Sunday, 16 March 2014

Bletchingley - 16 March 2014

The date had been pre-arranged with JHH, her mum Allison and our hosts Ralph and Pat, and dawned rather windier than we had hoped or expected according to the weather forecast. The numbers of birds visiting the garden have been tailing off as the weather became more Springlike but we weren't too perturbed as we usually catch plenty without the need for tapes.

We put up three nets.

Net one by the feeders at the front of the house.

 Net two in the trees at the side of the house.

Net three by the feeders at the back of the house.

We could tell that there were fewer tits around while we were setting up. One of the first captures was a smart House Sparrow.

 4M House Sparrow

The Blue and Great Tits trickled in, then came a surprise for Ralph and Pat who had never had  Golcrest on the garden list before.

5M Goldcrest

There was plenty for JHH to do as the complete catch totalled 46 birds. One individual amongst the Blue Tits was in surprisingly good condition considering its bill deformity.

Blue Tit aged 6 plumage in good condition weight 11.6g

The oldest retrap of the day was Blue Tit L532486 that was ringed as age 4 on 9th December 2012 by DKL.

Many thanks to Ralph and Pat who looked after us very well, as always, with Bacon Rolls, biscuits, flapjacks and all the tea and coffee we could want. The freshly made cheese scones for lunch were especially delicious!

This will be the last session until late autumn, when we will be back again to monitor the feeding station visitors.

Totals:33 (13)

Dunnock - 3 (2)
Robin - 2 (1)
Blackbird - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Blue Tit - 17 (6)
Great Tit - 4 (3)
Long-tailed Tit - 1
House Sparrow - 1
Chaffinch - 0 (1)
Goldfinch - 2
Lesser Redpoll - 1