Monday 21 May 2012

A Cuckoo on boxing day!

Spent most of the day yesterday checking nest-boxes in two schemes near Tregaron with Caroline and the girls. Both sets of boxes have been in operation for over twenty years and it is interesting to see how things change slightly over time. This year seems to be a bit on the late side generally, although 1 nest of Nuthatches had already flown. Out of 146 boxes checked 111 were occupied as follows; 46 Pied Flycatcher, 39 Blue Tit, 13 Great Tit, 6 Redstart, 4 Nuthatch and 3 Robin. During the day we ringed just 10 Nuthatch, 14 Great Tit, 5 Robin and 5 Blue Tit pull but also caught 14 female Pied Flycatchers.


6 Redstart clutches was an above average occupancy for this species


Out of 14 female Pied Flycatchers caught only 2 were previous year's re-traps. A worryingly low re-trap rate compared to earlier years.

The journey home added a couple of unusual suspects!!


A female cuckoo, and 


a now famous Grouse!
(famous with me anyway as it is the first I've ringed!)

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