If you're interested ...

Went over to Blunham today to ring last night's catch in the duck trap. For a fuller picture, please go to http://ivelringinggroup.blogspot.com/2009/12/duck-day.html .

"What have you got there?"

Christmas cheer

View west, Sunday 27 Dec. Rain on Ice on compacted Snow.

Spent the holiday in Snowy Norfolk - and all of that was at J's house (apart from Christmas day dinner with "the mother" in the care home). Managed a little ringing on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day but it was more of the same; 40 birds, 21 of which were recaptures of ringed birds. However, I was able to get a better handle on the potential numbers of birds coming to the feeders.

Here are this weekend's figures, followed by this sessions retraps (in brackets), then by the December total (=2 visits), retraps this month from last, and Novembers totals. Any retraps during the same month have been removed.
Dunnock    0, 1, 0, 1
Robin    1, (2), 3, 0, 0
L-t Tit    1, (2), 12, 1, 7
Marsh Tit    0, 3, 1, 2
Coal Tit    3, (5), 38, 8, 24
Blue Tit    10, (11), 37, 4, 52
Gt. Tit    3, (1), 21, 2, 17
Chaffinch    0, 4, 0, 6
Grenfinch    1, 4, 0, 1

View east, back garden gate leading to Ling Common (a wood)

A recalculation of  the figures confirms "population sizes" of ~100 Coal Tits and ~130 Gt. Tits. However, the latest numbers would suggest there may be ~400 Blue Tits in the area. Long-tailed Tits remain a bit nebulous with a recalc., somewhere in the range 50-75, so I'll stick with ~63.

So far, no Siskins or Brambling on the feeders, although we are starting to get Goldfinch and Pied Wagtail now and again as winter progresses. Normally, we don't see a change until January or even February.

Brrr....

Bitterly cold last night when we went down to -6C; today wasn't much better as we couldn't quite get to zeroC.

Not much in the way of bird activity after the dawn raids by the pair/trio of Dunnocks, the winter resident Robin and one of the two male (unringed) adult Blackbirds. A lone male Goldfinch (ringed) and a juvenile female (ringed) Greenfinch attended the upstairs restaurant briefly before it all went quiet.

Nets up. Four House sparrows messing about in the tops of the trees. Nets partially visible against the clear blue sky. The moderate to strong north-easterly wind has gone and been replaced by a light/gentle westerly. One of the Collared Doves sits pensively and all fluffed up in the Crab Apple tree by the garage. Hope its not sick; shouldn't be - there's plenty of food laid out.

Still nothing in the net. Have to pop round to see my younger brother in the residential home and take his mail, etc. Just furl the nets while I'm gone; whoops, got a 1CY male re-trap Blue Tit. Biggy with a 66.5 wing and weight of 11.8g; no probs there, then.

Back and unfurled the nets. I'll go and run through the three quarters of a million plus viruses, trojans and malware on the computer in the mean time. Time for a coffee and a sandwich, just check the net, oh a 'sparrow' has just flown in, better take it out. "Blow me down with a feather!" (polite version), I says to myself, loudly.

It's only another female 'Bavarian' Blackcap. I'll get this away quickly. Ringno ...845, wing 73.5mm, weight 20.8g, fat 2, muscle 2, tail shape adult/rounded. Take a couple of quick photographs while I'm at it.
[The one on the 8th was a 3F, wing 77, wt.20.7g, F3 M2]

I have three Leycesteria bushes, one in the front right and two up the side but none in the back. I do have 5 or 6 seedlings sprouting in the front gravel, ready for setting in the back, though. Originally given to me by a 'C' ringer when I moved here, they are attractive to Blackcaps, Robins and Blackbirds with their syruppy 'seeds'.

Just finishing up the blog and a third bird for the day - an adult, poss 'continental', female blackbird, doing OK so far (wt. 111g)

Whitey

The day dawned fine after the 9mm of rain yesterday. The sun was up, hardly a cloud in the sky and little or no wind. Bit parky though! Dossed about - my excuse to let the birds have a good feed early, after a cold night. (Really went and had a bath). Opened the garden nets about 10am and caught 7 birds of 5 species pretty quickly; the second Wren of the year was a surprise extraction. By midday the wind had got up and the wind chill forced the temperature down. Time to furl. Shortly after, the snow started to fall, gently at first. Within the hour, a gritter went up our road, which is used as the unofficial northern by-pass!

Had to go to town via the surgery. Got togged up, checked for my 'bus pass and set off the 100 yards to the bus stop. It was snowing moderately but the NE wind was blowing hard and the snow/shrapnel was coming in at 15 degrees to the horizontal. There was a young lady snow man at the bus stop; we don't have a shelter and she had to have been there less than ten minutes 'cos we get six buses an hour to town. After just three minutes standing there, I had to rake an inch of snow off the back of my neck. The driver didn't see my pass - he thought I looked old enough (i.e. a good 60 years old!) even though he could just about see my face behind the snowed up specs.

