'Boil in a bag' Pecker - now available at TescosAbove - The cause of our current troubles!
The first decent Saturday for a long while saw us out and attending to our 20 or so nest boxes. Over half the boxes have been "assaulted" by the ever-increasing population of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. We've now put up 11 new 'Woodcrete' type for both Blue & Great Tits. Our aim is to replace the remaining with 10 more.
John, Dave, Ed - plus 'retired' nest boxesMeanwhile, yours truly, had a net up near the feeding station. The Dunnocks arrived quickly to take advantage of the food on the ground. It was not long before 3 (or possibly 4) Eastern Grey Squirrels came a-visiting, ever eager for a free lunch. Throughout this winter, Great Tits have exceeded Blue Tits and, comparing figures from several years ago, the population of Great Tits appears to have "doubled" in proportion to the Blue Tit population [3:5 then, cf 6:5 now]. We fear that the absolute numbers of Blue Tits within the park boundaries is actually falling.
Today's catch consisted of:
Great Spot - 1 (a 5F), see photo
Dunnock - (3), oldest ringed as 4F Apr 2006.
Lotti - (2), 1 from Aug 2007.
Bluti - 6 (6), oldest ringed as 3F Sept 2007.
Greti - 3 (7), all ringed last year.
Moving birds:
5 Fieldfare W
3 Song Thrush blogging
40+ Common Gull E
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