The remainder of 2015

This is by way of catch-up and to fill in the gap. Bird ringing continued on a regular basis at the house with a few sorties to Nettlecombe Field Centre, which is situated in the Exmoor National Park, just 4.5 km to the SW, but 100 m higher. 

November was the month for tits, both new ones and old ones. The thrushes were noticeable only for their absence, having already passed through. The odd Siskin started appearing from mid-month. Temperatures held up (daily max. in the mid-teens) and we had far less rain than normal. I caught Goldfinches every day the nets were open with a highs of 21 on 13th and 20th. Alongside these were several Greenfinch that had "perked up" at the beginning of the month. Astonishingly, there were no controls of other people's birds at all this month.

Totals for November, "old" birds in brackets:
Woodpigeon - 1, 4th of the year
Gt. Spotted Woodpecker - 3, 2 young males & a young female
Goldcrest - 7 (1)
Blue Tit - 34 (4), plus 23 (5) at Nettlecombe
Great Tit - 1 (5), plus 14 (3) at Nettlecombe
Coal Tit - 4 (9), plus 5 at Nettlecombe
Long-tailed Tit - 8 (6), plus 7 at Nettlecombe
Blackcap - 2, wintering birds from central Europe
Nuthatch - (4), all at Nettlecombe
Wren - 1 (1)
Blackbird - 1, and 1 at Nettlecombe
Robin - (5)
Dunnock - 1 (1)
House Sparrow - 1 (3)
Chaffinch - 3, plus singleton at Nettlecombe
Greenfinch - 21
Goldfinch - 151 (51), 75% of these were juveniles; see also below
Siskin - 7 (1)
296 new; total 'handlings' = 416

This is the back view of an adult male Siskin. Note the rounded wing feathers and
broad tertials with distinct silvery-white extremities.
The feathers of juveniles would all be "sharper" and much more worn. 

Trawling through the ringing book, the following "old birds" were of some note;
Goldfinch - young (juvenile) birds from 2012 - 2, 2013 - 3, 2014 - 10 and indeterminate aged adults from 2014 - 2; or 17 that have survived one or more winters.

December was a quiet month on the tit front, good for wintering Blackcaps and passing Greenfinch and a little quieter for Goldfinch. Siskin 'passage' (if there was such a thing) was over. On the 13th, I retrapped a male Blackcap that I had ringed here in December 2012 as a 1CY (1st calendar year) bird. Where it had spent the intervening winters is unknown. I was away for the last ten days of the month in Norfolk, which is when "The Rains" started. This was not unexpected as the month was very unsettled beforehand.

Now, December's totals:
Woodpigeon - 1
Blue Tit - 6 (6), plus a control from Bratton (15km W)
Great Tit - 2 (1)
Coal Tit - 4 (5), 
Long-tailed Tit - 3 (1), plus a bird ringed at Five Bells in January 2011(5y 8m or older)
Blackcap - 5 (1), plus the "control" (see above)
Blackbird 4 (1), all 'young' birds
Robin - 2 (4), a couple of the retraps were 'adults'
Dunnock - (3)
House Sparrow - (7)
Pied Wagtail - (1), "peg-leg", ringed as a breeding male in July 2012 and 2+ years old.
Chaffinch - 2
Greenfinch - 38 (2), just 3 adults, with a significant number of females
Goldfinch - 88 (18), 28 were adults, 6 remained 'unaged', the rest - this year's youngsters
Siskin - 1 (1)
156 new; total handlings = 223

During November and December, I looked to see how many birds had Aspergillosis. This is a fungal disease that effects the lungs. I used a "five point" scoring system. In all, I picked out that 137 birds, mostly juveniles, were infected. This amounts to just under 60% of all young birds! 15% of all Goldfinches were severely infected. It may well be a major factor in the survival statistics for the species. Very few adults, those that had already survived at least one winter and one breeding season, seemed to have contracted it. Perhaps these are stronger birds with better resilience towards any infection. I do see it in other species, i.e. Robin, Dunnock, Great Tit, but only rarely.

The full year's totals can be seen in the sidebar under My Pages.