There was very little netting done in the garden this month due to almost constant windy conditions and three known nests. At the start of the month a pair of Goldfinch had been in a large variegated Holly tree. Blue Tits were also showing interest in one of the nest boxes. The Goldfinches had built a rudimentary nest in our Cherry Tree in September of the previous year. There was no real nesting attempt then, but material from this structure was collected and used for the new 2023 nest.
The Goldfinches had been present since late April and seemed to be doing alright, but then Wood Pigeons decided to build in the same tree. This drew the attention of Magpies and the Goldfinches lost their nest in the first week. The Wood Pigeons were still sitting on 12th May when we went away for a break but had gone when we returned 11 days later. That nest had also failed. The Blue Tits had had a large clutch of eggs at the end of April then a check on 23rd May showed just two extremely immature young. At the end of the month there had been no visits to the box for a few days and the adults had apparently deserted. We suspect that food has been difficult to find in the current conditions.
We were seeing juvenile birds in the garden at the start of the month, three young Blackbirds were present in the borders most days, supported by both adults. We also caught two juvenile Robins.
On the 31st a party of Long-tailed tits passed through the garden and juveniles were seen. It's worth mentioning that a Blackbird male recaptured 1st June had lost muscle mass since ringed at the end of March. This poor weather is certainly having a detrimental effect on the breeding birds and we have restarted supplementary feeding of dried mealworms, and apples.
Total: 4 (2)
Robin - 2
Dunnock - 0 (2)
Blackbird - 2