Beginning of the month and the low cloud created great conditions for catching House Martin and Swallow, a party of Long-tailed Tits moved through the Oasis two previously ringed adults and 12 young. Highlight of the day was an adult male Little Owl. Young Starlings are on the wing with flocks bouncing around the observatory a few being caught in a box trap.

A Carrion Crow was caught in a mist net, previously ringed at the observatory in February 1991 as a nestling which means we can accurately determine this bird's age of 17 years old, the average lifespan is only 4 years! According to information on the BTO website this bird would have hatched earlier than average as adults do not usually lay eggs until mid March. There was one other Carrion Crow chick in the nest but nobody has sighted it since it was ringed. It is fascinating how much information can be gained from ringing birds but the most important information is found through retrapped individuals or field sightings (where a bird's ring number is recorded from the field/habitat in which it lives) therefore we must continue to record these numbers and encourage others to do the same. With the development of digital cameras and technology this is not as difficult as it once was but still challenging enough to keep the interest.