19/02 Snelsmore Common Feeder

Location: Snelsmore Common Feeder

Session: 19-Feb-2016 07:45 to 11:20hrs

Headlines: A really good session, rodents still chewing my net guys though. I exchanged the small nyger feeder here with the large one at the Bagnor feeder last week and the number of siskin at the feeder obligingly increased. I was looking forward to seeing how many we would get today. 18 far exceeded my expectations and reminded of 2008/9 winter when we captured 64 over three sessions. The bulk of these were captured in mid and late March, perhaps an indication of how advanced the season is this winter. We are capturing mostly males; females seem quite scarce though I read somewhere that siskin flock are often mostly one sex. There seems to be a higher proportion of adults than might be expected. Wonder where all the Coal Tits are? In the 1st winter period we captured double figures each visit, sometimes in the mid-twenty’s. Those captured today were mostly females and arrived late in the session. In recent years numbers of Marsh Tit captured have dropped year on year from 10 in the early years of the feeder when it was at Winterbourne Holt maxing at 11 in the 2008/9 winter, just one captured in the 2012/13 winter. This correlates with the concern over the welfare of this species nationally. It looks like Marsh Tit may be going the same way as its close relative Willow Tit; once we captured many more of these than Marsh Tit. The bird captured today is one of three captured this winter.

From about 10:15hrs captures dropped to just a trickle.

Weather: Ground frost early, bright, sunny clear sky, cold, calm until late in session when became breezy.

Present: JL, IW, RGS

Nets: 12metres: a 6m net each side of feeders up from 08:00 to 11:00 hrs

Lure (feeders): fat balls, nyger, black sunflower, peanuts

Capture (New/Recapture) 54 (37/17):  Blue Tit 9/5, Coal Tit 3/4, Great Spotted Woodpecker 0/1, Great Tit 6/3, Long-tailed Tit 1/3, Marsh Tit 1/0, Siskin 17/1

Recaptures: 17 Blue Tit 1y 62d, 103dx2, Coal Tit 2y 59d, Great Tit 272d from Winterbourne Holt box WH22, Long-tailed Tit 1y 342d; All other less than 100days.

Age Range: all 1st winter except: Adults Blue Tit 1, Coal Tit 1, Siskin 6. Indeterminate Long-tailed Tit 4.

Sightings 21 Species: There was little movement here today apart from feeder traffic. The trees make counting more difficult; less of an open sky than the two other feeders. Raven croaking in the fir plantation probably the observation highlight.

Blackbird 1 Blue Tit 20 Buzzard 2 Chaffinch 3 Coal Tit 8 Goldcrest 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 Great Tit 12 Jackdaw 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Long-tailed Tit 5

Marsh Tit 1 Nuthatch 2 Pheasant 1 Raven 1 Red Kite 2 Robin 3 Rook 33 Siskin 20 Song Thrush 2 Woodpigeon 62