15/03 Snelsmore Common Feeder

Location: Snelsmore Common Feeder

Session: 15-Mar-2016 07:30 to 11:20hrs

Headlines: A good session with some interesting recaptures. We ring a few Nuthatch pulli each year but seldom get recaptures so the bird this morning ring 20-May-2015 as a pulli in nest box CP36 out on the margins of the northwest heath is interesting. This and the other Nuthatch recapture have not been recaptured here this winter. Early in the winter we were capturing good numbers of Coal Tit that have been notable by their absence in the second half of the winter so an influx of six new birds is interesting; where have they come from and where are the ones ringed earlier in the year. If it wasn’t for the Siskin it would have been a relatively quiet session today. Having read up recently there are many different way of aging Siskin: pointy tail feathers, different ages of greater coverts and tertials and contrast in colour of the primary coverts and the alular and the extent of juvenile feathers on the black caps of males;  handling so many such differences become more and more obvious. Trouble is by the next time we have such good numbers I will have forgotten most of them. Saw definite evidence that they are getting ready to migrate today. Their normal weight is between 11 and 13 grams so one weighing 16.9 grams required further investigation; it had good layers of fat visible beneath its skin (fat score 5) a sure sign it is intending to migrate soon. This is the last session I need to do here this winter for the project so barring any opportunities to do an additional visits before the end of March I will begin to run the feeder down. Apart from the nyger the amount of seed taken is already beginning to slow.

Weather: Cold and overcast, later sunny periods then back to cold and overcast.

Present: JL, RGS, IW, RJC

Nets: 12metres, a 6M net each side of the feeder up from 07:45 to 11:00hrs

Lure (feeder): Fat balls, nyger, black sunflower, peanuts

Capture (New/Recapture) 67 (43/24): Blue Tit 5/5, Coal Tit 6/1, Great Tit 2/1, Lesser Redpoll 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/1, Nuthatch 0/2, Robin 1/0, Siskin 27/13

Recaptures: 24 all recent except; Blue Tit 2y 84d, 1y 130d, 297d pulli from box CP29, Great Tit 110d, Nuthatch 1y 87d, 300d pulli from box CP36

Age Range: all 1st winter except; adult Blue Tit 3, Coal Tit 1, Great Tit 1, Robin 1, Siskin 1; indeterminate Long-tailed Tit 2, Nuthatch 2

Sightings 29 Species: Quite a bit of song early from the locals. Thanks to Ian for the list, I am finding it more and more difficult to ring and list at the same time.

Blackbird 3 Black-headed Gull 3 Bullfinch 2 Blue Tit 10 Buzzard 2 Chaffinch 7+ Coal Tit 8 Carrion Crow 3 Dunnock 1 Goldcrest 2 Goldfinch 8 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Great Tit 5+ Jackdaw 6 Jay 2

Red Kite 2 Lesser Redpoll 2 Long-tailed Tit 4 Mallard 2 Marsh Tit 2 Mistle Thrush 3 Nuthatch 3 Pheasant 1 Raven 1 Robin 3 Rook 6 Siskin 45+ Woodpigeon 9 Wren 1