A quick gallop into the surgery to drop off a 'scrip and back to the bus stop. Here things are civilised, not like in the country, and I was able to shelter in the lee of the 'bus shelter for five minutes or so. Surprising what a little bit of snow does - everyone suddenly jumps into their car and, hey presto, a big traffic jam on the main road going into town. It took us about 25 stop-starts to get to the first set of traffic lights. However, once there, the traffic flowed.

As I got off the 'bus the snow eased but the wind continued, unabated. I passed a woman just as her umbrella inverted itself. Business over, I made my way to the 'bus station. By now the 'buses were in chaos and behind schedule. The one we boarded turned out to be late and the one that all the school kids would now be on. More delays as we weaved our way in and out of parents' parked cars and "lollipop people" ushering crocodiles of middle school deserters across the road. By the time we got "home", another later bus had overtaken us. The snow had melted on the pavements and had now turned to sheet ice. 

I spent almost all the rest of the day going through IPMR with a new 'C' ringer and setting up his computer ready for his first birds.

In a Norfolk garden

A round-the-clock session (midday-midday) produced 76 birds. These in turn produced some interesting figures.

Any road, the totals were 21 new birds and 55 re-traps:

Dunnock 1,

Long-tailed Tit 4 (5) - comprising 4 adults and 5 'young',

Marsh Tit 1 (1) - 1 adult & 1CY (1CY with 4ogc nearest in photo),

Coal Tit 6 (23) - 13 adults & 16 '08 juvs, oldest a '3' on 18 Nov '05,

Blue Tit 2 (11) - 3 adults & 10 'juvs', oldest a '6F' on 27 Jan '06,

Gt. Tit 3 (12) - just 2 adults, the rest this year's young,

Chaffinch 2 (2),

Greenfinch 2 (1).

Last month, I managed to catch 113 individuals altogether. Apart from new Gt. Spot., Wren, Dunnock & Blackbird, I caught/re-caught the following from which we can make some deductions.

Long-tailed Tit  7 - don't know which were adults,

Marsh Tit 2 - both this year's young birds,

Coal Tit 14 (10) - 6 adults & 18 1CY class, oldest the same bird as above,

Blue Tit 20 (33) - 15 adults & 38 youngsters, oldest bird a '3' on 2 Oct '05,

Gt. Tit 9 (8) - of which 6 were adult, + 11 "this year's birds",

Chaffinch 4 (2) - 2 adults & 4 youngsters,

Greenfinch 1 - probably means 'winter passage not started here'.

A few bits of jiggery-pokery and 'hey presto' we can reckon on

5-6 family flocks of Long-tails (~63 birds),

~100 Coal Tits present ... and non-stop at the feeders!

~230 Blue Tits roaming the neighbourhood (wood and gardens),

~ 128 Gt. Tits, although at times it seems as if they dominate the feeders,

and a constant stream (trickle) of Chaffinches passing through the garden.

The Greenfinch is one of those 1CY birds that have moulted all its greater coverts and 'half' its alula and replaced primaries 6-7-8. Suspicion is that these are birds from the far continent (Russia?), with a more pointed wing shape as well. [If PP 6-7 only moulted, perhaps from near continent?].

I have ringed 9 juvenile Marsh Tits here this autumn. 6 of these have been caugh/re-caught in post-juvenile plumage and we know from recent results that 3 are still alive. If they are from nearby and from the same pair, then mortality is ~ 67% post fledging, which one would possibly expect. We'll see how we go, as they're regular at the feeders, too, and seem to do well if they get this far in life - at least until the breeding season.

PS. A pair of 'Squizzers' were collecting dead Oak leaves to line their nest in the ivy clad Ash tree that overlooks the garden. Their nest won't be the only thing that's warm!

Sanderling 6000 kilometer non-stop flight

Gepubliceerd op: Released:

14 oktober 2009

Een drieteenstrandloper, met een vertrekgewicht van amper een ons, vloog in minder dan vijf dagen 6000 kilometer van Noorwegen naar Ghana.

A Sanderling, with a starting weight of just an ounce (25 gm),  flew in less than five days the 6000 kilometers from Norway to Ghana.  The bird was photographed on August 11, 2009 in a bleak, southern Norway. On August 16, a Ghanaian biologist saw it among coconut palms on the beach at Esiama. The Sandpiper was identified by its different color leg rings.

Cormorant angst

Came across this website. It is a rant by anglers about Carbo carbo. The Welsh boys from Bridgend, Glams. don't seem to like them alot!

http://www.ogmoreriver.com/news/news_cormorants.php

Bingo!

