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!

Rest in Peace

31st October 2009, a nice autumn day. My family met at the church in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire to inter the ashes of my Gran, Margaret Doggett (nee Roberts).

My Grandad (Frank Doggett) had already been laid to rest there nearly 2 decades previously. It was important to my Gran that she was laid to rest next to her husband (she had reserved that space at the time of Franks funeral).

My Gran and Grandad moved to Bourton-on-the-Water not long before I was born (I was born 06/01/1979 - so probably in 1977/78) when they retired. They regularly visited the church (see below) and were active members of the local Horticultural Society.

They lived at Stile End - the 'last house on the left' on the road out towards the Rissingtons.



Above: A 'record shot'. A view of the location (see yellow & white flowers) within the Graveyard should anybody wish to find it in the future.



Above: Standing in the same place as the 1st photograph, but facing a different direction, a view of the church. My Grandad was a photographer and took many photographs of churches. As a chartered accountant, during his retirement, he was a treasurer for this church.



Above: Frank George Doggett, Margaret Doggett, Christopher Kiri Doggett and Jane Doggett (born Hilary Jane). This family photo must have been taken in the mid to late 1950's.

Whilst I carried the ashes to the grave, Mark (my brother and youngest of four Grandchildren to Frank & Margaret) placed them in the ground. Other grandchildren: Lissa Olson (born Doggett) and Andrew children of Christopher Doggett. There are also 2 Great Granchildren: Kayla & Chloe, daughters of Lissa Olson.

Frank and Margaret are also missed by other members of close family and friends, including Shirley Doggett (wife of Christopher), Christine Dayman (nee Britton, Margaret's niece) & Martin Britton (Margaret's nephew) and Penny (Vera's adopted daughter). Sadly, Margaret's sisters Kath Britton (nee Roberts) and Vera have both passed away. Frank has surviving relatives including Peter Doggett who now lives near Bolton.

Most of their friends in Bourton-on-the-Water, and elsewhere, have since passed but Margaret and Frank are remebered by, in particular, the Spears family.



Above: Frank George Doggett (1914 to 1990) and Margaret Doggett (1922 to 2009). They are both remembered with a great deal of love.

Cork the claws of this Hawk!

Yesterday (07/11/09), a ringing visit to Priory Country Park brought a trickle of birds throughout the morning/early afternoon.

Early on, a Sparrowhawk was passing the feeding station in search of food (in this case Great or Blue Tits, not the nuts). It came away empty clawed! But Errol must have wished we had put a cork on this particular birds claws: he was telling me to keep my extremities away from the claws of this sharp toed hunter, but did not heed his own advice ... Ouch!



Above (thanks to Errol for this photo): A Sparrowhawk. This male was born this year (it had heart shaped markings on its front). This bird, already sporting a ring (thanks to Errol a few weeks back), did not add itself to my ringing list. The spectacle was enjoyed by regular birders at PCP Dave B, Dave K & John A.

For a list of other birds caught at Priory on 07/11/09, visit the IRG blog: www.ivelringinggroup.blogspot.com

Were I to keep a list of birds handled and/or processed but not ringed it would be short. I'd like to keep it this way! Others include:

Marsh Tit (processed but not ringed)
Mute Swan (recoveries of colour ring numbers from the field)
Eider Duck (handled only)
Curlew Sandpiper (handled only)
Turnstone (extracted from a mist net only)

Other news:

This afternoon, at Cardington Tesco, I was approaching the car, only to look up at the sound of very agitated Long Tailed Tits. The reason for this was a Sparrowhawk passing over towards Longholme Way.

I am close to aquiring my 'C' license. I am organising and amassing equipment etc. in earnest!

Down the hatch!

Call me a nut if you like for all the bad jokes, but I've got one hatchet job left to tell you about!

Last weekend, on Saturday 24th October 09, it was Feed The Birds day/weekend. The RSPB were holding many events across the country, one of which was at their HQ - The Lodge at Sandy. Being nearby and having been told about a ringing demonstration at this event, I decided to help out at a site I have never ringed at before. I was rewarded with another first:



Above: A Nutchatch. We don't know whether this bird hatched this year or before as there are no significant details in the plumage (i.e. differences in the moulting process of birds of different ages) to be able to tell the ages apart.

I have to thank somebody else for the above photograph (I don't know who) but I have a few photographs on my camera that I currently cannot get to work so I may post some of those when I can access them.

