Brian Rickett reviews the 2008 season:
The West Midland Bird club project at Bodenham has now completed its 7th Year. The specific 50 nest box and artificial nesting aid project is the core part of the project. The first part of this summary will cover the results for 2008 in respect of the core project only.
The 2008 breeding season was overall more successful mainly in respect of survival to fledging of hatched chicks. However some early broods of Great Tits struggled to feed their young and there was in some cases a 25% death rate. The period from mid-May until the end of the season proved more successful. The data collected revealed these figures:
The figure of 86.7% for fledgling survival was significantly better than the 69.4% in 2007.
Full details of each Box performance can be found in the files attached, below.
We have in addition to the project reported on above continued to experiment with various types of boxes.
They were as follows:
| Number | Type | Species | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hollowed out tree trunk with hole drilled and placed in the ground | Marsh Tit | Fledged 6 young on 24 May and a second brood of 5 on 10 July. A second brood is unusual. However an attempt was made in 2006, but the eggs failed to hatch. |
| 2 | A piece of drain-pipe placed in the bank of Bodenham Brook | Grey Wagtail | Fledged 5 young on 30 of May. This is the third year they have bred in this modified pipe. |
| 3 | Hollowed out tree trunk with hole drilled and placed in the ground | Marsh Tit | Fledged 5 young on 27 May |
| 4 | A piece of tree trunk already with a cavity with hole drilled and placed in the ground | Great Tit | Fledged 6 young on 27 May |
| 5 | A new type of woodpecker box, covered in bark | — | Not occupied this year. |
| 6 | Modified version of the above woodpecker box | Green Woodpecker | Fledged 3 young on 29 May |
This year for the first time we placed a number of nest boxes on the ponds. This was we hoped to help the Moorhens and other species breed more successfully. The results were a reasonable success. However predation was still a problem.
| Number | Species | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tufted Duck | Fledged 9 young on 23 June. |
| 2 | Moorhen | Fledged 6 young on 16 May. |
| 3 | Moorhen | Hatched 5 young predated by a Grey Heron. |
| 4 | Mallard | Eggs all broken and eaten by Grey Heron. |
| 5 | Mallard | Fledged 6 on 29 April. |
| 6 | — | Occupied then abandoned. |
| 7 | — | Occupied then abandoned. |
| 8 | Tufted Duck | Fledged 7 on 20 June. |
| 9 | Moorhen | Fledged 6 young on 25 April. |
| 10 | Mallard | Eggs broken and eaten by Grey Heron. |
| 11 | — | Occupied then abandoned. |
The following species also successfully bred at Bodenham through 2008:
We are indebted to Dave and Norma Kelsey and all the staff and visitors at Bodeham Arboretum for their observations and records.
Brian Rickett
Project Manager, West Midland Bird Club, Kidderminster Branch.
Bodenham Arboretum 
is located at Wolverley, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England DY11 5SY (SO808814 )
Ornithology in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire & the West Midlands county, since 1929.
Fetched from http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/kidderminster/bodenham2008.htm on Saturday 11 February 2012 12:49:39
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