Fill the feeders

Just a quick jaunt down this morning to replenish the feeders. One has peanuts in and the other has a 'finch type' mix with black sunflowers.

I decided to watch the feeders after filling and it was noticeable that the Great Tits preferred the peanuts, whilst the Blue Tits fed exclusively on the seed mix. The Great Tits had to work for their breakfast by chipping away at the nuts, whereas the Blueys just grabbed a piece and shot off to a branch to eat it.

There was an absence of Blackcaps, a lone male Chiff singing, several 'squeeky' Robins (maybe new-comers), one or two high flying thrushes and a pair of Gadwall on Fingers that are now resplendent in their "normal" plumage. A Kestrel came and hovered above the 'Rough' looking for prey items but decided to retreat to a perch high in the lakeside willows and survey the prospects from there. It was blowing "half a gale" and I sympathise with him/her.

I suspect we will get a ringing session in sometime next week, wind and rain permitting, and a reminder that there is a walk next Sunday (11th) starting at 9am from the Visitor Centre.

Ray Burley has made a decent job of the path down by the Kramer hide, which has been soft for years. It's a pity he didn't go an extra 4 yards into the 'Flower Meadow' - which is where the wide, soft and muddy patch will develop as soon as we get any decent rain.

September finale

End of month ringing with trainee DTH. Very warm overnight (14C) and total overcast for most of the morning.

38 birds of 12 species - of which 14 were retraps; 14 of the total were also caught at the feeding station, namely 8 of the Gt. Tits and 6 of the Blue Tits. The list comprises: Wren 1 (1), Dunnock 0 (5), Robin 1, Blackbird 0 (1), Song Thrush 1, Blackcap 3 [1 M, 2 F], Chiff 1 [ad M, poss abietinus], Blue Tit 6 (3), Great Tit 7 (3), Treecreeper 1 (1), Chaffinch 2, Goldfinch 1.

The Gt. Spots were quiet today. 6 Goldfinch tried to harry the Kestrel on its second visit of the day. The LTTs were around again but nowhere near the nets. We have now ringed 60 Chiffs here this year. We should not "run out of" new tits for a couple of months yet.