Withdrawal symptoms now departed.
See the group blog for details of todays 'smash hit'

The flags are flying

It's just a bit breezy out there as the view from my bedroom window looking towards the 'new-build' suggests.

Out the back, i.e. sitting in the kitchen with a cup of fresh coffee in hand, sixteen Goldfinches are already hard at work, eating their way rapidly through another bag of sunflower kernels. And nine Collared Doves chime in as well a bit later one. Don't they realise I'm a hard-up pensioner these days?

Here's a poor shot of some of them - which reminds me, I must gee up the window cleaner.

 

News - Success of male tits is set from birth

25 November 2009, by Sara Coelho

The breeding success of female great tits depends on where they raise their young - good habitat means healthy chicks. But for male tits, the game is rigged from the start. No matter where they live later on in life, their chances are forever tied to what happens in the first autumn of their life.

Some animals are more successful than their fellows and manage to live longer, raise more young and pass on their genes to more descendents. Professor Ben Sheldon and Dr Teddy Wilkin, evolutionary biologists at the Edward Grey Institute in the University of Oxford, were interested to find out what is behind these differences.
They analysed 47 years of data on the life history of generations of great tits of Wytham Woods, near Oxford, collecting information about clutch size, lifespan or number of grandchildren (called recruits). Then they looked for connections between breeding success parameters and the environments where the parents grew up or where they decided to breed.
They found that female great tits lay eggs earlier and raise healthier chicks if they breed in a good environment - an area of woodland with many oak trees, which support many insects, good nesting places and not many other great tits around to compete for resources.
'For females, it doesn't matter where they were born,' says Sheldon. 'Once they survive the first few months, a poor early environment has no carry on effect into later life.'

Great tits nesting in the Wytham Woods

But for males, raising a family in a breeding paradise doesn't make a lot of difference. Their lifelong breeding success depends mostly on their home environment. Males that grew up in plenty will have more and healthier offspring than fellow great tits raised under a tight belt.
Sheldon thinks that the difference in fate is controlled by the female great tits who make most of the breeding decisions - when and where to breed and with whom. 'Females have an in built flexibility and they can adjust their breeding effort every year, according to circumstances.'
Males, on the other hand, have little control over breeding decisions. What makes them attractive to females, a good territory and, probably, bright plumage, is decided early in life. 'For males events up to the first autumn are important determinants, after that they are relatively fixed,' says Sheldon, who published his findings last week in Current Biology.
If males are to be successful, they need a good start and the right amount of nutrients from birth to allow them to grow strong and attractive. That first autumn is their best chance to become competitive enough to acquire the best territories, attract the best females and raise more young.
This trend for different controls of local environment in male and female life histories does not happen only in great tits. 'There is some evidence that the red deer on the Isle of Rum follow the same trend,' says Sheldon.
'It's interesting to see the same thing happening in two such different types of animal,' he adds. 'Perhaps this is more common than previously thought.'

---

Teddy A. Wilkin, Ben C. Sheldon. Sex Differences in the Persistence of Natal Environmental Effects on Life Histories. Current Biology, Available online 19 November 2009. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.09.065

Post-script - Ben Sheldon has helped out on our (Ivel RG) longest running CES site in the past. Seems to be doing well for himself.

---

Blast!

Although the 'currant bun' is shining, the wind is still greater than Beaufort 4 and the nets are flailing about. They are furled and tied back but that hasn't stopped them from advertising their presence. It also looks as if this month is going to be as wet as July was.

For the last week or so, the garden has been full of birds in the early mornings. There are 10-12 Goldfinches with smaller parties following on while I sit there eating my breakfast; there could well be 30 different birds and quite a few are ringed among the early risers. Collared Doves now number 9 individuals all at once, some on the feeders, some on the ground. With plenty of food on the deck, why do they hog the feeder trays, ports and lids? The Starlings are back after a lean couple of months, gardenwise. Up to now, they have been feeding on the verges and the large landscape areas around the 'new build' and the autumn sown fields beyond.

I haven't seen a Great Tit in the garden for 'yonks' but a couple of Blue Tits come mid-morning. The 'Lottis' come regularly too but are ignoring the fat-balls and feeding on the various roses instead. With day-time temperatures up around 14-15C, I'm not surprised that there are insects to be had still. Another new-comer is the Magpie, coming once or twice daily but not on the feeders or bothering to go down on the deck. It has been a couple of years since we regularly saw one of those in the garden. The same goes for Sparrowhawk although we did have one on consecutive days in early autumn; he left empty handed.

Down below on the lawn and in the shrubbery, the several Dunnocks and the lone Robin clear the small seeds and the Robin gets an extra treat in the form of sultanas that I put out for "him" and the Blackbirds. The latter are non-existant at the moment and I am beginning to think that they have emigrated to 'warmer climes' in southern counties and that the 'continentals', which we have been catching at the country park, are not yet being forced into gardens. The Hawthorn trees are still laden with berries and there are plenty of other fruits as well.

