Brackenhurst, Sunday 19 November

We made our second visit of the season to Brackenhurst today and set up the usual nets at the feeders and Orwin's. We were Duncan, Tom, myself and new ringer, Brendan Noone. The weather was mostly still, but there was a frost in Orwin's which hung on for most of the morning. Over the session we handled 44 birds of 11 species. Catching was steady until 11:00 am.

The most interesting retraps were:-

Robin – two from 2015. Both prefer their own territories, staying put in Orwin's & the feeding site respectively.

Great Tit – the oldest bird was originally ringed in 2012. It's been caught 15 times and seven of those were in November. There do seem to be patterns with resident Brackenhurst birds, with some using the feeders early and others late winter. I suspect over the winter food is most important initially and then towards spring being on a territory starts to supersede this.

Chaffinch – another old male, this time from 2012 and not caught between times.

Totals: 44 birds processed (21 new/23 retrap), comprising:  Greater Spotted Woodpecker 1/1, Dunnock 2/4, Robin 0/3, Blackbird 2/1, Redwing 5/0, Goldcrest 1/1, Blue Tit 1/5, Great Tit 1/6, House Sparrow 1 (pit-tagged), Chaffinch 5/2, Yellowhammer 2/0.

Jim

 Great-spotted Woodpecker (T. Shields)