Tits Up

A ringing session at Crawford yesterday (22nd) produced far more Blue Tits than expected given its farmland setting. I have been baiting the site with the aim of attracting buntings, finches and sparrows but they failed to turn up in a any number and those that did mainly approached the feeders along the hedge line and largely avoided the nets. There are plenty of stubble fields in the area so they may not be struggling for food yet and although it has been cold we haven't had enough snow to cover them and restrict the feeding opportunities they provide. Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) were: Blue Tit 13 (4), Great Tit 3 (1), Willow Tit (1), Dunnock 1 (2), Robin 1 (1), Blackbird 2 (4), Woodpigeon 1, Bullfinch 1, Goldfinch 5, Greenfinch 5 (2), Chaffinch 3 (1), Reed Bunting 1, Yellowhammer 1. 

This adult Blue Tit had a long wing length of 69 mm

The site still has plenty of potential and catches may improve once the food supplies in the surrounding farmland are depleted. Birds around included 32 Tree Sparrows, 2 Reed Buntings, 3 Bullfinches, 4 Corn Buntings and 8 Yellowhammers. Chaffinches were surprisngly scarce and the only birds seen were the 4 that were caught. Up to a 18 Greenfinches frequented the feeders and few Goldfinches joined them from a flock of 44 that were feeding in some alders nearby.

This male Bullfinch was a nice addition to the finch total.

Male Reed Bunting.

Watching how the birds arrived at the site and then approached the feeders and the food on the ground caused me to have a rethink about the current set up. After I had taken down the nets I improvised some additional cover by digging in some large branches and I also repositioned some of the feeders. Hopefully this will result in more birds crossing the net rides when approaching the food and lead to better catches of the target species.

Tree Sparrows have a very patchy distribution in the area and they are absent from many sites they used to occupy.

The area still holds a small population of Yellowhammers but like Tree Sparrows they are not as common as they once were.