Our first opportunity to get out for ten whole days! A big relief. I got out in a light shower yesterday to top up the feeders for today’s session at Somerford Common. I was joined for the morning by David, Laura, Adam, Pete and Claire. We arrived on site at 7:30, having had to defrost our vehicles and to a temperature of -1oC. Thankfully with a clear blue sky, and very little cloud anywhere, it soon warmed up and we set the usual nets:
Once upon a time, not that long ago, rides 5 and 6 were key to a good catch. It was where we would catch Redwing, Goldcrest and Long-tailed Tit. All three of these have massively reduced in our catch at this site. Today those five nets produced a solitary retrapped Blackbird! There is no obvious reason why that should be the case but they have been very poor all winter.
Continuing the good start to the year, our first round produced three new and one retrap Marsh Tit. We caught another two retraps later in the session. In the first six weeks of this year, and in just six sessions, we have ringed seven and retrapped 17 Marsh Tits: looking good for another decent year for the species in the Braydon Forest.
We caught and ringed another two Chaffinch this session, but also had to let another three go: one had a mite infection, the other two had Fringilla papillomavirus.
The list for the session was: Nuthatch 1(3); Blue Tit 13(17); Great Tit 3(8); Coal Tit (7); Marsh Tit 3(3); Long-tailed Tit 1; Robin 1; Blackbird (1); Chaffinch 2. Totals: 24 birds ringed from 7 species and 39 birds retrapped from 6 species, making 63 birds processed from 9 species.
At 11:30, with the catch having died away, the breeze got up and we decided to close up and take down. Whilst doing so, Claire heard some bird calls she hadn’t heard before. When she described seeing a small group of five birds: one red and four greenish-yellow Pete played her the call of Crossbill, which she recognised straight away. They didn’t hang around for long but great to know they are about. I feel a session on the western side of Somerford Common coming soon: as that is where the main conifer blocks are. I will have to find a suitable pond! They are notoriously difficult to catch, as they stay in the treetops unless c0ming down to drink!
Anyway, we had a few more birds to process before packing away but with many hands making light work, it didn’t take long and we were away from site by 12:30. Well I would have been if Claire and I hadn’t gone Crossbill hunting!
We are going to try a few different net positions next time, alongside the treeline that lines the road down to our parking area. Forestry England have cleared the line within the paddock and we often see good numbers of birds, not Blue Tits thankfully, moving along that stretch.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 