A cracking day...

Yesterday, Saturday 16th August, I made a visit to Sandy Smith Nature Reserve - same as I do most weekends. Starting at the crack of dawn, I set up my nets and I was well rewarded for my efforts.

The weather conditions and time of year, all play their part in the presence (or absence) and abundance of birds and the species I might catch. This year Blue Tit juveniles have been rather thin on the ground, as have Common Whitethroats despite what appears to have been a good year weather wise for breeding.

Yesterday, the ringing results showed 2 things - no Common Whitethroats (I should still be catching them) and a marked increase in the no. of Blue Tits ringed. This increase is probably as a result of birds from 'further afield' arriving on site.

In the end, I caught 111 birds of 15 species. This being the joint highest ringing total for a single day at this site.

Of course, I took some photographs...

Above: A juvenile Jay (3rd youngster ringed this year) 

Having caught 1 Jay (2013) previous to this year, it has been a pleasant surprise to catch 5 so far this year (3 adults, 2 juvs). My main ringing area is being left to mature into (mainly Alder) woodland, with some planting to speed up the process - so perhaps this is a sign that Jays are finding the habitat more to their liking. Or they may have just found a way to take advantage of my feeding station!

Above: Juvenile Kingisher (1 of 2 ringed)

The Kingfishers have been bombing around up and down the river on a regular basis throughout this year (the mild winter benefitting this species as survival is greater). Kingfisher breeding is also prone to being devastated by floods but that trouble, thankfully, has been avoided this year. Not a species I catch regularly, but two juveniles were ringed today (the brown tops to their legs giving their age away - adults have crayon red legs).

But as the breeding season is coming to an end, I am starting to see evidence of migration in the ringing results. Migrants need places to stop and refuel before continuing their journey. They might choose a site to stop at for the habitat and food they find there or simply because they are forced down by bad weather conditions. Either way, it's that time of year. The star bird of the day - and definitely a migrant was...

...this Lesser Whitethroat. It is a cracking bird in the hand. It stole star bird status away from the 2 Kingfishers, the Jay, 2 Magpies, Nuthatch, Willow Warbler and Goldcrest because it is the first of this species to be ringed at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. The Magpies only made it onto the list because they were the 3rd and 4th to be ringed here - definitely coming to the feeders. On the last session, it was Ringer 1, Magpie 5. This time it was Ringer 2, Magpie 0 but I lost 3-5 on an aggregate score! Joking aside, that makes 3 this year - the only previous one came in 2012.

Another migrant was a juvenile Willow Warbler. The only other one I've caught this year was an adult undergoing moult (and presumably on migration too) back in June.

A juvenile Goldcrest, was the fourth of the year! This is a fairly short lived species because of their size and vulnerability in the winter to cold weather - so good winter survival and a good breeding season for this species too.

It is worth mentioning Nuthatches too - they are heard near my ringing area regularly at the moment (probably 2 yesterday) and with only 1 previous to this year in 2012 and 4 so far this year they would appear to be increasing in numbers. Hopefully some retrap data will provide some more knowledge about this species use of the reserve.

Kingfisher 2 (0)
Wren 2 (1)
Dunnock 3 (4)
Robin 4 (0)
Lesser Whitethroat 1 (0)
Blackcap 8 (0)
Chiffchaff 3 (0)
Willow Warbler 1 (0)
Goldcrest 1 (0)
Blue Tit 18 (14)
Great Tit 9 (32)
Nuthatch 0 (1) - this retrap increases the site longevity for this species from 8 to 13 days!
Jay 1 (0)
Magpie 2 (0)
Chaffinch 0 (4)

I was pooped by the time I got home, but it was a cracking adventure Gromit!

Bird Bank

A bank holiday weekend full of birds was my hope. Apart from one net round on Sunday morning (14 birds) it wasn't exactly full, but there was enough to make it worthwhile.

