The Long-tailed Tits have fledged

A couple of evenings this week I've been able to open 70' of net in the orchard part of the garden. It has been a bit of a Long-tailed Tit fledging period.

So far I have ringed broods of 8, 8, 9, 6 & 8, all with at least two, if not three, adults. I have also ringed the first free-flying juvenile Blue Tit; I haven't yet found out which neighbours have boxes that are used regularly.

Bag of Long-tailed Tits

Handful of (young) Long-tailed Tits

Two site ringing ticks broke up the proceedings - first an adult male Jay (also a garden tick)

... I did let it go ... eventually!

and shortly after, a Mistle Thrush, a species I've not done for a while. This one was a 2CY female with a BP4. They nest over the road and take possesion of our large Holly tree in the autumn come berry time.

Apols for the poor quality - camera on wrong setting. Nice of the Weigela, though!

Forecast is for wind and rain over the weekend. Tonight was only feasible because the wind was NW/NNW and we are sheltered by a belt of trees.

Two-night's tally came to 39 and 9 "passes":-
Jay 1
Blue Tit 2 (1)
L-T Tit 27 (5) + 1 control
Blackbird 6 (1)
Mistle Thrush 1
Robin 2
House Sparrow (1)

Bucks fizz

Up early this morning to ring at Edgcott. This time we had an electronic key that works! [Last time we tried to enter the farm, (at 5am) the key was duff, and we had to abort]. Hopeful as ever, despite the windy and squally conditions. Had to be somewhere that we could avoid the worst of the weather.

The heavy showers kept off and the wind was not too much of a problem. Having said that, we packed up at the right time - before the showers became more frequent and heavier.

Certain "birds in the net" were obvious for their absence; tits, Blackcap and Bullfinch, for instance.

We only caught three juvenile birds; two juvenile, female Blackbirds, and this wee fella', a Common Whitethroat that must have left the nest a week or so ago.

Two other species were new for us this season, namely Lesser Whitethroat (facing right) and Garden Warbler (facing left).



Going by the eyes and tails, the Lessers were both 2CY males as they had prominent cloacas. The Garden was a female with an immaculate and text book brood patch, that had the edges "stitched".

As we've said before, the wood is normally wet underfoot and is a mere 'stripling' at 15 years of age. As can be seen below, it sits in the flat lands at the head of the River Ray, currently a large area of conservation input stretching down to the outskirts of Oxford.


Todays final tally was 26 new birds in 4 hours and 1 re-trap:
Blue Tit 1 male
Chiffchaff 3 males
Willow Warbler 5 males
Garden Warbler 1
Lesser Whitethroat 2
Whitethroat 5; 3 males + female 'in egg' + juv
Blackbird 5
Robin 1
Dunnock 2 (1)
Chaffinch 1

Dave (him at the wheel of the AVDC vehicle below) ringed the Tawny Owl chicks 3 weeks ago; the other raptors will not be ready for another 3 weeks (approx). Other birds around in the 'drizzle' were - Woodcock, Reed Bunting, Jackdaw (goes with the sheep), Bullfinch, Blackcap, Magpie and Woodpigeon. A small list, but anticipated what with the weather conditions generally (and us not keen on stomping through the whole 30 acres and leaving the nets open). We aiming to go in "mob handed" next time, towards the end of next month. By July, the site will have a new owner but our "rights" are being protected.

Something new

It seems that evenings are proving to be best for ringing in the garden at present. It also turned up a new species for the ringing list, now moved on to 26 after 4 months.



Almost daily, one of a pair of Pied Wagtail can be seen checking out the moss on the roof tiles and gutters for insects. Yesterday, the female of the pair paid a visit to the short grass and "jumped" into one of the nets on leaving.

A Chiffchaff continues to sing from the tall (40') Ash trees at the rear of the property. I had all but given up anu hope of catching it - sound lures being out of the question during the breeding season. However, a 'young' 5M [2CY male] approached the orchard and must have called and drawn the attention of the resident male because I extracted both birds just 3-4 feet apart. The singing bird headed straight back to its song perch on release, whereas the 'youngster' headed off towards the stream.

13 birds trapped, as follows :
Blue Tit (1)
Long-tailed Tit 5 - another part-brood & adult male
Chiffchaff 2
Blackbird 1 (1)
House Sparrow 1
Pied Wagtail
Greenfinch 1 - a 5 female in egg.

Today has dawned with full sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. So it's time to get on with a couple of jobs and not open the nets until tea-time. I don't hold out much hope though, as the forecast is for the winds to go westerly and around the 20 mph mark. That's the disadvantage of being so close to the coast in this part of the country.

The red, white & blue (black)

A couple of days when the weather wasn't too bad meant a few more birds ringed.

The major event was the capture and ringing of a family party of Long-tailed Tits, eight youngsters and two males, the smaller of which I presumed to be "the helper".


