Another Winter CES completed

3 days ago
2 min read

Winter CES 2025/26: The Results Are In!

As the mild winter wains and we look toward spring, we’ve finally crunched the numbers for our fourth annual Winter Constant Effort Site (CES) ringing season. It’s been a fascinating winter at Glade Trust, filled with some surprising surges and a few notable absences.

Here is the breakdown of how this season compared to previous years and what’s happening with our local bird populations.

The Big Picture: Overall Numbers

This year saw a significant bounce back in activity compared to last season. While we didn't quite hit the heights of the 2023/24 boom, the reserve was buzzing with activity.

Season Total Birds Processed (New & Re-captures)

2025/26 808

2024/25. 494

2023/24. 974

2022/23 618

While the raw numbers were high, biodiversity took a slight dip. We recorded 19 species this year, compared to 23 last year. We missed out on mist netting the Jay, Jackdaw, and Song Thrush although they were present at the Reserve, in the final tallies this time around, but we did have one exciting highlight: a Mistle Thrush, which was a brand-new encounter for our Winter CES!

Species Spotlight: Blue Tits & Goldfinches

The Blue Tit remains the heavyweight champion of the reserve. After a quieter season last year, their numbers have surged again, nearly doubling the 2024/25 stats.

Blue Tit Stats (2025/26): 333 processed, with 139 of those being new birds.

However, the real "success story" of the season is the Goldfinch. We’ve seen a massive increase in their presence:

84 newly ringed Goldfinches (compared to just 33 last year).
For the first time, they actually outpaced the Great Tits, which saw only 45 newly ringed birds.

Woodpeckers Up, Sparrows Down

We were thrilled to see a revitalized presence of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Last season was incredibly quiet with only one new bird recorded, but this year we managed to ring 7 new individuals. It’s wonderful to hear that iconic drumming echoing through the trees again.

On a sadder note, the Tree Sparrows were missing in action for the second year running. 😕 Their absence is a stark reminder of the fluctuations in local populations and why the work we do here at the Trust is so vital for monitoring these trends.