The last two weekends...





Since my last post, I have made 2 ringing visits to Priory Country Park and 2 to Sandy Smith Nature Reserve.

 

The visits to Priory Country Park have been the last two of the Constant Effort Survey season. All 12 visits were made again this year for the 4th year in a row. Each one of the 12 visits can be compared to the corresponding visit on previous years allowing us to monitor breeding success and abundance by taking standardised population 'samples'.

 

The final CES totals for 2014 are:

 

Woodpigeon 2 (0)

Green Woodpecker 3 (2)

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (0)

Wren 19 (14)

Dunnock 21 (13)

Robin 22 (13)

Blackbird 24 (15)

Song Thrush 7 (0)

Reed Warbler 10 (0)

Whitethroat 15 (8)

Garden Warbler 26 (6)

Blackcap 104 (8)

Chiffchaff 16 (4)

Goldcrest 4 (0)

Long-Tailed Tit 2 (1)

Blue Tit 23 (3)

Great Tit 13 (6)

Treecreeper 2 (0)

Magpie 2 (0)

Chaffinch 2 (0)

Goldfinch 4 (1)

Bullfinch 4 (2)

 

A total of 326 new birds and 89 retraps (415 total handlings) of 22 species. N.B. Totals include an extra visit (April pre-CES), extra nets on all visits and some 'after official hours' captures.

 

Blackcap (as is usual for this site) had most captures and it seems as though this was a good year for them. Disappointing was the lack of Bullfinch juveniles (none were ringed). A control Chiffchaff early in the season was a highlight as were 3 new and 2 recaptured Green Woodpeckers (involving 4 birds and including 2 juveniles) - usually one a year is what we might expect. 2 juvenile Magpies were unusual for CES and Goldcrests seem to have had a good year (benefitting from higher survival rates due to a very mild winter).

 

Away from Priory Country Park, the 2 visits to Sandy Smith Nature Reserve were particularly productive with 130 captures on 24th and 151 on 31st August!

 

There were some notables amongst the catches:

 





Above: A juvenile Green Woodpecker - the first juvenile to be ringed here

Above: A Chiffchaff - this one was a little reluctant to leave my hand after being set free, allowing me a unique photograph opportunity. It soon flew off strongly when gently encouraged to do so.

Above: The Mute Swans in this photograph were both ringed, but only one was colour ringed (the top one) thus allowing me to read the ring no. This bird was ringed on The Embankment in Bedford last year. It represents the first Mute Swan in the database for SSNR. Until the other one is colour ringed, I probably won't get a good enough sight of the metal ring to read it.

Other notables were:

Treecreeper - a recapture at 344 days setting a new longevity record for the site (90 days previously).

Blackcap - a British ringed control was caught on 31st August. It'll be nice to find out where this (a juvenile) came from.

Reed Warbler - 3 juveniles represent the first 3 juveniles ringed on site (the only other records of this species being 2 adults in previous years. I don't think they breed on site so these must be passage migrants.

Kingfisher - a single bird became the 3rd juvenile of the year (an adult was also ringed earlier in the year).

As the session on 31/08/14 was my largest for the site - here are the details:

Mute Swan 0 (1)
Kingfisher 1 (0)
Wren 2 (1)
Dunnock 4 (3)
Robin 0 (1)
Blackbird 1 (0)
Song Thrush 1 (0)
Reed Warbler 2 (0)
Whitethroat 2 (0)
Blackcap 11 (9)
Chiffchaff 4 (0)
Willow Warbler 4 (0)
Goldcrest 1 (0)
Long Tailed TIt 11 (3)
Blue Tit 21 (22)
Great Tit 15 (25)
Treecreeper 0 (1)
Chaffinch 0 (1)
Goldfinch 4 (0) - the first at this site all year (despite the food I put out)

I suspect September is going to be a very good month as passage migration continues. Watch this space!

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...

A bit of Green & Red

Quality rather than quantity at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve yesterday before the wind stopped all ringing for the weekend (again).

7 captures:

Blue Tit = 1 retrap

Dunnock = 1 new

Chaffinch = 2 retraps

Green Woodpecker = 1 new

Goldfinch = 1 new

Coal Tit = 1 new



Above: An adult male Green Woodpecker

Above & Below: That same Green Woodpecker. I do think they are marvelous birds. The red in the malar strip (below the eye, surrounded by black) makes this a male.

