10th Woodcock and a woody
The young whippersnapper C Bridge caught his 10th Woodcock last night along with a Wood Pigeon both in textbook style.Woody thought to be a 7 due to contrast in secondaries. Interesting to see if this gets recovered somewhere (probably get shot!).
Rob - you'll have to explain all this numbers lark- don't quote get it. Presume 7 is an adult?
ReplyDeleteRob - you'll have to explain all this numbers lark- don't quote get it. Presume 7 is an adult?
ReplyDeleteMarc
ReplyDeleteAny odd number is a bird where yo uknow the exact year it was born. e.g 3, current year, 5 last year, 7 year before last. Any even number is for a bird you know the minimum age. 2 is a bird that could have been born this year and applies in late autumn to birds such as Long-tailed Tit and House Sparrow that undergo a complete post juvenile moult so are indistinguishable from adults. 4 is definitely born before this calender year. 6 is definitely born before last calender year etc.
For example a 3 Blue Tit would be one fledged this year. The year code will change on 1st January and it will become a 5 i.e definitely born the previous year. All '2's' will become '4's' i.e definitley born before the current calender year.
All young Willow Warblers undertake a complete moult in their wintering grounds so can't be identified to spcific year so when we start catching them in a few weeks they'll be '4's'. Some Chiffchaffs cn be identified so most will be '4's' but we may get some '5's'.
Make sense?
Aha! Thanks Phil - I think I get it now.
ReplyDeleteForgot to say '1' refers to pullus (young birds in nest or only just fledged and unable to fly properly or wader chicks).
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Phil.That was very helpful.
ReplyDeleteSince been aged as a 5 due to two generations in the secondaries (see the 2 different brown tones).
ReplyDeleteRob