January ringing highlights

The weather has been variable recently, to say the least. December was freezing and with all the snow, this stopped ringing activities. By the new year the snow had gone and a session Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR) on 8th Jan produced just 3 birds; a Coal Tit, Blue Tit and this:



Above: A Kingfisher that had survived the December freeze!

Severe wind (no, not anything to do with my digestive tract) has been the main problem in January. MT and I made an attempt for Waxwing (2 attempts) and Tree Sparrows (1 attempt) but with waxwings being difficult to catch and the wind, we drew a blank. Birds 3, Ringers 0. Being positive, we did see a lot of waxwings and got to know Shefford a bit better!

I also went looking for a Bittern at Priory Country Park (it's been seen there regularly since just before Christmas) but I drew a blank.

Instead of chasing Bedfordshire rarities, I wanted to chase Siskins at SSNR.

SSNR on 22nd Jan: 4 Blue Tits, 5 Great Tits and 1 Coal Tit. No Siskins (200 + still around).

SSNR on 30th Jan: 4 Blue Tits, 2 Great Tits, 1 Robin, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Coal Tit and 2 new species ringed for the site, 2 Goldfinch and 1 Blackbird. No Siskins (still around though between 100-150).



Above: The first Goldfinch ringed at SSNR.



Above: The first Blackbird ringed at SSNR.



Above: A female Chaffinch.

A combination of the time of year, weather (wind, rain, warmth), increased natural food sources and unknown factors, means reduced catches but with a Kingfisher and 2 new species for SSNR, I feel the effort was worth it. There's still time for Siskins in the next month or two... I hope!

Jigsaw Puzzles

Having not done any puzzles for a while. I was keen to spend some time relaxing and keep the brain ticking over and had just chosen one that I'd done a year or two before when one of my volunteers (John) and I decided to swap puzzles. I think he's done better out of the deal as I have loads of bird puzzles (at least 3 times as many as him) but I'm not complaining. I had fun:



Above: First up was the tit family. I have ringed Great Tit, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit and Bearded Tit but, as yet, not Willow Tit and Crested Tit.



Above: I vaguely remember going to Lindisfarne when I was a lot younger and lived a lot closer than I do now. I don't remember the details but it is a great place for wildlife. I don't see many round puzzles, so why is it so many of the bird/wildlife ones lend themselves to being round? Interesting question but I don't have an answer...



Above: RSPB Sparrows. The most difficult of the 3 puzzles as the detail of the picture makes the pieces much harder to place. House Sparrows are in serious decline. One of the reasons for this decline is increased bio-security around farms making scenes like the one in this puzzle rare.

Back to Blue Tit Alley

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you had a good Christmas & I hope 2011 brings you lots of occasions to turn that frown upside down!

Today was my first ringing session of the new year at my Dad's house (aka Blue Tit Alley) and it brought lots of birds between 8.30am and dusk (with 2 hours off for a walk and lunch). 55 in total of 10 different species.

Wren 1 (ringing tick for here - surprised I didn't catch one earlier)
Blue Tit 41
Goldfinch 3
Blackbird 3
Coal Tit 1
Dunnock 3
Great Tit 1
Robin 1
House Sparrow 1
Chaffinch 1

What can I say. Blue Tit 41. 41! 41!! 41!!! They just kept coming and coming. 2 of them were retraps - L098313 (ringed on 07/02/10 as an adult [Euring age 6]) and L098364 (ringed on 29/12/10 - 4 days ago!). 36 of these blue tits were born last year.

If I add the total number of Blue Tit ringed last Wednesday (15) that makes 56 ringed in two sessions here. In contrast, just 1 Great Tit was ringed (only 1 or 2 seen during the day also).

A sparrowhawk swooshed past one of the nets missing by about 1 metre (and me by about 5 metres).



Above: Today's Wren. It was let go away from the nets, then it must have circled the house (missing another net) before flying into the same net again only 1 shelf higher! It must have wanted to roost nearby!

