BTO/RSPB volunteer Chris du Feu has been keeping a close eye on Beckingham's tree sparrow population for quite a few years now. The last two breeding seasons have been very productive with 180 fledglings ringed each year.
Last year's young were raised by 19 pairs, so when Chris told us at the start of this season that we had 23 pairs in his nest boxes, we were hopeful for yet another good year. Well, Chris has just informed us that he has now ringed 199 nestlings so far and if the remaining third broods go well, we should see a total of nearly 250 tree sparrows raised at Beckingham this year.