Sutton Bonington has been rather disappointing for the last two months so I thought a summary would be better than a visit by visit account. A combination of a few things, not many birds at the start of the year, nets not necessarily positioned in the best place and the weather. Two of these are much improved, the birds are now there and new net positions seem to be catching much better. The one thing we have not been able to do anything about is the weather. Our visits are restricted to a Saturday or Sunday and despite trying to follow the forecasts and pick the best day we have been hampered by the wind, rain or snow on every visit so far this year. Yesterday was no different, despite clear skies from the start it was bitterly cold and the easterly wind increased as the morning went on billowing out the nets. I think we were all glad to finish even though we had the best catch of the year with 50 birds.
The various teams this year have consisted of Maria, Kirsten, Alex, Duncan, Sue, Trish, Jake, Tom, Gary and I. Total catches for January and February have been 155 including 62 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Fieldfare 3/0, Redwing 3/0, Blackbird 3/0, Robin 2/12, Dunnock 4/8, Blue Tit 7/9, Great Tit 3/5, Coal Tit 1/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/13, Greenfinch 2/0, Goldfinch 2/0, Chaffinch 6/1, Reed Bunting 12/7, Yellowhammer 43/7, House Sparrow 1/0. The oldest retraps have been from 2015. It is at least good to see that half the birds caught have been Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings.
Thanks to Maria for keeping the feeders topped up during the week.
Kev
The ringing Base and processing Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings (S. Lakeman)
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