Mick sums up Saturday mornings ringing session:
With indifferent weather and not a lot of birds about and despite having a
feeding station we have persevered all month with not great numbers per
session but we continue in the hope of having a decent catch during the
month. So with a bit of calmish weather forecast for Saturday morning
we assembled to take advantage of it. The team arrived at 6:00. Dave,
Dawn and Matt were in one team to erect nets down one side of the bay
while Mel and myself dealt with the other. Nets up and a combination
of our new Latvian Redwing love song together with our old winter
thrush sounds echoing out pre dawn (time of day not our trainee) we
all sat down drinking coffee hoping for the best. It has to be said at
this time of year if we don't have a good thrush catch we tend not to
have a very good catch at all. Anyway, as we sat their in the gloom we
could here the odd Redwing coming out of roost so my expectations were
high but they always are, eventually it was time for the net round so
we split into our respective teams and headed off with thrushes moving
about everywhere. As Mel and I approached the first pair of nets
several thrushes could be seen, these were quickly extracted so we could
carry on to the rest. We were not disappointed as the other nets
caught in a similar fashion. So with the first round complete we managed to
catch 58 new birds together with a handful of retraps, a great result !!!
The rest of the morning continued with more thrushes being caught
but unfortunately the wind increased to the point where the nets
wouldn't be out of place being used as sails on a Galleon. At the end
of play we ended up with 77 new birds of which 62 were Redwing (our
second best catch ever), 8 Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush and a single
Fieldfare. Not a bad thrush morning and as an added bonus we also caught
a Chiffchaff. With the kit packed up it was off to our headquarters at The White
Horse in South Kilworth for a well earned pint of Real Ale!!!!!
Mick.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Saturday 23rd November 2013
A cold morning greeted us as we met at the gate. The wind direction had changed over the last couple of days from westerlies to north-easterlies which we hoped would bring in some winter thrushes.
The first net round was promising with 70+ birds bagged up. Redwing, Song Thrush, Fieldfare and Blackbird made up the quartet of thrushes although numbers are still very low. A good mix of tits, Treecreeper, Wrens, Dunnocks, Finches and Buntings throughout the morning resulted in 67 new birds and 41 retraps. The highlight was a retrap female Blackcap.
Three Woodcock flew around the ringing base whilst we waited for first light. A Raven called and was seen later heading over the wood and a Brambling was also heard calling on the railtrack.
An albino Squirrel has been reported in the vicinity over the last two weeks and this morning it was briefly seen exiting the wood onto the railtrack grass verge. We will try our best to get a picture of it.
However, if any other photographers get a picture of it I will gladly upload it to the website if they wish.
The first net round was promising with 70+ birds bagged up. Redwing, Song Thrush, Fieldfare and Blackbird made up the quartet of thrushes although numbers are still very low. A good mix of tits, Treecreeper, Wrens, Dunnocks, Finches and Buntings throughout the morning resulted in 67 new birds and 41 retraps. The highlight was a retrap female Blackcap.
Three Woodcock flew around the ringing base whilst we waited for first light. A Raven called and was seen later heading over the wood and a Brambling was also heard calling on the railtrack.
An albino Squirrel has been reported in the vicinity over the last two weeks and this morning it was briefly seen exiting the wood onto the railtrack grass verge. We will try our best to get a picture of it.
However, if any other photographers get a picture of it I will gladly upload it to the website if they wish.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
September review
Mick sums up the latest month....
