Southampton

End of financial year at work and I finally get some well deserved rest (well at least I think so). I decided on a visit to Southampton to see my brother and his wife and here is some of what we got up to:

Saturday afternoon we set out for a camp site in the New Forest.



Above: Claire in Rollie (the camper van) - the adventure begins!

Saturday evening we ate expensive but tasty food at the nearby pub.



Above: Mark & Claire at The Three Tons

Sunday morning was spent lounging around in the sun.



Above: Me doing the crossword.

Sunday afternoon we went to Mudeford - an interesting place full of beach huts out on a limb. We could only get there by foot or road train (we chose to put one foot in front of the other several thousand times).



Above: Mudeford beach huts.



Above: My SIL with her BIL (Sister/Brother-in-law!).

On this walk we saw a few Swallows, Sand Martins, Meadow Pipits, Godwits, Shelduck, Little Egret, Oystercathers, Dunlin and Redshank.

Then we came back home, ate a Roast tea and played a computer quiz game that called me slow...

Monday morning and I set out on a bike ride north from Southampton on the cyclepath/footpath alongside the River Itchin. According to local legend, you're not supposed to go swimming in the Itchin because you come out a Scratchin'!

An hour later when I was supposed to be turning round and going back for lunch, and no longer in the area that the OS map shows, I decided to find out where I was near to. 5 minutes later after a change of direction (off the footpath and onto the road) I found a village and a sign saying Winchester was only 4.1 miles away. Decision made, I was going to have lunch in Winchester.

Ate a nice meal in the Slug & Lettuce, did some shopping and cycled back. I showered, changed and was shuffled out the door to visit Lakeside Country Park in Eastleigh:



Above: Mallard ducklings - my first of the year. Presumably this brood has already been depleted from the original number hatched.



Above: My little brother finally learning to run after 30 years!



Above: Me pulling the strings on a stunt kite.

Liverpool beat Man City 3-0 in the Monday night match that we watched at the pub. Good result.

This morning was a bit lazy but we went to Keyhaven Salt Marshes with a picnic for lunch and an afternoon stroll around the 4km walk.



Above: A Turnstone. A digiscoped image (Opticron scope, Panasonic camera). I'm rather pleased with this one.



Above: Spot the 3 Turnstones. Taken by my brother on his Nikon and zoom lens.



Above: Me with my scope.

I'm going back to Bedford tomorrow before I get maimed by my SIL for telling one to many jokes and/or puns!

Lesser vs Common Redpoll

A ringing session with Mark Thomas last weekend. We caught and I got to ring a new species for me, Common Redpoll.



Above: Common Redpoll.

A comparison between the two birds - the Common Redpoll (aka Mealy) is a lighter and greyer colour and is a larger bird than the darker and browner Lesser Redpoll.

Below: Lesser Redpoll.

New species for SSNR

3 ringing sessions at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR) and 3 new species caught.

Session 1: 05/03/11

Totals: 15 birds of 8 species (retraps in brackets)

Coal Tit 1
Great Tit 1 (1)
Blue Tit 2 (1)
Dunnock 1
Chaffinch 2
Long Tailed Tit 1 (3)
Siskin 1
Marsh Tit 1

Having speculated recently that the flocks of Long Tailed Tit's in the area had moved (a new one came in and no evidence of catching any from previous flocks caught & ringed last year), the retrapped Long Tailed Tits in this session came from flocks caught & ringed last year. Speculation proved wrong then!



Above: I had been thinking about the possibility of catching a Marsh Tit here earlier in the morning but had come to the 'highly unlikely' conclusion. Then one arrived in the net!



Above: The new red 'motorway' at SSNR. It's a cycle path really but an odd way of doing it - perhaps it was a case of saving time and/or money as the two sides are uneven & follow the contours already there from vehicle rutting.