One old friend, living not too far away, is getting Blackcaps and even had 3 males the other day; previously he was seeing females. The Whitebeams and Crab-apples are laden with fruits along our road, just ripe for a party of Waxwings! - but we won't be seeing them until after Christmas.

The day the Blue Tits came

Took my eldest grand-daughter to Norfolk for the weekend; we stayed at Jenny's with the object of taking her bird-watching. It also helped her parents who are "between houses" and staying with Ali's parents and her sister in their small house making 6 persons, sometimes 7, and a fat Labrador!

Here's the little princess with 'Floppsy Rabbit' ready to return home.

The weather was not good but I did manage to get in some ringing on the Saturday morning before more rain. The session was dominated by Blue Tits with 28 individuals out of the 47 trapped.

Totals were - Blackbird 1, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 3 + 4 r/t, Blue Tit 13 + 15 r/t, Gt. Tit 3 + 6 r/t & Chaffinch 1 r/t. The oldest bird was a GT from September 2007 while another bore an NOA ring from March 2008. [They ring occasionally in Fred Cooke's garden at the other corner of the wood, Fred being the NOA president).

On Sunday morning, we set off early (for us) and arrived at Snettisham before the 9.30 high tide. Apart from Oystercatchers and Turnstones on the tide line and a few large gulls and a lone Cormorant, there was little on the seaward side. At peak tide, a mere 6.0 metre one, a flock of 50 Knot headed south towards the inner Wash and RSPB Snettisham. We prefered to stay in the relatively sheltered 'so called' country park.

The main interest was the Meadow Pipits along the outer sea wall and the squadrons of Starlings arriving from the continent. They numbered from 6 to 60 with many in the 15-20 range, coming over every few minutes during the hour we were there. We also noticed a few Linnets, the odd Blackbird, a small party of Redwing and several noisy Wrens. From the inner sea wall there was little to be seen; I suspect it had been shot over the day before. The Wigeon, numbering several hundred, of a month ago were gone.We did, however, find a group of 30 Curlew, some Mallard and a few Coot.

Next it was a trip to the nursing home to visit "the mother", who is coming 95. Here we could get close to some splendidly colourful Mallard, Coot and Moorhens in the grounds. The weekend was a bit of a 'wash-out', I'm afraid, but Erin made it safely back to mum

Watch this space

My grand-daughter, Erin (whose initials also spell Erin), sometimes known as Renee, has been pestering me for ages to take her bird-watching. She's just 5y 5m and keen to get going.
So this week-end I'm taking her to NW Norfolk. At worst, she can sit in the conservatory and watch the birds on the feeders. But, knowing her, she will want me to do some ringing - AND take her to the "seaside" which will mean a jaunt along the beach at Snettisham. Good job we have a 'freebie' parking slot at the caravan.
Just hope the rain keeps off for her.

Marsh Tit plus

Ringing in Norfolk this last weekend was brief, owing to the heavy rain and blustery winds. It still resulted in 43 birds but just 18 were new birds. The junior 'pecker had a mix of moulted and un-moulted feathers, including un-moulted P9 & P10 as can be seen in the photograph.

Result for the session was - Gt. Spot Woodpecker 1 (a young female), Wren 1, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 4 + 7 retraps, Blue Tit 2 + 14 r/t, Gt. Tit 5 + 3 r/t, Chaffinch 3 + 1 r/t and Greenfinch 1.

The re-trap adult male Chaffinch had lost its left leg completely since ringing on 25th August 2008 as a 6M (hatched 2006 or earlier).

This was the 9th new Marsh Tit of the year. I like their Hitler moustache! I have caught 21 of these since coming here and 13 have been re-captured. The interval between re-trapping varies from just 5 days to 500 days. The average is 16 weeks 3 days but the median is less at 11 weeks 1 day. The large majority of birds ringed have been 'birds of the year'.

As well as the Woodpeckers putting in an appearance at the feeders, the Long-tailed Tits were back, albeit just two. The feeders have been very busy for most of the day in the strong winds, just as if we were having a January cold spell.

Reflections on Armistice Day.

