A new venture

After scoping out a new site (a field with a cover crop near Sandy Smith Nature Reserve) and gaining permission to ring there (thanks Chris), I had to wait a while before the weather decided to produce ringing conditions.

Whilst snow was still on the ground, I had seen at least 300 birds including species such as Reed Buntings, Linnets, Lesser Redpolls, Yellowhammers, Skylarks, Green Woodpeckers, Goldfinch, Blackbirds and Chaffinches in the cover crop. I was sure at least some of the species were catchable and could include birds ringed at SSNR.

The weather finally relented yesterday and despite the weather being a lot milder and fewer birds being about, I did well.

Totals: 70 birds of 11 species comprising of 66 new and 4 retraps (retraps in brackets below):

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (0)

Dunnock 6 (0)

Robin 1 (0)

Blackbird 1 (0)

Blue Tit 6 (1) - retrap ringed at SSNR 15/07/12, 209 days ago

Great Tit 1 (0)

Chaffinch 4 (1) - retrap ringed at SSNR 24/11/12, 77 days ago

Goldfinch 1 (0)

Lesser Redpoll 1 (0)

Reed Bunting 41 (2) - both retraps ringed at SSNR 11/03/12, 335 days ago

Yellowhammer 3 (0)

A few record photographs:

Above: A female Reed Bunting 

I hadn't expected so many Reed Buntings (I didn't use binoculars or count numbers of each species when I looked at the site) but I'm not complaining... any large catch of Reed Buntings is a red letter day around these parts!

Above: A male Chaffinch

I had expected more Chaffinch to be about, perhaps one of the species that had dispersed since the cold snap (there were fewer Goldfinch too). I did expect to catch a retrap Chaffinch from SSNR where I have ringed 83 in the last few years and I did, albeit a recent one. If I get my timing right, I'm sure there'll be more Chaffinch to ring and retrap.

Above: A male Reed Bunting

From 10 birds ringed at SSNR in the few years, it was nice to retrap 2 of them - both ringed at the same time on the same day. With no retrap records for either site for this species prior to yesterday, the second of the 2 is now the longevity record for both sites by virtue it was recaught a couple of hours later than the first.

Above: A Blue Tit 

Catching Blue Tits I'd ringed at SSNR was inevitable really. They must pass between my feeders at SSNR and the residents feeders at Beadlow - they're only a kilometre apart. The retrapped bird was only retrapped for the first time, perhaps showing it prefers the feeders at Beadlow!

Above: A Great Tit

The nets weren't in the ideal position for catching passing Blue & Great Tits but that obviously didn't matter.



Above: A female Yellowhammer

I have ringed Yellowhammer before (East Yorkshire & Cambridgeshire) but have never caught my own. Yellowhammers have been declining rapidly since the 1980's and may well continue to do so. You can read more about the decline of Yellowhammers on the BTO website here.

Above: A male Lesser Redpoll

I had hoped for a few more of these, but given the milder conditions and location of my nets, this wasn't altogether a surprise.



Above: A Goldfinch



The Goldfinch I had seen before on this site must have dispersed as a lot fewer were seen this time.



Above: A Robin

I'd only seen one Robin here and I saw it collecting nesting material and taking it back to an ivy clad tree. Perhaps this was the one I saw?

Today, the weather has worsened (yet again) so it's chores, chores, chores.... and preparing the equipment for the next ringing session. I have a few pleasant diversions such as remembering yesterdays session, playing the X Box and the England rugby match is on later (though whether this is a pleasant diversion depends on the result!).

Bramble Jammy

This weekend I've been ringing at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. There has been, as has been typical of this winter, a lack of birds coming to the feeders. However, this weekend a lack of quantity was made up for in quality (at least in my humble opinion).



Above: One of 5 Lesser Redpoll's ringed (previous site total = 2). Unfortunately, I saw a few more Redpoll's 'bounce' but I can't complain. 1 Siskin also ringed (the Siskin flock is smaller c. 150 at best this year than last c.300 at best, and still proving difficult to catch).

At 11.10am this morning I got jammy.



Above: A Brambling - a first for SSNR and my first self caught Brambling. A complete surprise as I hadn't even seen them on site before. It came to the feeders (so there is hope of catching more). Not many Bramblings have ever been ringed in Bedfordshire so I can count myself lucky.

What I didn't post earlier:

On Boxing day at my Dad's house, I caught a Blue Tit with an abnormally long beak. This kind of thing does happen, and when it does, one of the mandibles is usually longer than the other and/or misshapen. This one however was well formed and both mandibles were of equal length.



Above: The mandible of the Blue Tit on the left was 14mm compared to a more normal length of 8mm for the Blue Tit on the right.

On the 5th October last year, I added another species to my ringed list. Mute Swan at Priory Country Park. I include this so you can have a laugh at the photo below. It really wasn't as painful for me (or the bird) as the picture makes it look...

Juvenile behaviour!

No, not my behavior, or my brothers (for once)! It's the time of year when we start seeing good numbers of juveniles from the early breeders.

SSNR 30/05/11: 21 birds of 8 species (retraps in brackets)

Great Tit 9 (0) - including 6 juveniles
Whitethroat 4 (1) - the retrap being first ringed as an adult June 2010.
Grasshopper Warbler 1 (0) - the 5th this year for this site and the first female
Blackcap 1 (0) - only the third of this species for the site
Dunnock 0 (2)
Chiff Chaff 1 (0)
Sedge Warbler 1 (0)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (1) - A regularly caught male.

