Tuesday 17 July 2012

Hornsey Rd 17 July Pure Silver (eyes)

Set the Funnel Trap again this morning for the weekly check on the Silvereye population. Caught 36 with only 3 unbanded and the other 33 recaptures. With the 3 new and 7 of the recaps not caught at this site this winter it appears there had been some new arrivals.I had the trap set for longer than usual and the slower catching rate suggests that a number of birds have left the area. There were no other species caught today making it a Pure Silvereye day.  The other species appear to have learnt about traps but some of the Silvereyes are slow learners with 1 bird caught about 6 times.

The 2 older birds from last week did not show up today but A-168374 banded in June 07 did. It was part of a cohort of Silvereyes we colour banded that year to check on the colour fastness of some new bands and this bird appears to be about the last one left. It was banded Yellow/Metal - Orange/Pale Blue but now the Pale Blue looks more like a Green.
A-168374 with its colour bands.
 Also had a visit from a Falcon this morning that caught a bird over the gully below the house and carried it off up the hill. Had a flyover of a Kaka a couple of days ago so a few interesting birds other than Silvereye in the area.

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