After an extremely frustrating week of rain, wind, wind and rain, and a fairly iffy forecast until Friday of this week, I had become a bit desperate. Not that I didn’t make use of the time to carry out some mist net mending but, apart from aggravating my bad back, it is mind-numbingly boring. I have enjoyed the spectacle in the garden though. Juvenile Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Dunnock, Starling, Blue Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker have been busy in the garden, along with their parents.
The Starlings have been the busiest. As well as hitting the mealworms as soon as they are out, they, along with the Jackdaws and Magpies, have worked out how to hang onto the fat ball and peanut feeders. Even worse, they have learnt how to hang on to the seed feeders and take a bellyful of that. Actually, so have the Blackbirds, Robins and Magpies, alongside the small species they are meant for. This does mean that my feeders are being emptied every three days, and I use a three set rotation. I have not seen any sign of disease in any of the birds in my garden since a sick Fieldfare six winters ago – and that had nothing to do with bird feeding.
Anyway, it was too windy to try and set any nets today, but we were rather inundated with Starlings and a family of Blue Tits: two adults and five youngsters. A couple of the youngsters were still demanding to be fed, but three were happily hitting the peanuts and the seed feeders. I thought that I would see what I could catch with my Potter Traps:
They have definitely seen better days but two were in working order, so I baited them and put them out around the feeding station area. The other two I took into the garage and set about repairing them. As I repaired each and put them out into the garden they almost immediately caught a Starling.
I started at 13:00 and kept them open until 17:00. i.e. after lunch and before tea. In that time I caught 13 Starlings, all bar two were juveniles. The other two were adult females. Both had very obvious brood patches, with no signs of feathering over. It looks like second broods are a possibility this year.
Although I have been seeing them for a few weeks now, not one of these juveniles had started their post-fledging moult.
Anyway, it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon: mending and ringing.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 