Andrew Chick Ecology

I made my third visit to the woodland nestbox scheme on Wednesday. All the tit broods which I had ringed last visit had fledged, except for one very active brood of nine fully grown Blue Tits, which I ringed, they likely fledged later that day!

Only Pied Flycatcher nests remained. In total, I ringed six broods, amounting to 40 nestlings. Unfortunately, one nest had been abandoned, with two broken eggs – reason unknown? Of the remaining Pied Flycatcher nests, five broods were still too small to ring, I plan to return next week to hopefully catch those, and one bird was still incubating.

I’ve attached a few images, including one of a Pied Flycatcher with a deformed bill; sadly, its chances of survival seem very low.

All monitoring was carried out under my BTO licence, and records will be submitted to the BTO Nest Record Scheme (NRS). These data help track the impacts of environmental pressures—such as habitat loss and climate change—on breeding success and fledgling numbers in UK bird populations.