I was thinking about my forebears and how they have served our country in wartime.
My father, Ernest, was in a reserved occupation. He was posted to East Anglia, at first to Biggleswade, not far from where I lived for nearly a quarter of a century at Gamlingay. His job was to prepare airfields for our bombers. Later he was moved to Witchford, the last war-time airfield to close. Whilst here, he had to 'camouflage' Ely cathedral to make it look like Peterborough's and mislead German bomber pilots. He would take the train back to Guildford every weekend but would then pedal off and be a relief air-raid warden and first-aider at Perry Hill, Worplesdon.
My uncle, Bernard, worked for A.V.Roe, the aircraft manufacturer at Woodford, near Manchester. He was conscripted into the RAF as part of the 'ferry team'. He was stationed in Hampshire and Oxfordshire for much of his time, although he did do a tour in Northern Ireland. They used to patch up incoming bombers that had been "shot up" and fly them back to the factory for full repair and then bring a "new" one back. He used to spend some of his short leave with us in Guildford. One of his last jobs involved preparing the Avro Vulcan for the Falklands, a war I played a small part in. Funny that we should be linked in this way, on the same aircraft mission.
Their cousins, with whom they were brought up, served as well. Three volunteered for the 2nd/3rd Commandos, while one made parachutes, and another served as a sergeant in the Tank Corps in north Africa, Crete and Italy. The latter was much decorated but never spoke of the war, not even to his wife.
My grandfather, Daniel, was wounded at the Somme in WW1. He was 'shot' in the elbow and suffered a blast injury to his side. He was repatriated, first to Barnsley and then to Hove, where he died in 1919. He served in the "Post Office Rifles", part of the Middlesex Regt. His name and those of other 'fallen' are displayed in the main Guildford Post Office. It used to be on some lovely glass panels when the Office was further down North Street, now it's just a plaque high on the wall.
At least two of his brother-in-laws also served in WW1. Arthur Ernest Childs (after whom my father is named) joined the 1st Bn Queens (the 1st regiment of foot - our local regiment that had its barracks next to my primary school and where 'Carry on Sergeant' was filmed) and was a POW (prisoner of war) in Germany. I know he survived becaused there is a letter written to my father by him from Bristol, sent after his wife, Alice, died. His younger brother, Mark Bernard Childs (after whom my uncle was named), also joined the ranks of the Queens Royal West Surrey Regt. but was transferred to the 12th Middlesex. I believe he also died during the conflict.
The war memorial outside Ewhurst church (and the old Post Office that my grandfather ran) bears the names of my grand-father, relatives and near relatives. Ironically, my first civil engineering job was to design a lay-by out side the old village school, which is directly opposite both the memorial and the PO.

Thrush rush

With a cold front passing through at dawn (plus a piddling drop of rain), many redwings were forced to land. They have been coming from the east, having first travelled across the North Sea from Scandinavia. There are lots of Hawthorn bushes at Priory and the birds were very noticeable up until about 2 pm.

I had to make a visit to the feeders to fill them and it was only then that I realised that I had misjudged the ringing opportunity today. The moderate wind was tempered slightly by the bushes in the 'rough', enough to make ringing possible. So home I went, found my long-johns, made a flask and some sandwiches and went back and set up a couple of nets.

I did manage to catch two Redwing but the big deal was the ten new Goldfinches that I trapped.
Might give it a try in the semi-darkness tomorrow morning - if I set the alarm. Not too hopeful that I'll catch more than a couple of Redwing, the main target, though.

There was a record count of some 38,000 Redwings passing over the Pinnacle, Sandy, today. Most of the birds were moving NW, suggesting that they made landfall along the Suffolk/Essex coast after crossing the North Sea.

A glorious sunny autumn day

Monday: Not an early start - things to do. Went off to Harrold Country Park, mainly for a walk but always with some birding in mind. First, we came across a flock of Wigeon in the NW corner, 37 in all. The place was "heaving" with Coot as usual with a fair number of Tufted Duck as well. Two deer (Muntjac) were spotted in a stubble field but my camera is only set to 1Mp & 10x at best so forgive the images. I certainly wasn't going to put my hand out to focus on in the next pic!

Next, further along the northern path we came across quite a few Hornets, busy in the Hawthorns bordering the path. They can give you a very good "wallop", but are very unlikly to sting in the first place, unlike some dozy wasps. All the grebe were down one end and this seemed to be where the Cormorants were fishing, too.

Further round, we went into the hide. A flotilla of Tufteds passed in front as we scanned the Cormorants (17), spotted a Snipe, and watched a Little Egret preen high up in a tree. Next we went into the 'nature reserve' bit, where Richard (ranger) tried to run us over in the Landie.

Finally, we went and sat on a bench where we used to bring the Greylags ashore for ringing when they were flightless. Many geese, swans and ducks were 'loafing' on the island shore and we counted about 26 Gadwall. As we sat there 30-40 Redwings suddendly "fell" out of the sky "lickety-splick", and disappeared from view in the bramble bushes (middle right in the above pic) on the island, safe from predators (?). They were probably going to an early 'roost' at the possible end of their long, overnight migration from Scandinavia.   There has been a sudden influx of these birds over the weekend according to the "vis-miggers" that I have contact with. A real sign of autumn!

