News: February 2004

In an article for the Times Online, Derwent May suggests that blue tits may have fared better than usual last year in the north of the country, while in the south they appear to have done worse.

His assertion is based on reports from readers of his column and his own observations - admittedly rather circumstantial, but interesting nonetheless. There is also a suggestion that coal tit numbers have increased. That's in line with the national long-term trend suggested by the British Trust for Ornithology's Garden Birdwatch survey, though the numbers found in the garden in winter vary in line with the beech mast crop. (In bad beech mast years, more come into the garden in search of food.)

Derwent May. 2004. Feather report. Viewed on the web at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-998939,00.html on February 15th 2004.