The Harculo power - and ringing station

On March 31st I visited the bird ringing station Harculo, located in the gardens of a power plant, just south of Zwolle (The Netherlands). This ringing station started in October 2012 and is being operated by some of my friends and colleagues on a regular basis. The following birds were netted, measured, ringed and released (with the number of recaptures in parentheses) during a pleasant but early easter morning:

Great Tit Parus major 3(2)

Blue Tit Parus caeruleus 2(2)

Common Blackbird Turdus merula 3(1)

Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus 4(0)

Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs 3(0)

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes 1(0)

Greenfinch Carduelis chloris 2(0)

White Wagtail Motacilla alba 1(0)

We were working under the careful eyes of this Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, which inhabits the power plant. Its mate currently incubates eggs in a nest box mounted in the top of a 60 meter high wall of the site.

An adult Greater Black-backed Gull Larus marinus at the cooling water inlet.