I love these close up head photographs of birds in 'the ringers grip'. They make great computer backgrounds!

The last two weekends, I've seen the Green Woodpeckers bombing around chasing each other all over the place, high and low, through the trees, over the grassland, onto the BT poles. It's either a terratorial thing (e.g. male chasing male) and/or a breeding thing (e.g. male chasing female).

Above & Below: A Goldfinch. The facial red showing behind the eye and black nasal hairs make it a male. I mentioned in my last post it was nice to catch the first two of the year & this was the third.



I didn't take a photograph of it but the final bit of quality was a new Coal Tit. A Chiff Chaff was singing briefly from the tops of the trees and a lone swallow was seen heading east but that was it for summer migrants. Elsewhere on the reserve a Yellowhammer was hanging around. Some Fieldfare (around 20) were also knocking around.

Unless I get some recoveries through, my next post will be in a few weeks time with photographs from Sardinia and/or CES ringing sessions news as the new season starts when I get back. Perhaps there will be a lot more summer migrants around and the wind will have died down by then?

From dawn till dusk

Normally, I'm up at the crack of dawn to ring birds when they're at their most active. Today, the weather forecast predicted rain so I stayed in doing chores. Having found the card reader, I can now take the photographs off my camera and show you some of the birds I've caught when I've been up early.



Above: A Lesser Redpoll ringed at Priory Country Park. This bird had been ringed by another ringer on another site somewhere in Britain. I will post the original ringing details of this bird when it comes through (it may take a while!). This came out of the nets shortly after dawn and the lucky people who came to the guided bird walk on 28th October got to see this bird.

I've had a successful time catching this species both at Priory CP and Sandy Smith NR, having doubled the previous ringing totals for this species at both sites.

Above: A Woodpigeon ringed at Priory Country Park in September.

Above: I renewed my friendship with this Green Woodpecker, also in September. My first retrapping of this species at over 1 year since it was first ringed by me.

Above: A Goldcrest - a new species for Sandy Smith Nature Reserve ringing list.

As the days are shorter, I've been staying out most of the day with my ringing which has worked out nicely on occasion, particularly in catching Goldfinches at Proiry CP.

Above: The spectacular sunset over Bedford from Wednesday 7th November. And no, I wasn't driving, or cycling when taking this photograph (I was sat in the passenger seat). There have been several good sunsets recently and this leads me nicely onto dusk.

Dusk is a time when birds go to roost and lately my thoughts have been turning towards catching birds coming to roost. Having done some chores and desperate to get out ringing, myself and Mike put 4 nets around the outside of a reedbed roost produced the following (retraps in brackets):

Wren 2 (1)
Great Tit 0 (2)
Goldcrest 2 (2)
Blue Tit 4 (5)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (4)
Chiffchaff 1 (0)
Reed Bunting 5 (0)

And lastly one special bird, a species I haven't ringed before.

Above: A Corn Bunting.

The Corn Bunting is the species depicted on the Ivel Ringing Group logo so it's about time we started catching them again!

Just another days ringing...

David Howes & I went to Sandy Smith Nature Reserve yesterday (03/09/11) with the main aim of ringing Blackcaps (there are lots on passage at the moment) and to try something new.

I wasn't sure it was going to work, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

Having seen before how to catch Meadow Pipits and having bought new nets especially (nets of the same lenght being a requirement for this to work) I sussed out where best to put the nets the night before. It was time to test my skills.

The wind wasn't a problem when we arrived so we set about erecting nets, however the ground was very hard and it was proving difficult to put the guy poles in the ground. We found a brick and ended up bashing them in (even that was difficult!).

My ringing license permits me to use tape lures, so on went the tape and the wait started. Were there any Meadow Pipits about we wondered?

More waiting.

We went back to my car for something and on our return, hey presto - Meadow Pipits arriving, landing on the top of the net, on top of the poles and on the guy ropes! One mad dash later and..



Above: One of 3 Meadow Pipits ringed - new to my self caught list and new species ringed for the site.

With there being a lack of Meadow Pipits coming back after the first round, we put nets up elsewhere - a 30ft in amongst some plum trees (this net caught nothing but leaves and twigs!) and a 60ft in some ash regeneration near the wood with all the plum trees.

These nets weren't doing particularly well either to begin with, and going back to the Meadow Pipits, there were none so having passed the skills test it was time to concentrate on Blackcaps.

