Finally, we are back in the wetland for a wetland ringing session! It turned out not to be our busiest wetland session, but it was not without it’s highlights!
First up was a personal favourite; a gorgeous Bluethroat! These, just like the species below, have an Adult Summer Complete, juvenile summer partial moult, meaning we are looking at whether there are moult limits in the wing to determine the age of this bird. In our bird we could see 8 worn, loose, unmoulted outer GCs, contrasting with 2 nice, glossy post juvenile inner GCs. Therefore, this must be a 1st calendar year bird. And, due to the extent of blue, black and auburn in the throat, we can determine that this is a 1st calendar year male!
Next up was a little bird that did not really live up to its name. Though this may look like just another ‘Little Brown Job’, it is actually a beautiful Siberian Rubythroat. Though the lack of ruby-throat may be quite a giveaway to the age and sex of this bird, we still begin by looking for the moult limits in the wing. And, lo and behold, we can see 7 unmoulted juvenile GCs contrasting to the 3 inner GCs (post juvenile), therefore this is a 1st calendar year bird. As even young males would show some red in the throat, the fact that this is lacking discerns this as a 1st calendar year female!
Finally, we ended the morning with my person favourite Tit species; the adorable Chinese Penduline Tit! These guys differ from most Tit species in two ways; 1. You get to keep your fingers intact; and 2. their GC moult limits can be rather variable. The number of unmoulted GCs can vary greatly, typically from have 0 (all post juvenile) left to around 6 left unmoulted. This means they can be a little tricky to age if all GCs are moulted, as we would need to compare between the post juvenile GCs and juvenile PCs (and comparing across feather groups is more difficult than within one feather group). Thankfully, our two individuals above showed a rather normal moult, with two GCs left unmoulted (outermost).
Additionally, thanks to the lack of grey in the crown and black in the ‘mask’, we can easily conclude that both are 1st calendar year females!
Daily Totals
| Species | Original | Recapture |
| Bluethroat | 1 | 1 |
| Chinese Penduline Tit | 5 | 0 |
| Common Kingfisher | 1 | 0 |
| Dusky Warbler | 2 | 4 |
| Plain Prinia | 0 | 1 |
| Scaly-breasted Munia | 1 | 0 |
| Siberian Rubythroat | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow Bittern | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow-bellied Prinia | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow-browed Warbler | 1 | 0 |
| Zitting Cisticola | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 14 | 8 |
*Please note that all wild birds, their nests, and eggs are highly protected (under Wild Animals Protection Ordinate, Cap. 170) in Hong Kong. It is an offence to wilfully disturb, take, remove, or injure wild birds or their nests/eggs. The actions described here were undertaken by trained professionals holding the necessary licenses and permits issued by the AFCD.*
