gnasher16 31,602 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Sorry for the daft question me being a greenhorn and all.......but exactly how do you go about weighing a bird Pete ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Gnash, I often enjoy your questions. Your direct and unaffected honesty is reminiscent of a childes. Very refreshing. And you do seem to spot the chinks Yeppers. I do believe I've probably since mentioned my apologising to the birds for " The indignity " ? This is ~ to me, if not the average bird ~ the most uncomfortable bit. We use either spring or digital scales. As my solo work is directed at sparrows, I normally only get to process sparrow sized birds. Like, okay; The 'garden' blackbird wandered into one of my traps today. Digging the ground beneath it, rather than after the seed baiting it. But, she's an exception. Anyway, yes; I prefer to use my " CD " digital scale. Open the CD case. Put the bird on the disc. Read the digital reading. Ah. Yes. But, you'll have spotted how a wild bird, placed on a disc, would f**k straight off, before its weight had even registered, eh? Astute. Okay. F**k it: We pop them, head first, into a Saxo pepper pot!!! That is the 'Indignity' I apologise for inflicting on them Seriously though, Gnash; It's cool. A pepper pot is just the right size. We slip them in there and they fit nicely. Can't open their wings, obviously. Heads aren't scrunched either though. Just slip their grabby little claws off the edge and ~ One. Two Three ~ There it is. A settled reading of 23.6g March straight out the back door. Clear of windows. 'shake' the pot downwards and out slips the bird. Off like a shot, from mid air. . Tits most often tend to (Having spent the last few minutes trying to peck ye to death!) They tend to cheep, as they fly off. I think I, by now, know the Great Tit word for " C**t!!! " 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnasher16 31,602 Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 A pepper pot .. .......just when you think your going to get a really state of the art highly technical answer you get..... " i shove them in a pepper pot " ....great stuff. This sort of shit fascinates me and Pete i make no apologies for my childlike curiosity.....it took me most of a lifetime to discover nature and the countryside im just making the most of it i aint got time to bullshit and pretend i know more than i do if i have a question i,ll come clean and ask... whats the worst that can happen you get told to f**k off Pepper pot ......im still half expecting you to jump out and say " had you there you daft c**t " ! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hot Meat 3,109 Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 what about bigger species pete? cloth bag an set of scales tared to minus bags weight?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Damn! I'd just started answering Gnash' and your one flagged me, 'Meat! Exactly, mate, as a rule. I processed a jackdaw one time, on my own and without any former guidance, after I found it walking round my back room ( ) It was definitely getting *Emotional*! F**king thing hacking lumps out of me and tearing me to pieces as I tried to keep a grip on it, with one hand, and ring the bast@rd with the other. Probably slightly less bad than bathing a cat! Asked my boss about this sort of thing and the f**ker blithely replied; " Ye just leave them in the bad, bud. Pull the leg out and ring it. " Oh, and the scales were lifted from my f**king eyes! But, yeah; Big, scary stuff. Shit ye couldn't shove down a four inch pipe without two of ye? Put it in the bag. Draw the leg out. Ring it. Then fetch the wing out. Measure that. Then, hang it off the spring scales to get the weight. Let it go. Weigh the bag. Subtract. Job's a good'n 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Gnash; Pepper pots? I was just gonna say, mate ..... We ringers can develop an almost unhealthy passion for 'pots'! I actually have a small collection building already. I have my pepper pot, for 'sparrows'. I need a camera film pot. That's for ye smaller stuff. Wrens 'n shit. Then, I have a bit of waste pipe here. Taped off at the bottom. That about does to hold a blackbirds wings shut. I have a Bisto tub, I thought that might be handy for say, collared doves? Then I have this whack off big one ~ can't remember what that is. But, I have wood pigeons, jackdaws in mind. This is how I'm being guided, see? I'm not allowed to go after these (adult) birds on my own. See? (Because the bloody things will teach me a lesson, in my inexperience! ) But, my boss encourages me to look to the future. The day I'm awarded an endorsement to handle another species is Not the day to start scrabbling around for the kit to handle them! This is why I long since own my own pair of the Big pliers. They're mine now. And I can get to use them, under his guidance. So, when I'm ready, I'll know my pliers. I used to use his small ones. Then, I bought my own and they were from a new maker. Chalk and cheese! At first, I couldn't stand my own pair. Now? I can't get on with His ones! Anyway; Am I waffling?! I just get carried away with it all! Ringing is What I Do, these days! I get up. Let the Dogs out. Put the kettle on. Dogs in. Traps out. And we're off ....! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoChara 1,632 Posted February 14, 2014 Report Share Posted February 14, 2014 Such a beautiful bird pete.! And ive had dirtier finger nails than that, sign of being hard at it lol infact on a regular basis made worse by them being really long Well done on the wee stunner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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