Wren - and that was it for that net round! However whilst David was extracting the Wren (that's what helpers are for after all!), my attention was drawn to an area dripping with birds (Goldfinch, Green Woodpeckers, different varieties of Tits and a species that I couldn't quite see properly to clinch the ID though I had a good idea). Wren extracted and we both looked and said - we can get a net in there between the teasels and the trees (Plum, Elder, Hawthorn etc.), so we erected a 60ft and 30ft jap net in a dog leg around the corner where all these birds were - the emphasis on were because they disappeared when we went to put the nets up!

So we left the nets alone to see what was happening. 15 minutes later and I went for a sneak peek - a few birds were in the 60ft in the ash regeneration. A net with a bird in is never bad news. A Marsh Tit was seen hanging around nearby too. Another 15 minutes later and we went back to find nearly 20 birds in that net! Mostly Blackcap, a couple of Chiff Chaffs, a Robin, a Whitethroat.

Extraction began - half way through my attention was drawn to a Green Woodpecker noisily flying out from the teasels, staying low, towards the net. Still low enough, still towards the net - RUN! I wasn't going to give this a chance to get out of the net. Approaching 2 more were already in the net!



Above: 2 Green Woodpeckers - a new species ringed for the site. Sadly, one got out of the net before I could get to it. I shall remember for the future now I know where to go to catch them! There are lots on site.

This was turning out to be a great day. A couple of Goldfinch, another Blackcap, a Long Tailed Tit and one other bird made these 2 extra nets productive.

David ringed most of the birds - I just took a Green Woodpecker and one or two others to keep me happy whilst I scribed. However the last bird from the round was for me:



Above: A juvenile Spotted Flycatcher! This is only the second species I have never ringed before and caught myself (the first being Grasshopper Warbler). Needless to say, the 3rd species new for the site on this really really great day!



Above: The Spotted Flycatcher from the front.

Having now cleared the area of the majority of birds, we were left with a few Wrens to punctuate the waiting.

We gave up eventually at around 1.30pm. Gathering up all the equipment we were walking back to the cars when my eyes caught sight of a bird that appeared to come out of a rabbit hole! This rabbit hole was in the hollow dug out by The Greensand Trust to create a bee habitat (the geology is greensand & therefore the ground is very sandy). We got the binoculars out and identified the bird but could we turn this ordinary day (ha ha) into a spectacular day?

After making sure it wasn't going to be a waste of time, a net was hastily erected and 5 minutes later (that included a bit of jumping for joy) I was ringing this:




Above: The birds 'armpit' feathers.



Above: The birds tail.



Above: I'm ring the bird. Know what it is yet?



Above: It's a Wheatear. It was carrying some fat - a bird on passage. There aren't many birds of this species that have been ringed in Bedfordshire.



Above: A happy very chappy. My 3rd self caught ringing tick, hot on the heels of number two! And the 4th new species ringed for the site in one day. A spectacular day complete.



Above: This post however, wouldn't be complete without a picture of David. Thanks for helping and I couldn't have done it without you. A learning experience for both of us.

Green Wood Ringer strikes!

My first self caught Green Woodpecker!



The red in the malar stripe (below the eye) makes this a male.



Seeing a Green Woodpecker in the hand was one of my main motivations to become a bird ringer. I can't count the number of times I've seen one and willed it to go in the net!



As it flies away from you, laughing, the flash of green sticks in the memory.

The chance (however small) of someday having another one in the hand will keep me getting up at silly o'clock most weekends for a long, long time! And whilst I'm waiting for the next Green Woodpecker I might catch a few other birds that will put a big smile on my face too.

To see more info on the other birds I caught today (including only the second Coal Tit to be ringed at Priory Country Park) on CES visit 4, please click here.

My no.1 bird ...

I was surprised to find this in the net today. Usually they are somewhere about laughing and teasing me & flying nowhere near the net! In fact, earlier on, I had shouted out to one such Green Woodpecker and suggested it should get in the efin net!



Above: My first of this species but hopefully not the last!



Above & below: From the front & back. When they fly away from you, there is a flash of yellow (like the flash of blue you see in kingfishers).

No more false advertising!

No surprise that I am posting lots of photographs of this bird!



Above: The wing was in primary moult.



Above: The photographic hold



Above: In the ringers hold



Above: Eye spy



Above: Unlike the Great Spotted Woodpeckers, the Green Woodpecker does not take chunks out of your hand or try to draw blood!