''WOW, what a month! With some 1155 birds ringed this month of 37 species I think you could say its been a busy month and the second highest monthly total we have ever had. It started well with the 3rd producing
165 new birds the highlights being 57 Whitethroat, 35 Blackcap and 15 Chiffchaff and ended with a fall on the 27th producing a good mix of birds including 30 Reed Bunting, 29 Chiffchaff, 25 Blackcap, our first Grey Wagtail for the year and yet another Spotted Flycatcher, the third of the year, when they can be described as intermittent at best is a great result. We also controlled a Chiffchaff and a Reed Warbler on that day, an addition to the Blackcaps we controlled on the 20th and 24th. It would be great if they both came from the same part of the country as it would possibly give us an indication of where the migrants came from that day. The rest of the month produced a lot of highs and lows with an unexpected catch of Swallows and Martins between the 12th- 21st , this was a period of time when the weather was dank and overcast together with a persistent westerly wind. Each morning we went just after first light and Swallows and Martins would turn up flying up and down the hedge line in search of food so we erected nets to catch some and were fairly successful managing to catch some 126 over the 10 day period. A great result as we are usually not very successful at catching them. Meadow Pipits have been about 10 days late in arriving this year possibly due to a late breeding season due to the cold spring so the catching of the species did not start till the 21st and since then we have caught 72. A little disappointing but not bad as very few have moved through up till now. It has to be said the real stars of the month have been Chiffchaff and Blackcap with 245 and 236 birds being caught, these birds respond to sound lures very well especially for the first hour or so after dawn, try it and join in the fun !!!!
Finally on the 28th we caught a Redwing, the first we have ever caught in September and the earliest by about two weeks. We are hoping now for October to continue in a similar way.''
Mick
''WOW, what a month! With some 1155 birds ringed this month of 37 species I think you could say its been a busy month and the second highest monthly total we have ever had. It started well with the 3rd producing
165 new birds the highlights being 57 Whitethroat, 35 Blackcap and 15 Chiffchaff and ended with a fall on the 27th producing a good mix of birds including 30 Reed Bunting, 29 Chiffchaff, 25 Blackcap, our first Grey Wagtail for the year and yet another Spotted Flycatcher, the third of the year, when they can be described as intermittent at best is a great result. We also controlled a Chiffchaff and a Reed Warbler on that day, an addition to the Blackcaps we controlled on the 20th and 24th. It would be great if they both came from the same part of the country as it would possibly give us an indication of where the migrants came from that day. The rest of the month produced a lot of highs and lows with an unexpected catch of Swallows and Martins between the 12th- 21st , this was a period of time when the weather was dank and overcast together with a persistent westerly wind. Each morning we went just after first light and Swallows and Martins would turn up flying up and down the hedge line in search of food so we erected nets to catch some and were fairly successful managing to catch some 126 over the 10 day period. A great result as we are usually not very successful at catching them. Meadow Pipits have been about 10 days late in arriving this year possibly due to a late breeding season due to the cold spring so the catching of the species did not start till the 21st and since then we have caught 72. A little disappointing but not bad as very few have moved through up till now. It has to be said the real stars of the month have been Chiffchaff and Blackcap with 245 and 236 birds being caught, these birds respond to sound lures very well especially for the first hour or so after dawn, try it and join in the fun !!!!
Finally on the 28th we caught a Redwing, the first we have ever caught in September and the earliest by about two weeks. We are hoping now for October to continue in a similar way.''
Mick
Sunday, 15 September 2013
Hirundines galore!
After seeing the weather forecast for Saturday, Mick and I decided that we would be better ringing on Sunday. I awoke at 07:30 on Saturday to a mizzley morning that soon cleared. It looked like we had missed an opportunity as Sundays forecast had changed to windy at 10:00 and rain at 13:00.
I arrived at 05:30 this morning to meet Mick, Dave and Dawn. We were greeted by an 8-10 mph SW breeze which was fine as the boundary hedge gave us some protection for most of the morning.
Early rounds produced the usual Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps but after a clear sky lastnight it looked like most migrants had passed through with very few warblers.
At 09:00 the wind picked up and those nets affected were taken down. At 10:00 it started the rain and so the remaining nets were taken down. However, Mick had noticed that whilst taking his nets down a large movement of 200+ Hirundines were being forced to feed close to the ground.
After the rain had quickly passed a few sheltered spots from the increasing wind were located on the NE side of a boundary hedge and three 30' nets were set up. After 2 hours we had accumulated 15 House Martins and 9 Swallows which gave us a total of 49 new birds for the day.
Whilst taking the last nets down Dawn stumbled across this Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar looking for somewhere to spend the winter.
I arrived at 05:30 this morning to meet Mick, Dave and Dawn. We were greeted by an 8-10 mph SW breeze which was fine as the boundary hedge gave us some protection for most of the morning.
Early rounds produced the usual Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps but after a clear sky lastnight it looked like most migrants had passed through with very few warblers.
