Early November, and feeder ringing starts.

It was a quiet start (weather related) to the first half of the month, with the first ringing visit not until Saturday 11th, when Andy and Jerry completed the first Winter Ringing Project session of the season. Catching at the Pennorth feeders was "brisk" during their 3 hour session, and the total of 44 + (3) had a decent variety, though a disappointing number of recaptures of birds ringed in the last couple of winters. The species mix was Dunnock 2, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 2, Blue Tit 19 + (1), Great Tit 7 + (2), Nuthatch 2, House Sparrow 3, Goldfinch 1, Chaffinch 1, and Greenfinch 6.

Another named storm crossed the country, before a drop in the winds on Tuesday afternoon (14th) saw Jerry trying the hut feeders for the first time this winter. He wasn't expecting too large a catch as feeding only started last week, and it looked like a squirrel was taking some of the sunflower. His catch of 11 + (13) was reasonable, and details of the mix were - Wren (1), Blackbird (1), Blue Tit 3 + (7), Great Tit 3 + (4), Chaffinch 2, Siskin 2, and Greenfinch 1. The catch of the 11th, and today's both lasted 3 hrs (albeit one in the morning, and the other in the afternoon), so a useful comparison can be made, especially in the proportions of recaptured "tits". The Pennorth site had not been netted since the end of last winter, while the hut feeding site is adjacent to our summer CES site where ringing has taken place throughout the year.

Wednesday 15th was the best mist netting day for a while, so Jerry put up the scrub nets, and he was joined by Ron and George for a late morning/afternoon session (Ron mainly concentrating on habitat management). The Redpoll audio lures worked well with a mid afternoon catch of 15 birds in gn7, but there was a very poor response for the Redwing roost. The day catch was a respectable 40 + (6), made up of Wren 1, Blackbird 1, Redwing 3, Robin 1 + (1), Meadow Pipit 3, Blackcap 1, Goldcrest (2), Blue Tit (1), Great Tit (1), Lesser Redpoll 29, and Bullfinch 1 + (1).

Friday 17th was also good weather and Jerry tried an afternoon scrub session, joined by Andy. Despite a decent number of Redpoll still feeding in the alder trees, only one was attracted to the lure, and a similar number of Redwing (to 15th) were caught at the roost using a newer audio. The session produced just 11 + (4), made up of Meadow Pipit 3, Robin (1), Redwing 4, Coal Tit (1), Blue Tit 2 + (1), Great Tit 1, Lesser Redpoll 1, and Bullfinch (1).

Other news - although not a Lake bird, it's just been confirmed that Alan L has extended the UK longevity record with his long running House Sparrow study

House Sparrow Passer domesticus (13 years 8 months 22 days)
TL62834 Juvenile Male 08-07-2008 Bedwas (Caerphilly)
Alive (colour rings seen) 30-03-2022 Bedwas (Caerphilly)
0 km 13 years 8 months 22 days
Previous record (also Alan's): 12 years 8 months 27 days

Although our daily capture totals at Llangorse may seem low, our three main sites have developed over the years so that they can be run by a single experienced ringer (sometimes with a helper) using a manageable amount of nets. The Group is therefore able to share the ringing and operate on more days (when the weather is favourable) than would be possible if several ringers were needed each time with a far greater amount of nets being set. In this way we are able to ring comparable numbers of birds (annually) to other sites that may have higher daily totals, where ringing is less frequent.