Pied Flycatcher RAS 2015

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RETRAPPING ADULTS FOR SURVIVAL (RAS)

              The intrepid band of nest
box checkers and ringers has finished the RAS study on Pied flycatchers at RSPB
Cwm Clydach Reserve for 2015. The monitoring of this species was started in
1986 and it became a BTO RAS project in 1998.
              All 250 boxes on the
reserve are checked weekly from late April until the last nestling fledges,
usually the end of June. The young Pied flycatchers are ringed and as many
adults as possible are trapped at the nest box using a specially designed trap.
                In excess of 200 person
hours were spent in the reserve this year and 26 boxes contained Pied
flycatcher eggs. 120 young fledged from 23 boxes and 28 adults were re-trapped
with an additional 12 new adults being ringed. This means that the number of
young fledged per box was 4.6, a little down on last year. There was some cold
weather in May and early June which may account for this.
               One re-trapped Pied
flycatcher was a control i.e. a bird ringed elsewhere in the UK. The others had
been ringed on the reserve in previous years with 2 birds having been ringed as
nestlings in 2010 and returning each year to breed.

                   Gower Ringing Group is
very grateful for the help and support of the nest box checkers.


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Richard Donaghey
9 October 2015 09:28

What height on the tree do you position your boxes? Is it necessary to do the 2-4m off the ground for P Fly??