Bearded Tits are having a good season at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve. To date we have caught 24 juveniles. This compares with only 17 in the whole of 2012 and what is normally the best time for catching is yet to come. Both first and second broods seem to have done well. We ringed 21 nestlings from five broods in our wigwam nest boxes. To date we have caught 8 of these with all five broods represented. The broods obviously split up fairly soon after fledging for yesterday we caught three of these all from different broods.
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| Juvenile male Bearded Tit |
Bearded Tits form apparent pairs a few weeks after fledging. This was well shown by a pair of adult birds caught together this week with consecutive ring numbers. They had been ringed together on June 11th 2012. They were either re-trapped or sighted together on five occasions during the autumn and winter and were still together this week. We have had many similar observations over the years.
To date we have either sighted or re-trapped ten adult females and seven adult males and again the best period of re-trapping and sightings on the grit trays is yet to come. Of the 17 ringed as juveniles in 2012 nine have already been reported this year, suggesting good survival. Of the other adults two are in their fourth year
Reed Warblers though appear to be either down in numbers or late in their breeding or possibly a combination of both. With similar effort between years by June 26th 2012 we had caught 77 adults but this year we have caught only 33. It certainly has been a late season this year so it will be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring.
John
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