Carlton Marsh

On the wader scrape this morning 100+ BH Gulls, 70+ Herring Gulls and 3 Cormorants. Nearby were 10 Redpolls, 2 Siskins, GS woodpecker and a Willow Tit. (Jim Plant).

I don't know if you saw Tony Wetherhill's tweet last week (16th) from near Royston, he ringed a female Marsh Tit (61mm wing), still a very rare bird in Barnsley. It's no more than 3/4 of a mile north of our reserve and it's not yet on the list.

The one that Ad
am Hutt found on Warbler Way last year (a male) was ringed by Vivien Hartwell, as you probably know.

Looking at the area where this one was caught, it is ideal for this and


Willow Tit. Tony has already colour ringed 2 Willow Tits here this month.

Since the Loco sheds closed in 1970 and the refuse tip in 1993, woodland that was planted on the old tip has matured into a really wild wet woodland with loads of scrub. It's unrecognisable from the days when Edwin Blunt and I used to ring there in the late 1970's.

Tony colour ringed Red and grey there last week then I saw it on Saturday and it was singing.

Back at Carlton Marsh a very brief glimpse of a colour ringed bird, near the wader scrape on Monday, looked like this bird. With this in mind Tony and I spent 4 hours yesterday trying to catch in that area. Although two birds were calling from around the net, they didn't visit the feeder and they didn't react to the tape lure, so we failed to entice one. The local population of Blue Tits and Great Tits readily came for the food, but Willow Tits showed once again how smart they are and how hard they can be to catch.