Kev H, Gary, Josh, Laura, Kev B and I made the sixth Winter CES visit to Broomfield College. We had nets up by the feeders and sports field, as well as a net and spring traps in the orchard, two nets by the allotment and a walk-in trap for Starlings.
The ground was frosty as we’ve experienced sub-zero temperatures all week, and we were expecting a good catch by the feeders as birds would be hungry in the cold conditions. Although we came back with birds every net round, the numbers weren’t as high as we’d hoped.
The spring traps baited with apple in the orchard did well at catching Robins and a nice continental female Blackbird. However, the walk-in trap baited with mealworms for Starlings remained empty. On two previous visits, flocks of 50+ Starlings had been seen nearby but only a handful were seen going over the base late in the morning.
Armed with mealworms and misplaced optimism, we moved the walk-in trap to the car park in the unlikely effort to catch a Pied Wagtail, and needless to say, success eluded us.
We caught a total of 38 birds, including 21 retraps, comprising: Blue Tit 12, Redwing 6, Robin 6, Great Tit 5, Dunnock 3, Long-tailed Tit 2, Blackbird 2, Wren 1, Goldcrest 1.
Thank you to Josh who brought some very tasty homemade blueberry mini muffins.
Holly
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