Session 2: 12/03/11

Totals: 10 birds of 4 species (retraps in brackets)

Goldfinch 6
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Wren 1

Session 3: 18/03/11

Totals: 15 birds of 7 species (retraps in brackets)

Coal Tit 1
Siskin 1
Goldfinch 2
Chaffinch 5 (1)
Lesser Redpoll 1
Blue Tit 0 (3)
Reed Bunting 1



Above: I'd mentioned to MT the previous weekend that despite there being a lot of Siskin on site, there was no sign of any Redpolls. Then this turned up yesterday! However, from the behaviour (I saw it before catching it) I think it was moving through.



Above: Front view of this Lesser Redpoll. The pointed tail indicates that this bird was born last year (2010).



Above: A surprise in the net, this male Reed Bunting.

Puffin Jigsaw

Predictably, another bird jigsaw! This time of Puffins (as above). One of my volunteers, John, having lent me some jigsaws (see previous posts) has found more to lend me.

On a sad note, I have learned that recently there has been a much higher than normal recovery of dead puffins along the Spanish coast. Puffins have had poor breeding seasons of late due to the decline in their main food source (sand eels). Lets hope 2011 is a better year for Puffins & sand eels.

Bucktonbirder: Another Redpoll Control

Bucktonbirder: Another Redpoll Control: "This bird (V204887) which I retrapped with Ed Green on March 12th was originally ringed as an adult female near Drigg Dunes, Ravenglass, ..."

Persistance Pays out, Super Siskins in!

Persistance did indeed pay off today! Having ringed Siskin at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve in November last year, I've been desperate ever since to catch more - but I've drawn a blank every time. That is, until today!



Above: A male Siskin



Above: A female Siskin

There are three factors here, a) the weather conditions must have been right, b) natural food sources could be dwindling and c) they are starting to put on weight for migration. Probably a combination of all three, but which has the greater bearing?

Evidence collected during ringing activities showed that the Siskins aren't storing fat ready for long distance migration (yet - therefore 2 factors are left). I can only make an educated guess that the longer winter goes on, the fewer natural food sources there are (in this case Alder seeds) and that today's weather conditions (on the colder side due to wind chill) meant they wanted an extra food supply (i.e. the nyger seed I provide or in this case my brother provided in the form of a christmas/birthday present).

Totals for today (retraps in brackets): 45 birds of 6 species:

Blue Tit 6 (1)
Great Tit 3 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Long Tailed Tit 16
Goldfinch 2
Siskin 15

I haven't been very successful with Long Tailed Tits over the same period - they moved through the netting area during Autumn but then stopped only to move through today. Interestingly, the two flocks that moved through today did not have any rings on them so are presumably different flocks to those that came through during Autumn. Does that mean that the post breeding but pre-dispersal flocks have moved elsewhere and new flocks have entered the territory?

Flocks of Long Tailed Tits have certainly been around in the intervening period but I have not seen them in the immediate netting area or caught any. Answers on a postcard please! Preferably from the current location of previously ringed Long Tailed Tits and c/o BTO!

Also noted today was the lack of retrap Blue and Great Tits (only 1 each) - where do the new birds keep coming from and where are the old ones? Natural dispersal, feeders elsewhere locally, bad/good weather?

One thing is for sure, with the milder weather we are experiencing, the feeders are taking longer to become empty!

Mount Everest Jigsaw

Luckily, I didn't need months of training and an oxygen tank to help me complete this challenge! Perhaps I'm the youngest Briton ever to complete this jigsaw?!?



Thank you Jill for my birthday present.

February so far

More severe wind has left me slobbing around at home when I'd much prefer being out and ringing. However, yesterday I did find some shelter at Priory Country Park and put a few nets up.

The following turned up (in order of appearance):

Long Tailed Tit 2
Blue Tit 11
Dunnock 2
Chaffinch 3
Great Tit 7
Song Thrush 1
Treecreeper 1
Blackbird 2



Above: A male chaffinch. 2 were found in the net at the same time. A single female was ringed later on.



Above: A Song Thrush.



Above: A treecreeper (the best bird of the day).



Above & Below: Two different Great Tits. The one in the photograph above, I noticed, has a partially bleached (?) tail. The photograph below is a 'normal' Great Tit tail.



In all, 21 new birds were ringed with 8 retraps (the longest known age being a Blue Tit hatched in 2008).

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.