Red eye ring indicating juv & white underside but no blue, just a black & white tail, with lots of chocolate round the edges


Red nape indicating male sex, lots of white here & there with a faint bluish hue to the upper feathers

Two more relative surprises were in store - these took the road of the unexpected. First up was a 6Male [>2CY] Great Spotted Woodpecker that was beginning to look a little the worse for wear, especially the flight feathers, and a smart 5M [2CY] Bullfinch. The GSW, in contrast to the 'Bully', was extremely noisy, calling the attention of the local stray (cat), and I managed not to let it drill the back of my hand as they often do.


Proper red breast with an off-white (gray) wing bar and a steely blue hue to the tail feathers in particular

The tally was 24 new birds and (5) re-captures
Gt. Spot 1
Goldcrest (1), a February bird
Gt. Tit 1
L-T Tit 9 (1)
Blackbird 3
Robin 3 (2)
Dunnock 1 (1)
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 2
Siskin 2
Bullfinch 1

The forecast is for wind and some of that precious commodity, RAIN!!!

Evening all

The sun and the wind and the showers have persisted. A different tack was called for and it came in the form of calmer winds at the end of the day, or even a slight shift so that the wind came from the north where we are somewhat sheltered by 40' (13m) trees.

The beginning of this week has turned up a small but significant group of birds. The 2CY female Great Spot has been back again, this time in the net after feeding.


GRSWO - 2CY female with old greater coverts and white tips to the primaries

The fully adult Blue Tit pair have been foraging in the apples for a while now and both were caught, separately, on Tuesday. It should not be long before they bring their new offspring to the orchard.

Apart from re-trapping one of the four young Robins, a noisy, and probably unsure, >3CY male was caught and ringed; the last "resident" male was trapped on 14th February. The pair with the fledged young at the bottom of the garden have taken them off in the opposite direction to the one the interloper came and left.


ROBIN - adult male, the "interloper" 958


SISKIN - 2CY female

Three Siskins were caught over three evenings but the most pleasure was had when four 1J (just fledged) Goldfinches turned up close together in a net with one of the parents singing/calling madly by the end of the net. They most likely bred in the front hedge where there is also a second pair.


EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH - age class 1J

11 new and 4 r/t of 7 species:
Gt. Spot. W-pecker (1)
Blue Tit (2)
Robin 1 (1)
House Sparrow 1 (incubating female)
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 5
Siskin 3

Sun, wind & rain

Last week saw a progression of all three across this part of the county of Somerset.
First it was sunshine wall to wall and from first light. Then the winds started to pick up and veered from NE to SE. As they did so, the cloud began to increase and then the thundery showers began, with the winds now at F5 (or gusting 30 mph).

That makes ringing almost impossible in the garden. However, I did manage a few birds, more by accident than with any real endeavour (good old Morse!). Monday last was the only day that ringing took place and I succeeded in catchin 6 and ringing 5. Later in the week, i was lucky enough to 'pick up' a fleshly fledged Dunnock and another of those young Blackbirds that were provoked into fledging last week by a cat [presumably the stray that looks like a patchwork quilt].

Collared Dove 1
Blackbird 3
Robin (3)
Dunnock 1
House Sparrow 1
Greenfinch 1

After 5 weeks without any rain, we have now had 25mm (1 inch) in 48 hours and the temperatures have fallen back to 9C (48F) at night and to 17C (63F) by day, which is more normal for the time of year. The blossom has gone, the trees are in fresh leaf and the grass is growing like the clappers.


The orchard, Fairmead, in early May

It looks as if I shall have to wait until Thursday before I get a weather window for opening the nets again.

All quiet

This last week has been characterised by moderate winds from the north-east, warm daytime temps. and many sunny days and nippy nights. As the week progressed it got gloomier but still no rain to freshen things up. Definitely not ringing weather. Just as well as I was busy away from home. I did, however, hope to get some ringing done in a Bucks wood - but the electronic key would not open the gates.

As it is, I got in a couple of hours this morning at dawn. Fortuitous really, as the weather turned quite stormy later (wind and dark clouds, no rain - yet!). Not much to report barring I re-caught all four Robin chicks and their dad. The youngsters are much bigger although still not fully grown, with wing lengths 10mm greater than last week. All have lost their "chubbyness" but maintain a reasonable weight. It looks like 2 males and 2 females going by their sizes.

I also caught (by hand) a 1J Blackbird after a cat provoked early fledging, this bird having decided to come into our garden from the dividing hedge while the rest of 'his' siblings went the other way. Our young Lakeland Terrier turned 'pointer', kindly cornering it for me.


Rubbish totals:
Collared Dove 1 ad fem
Willow Warbler 1 ad fem (above)
Wren (1)
Blackbird 1 (1)
Robin (5)
Goldfinch 1 ad fem