Many thanks to David Norman and the BTO for spicing up our
University training site ringing this winter with a new Blue Tit moult/survival
project. For various reasons we didn’t manage as many visits as hoped for
during the 2 months outlined for recording Blue Tit moult limits, November and
February, but hopefully we got enough to make a useful contribution to this UK
wide project.
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| Blue tit with old greater coverts. Photo by Sarah Fenn |
Looking at the numbers of Blue, Coal and Great Tits ringed
and retrapped during the sessions we were just glad Blue Tit was the target
species and not Coal Tit (see graph). There were plenty of each in November but
come February last session we caught no Coal Tits! We wondered if the large
numbers in November were associated with a decent beech mast crop in the nearby
beech trees in Seaton Park. By February perhaps the beech seed had run out and
the large numbers had been forced to disperse in search of food.
Well done to our young athletes David Hunter, Chelsea Ward
and Logan Johnson for achieving a good ratio of successful sprints to the
mist-nets from distance (four out of six) to capture some of our larger
visitors to the feeding station (see photos). We’re baiting a whoosh net site
now for the doos.
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| Buzzard. Photo by David Hunter |
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| Stock dove and woodpigeon. Photo by Sarah Fenn |
A nice variety of species have been caught during the
sessions.
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| Bullfinch. Photo by Logan Johnson |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker. Photo by David Hunter |
Thanks to Mark Paterson for continued access and support for
our ringing in the University Botanic Gardens.
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