For the fifth year in a row our results have increased in number. The significant increase has been in the numbers ringed, with several significant increases and a couple of significant decreases. It ha beaten last year’s previous best total by over 1,000 birds, the vast majority being birds ringed, a small decrease in retraps and a small increase in pulli.
This was a new species for the group since it came into its current structure at the beginning of 2013:
The first was caught on the Imber Ranges by Ian and Andy in January. The second one caught this year was by Jonny at his Sutton Benger site. Miranda and I would have been jealous if it wasn’t for the fact that we both got to ring Little Owl when out with the Salisbury Plain group!
Of course, that wasn’t the only good Owl story: Andy and Ian caught our second ever Long-eared Owl: in April on the Imber Ranges. The first was in August 2020.
Barn Owls had a torrid year across the county. Proportionately, our group has had a better year than the Salisbury Plain group, but it was still one-third down on 2024. However, we did double the number of adults ringed, from three to six. The problem was very much a reduction in the number of voles and field mice available in the Spring, due to the cold dry weather and the failure of grass to grow until much later than usual reducing available prey. Kestrels changed diet to small birds and beetles, so did slightly better.
Alongside that, Blue Tits have had a phenomenal year: over 600 more fledged birds ringed than last year. Great Tits also had a good year, with 159 more ringed than last year but, proportionately, Marsh Tits have fared best of the titmice, with a 159% increase on last year! Several reasons for that: my Braydon Forest sites had their best ever year, with more than double last year’s total, from 19 ringed to 39 ringed. That is the best catch since 2018! In addition, Jonny’s two Trowbridge sites have started to produce numbers and his new site near Lyneham has also added well to the total. Bear in mind that the total number of Marsh Tits ringed in Wiltshire in 2024 was 44 and this year we have ringed 53! Hopefully this isn’t an isolated upsurge. It would be great to see this reflected across the country!
Anyway, all of the figures are there, I will do some detailed analysis on different species. The only declines that I will mention are: the severe decline in Meadow Pipit: that was almost entirely down to their scarcity at Blakehill Farm this year: 97 last year and just 2 this year, plus Jonny’s East Tytherton site dropping from 160 to 36. No idea why, apart from our not getting many Blakehill sessions in due to the continuous winds blowing across the plateau.
The other is Starling: a near two thirds reduction in numbers caught! The key areas in which we catch them are my back garden and Andy’s back garden. My reduction is purely down to my carrying out very few netting sessions in my garden. I only did two sessions in which they were caught and, whilst Andy did 23 this year and 40 in 2024. These are not total sessions but the ones in which we caught Starlings.
Watch this space, I will be providing some further analyses in the near future.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 