Brian Rickett reviews the 2009 season:
The West Midland Bird Club project has now completed its 8th year. The core data is collected from the 50 nest boxes and other artificial nesting aids which are monitored each year.
2009 was without doubt the best in terms of chick survival for a number of years. This was I suspect due to period of settled weather and an abundance of caterpillars etc over the key breeding time from early April to the end of May.
For the first time at Bodenham we where able to observe Siskins remaining here during the breeding season and 2 pair successfully raised fledglings. In addition 1 pair of Pied Flycatchers occupied a box in late May and raised 4 fledglings in both cases it was the first time breeding had been proven. A pair of Spotted Flycatchers have been seen in 2 locations however breeding has not been confirmed. The pair of Blue Tits in the video box fledged all 9. Very good parents!
| Year | Occupancy Rate | Hatching Rate | Fledging Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 90% | 94% | 69% |
| 2008 | 92% | 95% | 86% |
| 2009 | 94% | 95% | 89% |
Full details of individual box/aid performance can be found in the attached spreadsheet.
In addition to the core project we also provide a number of experimental nesting boxes and aids for other species. They were as follows:
| Number | Type | Species | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hollowed out piece of tree trunk fixed into ground | Marsh Tit | Fledged 6 young on 24 May. |
| 2 | Old drain pipe fixed in bank of stream | Grey Wagtail | Fledged 5 young on 7 June. |
| 3 | Hollowed out piece of tree trunk fixed into ground | Marsh Tit | Fledged 5 young on 28 May. |
| 4 | Cavity in piece of tree trunk fixed into ground | Wren | Fledged 8 young on 30 May. |
| 5 | Old woodpecker box covered with bark fixed high up in tree. | Starling | Fledged 5 young on 20 May. |
| Number | Species | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moorhen | Fledged 5 young on 18 May. |
| 2 | Moorhen | Fledged 4 young on 14 May. |
| 3 | Mallard | Fledged 8 young on 1 May. |
| 4 | Mallard | Eggs predated by Heron. |
| 5 | Tufted Duck | Fledged 6 young on 10 June. |
| 6 | Tufted Duck | Fledged 5 young on 19 June. |
| 7 | — | Not occupied. |
| 8 | Mallard | Fledged 7 young on 23 May. |
| 9 | Moorhen | Fledged 5 young on 4 June. |
| 10 | Coot | Eggs predated by Heron. |
| 11 | — | Not occupied. |
The following species also successfully bred at Bodenham through 2009:
We are indebted to Ruth Showler, Tony Smith, John Smallwood, Walter Tillotson and Doug Wall from the Club's Kidderminster Branch for their help with feeding and collection of data this year. In addition the above mentioned. It would be impossible to run this project without the Binnian family, staff and the many visitors to Bodenham who have been very supportive and extremely observant in respect of finding successful nests sites.
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/bodenham2009.htm on Saturday 13 March 2010 17:31:41
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