Contrasting totals

On Friday of last week, I took the day off and, as the weather conditions were better than of late, I put up some nets at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR). A decision that proved to be productive with 68 birds captured. 60 of these were new and 8 were retraps of 13 species. 17 were adults and 51 were juveniles.



A while back now, I saw a Jay on my feeders and a couple of others around my netting area so it was only a matter of time:

Above: The first Jay ringed at SSNR (this being the 46th species I've ringed here).

Above: An adult Kingfisher.

This was the first Kingfisher ringed here for nearly 2 years. Recent hard winters and the flooding of nest sites have meant this species has been in decline recently. Sightings at SSNR used to be regular along the river up to 2 years ago but have been rare of late so nice to ring one.

Above: A juvenile Long Tailed Tit - one of many ringed on Friday. At 44 new for year Long Tailed Tits in 2013, this is the highest year total for the site.

Totals:

Kingfisher 1 (0)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (2)
Wren 0 (1)
Dunnock 2 (1) - including a juvenile
Robin 0 (1)
Whitethroat 0 (1)
Blackcap 6 (0) - mostly juveniles
Long Tailed Tit 17 (1) - mostly juveniles
Blue Tit 3 (1) - mostly juveniles but surprisingly few of them
Great Tit 19 (0) - mostly juveniles
Jay 1 (0)
Chaffinch 7 (0) - including several juveniles
Goldfinch 4 (0) - including 1 juvenile

In contrast, a visit to Priory Country Park on Saturday morning, CES visit 6 was carried out and produced a meagre total of 12 birds. Of note were juveniles of the following species: Great Tits, Blackcaps and a single juv Whitethroat (suprisingly absent from SSNR the day before apart from one retrap adult). What a difference a day makes - even if it is a different site.

Above: A Juvenile Whitethroat 

CES totals have been low so far this year. I've started compiling totals and comparing them to previous years, but there's still a lot of work to do. We know nesting is later this year because of the cold spring weather (and therefore there has been less food), but juveniles are starting to appear and only time will tell how good a breeding year this will be. The last 6 visits will provide crucial information!

Elsewhere, I saved a juvenile Green Woodpecker from being squished on the road. It may have been injured (not flying) so it was put in a safer place and left unringed.

The weather for this weekend looks good (a lot less wind) so I hope to have more news.

Last weekend.

As a nice change of pace, Sunday and Monday (last weekend) were largely wind free! This allowed me to get out ringing and catch some of those summer migrants that come to breed in the UK and begin another year of Constant Effort ringing at Priory Country Park (PCP).

On Bank Holiday Monday, a visit to Sandy Smith Nature Reserve produced a tally of 40 birds of 12 species as follows (retraps in brackets).

Green Woodpecker 1 (0)

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (4)

Wren 2 (0)

Dunnock 1 (1)

Sedge Warbler 3 (1)

Whitethroat 2 (5)

Garden Warbler 1 (0)

Long Tailed Tit 0 (1)

Great Tit 1 (3)

Chaffinch 6 (3)

Greenfinch 2 (0)

Goldfinch 2 (0)



Above: A Garden Warbler. This is the 9th ringed here.

Above: A Whitethroat. 2 of the retraps were ringed here in 2011 whilst the other 3 were ringed last year (all as adults). L302789, ringed on 22/04/11 set a new longevity record for the site at 2 years and 14 days.

Whitethroats are the 3rd most ringed species at SSNR behind Blue & Great Tits and as long as this spring/summer proves to be a good breeding year, I expect to ring a lot more of these.

Above: A female Greenfinch. A surprise appearance of a male and female at the feeders represents the 8th and 9th ringed here (none have been retrapped).

Above: A Sedge Warbler. The retrap was ringed here July 2012.



Above: A female Green Woodpecker. Always a good day when I ring one of these! The 4th for the site.

Hardly a ringing session at SSNR goes by without a Great Spotted Woodpecker being retrapped and/or ringed. One male, CW08915, doesn't get retrapped during the winter months (Nov to February) but is regularly caught throughout the rest of year. At 2 years and 46 days since it was first ringed, this bird set a new longevity record for the site. I am still hoping to catch CW08911 (the female who I think breeds with CW08915) as this bird also disappears during the winter months.

