Opened the net - a single 18m super fine - quite late, but on the first round had 21 birds in it:
Robin (1)
Blackcap (1)
Chiffchaff (1)
Blue Tit (10)
Great Tit (7)
Goldfinch (1)
Nothing else after that, but nice to ring somewhere new. I'll plan to put a net or two up here every couple of weeks or so, to see what comes along, and what survives in this area.
Back at home I've been giving some thought to targetting MARTIs for my possible RAS project. Trouble is, If I put up a net in the garden, I get 15 - 20 BLUTIs for each and every MARTI. Still a lot of fun to be had there, particularly with a smattering of other species thrown in, but I decided to build a simple drop door trap so that I can target the MARTIs specifically.
I've put it below a seed feeder, and get all the usual BLUTI and GRETI in there. They seem quite happy piling in, and I just pin the lid back to let them all come and go as they please. Once set with the stick, I can just pull the string when MARTIs are in feeding. Had 3 all together this morning that way. 2 already colour-ringed, and a new bird which became LBR,M;RBR,B.
Hi Graham,
ReplyDeleteYou could also consider putting the seed or nut feeder inside a cage trap. I use an 18" cube with 2" funnels on two or four sides with good success for all the tit species plus siskin and other finches. The access door on the top is counter-weighted so that I can operate the trap from indoors to set it in the morning or when I want to be selective when catching. I can send a few pics if you are interested.
barry
Hi Barry. Thanks for this. I've got one of these already built - the Blue Tits love it, but Marsh Tits seem wary!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Graham