Saturday and Monday were spent at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve and Sunday saw me fulfilling my commitment to complete 12 CES sessions at Priory Country Park.



Above: Lesser Whitethroat at Priory Country Park. Our first one ringed all year here, a juvenile.

The catch at Priory included a mini-influx of Blackcap - probably on the move along with the Lesser Whitethroat.

A ringing demo to the guided bird walk allowed us to demonstrate our craft to 5 lucky onlookers who saw a Long Tailed Tit and a Blackcap. They just missed the round with 14 birds but went away before we spent ages, and ages awaiting our next bird!

Above: Willow Warbler at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve.

I've caught a few Willow Warblers here recently (none at Priory Country Park as yet this year).

Reports of Winchat at SSNR earlier in the week had me wandering to find them. Saturday morning and first thing they weren't around but mid morning 2 appeared. House Martins on migration passed over. Monday morning and House Martins were again on the move and though I looked for the Winchat, I drew a blank. A couple of Linnets were a bonus.

Star bird of the bank holiday weekend was to be a bit of a surprise. The first one to be ringed at SSNR. During the winter I may have seen one (views weren't great and not enough to positively ID it) - not on the site, but very nearby. So it's been a possibility.

This is another bird record that will be deposited in my growing 'bird bank' (or IPMR to other ringers!).

Above & Below: A Nuthatch. At this time of year (after post juvenile moult & moult in the adult), we are unable to age these birds as there are no reliable differences in plumages.

For a second, I thought I'd caught a second one later on, but it wasn't to be (it was the same bird!). Hopefully next time it (and others of its kind) will make an appearance later in the year, and/or next.

"Cracking bird Gromit!"

Priory Country Park - Of late

The Constant Effort season is over at Priory Country Park. All 12 visits were completed (including the odd extra visit). I haven't posted CES totals for a while and on this occasion, for my ease, I'm going to lump visits 8-12 all into one (including non-CES birds/sessions).

238 new birds, 57 retraps (in brackets) of 23 species:

Wren 8 (1)
Dunnock 6 (6)
Robin 6 (7)
Blackbird 10 (8)
Song Thrush 8 (1)
Sedge Warbler 1 (0)
Reed Warbler 24 (1)
Whitethroat 25 (6)
Lesser Whitethroat 2 (0)
Garden Warbler 19 (2)
Blackcap 91 (8)
Chiff Chaff 2 (3)
Willow Warbler 2 (1)
Blue Tit 8 (5)
Great Tit 6 (3)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (1)
Chaffinch 3 (0)
Goldfinch 10 (0)
Greenfinch 1 (0)
Bullfinch 4 (3)
Treecreeper 0 (1)
Sparrowhawk 1 (0)
Wood Pigeon 1 (0)

We'll start with the standout total for Blackcap. This site has always been good for Blackcaps - more Blackcaps have been ringed than just about all other species in the park. The total above includes birds caught outside the CES. On Saturday 27th August I caught 26 Blackcaps (the majority new and the majority male). These birds must have moved on and another lot moved in as by the following Wednesday (31st August) I caught 30 Blackcaps (only one retrap from the weekend and only because it's from a late brood & not ready to go yet).

I call on all ringers north of Bedfordshire to get a move on and ring some Blackcaps! Out of all the Blackcaps I've ringed here in the last week or two, none have been ringed other than on site. You can increase my chances of catching one of your birds!



Above: Female Blackcap



Above: Male Blackcap



Above: This bag contains a big living ball of feathers (see below)!



Above: A Wood Pigeon (the big ball of feathers).



Above: A Lesser Whitethroat. This bird represents one of two ringed on 27th August. This species used to be more regular in the park but there have been very few records this year. I assume therefore that these two birds (juveniles) were migrating through the park (we would likely have caught the adults & juveniles earlier if they had bred).



Above: Normally seen in the skys above & normally too good at airobatics to be caught. This juvenile Sparrowhawk is obviously still learning then!