Pins As another day dawns, you can see that there are little 'pins', biggest on the wings, starting to appear on their bodies. These are descriptively known as 'pinfeathers' - in a few days more they will become the coat of feathers we all know so well. pThe first few droppings have started to appear on the side of the nest - this means, in my system, that the eldest chick, at 6 days, is big enough to band, which I will do late that evening. I want to do nothing which could upset Dolly! Banding the chicks last thing allows her to have all night to forget.

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