Last Wednesday's totals:

Blue Tit 15
Blackbird 4
Coal Tit 1
Dunnock 2

I'm surprised I don't get very many retrapped birds (226 birds ringed and only 12 recaught) - particularly amongst the tits. This may be because I don't ring here often enough. It could also be because the neighbours also feed the birds (most of the birds come from the direction of their garden into our feeders and back out the same way because it's well vegetated & therefore safer). I'm sure I'll get more, I just need to give it time and put in more effort ... starting tomorrow morning before I go back to Bedford.

Snow play.

It finally gave up chucking down the white stuff by 8pm with 6 inches on the ground here (or on top of the wheelie bins as below).



So I went out for a walk in the dark. At least I'd get the chance to walk in the snow before other people!



Above: Not a snowberry bush!



Above: The bridge over the River Great Ouse at Castle Mill.



Above: The snow on steps used by horse riders (I assume).



Above & Below: Various animal tracks were visible in the snow. I'm guessing I saw rabbit, stoat, muntjac, badger & fox though I the tracks in the above photo must have been made by something smaller.



Below: Of course I left my own tracks.



Where the path from Castle Mill joins the Willington loop, I began leaving messages -my initials (see photo below), directions to Go Outdoors, a smiley face, the words 'this way' with an arrow pointing over a bridge, at another bridge an arrow pointing at the water with the words 'troubled water' (as in Bridge over ...), the words 'I want more' (as in more snow), and best of all - on a bench covered in snow, the words 'bum here!'



On a short walk to Castle Mill this afternoon I found this Muntjac (see photo below) searching for food in the snow and a surprise Woodcock sitting on the ice in the lock at Castle Mill. It flew away as I reached for my camera!



An update from my dad - he had a foot of snow in the Cotswolds and it took him 3 hours to drive 12 miles from home to M5 junction at Cheltenham! Good news is that despite the snow that his flight from Bristol Airport took off - with him on board - and he's now in Mallorca! With a free upgrade to his room!

Oh, and I won the 'who got the most snow' competition with the little brother in Southampton. Better luck next time Mark!

It'S NOW everywhere!

It's been snowing for 2 hours now and we've got 4 inches I reckon (most of that in the last hour). The most snow I've seen in Bedfordshire in the 4 years I've been here.

I stayed in bed this morning and was in dispair watching the cricket score on teletext. Aussie score going up and up, England wickets falling as quick as the snow is right now!

I didn't wait around to find out what the end of day total was in the cricket, I headed out. First to buy xmas presents (no I'm not telling you what I got) and bird food. Then I fed the birds at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. I've put out some nijer seed to see if it will attract the siskins (I'm told it should). They'll need the extra source of food right now as natural food will be scarce in this weather.

A month ago there were 150-200 siskins, that dwindled to about 75 last weekend. Today I reckon on 250+. If it wasn't for the weather, I'd be out ringing.

A walk around the reserve yeilded 13 Meadow Pipits, 11 Fieldfare, a few Redwing, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Kestrels, a chaffinch on the newly filled feeders,a mixture of tits (Blue, Great & Long Tailed) and 2 snipe. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Jay.

More xmas shopping on the way home and then back home just as the snow was starting to settle on the minor roads.

I checked in with the folks today, Gloucester has had a bit of snow overnight, it thawed a bit in the sun, then they're getting some more. The Cotswolds had a couple of inches in 1 hour this morning, whether they've had any more I don't know but my dad was packing for his flight to Mallorca tomorrow. Good luck dad - I hope the flight isn't cancelled!

I'll phone Southampton now to see if I win the 'who's had the most snow' competition with my brother (he won the other week).

2 new species for Sandy Smith NR

The first two birds out of the net this morning at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve were both new species to be ringed on this site. A Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Coal Tit.

In the end, 2 Great Spots were ringed but just the one Coal Tit.



Above: A coal tit.



