Broomfield Winter CES Visit 5 - Sunday 28 December

This weekend we carried out our fifth visit for this season’s winter CES (and the seventh if you include non-CES visits). No frost today but dawn seemed to take a while to arrive and it stayed grey and dull all morning. The feeders had been well attended judging by the level of food left in them. And with the college having been closed for a week, so presumably less disturbance, we hoped for a decent catch in the feeder nets. We set all the usual nets and the first net round surprised us all. Just 1 bird in the feeder nets but the two Redwing nets had 29 birds including 22 Redwing and 5 Starlings. It is a long time since we caught Starlings away from a garden. The Redwing nets continued to catch well all morning whilst the feeder nets were surprisingly very quiet all morning. We caught 68 birds throughout the morning. Of these, 21 were retraps. Other observations from the morning included Nuthatch and Tawny Owl calling and a Raven overhead. 

Happy New Year! 

Kev

Starling (KJH)

 

Brackenhurst Winter CES Visit 4 - Sunday 21 December

Jim, Alex and I made a pre-Christmas visit to the feeders at Brack, going for the Sunday mainly for my availabilty but also the promise of lighter winds from the east which hopefully would avoid too much wind getting into the feeding area. What we hadn't banked on was a slow moving patch of rain that decided to begin just as we parked up 100m or so down the track from the feeders, and only got worse during setup. We furled nets and went to wait it out in the Landrover, and luckily within around 20 minutes or so it had abated, so we went for round two. 

It was a steady morning, mainly dominated by retrap Blue Tits, but a small number of Yellowhammer in the nets was a nice surprise this side of Christmas, with birds usually expected after the new year. The fog that accompanied the rain didn't lift until shortly before we left, which seemed to limit the movement of birds around the site, with little noted round the ringing base, and a dog-leg of nets set in the Orwin's field was empty throughout the morning. Overhead, obscured by thick fog, we could hear birds passing by, which included a distant flock of Pink-footed Goose and unusually, several parties of Wigeon. A Tawny Owl piped up in Orwin's mid-morning, perhaps disturbed from a day roost, or just confused by the lack of visibility! 

Totals were (New/Retrap): Blue Tit 2/19, Dunnock 2/2, Great Tit 1/7, Robin, 1/1 and Yellowhammer 8/0. 

The oldest bird was a Great Tit ringed in 2020. 

Tom 

Fog!

A Blue Tit with 4 retained juvenile greater coverts - an unusually high number. (TS)

Broomfield - Saturday 20 December

This weekend we carried out our sixth visit, this was an additional visit not part of the winter CES. It was a slightly frosty start but then fog came down and hung around for most of the morning. We had a good sized team out and put up three extra nets. We caught 70 birds throughout the morning. Of these, 32 were retraps, the same number as last week. Interestingly one Blue Tit had been ringed on our first ever visit in November 2023 and not caught again until this weekend. Other highlights from the morning included 24 Long-tailed Tits, the first Goldfinch of the winter and 7 Redwings. Tawny Owls were heard calling when we arrived on site. 

Happy Christmas!

Kev

Broomfield Winter CES Visit 4 - Saturday 13 December

This weekend we carried out our fourth visit for this season’s winter CES, fifth visit including non-CES visits. It was a frosty start but soon warmed up when the sun came up. We caught 60 birds throughout the morning. Of these, 32 were retraps, including some which had been ringed in the previous two winters at the site - but the best bird was a Blackbird that was wearing a Dutch ring. Other highlights from the morning included a retrap Nuthatch, 5 Redwings and 3 Coal Tits. 

Kev

Redwings (Alex Underwood)

 

Broomfield Winter CES Visit 3 - Sunday 30 December

This weekend marked our third visit for this season’s winter CES, with Alex and I organising the session. We caught 47 birds in total throughout the morning. Of these, 20 were retraps, including some which we had previously ringed in previous years at the site – this is effective data in demonstrating the longevity and survival of individual birds. Highlights from the morning included two retrap Nuthatches, six Blackbirds, one Coal Tit, and one Blackcap. The Blackcap (pictured) is a first for the site and demonstrates that they are increasingly spending winters here instead of migrating down to southern Europe.

Totals comprised: 17 Blue Tits, 11 Great Tits, 5 Long-Tailed Tits, 6 Blackbirds, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Robin, 1 Dunnock, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Coal Tit, and 1 Blackcap.

Josh