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Posted: Sunday 23 January, 2011

by Rosemary at 5:35pm in Wildlife 2 comments Comments closed

We have had a local volunteer here today from the British Orthnothology Trust (BTO) netting and ringing wild birds. The gentleman has been coming to Dalmore for a number of years and lives locally; he runs a number of similar projects in the area.

I fely a wee bit sorry for the birds caught in the nets, but they weren't there long and none seemed to come to any harm. Peter brought us a juvenile female Brambling to see; it's the first time he's caught a Brambling here although he has caught them at Barry Mill before. It was a lovely wee thing - hope it survives.

He told us that the average lifespan of a Blue Tit is less than a year but if the bird survives the first two years, it can live for up to eight years or so. Most don't survive that vital first year.

In all, Peter caught 81 birds, 71 of which were unringed. Of the 81, 35 were Blue Tits, the highest number he's caught here. There were also 21 House Sparrows, the second highest number caught here. In addition, there was 1 Blackbird, 1 Chaffinch, 4 Coal Tits, 1 Dunnock, 11 Great Tits, 1 Robin and 1 Starling. We have loads of these birds - the others must have been too smart! I've also seen Goldfinches and Wrens (my favourite wild bird).

We're going to put up a peanut feeder at the front of the house to encourage Woodpeckers and ground food to encourage Yellowhammers. Peter's coming back soon to continue the survey and we're looking forward to the results.

We did register for an RSPB survey way back when we moved here. Hopefully, we can use this information to identify ways we can support more birds and more species.

Comments

risa b

Sunday 23 January, 2011 at 6:51pm

Hi! It's great to see you're being "surveyed" -- it's a chance to learn a lot, isn't it? We live in western Oregon and we routinely see assorted juncos, towhees, chickadees, finches, sparrows, wrens, mourning doves, banded pigeons, canada geese, herons, california quail, redwing blackbirds (in season), starlings, vultures, crows, ravens, red-shouldered hawks, cooper's hawks, swifts, swallows, some woodpeckers, sapsuckers, meadowlarks, barn owls, great horned owls, pheasant (non-native), and, once, a bald eagle. As we have duck, geese, and chickens, we're somewhat bird-aware. And predator-aware. Of mammals we've seen roaming about, there have been bats, rats, field mice, possums, skunks, raccoons, red foxes, grey foxes, coyotes, and one cougar. Though there are some rattlers about five miles away, our on-site serpent is the common garter snake, a garden friend.

claire

Monday 24 January, 2011 at 11:02pm

woodpecker heard up at the stables yesterday...scares Abbey!!

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