At 09:00 the wind picked up and those nets affected were taken down. At 10:00 it started the rain and so the remaining nets were taken down. However, Mick had noticed that whilst taking his nets down a large movement of 200+ Hirundines were being forced to feed close to the ground.
After the rain had quickly passed a few sheltered spots from the increasing wind were located on the NE side of a boundary hedge and three 30' nets were set up. After 2 hours we had accumulated 15 House Martins and 9 Swallows which gave us a total of 49 new birds for the day.
Whilst taking the last nets down Dawn stumbled across this Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar looking for somewhere to spend the winter.
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| Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar |
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Friday 13th Sept
Mick and I arrived at the reservoir at 05:00 yesterday morning to be met by low cloud and fine drizzle. The rain was forecast to clear throughout the morning so until then a cup of tea was in order until it passed.
After 30 minutes the cloud started to break up so we took to the task of erecting the nets.
A good movement of warblers was soon noted and Chaffinches are now starting to make their presence in good numbers with double figures regularly seen on the disused railtrack all day.
Most warblers ringed were Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps with the Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Willow Warbler making up a full cast of the resident breeding warblers.
Ageing Chiffchaffs in autumn is fairly straight forward. The freshness of tail feathers is one criteria used to determine their age. Adults replace their whole tail during a complete moult whilst juveniles usually retain theirs which by autumn become abraided and chipped at the tips. However, it is not uncommon to find juveniles with replaced central feathers which then show a contrast with dull old ones and darker new ones. The picture below shows a tail of a juvenile Chiffchaff with a fault bar across the tail. The central tail feathers have been replaced with much darker and greener edged adult type feathers along with the outer two on the right side of the tail, R5 & R6.
If only they were all this easy!
Adam.
After 30 minutes the cloud started to break up so we took to the task of erecting the nets.
A good movement of warblers was soon noted and Chaffinches are now starting to make their presence in good numbers with double figures regularly seen on the disused railtrack all day.
Most warblers ringed were Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps with the Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Willow Warbler making up a full cast of the resident breeding warblers.
Ageing Chiffchaffs in autumn is fairly straight forward. The freshness of tail feathers is one criteria used to determine their age. Adults replace their whole tail during a complete moult whilst juveniles usually retain theirs which by autumn become abraided and chipped at the tips. However, it is not uncommon to find juveniles with replaced central feathers which then show a contrast with dull old ones and darker new ones. The picture below shows a tail of a juvenile Chiffchaff with a fault bar across the tail. The central tail feathers have been replaced with much darker and greener edged adult type feathers along with the outer two on the right side of the tail, R5 & R6.
If only they were all this easy!
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| Juvenile tail with some replaced adult type feathers |
Adam.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Tuesday 4th Sept 2013
Ed and I returned from Gibraltar Point BO after a ringing opportunity weekend. We had a great time and a chance to meet new people and see some old faces. A special thanks to George Gregory, Mick Briggs, Mike Archer and Nigel Judson for all their efforts to make our time there an enjoyable one.
Unfortunately just before we arrived, the wind had changed from a north-easterly to a south-westerly which meant that we were denied the opportunity to see European mainland breeders such as Wryneck and Red-backed Shrike which were both trapped a week before.
However, we had the chance to see common migrants such as Yellow Wagtail, Common Redstart, Swallow and House Martins in the hand. The bird of the weekend for us was a juvenile Greenland Wheatear, I have trapped and ringed a few of these myself on a field opposite my house but a large supermarket has now put a stop to that.
Mick and Dawn had been out ringing on Saturday whilst we were away and managed to ring 64 birds including 19 Whitethroats, 11 Blackcaps, 4 Garden Warblers, 5 Sedge Warblers and the 2nd Spotted Flycatcher for the year.
Having an extra days holiday I took advantage of the good weather forecast for Tuesday and met Mick at the railtrack at 04:30. A low mist was hanging around on arrival and we quickly got our nets up. We experienced one of the best days for autumn migation ever at Stanford. The low mist had downed the birds overnight and there were hundreds. Once the mist had lifted the birds had started moving and during the first net round birds were going into the nets whilst I was extracting them from the nets.