Above: A Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dunnock 3
Blue Tit 13 (mostly retraps)
Great Tit 3
Coal Tit 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 2
Chaffinch 1 (2nd of this species ringed on this site)
Robin 1
Siskin 2

26 birds of 8 species.



Above: A female Siskin.

A combination of factors (weather, wind, human error) meant a reduced catch of Siskin today as compared to last time. The flock of Siskin was also smaller than it was (now circa 75 birds - about half the size).

The stonechat was seen again. A curlew was heard (somebody else saw 3 on site in the afternoon). A flock of 25 Redwing went over as did a flock of 12 fieldfare.

A buzzard was heard but not seen. Usually the kestrels are much in evidence hunting nearby. Not today. A jay was heard and the Green Woodpeckers were happily flying around away from the netting area!

The last update on my Bedfordshire ringing (weather permitting) for this calender year should come next weekend. Then it's Gloucestershire ringing.

One for the family

Thanks to Dave Kramer for this photo.

Marsh Tit

Between 8am and 12.30pm today 30 birds of 10 species were caught, ringed and released in 'the rough' at Priory Country Park. New (retrap)

Great Tit 4 (6)
Blackbird 3 (0)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (1)
Blue Tit 4 (4)
Dunnock 1 (0)
Wren 0 (1)
Marsh Tit 1 (0)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (3)
Bullfinch 0 (1)
Robin 0 (1)



Above: This Marsh Tit V670965 (an adult) is only the third caught & ringed at this site (the second this year, the only other being in 1993).

The Bullfinch was first ringed as a youngster on 11th October 2008 (also recaught a few times inbetween) and a retrap Great Tit was first ringed in Box 4 in May this year.

On my last visit (27th Nov.) I retrapped a Blackbird that was first ringed in August 2005 as a youngster.

Now I need to recover from the lurgee - until I go out again tomorrow!

Wintering Siskins

Target species aquired! Here's how the story goes:

Weekend no.1: After finding a flock of Siskin c. 150 to 200 strong at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve I set about the task of ringing some. I watched them fly well over the net rides. So I went out and bought some feeders and some food.

Weekend no.2: Feeders up for a week. Birds still flying high over the net rides!

Weekend no.3: Feeders up for a second week, tape lure at the ready. 14 new birds ringed! This was treble the number of siskin I've ever ringed before.



Above & Below: Siskin no.1.





Above & Below: A fistful of Siskin





Above: A green knuckle ride!



Above & Below: The tail shape (pointed) in the photograph above is indicative of a juvenile bird (born this year) whereas the rounded tail shape in the photograph below is that of an adult (born last year or before).



Many of the 14 Siskin caught were males and many of them juveniles. None had rings on, though I am hopeful that I will get some interesting recoveries as there is a good chance of this with Siskins.

Interestingly, the biometrics (wing length & weight) were remarkably similar amongst all the birds (wing length 73 or 74mm and weight around 12.3 or 12.4grams).

See earlier post for other species caught in the same session.

A loooooooong day, but a good'un!

Last weekend was a long one - Ringing sessions as follows: Saturday at Priory Country Park and Sunday at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve.

Saturday's totals: 24 birds of 9 species:

Long Tailed Tit 2
Great Tit 2
Blue Tit 9
Goldcrest 2
Blackbird 4
Wren 1
Robin 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Dunnock 2

See http://priorycountrypark.blogspot.com/ for photographs and further info on these birds.

Sunday's totals: 38 Birds of 8 species:

Blue Tit 11
Great Tit 8
Siskin 14*
Song Thrush 1
Robin 1*
Chaffinch 1*
Kestrel 1*
Dunnock 1

* = New species ringed for the site.



Above: Robin (first ringed on the site)



Above & Below: I was definitely not expecting this juvenile female Kestrel in the net!





Above: A digiscoped image of a stonechat that was hanging about ... just outside the reserve!

There was also a fly over Curlew (cold weather movement) heading South West. A Snipe flying East and 23 lapwing going South East.



Above: A photograph of a Dunnock just for the Sandy Smith Nature Reserve records!