3s a crowd

Pass the Parcel

Grandson Thomas  is three tomorrow but the party was today. That's him in the white "cheeky" T-shirt with Nanny Newman to his left. Most of the rellies came including 'Great Uncle Roger' from N. Lincs.

Uncle Bulgaria - getting too tall for his hair

Going, I took the fastest route A421/A1(M)  and in the "back way". Jenny still beat me - all the way from Heacham. Mind you, she did have to take Timmy for a walk before the party started!

Big sister, Erin, and cousin, Jordan.

We left about 3.30. I got Shanghai-ed into bringing back an enormous box, some sort of kitchen set-up which Ali bought Tom for Xmas and which I've got to keep in the spare bedroom!

The man himself - in between dances

"I'll amuse myself, thank you"

 

Grey pattern

Tues: the grey skies seem to have made the birds look for more easily accessible food sources. Grey days keep the insects inactive and harder to find, hence the alternative feeding strategy for "them boidies". This works to my advantage - if I want to ring some birds in the garden.

Net up as usual - Long-tailed Tit 8, Blue Tit 3 (3) [one of these retraps is Martin's from Renhold], Starling 2 [both females, of different ages] & Goldfinch 4 [all young, one definitely 'on the move'].

I always think that the pattern of the underside of a Starling (this one is a first year post PJ moult) is fantastic. At this age the "arrowheads" are bold, but next year they will be smaller and more delicate.

Journey to the south.

Sunday: Intentions of going for a walk down the park scuppered by request to go to Dunstable STW, which is open on the first Sunday of the month. It's a fair way from Bedford and no direct route to Thorn, just off the A5. Mr Rob Dasley (current chairman of the Bird Club) saluted as we drove in, reminded us to sign in and gave us a quick run-down of what's about and a mini H&S spiel.

 Jen took a while to get a good view of a Common Snipe asleep in a rack cut into the Phragmites; with the aid of the telescope, she claimed it as a 'tick'. Next, a short walk up along the lagoons, giving a closer view of a pair of Ruddy Shelduck which have been hanging around the Beds/Herts border for some while. Tick No.2!

 Ruddy Shelduck pair at Dunstable STW. Andy Whitney.

After spying good numbers of Gadwall, Shoveler and Tufted Duck, plus a lone Dabchick and the ubiquitous Black-headed Gulls and Cormorants, we returned to the hide. RD came in and proclaimed that those manning the gate had seen 4 or more Swallows hurrying south. Kestrel, Buzzard, Heron in the distance and 20+ Teal out front. 

After a shout of "crake or rail", every one studied a small patch of reed until a spanking Water Rail calmly walked out, giving one of the best views anyone could wish for. Tick No.3 for the lady!

Changes expected

On the last day of September, myself and Davy Howes netted the 'rough'. The weather was fair but overcast. The forecast for the weekend was wind and rain, the latter having been absent for a month now. There are still several Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs passing through, so we thought we'd have a go. As a back-up, we also put a net across the feeders.

We managed a grand total of 38 birds, 14 of which were tits we caught by the feeders (8 Great & 6 Blue).
Highlights were:    3 immature Blackcaps on the move, a large male Chiffchaff and a couple of Treecreepers.
The Chiff was on the large size (64mm wing) but not grey enough for an abietinus and too big in the wing for one. In all we had 12 species.

Davy had just come back from a ringing course in the Isle of White. He brought back greetings from some of the trainers and trainees that I have known well in the past. They had also had a slow time of it during this year's migration and numbers caught were down considerably, mainly because a Swallow roost did not form.

Two days later:     I swapped the 30' net on the east side of the garden for a 40' on the west side (the other side of the feeders). My reward was 4 Goldfinch (the first for quite a while), a young Blackbird, a young Starling, a young House Sparrow and a couple of Blue Tits. The grass is very dry and the lawn has cracks in it; this didn't stop me putting the mower over it as they keep telling us that we're going to get some rain soon. I'll believe that when it happens!

The change in the weather should mean a change in the birds. The lack of rain has meant a lack of birds in the garden especially.

It's warm for the end of September

Too right - and it's been going on a while now. Home here, we shall be in an 'official drought' situation if there is no measurable rainfall before Saturday morning! This (American) Indian summer has kept the birds away from the feeders for much of the time, thereby stringing out the catching rate. However, we seem to be recording a good proportion of new birds.

Last weekend I took Ed 'soon to become a C ringer' Green to Norfolk for a garden session. He did manage to handle two new species and even got to ring one of them. These were Marsh Tit (r/t) and Coal Tit.

Ed looking pleased with his 'ringing tick' [North Wootton]

Over three sessions (Sat pm, Sun & Mon am) we caught just 30 birds. 11 were retraps and just the one was of significant interest, a Great Tit C595264, originally caught back on 23rd December 2005 as a 4F.