SSNR yesterday 04/06/11: 55 birds of 11 species (retraps in brackets)

Blue Tit 4 (3) - all the new birds were juveniles
Great Tit 4 (0) - including 3 juveniles
Whitethroat 6 (3) - one of the retraps being from June 2010
Chaffinch 9 (1) - including 6 juveniles
Goldfinch 7 (2) - including 2 juveniles
Garden Warbler 3 (0) - 2 males and a female (NEW FOR SITE)
Grasshopper Warbler 0 (2) - a pair
Willow Warbler 1 (0) - the first adult caught on site
Blackcap 8 (0) - mostly adult males except 1 adult female and one juvenile
Dunnock 0 (1) - first ringed on 3rd March 2011
Sedge Warbler 0 (1) - a retrap from May 2011

This is not typical of visits to SSNR and it came as a very welcome surprise. I suspect there are a few reasons for this:

1. weather - overcast first thing (lifting but not completely later on) and wind from the east ('light' to start with increasing to 'far too' by the end of the session). Normal = windy and from the west. Perhaps this was partially responsible for catching a lot of blackcaps (rarely ringed here) and the Garden Warblers (where did they come from?!?).



Above: Garden Warbler

2. I've not ringed at this time of year here with a feeding station. Without this, the catch would consist mainly of Warblers.

3. Juveniles - it's that time of year. Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks, Whitethroats, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Song Thrushes, Chaffinches, Starlings, Blackcaps - I have seen fledged young of all these species around Bedfordshire. Some examples coming up (all juveniles):



Above: Great Tit



Above: Blue Tit (taken at Priory Country Park).



Above: Robin (taken at Priory Country Park - no juvenile Robins have been caught so far at SSNR).



Above: Blackcap



Above: Goldfinch



Above: Chaffinch

Boxing clever

I changed, slightly, where I put the net today in an attempt to make the net less visible. The problem being, my Dad's house (in the Cotswolds) is the only house in the village that is brick (all the others are cotswold stone). When it was built they must have sneaked it past the planners (or at least got in before they tightened the rules!). It is also painted white (sorry, I've been corrected, magnolia). It is easy for the birds to see a net against a magnolia background!

I don't have much room for feeders and a net so, to catch the birds, I have to box clever!

Boxing day brought 27 birds of 7 species into the net. 14 Blue Tits, 2 Goldfinch, 3 Dunnocks (one being a retrap from Christmas eve - it didn't take long!), 1 Starling, 1 Robin, 3 Coal Tits and 3 Blackbirds (a second net caught these and nearly caught a 4th).



Above: With my brother behind the camera, he had me posing with this Blue Tit. 11 of the Blue Tits were born this year, with 3 adults. On Christmas eve, 2 of 3 Blue Tits caught were adults.

I noticed a complete absence of Great Tits at the feeders today. My Dad says they visit occasionally, but are outnumbered by the blues. Perhaps the nesting sites nearby are dominated by the blues?



Above & Below: Coal Tits are my favourite of the tit family. They sneak in, grab some food, and sneak back out to eat. Again, I've been corrected again, apparently here, they stick around on the feeders for quite a while. They must feel safer.



Below: A blackbird. I put a net up elsewhere in the garden especially to catch these. They feed near the other net, but fly in and out low. I'm after a blackbird with somebody else's ring on it (I'm informed there is one in the area. Perhaps just a matter of time and perserverance).

One blackbird was a possible continental. All were born this year.



Below: The patio is where birds feed on my dad's scraps. I had to move the feeders from being all against the fence (most birds would have come in over the fence, into the bushes, fed, and popped back over the fence had I not moved them!



All in all, I am pleased with the total. A starling was a bonus. The Goldfinch are a target species (my dad is particulary interested in these and he did give me some money to buy the rings!). After the two I caught early on, the rest seemed to see the net at the last second & avoid it.

The Dunnocks all seem to fly into the net at the same place from the same direction. I think it must be the way they follow the bushes around and circle the house! My first and only retrap so far was with a Dunnock caught on Christmas eve.

A house sparrow made a brief visit. I'm still waiting for a pied wagtail & jackdaw to come feeding (they do on my dad's patio). Then we'll see whether they make it into the net!

A festive first

My first ringing session on my own.

In order of appearance, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Robin. I had a bet (no money passed hands) with my dad as to how long it would take to catch a bird (I had already predicted a blue tit would be the first bird!). I had less than 5 mins and my dad had more than 5 minutes. As it turned out it was around 5 minutes. I didn't count the seconds.



Above: The better photo of the two is the Dunnock (no birds were harmed - the hob under the cooking pot was not on!!).

Below: The camera is a bit tempremental, therefore I released the bird before getting a better shot of it (well, it is only a blue tit!).



A collared dove and several blue tits flirted with the nets! Also seen nearby 2 coal tits, several more blue tits, goldfinch, greenfinch, blackbirds, more dunnocks and robins. This time I only put one 30ft net up for an hour. Next time I shall have a longer session (I'm going to try for a all day one on boxing day (I'll let them feed on christmas day!). I'm also going to put a net up elsewhere to catch the blackbirds. My dad says he's seen a blackbird with a ring on it recently so there's a possible control (that's what's call a bird that we catch, but somebody else e.g. not me - has put a ring on) lurking about somewhere!!

Merry Xmas everybody!