Reporting a bird ring

Wondering how to while away the fifteen minutes it would take for my marmalade to boil to setting point, I glanced out of the kitchen window and noticed that the bird feeder was nearly empty.  When I arrived at the feeding station with my jug of seed I saw a dead Blue Tit on the ground.  I filled the feeder and picked up the little bird and was wondering how best to dispose of it when I spotted a ring on one of its legs.  After I had returned to the kitchen and dealt with the marmalade (14 Pounds and setting nicely, thank you), I returned to where I had placed the bird in the woodshed away from scavengers.  I got the ring off the bird’s leg and examined it with a hand lens: NH MUSEUM LONDON Y561990.  I had not reported a ringed bird before, so I tried the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) website and that redirected me to the Euring website.  There you select the type of ring from a range of options and then fill in a simple form with the details of ring number, location, species etc.  Very quick and easy and well worth doing.

Our bird had probably been hit by a Sparrowhawk at the time that I went out to the garage to get the birdseed and the noise I made scared the predator off its kill.  It was still warm when I picked it up and had fresh blood around its beak.  We see Sparrowhawks making passes through the garden - the bird feeder is an obvious target- but it is many years since I actually saw a kill.  They are fast and agile, flying through the apple tree where the bird feeder hangs.