Dunnock 1, Blackbird 1 (1), Marsh Tit (1), Coal Tit 2 (2), Blue Tit 6 (3), Gt. Tit 3 (3) & Chaffinch 6 (1).

On most of the Chaffinches, we noticed a white patch on R4 that we don't get down in Bedfordshire. It was particularly striking on the adult male below.

Adult male Chaffinch retrices [Sept 09]

On the way home over the Fens, we were fortunate to see a wonderful sunset that could have been painted for us by Van Gogh. We should really have stopped and captured it for posterity.

The Rough at Priory

Below is an aerial shot of the 'Rough' where we do most of our ringing in the park.

The main lake is bottom left, the Fingers lake bottom right & the 'new meadow' top left. The diagonal 'line' NE/SW is what we call the 'long hedge'. The mown 'patch' is where we set up the ringing table (often the back of my car) and where the young school kids do their 'bush bashing'.
The dark dog-leg line centre (from NW to S) indicates where the CES nets go, thereby bisecting the site.

Marathon?

Today I completed three days of ringing at the main site at the park. This small area of ca. 2 acres/1 h. is a hot-spot for migrant birds as they move SW down "the long hedge" which bisects the park. This hedge used to demarcate the change from arable fields to riverside pasture. The hedge can be seen on the right in the pic in my previous post.

Young male Goldfinch undergoing PJ moult

Day 1 - 18 new birds + 10 retraps; all were juveniles except 3. Nothing exceptional apart from 7 young Goldfinches and a couple of 'oldish' Dunnocks (born 2003 & 2004). The really important thing to occur was at 07:45. Coming out of the low sun was a warbler making this distinctive call; I knew it was a Yellow-browed Warbler, P. inornatus. The previous week, about 40 had been reported arriving in this country from Siberia. It was 12 years ago when I trapped one here, in the same spot that this bird flew over; this time I had not got that particular net up yet as I had intended to leave it until things settled down at the feeding station.

Female Goldcrest

 

Day 2 - 6 new birds + 6 retraps; 4 adults & 8 'birds of the year'. An interesting if very slow day with 3 new Chiffchaffs and 2 Reed Warblers. I also caught the first Goldcrest of the autumn.

Recently fledged female Reed Warbler

At the feeders, I recaught a Great Tit that was hatched in 2005 (and caught it again on Day 3). It's not very often we retrap Treecreepers, but I did so, even if it was only a young one from a month ago.

First year Treecreeper (indistinguishable from an adult?)

Day 3 - 19 new birds + 9 retraps; 7 adults (or 25%, the same as yesterday) with 21 classed as 1CY (first calendar year; we use calendar years in ringing, the same as in horses' ages). Started off with a bang, i.e. 3 Blackcaps. There was a fourth around and two more still late morning but not in a net!. Ther was a two hour lull between 10am and noon, when it all kicked off again; 7 birds in the last hour. One of these was a long-winged tLesser Whitethroat which may have come from somewhere over by the Caspian Sea. The weather patterns produced by the recent high pressure systems have favoured migration from the east. Many of these (young) birds are going in the reverse direction to the one they ought, "tranquillised" by the light and warming winds.

The bee's knees - 1CY Lesser Whitethroat

A761442, a male Blue Tit, was captured early on. This bird had originally been ringed in late June 2002, when it would have been about six weeks old. 7 years & 3 months have elapsed since then, making it the oldest Blue Tit in the group's records by far. (It already held the record last year!)

In all I caught - 1 Wood Pigeon (recently fledged), 3 Dunnocks, 5 Robins, 2 Blackbirds, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Reed Warblers (don't give much for their chances, low weights), 1 Lesser Whitethroat (only one later record, 29th Sept), 5 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Long-tailed Tit, 10 Blue Tits, 17 Great Tits, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Chaffinches, 9 Goldfinches & 1 Bullfinch. 67 different birds spread over 17 species. Not bad.

Now I'm off to NW Norfolk to ring more birds (in the garden) and to finalise a trainee's application to become a licensed ringer, albeit "under distant supervision" (that means I still carry the can for his actions).

Walking the pooch.

Timmy needed his walk so we went to the park, this time to walk round and get an 'overview'.
Surprising how few Chiffs and Blackcaps there were (confirmed by DK who only had 10 Chiffs today). By the time we got there it was gone 10 am, not the best time for bird-watching - and the sun was streaming down, too.

Did have a flock of 13 LT Tits, a Little Grebe (winters on its way), 3 Kingfishers, 8 Grey Herns, 15 Cormorant, and, on the main lake, 32 Gt. Crested Grebe plus 59 Coot. This is a phenominal number of Coot for Priory - Warden Jonny B's had a bit of a problem with (water) weed this year and they have probably come to take advantage of this surfeit of greens! Also spooked 2 immature male Sparrowhawks down near the Sedgewick seat.

