3 Days at Sutton Bonington

FEEDING SITE - SUNDAY 29/01/17
Alex, Sue, Gary and I netted the feeding site again this morning. There was a slight frost to start with but it was clear and still, clouding up later. Catching was fairly steady throughout but still no large numbers despite the cold week we had just had and the seed in the hoppers being consumed swiftly. We ended with 31 birds including 16 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Fieldfare 1/0, Blackbird 0/1, Dunnock 0/3, Robin 0/6, Great Tit 1/1, Blue Tit 3/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/1, Goldcrest 1/0, Goldfinch 1/1, Chaffinch 0/1, Yellowhammer 5/1, Reed Bunting 3/1. The oldest retraps were from last winter.

DAIRY FARM – MONDAY 30/01/17
Gary and I, along with Lucy from York netted the copse at the dairy farm site this morning. No frost today but overcast and misty at times. As we walked to the copse first thing we had both Barn and Tawny Owl fly in front of us. Catching started fairly briskly for this small site but dropped off later. We ended with 26 birds processed including 10 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Wren 1/0, Robin 0/3, Great Tit 1/2, Blue Tit 2/5, Chaffinch 11/0. The oldest retraps were from last autumn. We have generally noticed an increase at all sites over the last couple of years of ‘scaly leg’ in Chaffinch. Today saw it reach a new level, we ringed 11 Chaffinch but had to let 12 go un-ringed because they were suffering from the condition!

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT – TUESDAY 31/01/17
Lucy, Duncan, Gary and I netted the sewage treatment plant this morning. The day started with breeze and light rain that had us hanging around for a break so that we could put the nets up. It did stop raining after a while and we eventually put up 4 nets although 3 of them were being caught by the breeze quite a bit. Not long after 1030 it started to rain again, sharply this time and forced us to finish early. Catching was slow but we did manage to catch a couple of Pied Wagtails and get samples from them – a prime target species as they feed directly from the filter beds. A surprise in the net on the last round was a Chiffchaff. We ended with 10 birds including 1 retrap made up of (new/retrap): Pied Wagtail 2/0, Wren 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 5/0, Goldcrest 0/1, Chiffchaff 1/0. The retrap was from the last visit.

Kev