Bird Ringing & Measuring

Got up at silly o'clock this morning and went along to a bird ringing demo and session at the mere. This is a juvenile male blackcap - see extra.
 
Mist nets are put up and checked every 20 minutes. The nets when stretched out cannot be seen. The birds fly into them and are held and supported by their own weight. They do not seem to be in any distress  and it seems quite easy to collect, ring, measure and weigh them. The people who do this are, of course, fully trained. 
 
Also caught in the nets and ringed: white throat and reed warblers. 

Ringing monitors survival rates and enables the BTO to collect information about the movement of birds. It helps with conservation.