06/02 Greenham Feeder

Location: Greenham Feeder

Session: 06-Feb-2020 07:45 to 11:15hrs

Notes: Decided to get a session banked for this feeder as the weather forecast for next Sunday 9th looks dire. We’ve not done very well at this feeder so far this year but today we had a relatively respectable capture of 31. Something I’ve not seen for a while, two Great Tits with avian pox growths. They were probably a pair as they were captured together. The male ringed Oct 2018, as a bird fledge that year and the other was a 2nd year+ female. The former had growths on its head and was bald. The females had growth on its breast mostly hidden by plumage. Both birds appeared to be in good health with an average weight of 19.6gms for the male and a good weight for a female of 19.2gms. Avian pox (incertae sedis) has been quite bad in the Great Tit population nationally and up until 2017 was often encountered locally. It is a virus thought to be mostly transmitted by biting insect. Before the outbreak in the Great Tit population about 7 to 8 years ago. we very occasionally encountered it locally in the Dunnock population. 
It was a cold session (1 degree C) and the freezing fog lifted and it warmed up as I was taking the nets down.
Weather: calm, cold, freezing fog.

Present: JL

Nets: 12metres in 2 nets two  6M around feeders up from 08:00 to 11:00hrs

Lure (Feeder): Niger, Peanut, Black Sunflower

Capture (New/Recapture) 31(19/12) 4 Species	Matching Visit: (Sun) 06/02/2019 9(6/3) 3 Species
Species New Rtp 1stCY 2ndCY+ BLUTI 15 8 19 4 DUNNO 1 1 GRETI 4 2 3 3 ROBIN 1 1	Species New Rtp 1stCY 2ndCY+ BLUTI 4 1 5 DUNNO 1 1 GRETI 1 2 3

Recaptures: (12), recent except
BLUTI             ringed: 04/11/18, 02/12/18, 17/01/19
GRETI            ringed: 21/10/18
DUNNO          ringed: 06/02/19
Sightings 14 Species: Not much to see in the freezing fog and was quite busy ringing on occasions and probably missed a few species. Not that there was much on the moved anyway.

Blackbird (2)       Blue Tit (25)       Chaffinch (2)      Coal Tit (2)         Dunnock (3)       Goldfinch (5)      Great Tit (10)

Greenfinch (2)   Magpie (3) Nuthatch (1)       Pied Wagtail (1) Robin (5)   Song Thrush (3) Wren (2)