This morning was spent showing Kate Wollen, assistant ecologist at the Forestry Commission, what work we have been doing on their land. I chose Somerford Common, as it regularly delivers more diversity than Webb's Wood or Red Lodge. It was a good choice, with 49 birds from 14 species in a little under 3 hours, before rain put an end to the session.
The list for the day was, New (Retraps): Blue Tit 5(2); Great Tit 2(1); Coal Tit (3); Marsh Tit (1); Long-tailed Tit (1); Wren 2(2); Dunnock 1; Robin 4; Redwing 4; Blackbird 3; Goldcrest 7(2); Goldfinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 2; Bullfinch 6. Totals: 37 new from 11 species and 12 retraps from 7 species.
The retrapped Coal Tts were, unusually, all adult birds, ranging in age from two to four years. At this time of the year one would expect birds fledged this year to outnumber adults by 2 or 3:1. For example, of the Goldcrests caught 3 were adults and 6 were juveniles. The two Lesser Redpoll were a good catch, with one being a particularly striking male:
A good catch of Bullfinches just underlines how well these birds have done this year compared to the other results from ringing at Somerford (4 in 2014, 5 in 2013, 21 so far in 2015). I don't know what the difference is this year but hopefully this trend will continue. ST