I’ve been having semi-regular sessions in the garden since about July, after the usual summer hiatus when the garden goes a bit quiet and so I just let the birds get on with raising their young. Having new parental responsibilities of my own means that squeezing in the odd session here and there is very precious indeed.
Young tits, Greenfinches a few other bits and bobs made up the midsummer sessions, and since the end of August, Goldfinch have dominated once again, with the sunflower feeders going down at a rate of knots. Today I caught 26 new Goldfinches, mostly juveniles in various stages of moult. A few Chiffchaffs usually appear in September and I was lucky enough to have the nets up today when one piped up, which was quickly lured down, a ringing tick for the garden, contributing to a good total of 37 birds in a couple of hours.
Aside from numerous 3Js early in the season, the absence of young Blue and Great tits has been notable in the last few sessions. A quick look reveals that I have caught 35 BLUTI so far this year, which is far less than my yearly totals for both 2018 and 2019, further evidence that these species have had a poor year. A positive is that Greenfinch seem to be doing well, with plenty caught in the spring, and a few juveniles appearing in the garden in the last few weeks.
Tom
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