Friday 30th
A very quiet morning with just new Blackcap and Robin plus retrap Blackcap and Long-tailed Tit.
There is unlikely to be much ringing next week as we have some essential maintenance to do.
Wednesday 28th
A muggy but fairly calm morning produced another selection of young birds. These were two each of Robin, Blackbird and Whitethroat plus singles of Wren, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Blue Tit and Great Tit.
A check of the House Martin boxes was successful with all but two nests occupied and 16 young ringed plus another dozen on the way. So a delayed year but plenty of activity now. An adult female ringed at one house in May had moved three houses down the road.
Sunday 25th
Young birds are continuing to be produced and catches have improved from four new and three pulli on the 17th, to six new on the 18th, 16 new on the 23rd, and 17 new, all young birds today. Todays catch was two Dunnocks, four Robins, three Blackcaps, one Chiffchaff, five Blue Tits and two Great Tits. Lets hope this productivity continues. Certainly plenty of males of species such as Blackbird and Reed Warbler are back in song, suggesting new broods on the way.
Sunday 11th
Although the wind has gone it was very quiet, certainly no evidence of fresh migration. There were four new birds - two juvenile Whitethroats, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff plus a retrap Robin. Down the road the House Martins which started very late have now occupied all but two boxes, two of which had chicks old enough to ring. Most of the rest were at egg stage.
Friday 9th
Although the wind reduced a bit overnight it picked up again this morning and the new birds were limited to two Dunnocks and a Chaffinch.
Wednesday 7th
The continued cold north-easterly seems to have dampened the House Sparrows ardour. A check of the Observatory boxes showed that the few early broods had fledged but there was only one active nest. This is a huge drop on the last few years. Hopefully members will watch out for colour ringed birds to give some idea of possible causes. We have not noted any abnormal adult mortality so are they just sitting out this poor weather.
Passerines are not the only birds affected. The Kestrels, despite early display, did not nest. A local Buzzard nest has been deserted and the pair of Marsh Harriers I was watching have gone.
Sunday 4th
A brief attempt was made before the breeze picked up and it resulted in the first Reed Warbler plus a variety of fledglings. New birds were two Dunnocks, two Robins, five Great Tits, a Chiffchaff and the Reed Warbler.
Saturday 3rd
Checking of nest boxes continues and the picture for Great Tit looks quite good with twice as many chicks as last year, this is mostly due to more occupied nests. We have to wait to see if they are successful with this persistent north-easterly affecting the number of insects we see.