Entrance to 'the Rough'; the 'Long Hedge' is on the right and the Willows bordering the main lake in the distance.
 
Popped into the Rough to check the feeders; they were busy and the seed is going faster than the peanuts. The birds will take the nuts when there is nothing else left. I make up the seed myself from black and hulled sunflower with red and white millet. Above is the view looking over the gate, the 'Long Hedge' on the right.

Autumn migration

I have just spent two wonderful days catching and ringing birds at the country park. Most of the summer breeders have left, but a few are still at large while some are very noticeable. My friend, DK, had a Turtle Dove the other day and on Friday I had a Redstart. We both had Spotted Flycatcher on the Friday, 1 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Here's where the two were 'fly-catching' from (bird 11 o'clock from dead centre).[My Fuji camera only does 10x zoom, but it suits most of the time]

However, there have been tens of Chiffchaffs collecting in loose groups around the park over the last week as the strong winds have prevented them from moving on. There was a record number seen in"one bush" of 14; the previous best was of 6. This weather has also stopped us from putting up nets, too; they blow and are visible in the wind and we don't like them getting caught "in the bushes" (it rips them, you see). Below is a Chiff being weighed in a soft plastic cone.

There were plenty of Chiffs about on both days, more so on the Saturday when I saw 5 unringed birds. By Sunday, the vast majority had moved out.
If I put the two days (Fri/Sat) together, we managed to ring the following:
Gt. Spot Woodpecker 1 (a young male just gaining its adult type plumage), Wren 3, Dunnock 8 (the oldest was x in '07), Robin 4 all on the 2nd day, Blackbird 6 (1 from '03, 1 from '05 & 1 from '07), Blackcap 7 (2 one day, 5 the next), Chiffchaff 16 (only one retrap, a female from April, the rest were 'birds of the year'), Long-tailed Tit 7 (with 2 from 2007), Blue Tit 18, Great Tit 20, Chaffinch 2, Greenfinch 2, Goldfinch 4, Bullfinch 4.

The Friday (day 1), I had a net by the new feeder site and caught 15 of the Great Tits; on day 2, when we didn't put a net by the feeders, we thought we'd caught more Blue Tits. But this was only in comparison to their larger cousins, as we'd ringed 8 plus had 2 retraps the day before.

There were quite a few female Chiffs in the catch on day 2. The wing lengths are different between the sexes which helps alot. It had turned cloudy again overnight Fri/Sat and several birds were obviously fresh in (i.e. had become 'grounded' due to the weather). We can tell this by looking at the fat levels and checking the weights.

As for the Blackcaps, 5 of the 7 were trapped on day 2. Again, I suspect that they had decided to 'drop in' as the skies clouded over and the stars/moon became invisible. So far, we are up on average numbers for this species, but 7 birds shy of the 86 we ringed here in 2007. The male bird above is still showing signs (feathers) of its youth in its crown. Likewise, Chiffies are well ahead of any previous total. They are, after all, one of my favourite birds.

One of the young Goldfinches, going through is post-juvenile moult - some red crown feathers peeking through!

Windy weekend

Went up to Norfolk on 11th, arriving early enough to erect the nets (2) in daylight, in time for an early start on Saturday morning.
As it happens, the Saturday was the only day when the wind was light enough (and not coming from the north, which then blows onto our corner/side of the wood) to ring safely.

All in all, I managed to catch 38 birds up 'til lunch-time. Out of that number 27 were new birds. A flock of 16 Long-tailed tits 'shot' down the side of the wood (over our ditch) but only one found its way into the net (which runs parallel to the eastern boundary, between the fence and the Cherry tree that is festooned with various feeders).
The main feature of the catch was the number of Chaffinches (below) - 10 in all, everyone fresh to the site, everyone a juvenile in P-J moult and fifty-fifty, male & female.

The rest of the catch (retraps in brackets) comprised of :
Gt. Spotted Woodpecker 1 [I forgot to 'snap' this moulting juvenile], Dunnock 1 (1), Robin 1 (1), Long-tailed Tit 1, Marsh Tit (1) - below, Coal Tit 1 (2), Blue Tit 6 (6), Great Tit 4, Green finch 2.

The next two days were very windy, with it gusting up to 40 mph. Very few birds entered the garden at all, probably less than a dozen per day. The ground is also very dry as we haven't had any appreciable rain for a fortnight and precious little for three weeks before that.

The boundary ditch (90 ft long) was dry, so it proved appropriate to get in there and cut the vegetation back. Just happened to have my long-bladed hedge-cutters with me. This has now exposed the ditch bottom and provides fresh foraging for the resident Robins and Blackbirds.