Chaffinches were, surprisingly, the most numerous species. I normally catch a couple per session but I think a small change in feeder & net set up may have proved to be useful. A new longevity record for the site was set by L302734 - 2 years and 62 days. Also, a bird ringed in a field at nearby Beadlow earlier this year was retrapped at SSNR.

On Sunday, I ran CES Visit 1 at PCP. Totals, including extra nets, were as follows (retraps in brackets):

Wren 2 (1)
Dunnock 1 (3)
Blackbird 1 (2)
Whitethroat 3 (3)
Garden Warbler 1 (0)
Blackcap 3 (1)
Willow Warbler 2 (0)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (1)
Great Tit 1 (0)
Chaffinch 1 (0)
Bullfinch 1 (1)

That makes a total of 16 new and 12 retraps - 28 overall. Average for CES visit 1 (including extra nets) is 30, of which 21 are normally 'new' and 9 are normally 'retraps'. Whilst the 2013 total is just short of average, the ratio of new to retrap is more in favour of the returning adults rather than recruitment of new adults. This could be a result of a poor breeding season last year. Delayed breeding and migration from the cold weather in early spring may also have a bearing here. But this is just a small sample and I'm far from being an expert!

Whitethroats were the most numerous on this visit and could be seen feeding well around the area. One of the retraps was first ringed on 1st May 2011, whilst the other 2 retraps were both ringed on 13th May last year.

2 of the 3 Dunnock retraps were from 2010 and the other from last year. One of the Blackbirds was ringed in 2010. The Blackcap retrap was ringed as a juvenile in July 2011. All the other retraps were from birds ringed in 2012.

The best birds were 2 new Willow Warblers. The numbers ringed at this site have steadily decreased over the last 20 years to the point where last year was the first year where none were ringed at all.

This weekend may prove to be too windy and/or wet for ringing, so I might post a few bird photographs from Sardninia...

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve 26/06/10

Yesterday was very hot and I suffered in the heat, but it was worth it:

10 new Common Whitethroats (including 3 juveniles), 2 new Sedge Warblers and 1 retrap. Plus two new and sucessful net rides.

In all, I have caught 18 new whitethroats in my last 3 visits here. The site is full of them!



Above: One of the juvenile Whitethroats.



Above: The tail of an adult whitethroat.



Above: Net ride 1.



Above: Net ride 2.



Above: A catch (Whitethroat - what else!)

Providing interest during the day were a number of VERY noisy Green Woodpeckers constantly to-ing and fro-ing over the nets (youngsters must be about). I'm quite confident of catching one here with a bit of luck.

A flash of colour seen out of the very corner of my eye proved to be a Kingfisher flying along the river and an alarm call from a kestrel (presumably nesting) alerted me to a Red Kite.

Just after midday, I met up with Liz Millbank (Greensand Trust Ranger) and co. at the end of their guided walk around the site (orchids and flutterbies were seen). They were also fortunate enough to see the Red Kite. Before Liz left (and after she had been sniffing otter spraint!) I pointed out a Kingfisher carrying food (a site tick for the year) and lucky few hung around long enough to see me process a retrap Sedge Warbler.

All the data has now been entered on the computer ready to be sent for checking by my trainer and then sent to BTO. Perhaps one day I will get some info back from the BTO telling me where one (or more) of these birds have been recaught? I'm hoping so!

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve

I have adopted Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (nr Clophill, Bedfordshire) as my ringing site. The site is owned and managed by the Greensand Trust - it was donated to the trust by Peter Smith and named after his wife.

The site is quite diverse - dry & wet grassland, reed beds, alder dominated wet woodland and it is bordered by broadleaf woodland and paddocks. The River Flit runs through the site. As you might imagine, there is quite a variety of birds in the locality.

Today I had a 60ft net up by 7am and finished at 12.15pm. Very modest numbers were made up for by the catch.



Above & Below: 1 of 5 Whitethroats caught (all new).



The other birds caught: 1 dunnock and 1 great whopper of a ringing tick (see more recent post!).