25 more Corncrakes released on Nene Washes

Pics from this morning's corncrake release. Is it me or does the Nikon coolpix 4500 have a delayed reaction!!! Today we released a further 25 young crex's all around 5 weeks of age, bringing this years releases to 64. The above pics are of one leaving its bag very quickly - next time I'll get the head end and paste it on! Measurements are taken of head&bill, wing length, wax on primary sheath (to see how much growing remains). The vet from Whipsnade checks for general condition of bare parts, heart beat and body fat reserves.
Todays birds were in excellent condition making very good weights at the top of the range for the captive breeding stock. The final release of 2006 will be next week.