlings I was able to ring. These were a bird that I have had many close shaves with in the past, and a species I really wanted experience of to complete the list of common birds I'm likely to encounter when I ring in my garden. They are notoriously difficult to extract from nets and have a tendency to get the net twisted around the carpel (shoulder) of the wing. This can be quite daunting when first encountered, but with a bit of practice the knack makes for an easy extraction. They really are worth the trouble too. Absolutely gorgeous birds, even in their winter plumage, and truly underrated in every way.

A great morning all in all and a nice change from the usual winter ringing at feeding stations.