Since the last feeder session, it had hardly stopped raining, and the Lake level had continued to rise, so that there was now about 6"-8" of water in the feeder net lanes. Tuesday 29th had the best forecast for the Christmas/New Year period, so Amy, Andy and Jerry opted for a second session at the Llangorse bird cover crop. Despite being only a bit breezy, it was too much for this exposed site, and the nets were moving about a lot. The catch was disappointing at just 19 + (1), made up of (1) Wren, 4 Dunnock, 2 Robin, 5 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit and 7 Reed Bunting. Although there were about 40/50 of both Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer present, amongst the much more abundant Chaffinch, they were all very flighty (a Sparrowhawk made a couple of passes) and the main flock didn't land anywhere near the nets. The December total, at 103, was lower than usual - due to the poor weather restricting netting opportunities. The end of year total, however, was our 4th highest, at a very respectable 2641, with an additional 933 recaptures. The highlights of the year, were undoubtedly the bird feeder crop catches in March (and hoped to be repeated in future years). New day totals (for birds ringed) were set of a number of species during the year - Coldcrest (12 + control), Great Tit (32 pulli), Reed Bunting (31) and Yellowhammer (59).
Checking the retraps has extended three longevity records for 2015:
Great Spotted Woodpecker CT93116 ringed 2006 with 9 recaptures to May 2015 - 9y 1m 1d
Cetti's Warbler X789016 ringed 2010 with 9 recaptures to July 2015 - 4y 11m 11d
Treecreeper CCB779 ringed 2009 and just 3 recaptures to August 2015 - 5y 8m 11d
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