Summary of pullus ringing in May.
So far so good! We have ringed 86 Blue Tits and 55 Great Tits in May. The Blue Tits are well up on last year. We will await the end of the month to see it they fledge, which would be great.
Sunday 29th
the heat continues to build but a gentle breeze helped a bit. Young birds continue to appear but two young Reed Buntings were a surprise. As there have been no reports arond the ringing area perhaps they wandered in from Worth.
Friday 27th
A bit of rain overnight but a calmer start before the strong breeze got up. Young birds continue to appear. This time there were six Blackcaps, three Chiffchaffs,two Whitethroats,three Great Tits and singles of Blue Tit,and Robin. Hopefully there will be enough food around despite the heat wave for a healthy survival rate.
Wednesday 25th
The wind dropped and it was a warm morning and a pleasant ringing session. There were 20 new bird. They were nearly all juveniles which continues to suggest a successful breeding year The new birds were five Blackcaps, three Blue Tits, two Chiffchaffs, a Great Tit and four each of Robin and Whitethroat. Bird of the morning was a Stock Dove from one of the nest boxes.
An evening check of the House Martin boxes gave 10 more chicks plus some others which will need revisiting later next week. There shoulld be time for a second brood to be reared but it has been a long time since a nest has had three broods.
Monday 23rd
No ringing due to the strength of the breeze. We are all being put to shame by our Voluntary Assistant who has now read a third colour ringed Blackbird on the Estate. Good going after two years of nobody else seeing them.
Sunday 22nd
Unexpected rain in the ringing area.
The original forecast had been dry but with thunderstorms popping up here and there it was not long before one appeared above SBBO and brought the session to an end. This was not before a varied catch of 13 new birds. The definite highlight was an adult Long-eared Owl which flew into the net near one of our ringers. This is probably just as well as, with their soft plumage and larger size, they are good at rolling out of standard nets. I look forward to seeing a photo of the bird.
Some of the other birds told interesting stories as well. Three new Wrens might not have been a surprise but one of them was the parent and unringed as well. Three Lesser Whitethroat juveniles will have been local. A retrap Robin had been ringed in 2021 and not recorded since.
Saturday 21st
It is a relief to record that House Sparrows are busy producing new nests and eggs. Box 47, near the ringing room, has had a male displaying from early April but it was not until June that any nest started being built. Now there are four eggs and so hopefully persistence will pay off for him.
Friday 20th
Today continued to show that there is a steady production of fledglings. There were 18 birds ringed today - five Blackcaps, four Blue Tits, three each of Chiffchaff and Long-tailed Tit, two Wrens and a Whitethroat.
Friday 6th
Enough of a break in the wind to allow some ringing. There were six new birds and eight retraps. Despite the successful chick ringing in the nest boxes there is a steady trickle of unringed fledged tits being caught - five Great Tits today.
Wednesday 4th
The wind dropped enough first thing to allow for ringing. There were five new and five retrap birds. It is an indication of the sad state of the Greenfinch population that a new bird today was so notable. We do more Yellow-browed Warblers than Greenfinches each year!
Tuesday 3rd
Too windy to ring but late notification of a Blackcap movement. We ringed it here on October 3rd 2022 and it was controlled in Luxembourg the following year on October 24th. We expect most of the UK Blackcaps to be heading south west into Spain and Portugal. Maybe it had been a wanderer from northern Europe when we first caught it.
Sunday 1st.
A warm, sunny, and not too windy morning saw 11 new birds and 14 retraps. The new birds were helped by a flock of this year's Long-tailed Tits.