09/03 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common Feeder

Session: 09/03/2025 07:45 to 11:15hrs.

Present: JL,IW,RAD,DL.

Weather: bright, sunny, clear, warm, light breeze.

Nets: 2x6M nets, one each side of feeder, plus 12M & 10M scrub nets up from 08:00 to 11:00hrs.

Lures (Feeder):, Niger, Sunflower Hearts, Peanuts.

Quiet at the feeder today. the capture consisted mostly of Blue Tits, some Great Tits and a re-trap Dunnock. Even last year’s matching visit in 2024 had a very respectable 103 birds of 7 Species to process. Just a few years ago we would have been ringing good numbers of Goldfinch, Redpoll, Siskin and Greenfinches this time of year until mid-April, also the occasional Brambling, and a few Chaffinch. Not many of these species visited any of our feeders this winter.

Recaptures: (12)

Blue Tit   ringed: 13/10/2024, 02/02/2025x2, 16/02/2025x2, 02/03/2025x2.

Dunnock ringed: 16/02/2025

Great Tit ringed: 10/03/2024, 13/10/2024, 02/03/2025x2

The disappearance of these species is illustrated by this table:

We didn’t start using Niger seed (that attracts these species in numbers) until 2010. We know that

papilloma virus has devastated the Chaffinch population and Trichomonas the Greenfinch population.

It seems Redpoll and Siskin are wintering in the south in much reduced numbers; northern based

ringers report that most are wintering and visiting feeders near their breeding areas. For Goldfinch we

know that many of “our” wintering birds came from the Wire Forest (Worc) and further north, these

may also have stayed local in winter. The Goldfinch was not as common in the last century as it is now

in my experience, also local (wintering) flocks are much smaller than they were 5 years or so ago.

Sightings: Chiffchaff singing, there was a fall of returning birds mid-week. Few Blackbirds and no

Song thrush detected; they have been singing during recent visit but not today.