Some Banding 17 & 18 July - mostly Silvereyes

In between rain showers we have managed to get in a bit of banding. On Thursday we had a rain shortened session at the Houghton Valley Bush and this morning I was able to set the Funnel trap here at Hornsey Road.

Houghton Valley School 17 July

Kate and I were assisted by her friend Lily, who acted as our bird courier, and Lily's Mother who was persuaded to act as our scribe.  We were later joined by Ross when he was able to escape from work. In between showers we managed to get some nets up. It was a case of nets up, nets furled, then back up again until the drizzle turned to rain and we packed up.

Kate (right) with our courier and scribe. Fortunately we were able to use the area under the children's play "Fort" to stay dry.

Kate banding while the Scribe scribes. Photo from  Ross's cell phone.

Lily with a Silvereye. Photo from Ross's cell phone.

 

I was keen to get some birds caught to see if there had been an increase in Silvereye numbers over the last few days of southerly storm and heavy rain. Although we didn't catch a lot of birds the ones we did catch indicate that there has been very little change. We only caught 2 unbanded Silvereye and recaptured 14. Most of the recaps had been caught at our recent sessions. Although, one new one was banded in 2011. We started to band here in 2010.

We also caught 2 new Blackbirds and a recap, and a new House Sparrow and a Dunnock.

Hornsey Rd 18 July

There appears to have been a slight increase in Silvereye numbers here since last week. This morning I caught 12 new birds and 33 recaptures. 9 of the recaps had not been caught here this year probably indicating some movement or else the birds are getting a bit hungry. Of the recaps 14 were banded this year (including 9 from Mt Albert) 3 last year, 6 banded in 2012, 5 in 2011, and 2 each in 2009 & 2008.

The only bycatch was a new Blackbird.