Ruth, Jim, Duncan and I met this morning to attempt only the second session at Granby this winter, with previous attempts being hindered by the poor weather we've been struggling with during the last few weeks. As we got on site and put the nets up, it felt strangely mild, not the fridge-like experience I have been told to expect at this site. The morning began with a distinct lack of birds in the area, which was reflected in the poor first net round, but by the time we checked the nets the second time, the tits seemed to have woken up and we had a reasonable catch. This wasn't to last however, and as we processed the last few birds of the round, light snow started to fall. As we did our third net round the snow came in heavier and we decided to close the nets, and with conditions not improving, we soon took down before the rain set in as we left the site. Jim's Landrover had a close shave with the muddy track down to the feeding site, but we managed to get it out with a bit of digging and manpower!
The total catch was 30 birds of which 12 were retraps, and are as follows (new/retrap) - Blackbird 1/0, Robin 0/1, Wren 1/0, Blue Tit 2/4, Great Tit 8/5, Chaffinch 1/0 and Yellowhammer 5/2.
The best retraps were a Blue Tit ringed in November 2010 as a 3, and a Great Tit, which was also ringed as a 3 in November 2011.
Tom
(All pics by Ruth Walker)
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