We also caught & ringed a number of blue tits, great tits, a long tailed tit, coal tits (my favourite of the tit family), chaffinches and a song thrush. A large number of people - old and young alike - took great pleasure in watching and being told about the birds & why we ring them. Some even got to release the birds, so hopefully there will be some young people walking around with a memory that will last them a lifetime!

After 6 hours demonstrating bird ringing at The Lodge, on Sunday 25th, I visited another site I have never even been to, let alone ringed there - Stockgrove Country Park. I spent another 6 hours demonstrating bird ringing to lots of interested visitors. More details about the event and what we caught can be found at http://www.ivelringinggroup.blogspot.com/

Another new site brought another new bird for me:



Above: A Redpoll. Whilst the Nuthatch was not a surprise at The Lodge as I know they are there, this Redpoll was. The shape of the tail feathers (pointed and not rounded) meant this bird was born this year.

News: I have recently had my application for a 'C license' endorsed by my trainer, so I am awaiting a decision from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) as to whether this has been approved. If it is, I get to go out on my own with a couple of nets (albeit under remote supervision).

Coal and Marsh Tits

Last weekend I made a trip to North Wootton (Near Kings Lynn, Norfolk) with my trainer, Errol. As well as partaking in witty banter (I wasn't just the butt of the jokes, I got a few digs of my own in!), we did some ringing despite only catching 30 birds (averaging just over 1 bird per hour!). I did get my wish though as my favourite tit came visiting:



Above: I ringed this one personally - my first Coal Tit.



Above: A retrap (one of Errol's 'I did this earlier') Marsh Tit. The first and only one I've ever handled.



Above: Another Coal Tit. Born this year (it had one old greater covert - a feature we can age this bird on).

Thank you to Jenny for letting me stay and providing some good grub.

Errol has his own blog now at http://www.masterringer.blogspot.com/. In his own words "Tits & things - Ramblings of an old man who is now content to catch all the common birds - when the fancy takes him!"

Buckton

A trip to Buckton with Mark Thomas last weekend was good but was missing a lot of migrant birds. In the end it was too windy & the wind direction wasn't quite right. We had only a handful of migrants all weekend so we did some sea watching on Sunday.



Above & Below: Gannets. There are a lot of Gannets on the cliffs here (way too many to count). Also seen Fulmar & Kittiwakes (at a distance).



We did get some ringing in on Friday & Saturday.



Above: Not a new species for me (I have ringed 1 before) but a new species for the blog. Linnet.



Above: A new species ringed for me and there were two of them. 2 migrant siskins added themselves to my tick list and ringing record. Smashing!



Above: Another ringing tick - Tree Sparrow. Cracking! We caught 7 in total, one of which Mark ringed as a juvenile earlier on in the year (he has ringed over 100 juveniles this year).

Trip to Paxton Pits

Saturday 5th September 09, saw me take BTCV volunteers on our annual Summer Jolly. This year we decided to go for a walk around Paxton Pits Nature Reserve.

I was worried a little about the weather but it turned out well. The sun had a hat on and surprisingly, the wind had dropped dramatically from previous days!

It was a nice day for all of us. I took a few photographs.



Above: A bracket fungus



Above: I'm stumped for a way to describe this one!



Above: Hiding from the birds! Out there were: Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks, Cormorants (plenty of), Gadwall (plenty of), coot, moorhen, at least two kingfishers (I have never observed them 'hovering' before but did here), pochard & 2 red crested pochard (I've never seen this species before). Elsewhere on the site we saw lots of great tits & blue tits at the visitor centre feeder & watched a sparrowhawk alongside the river searching for potential food sources.



Above: A birds eye view! This is what I imagine a goldfinch would see whilst feeding on teasels.



Above: A speckled wood flutterby.

Ringing Demo

A while back now, I helped Mark Thomas on a Ringing Demo in Willington where we caught this beauty.



Above: A Jay

There were several (at least 3) more making a racket nearby but were not caught.

My cousin's baby and me

The official photographs from my brothers wedding have been received.



Above & below: Me with my Cousin Vicky's 2nd baby (Oliver). Easy handling as he's going to sleep!



Having already posted the best man speach:



Above: Delivering the speach



Above: The mother of the bride laughing at one of my jokes. I know this because the photographs were received in sequence and I am seen before & after (below) the above photo giving my speach. You know this because you believe I am honest .... hopefully!



Above: Again, I am delivering the best man's speach.