For interest, here is a selection of photos taken at a recent bird ringing exercise at the Pond which give a good flavour of the activity.
From the RSPB:
Wild birds have been ringed for just over a hundred years in many countries across the world. Currently, over 800,000 birds are ringed in Britain and Ireland each year, of which over 13,000 are subsequently found or recaptured away from where they were first caught. Many more are recaptured locally to where they were ringed.
Bird ringing in the UK is carried out by ringers licensed by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on behalf of the statutory conservation agencies (Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, Countryside Council for Wales and Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland). It involves catching a wild bird and fitting a light silver-coloured metal ring of a correct size on its leg. The ring carries a unique number, by which the bird can be identified later if it is caught or found again, and a reference to the British Museum, London. This is used as a postal address for ring recoveries because it is internationally well known.
Download and read this RSPB document (pdf) for further information.
For a previous article on bird ringing at the Pond, please see here.