It was a rare opportunity to see migration on our local patch on a scale like this!
By the end of the day we had processed 238 birds with good numbers of Whitethroat and Blackcap.
New / Retrap
Wren 3/1
Dunnock 2/3
Robin 5/2
Song Thrush 1/0
Sedge Warbler 2/1
Reed Warbler 10/3
Lesser Whitethroat 2/2
Whitethroat 57/14
Garden Warbler 1/3
Blackcap 35/16
Chiffchaff 15/3
Willow Warbler 3/0
Long-tailed Tit 1/6
Blue Tit 10/14
Great Tit 2/2
Treecreeper 1/0
Tree Sparrow 1/0
Chaffinch 3/2
Greenfinch 1/0
Goldfinch 3/0
Bullfinch 1/0
Reed Bunting 6/2
So birds are finally on the move as migrants start heading south through Stanford.
At the other end of the scale tits are in very low numbers and Tree Sparrows have virtually disappeared.
Treecreepers look like they are having a success this year with 24 ringed already.
Adam
Unfortunately just before we arrived, the wind had changed from a north-easterly to a south-westerly which meant that we were denied the opportunity to see European mainland breeders such as Wryneck and Red-backed Shrike which were both trapped a week before.
However, we had the chance to see common migrants such as Yellow Wagtail, Common Redstart, Swallow and House Martins in the hand. The bird of the weekend for us was a juvenile Greenland Wheatear, I have trapped and ringed a few of these myself on a field opposite my house but a large supermarket has now put a stop to that.
Mick and Dawn had been out ringing on Saturday whilst we were away and managed to ring 64 birds including 19 Whitethroats, 11 Blackcaps, 4 Garden Warblers, 5 Sedge Warblers and the 2nd Spotted Flycatcher for the year.
Having an extra days holiday I took advantage of the good weather forecast for Tuesday and met Mick at the railtrack at 04:30. A low mist was hanging around on arrival and we quickly got our nets up. We experienced one of the best days for autumn migation ever at Stanford. The low mist had downed the birds overnight and there were hundreds. Once the mist had lifted the birds had started moving and during the first net round birds were going into the nets whilst I was extracting them from the nets.
It was a rare opportunity to see migration on our local patch on a scale like this!
By the end of the day we had processed 238 birds with good numbers of Whitethroat and Blackcap.
New / Retrap
Wren 3/1
Dunnock 2/3
Robin 5/2
Song Thrush 1/0
Sedge Warbler 2/1
Reed Warbler 10/3
Lesser Whitethroat 2/2
Whitethroat 57/14
Garden Warbler 1/3
Blackcap 35/16
Chiffchaff 15/3
Willow Warbler 3/0
Long-tailed Tit 1/6
Blue Tit 10/14
Great Tit 2/2
Treecreeper 1/0
Tree Sparrow 1/0
Chaffinch 3/2
Greenfinch 1/0
Goldfinch 3/0
Bullfinch 1/0
Reed Bunting 6/2
So birds are finally on the move as migrants start heading south through Stanford.
At the other end of the scale tits are in very low numbers and Tree Sparrows have virtually disappeared.
Treecreepers look like they are having a success this year with 24 ringed already.
Adam
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Wednesday 14th August - Draycote Water
Ed spent a morning at Draycote Water on Wednesday...his story.
Today I managed to squeeze in a trip to Draycote water just to the south of Rugby.
Birding usually presents it’s own challenges but today I had the added extra of the schools being closed for the summer holidays. Lots of young ones now being exercised by their parents.
After setting out from the café, heading in a counter clockwise direction and trying to maintain a healthy distance from the family behind me I did manage to see Great Crested Grebe, both adult and juvenile, Pied Wagtail, Crow, Swallow, Coot, Black Headed Gull, Cormorant, Wood Pigeon, Tufted Duck and was over flown by about 25 Greylag Geese.
After the first ½ mile the families started to turn back making the road a little quieter. After leaving the dam wall is wasn’t too long before I found the bird hide and spent quite some time sat in there watching the world go by.
Just after taking my seat in the hide I was quite pleased to see a Kingfisher go by, one of the few that I have seen so far this year. In front of the hide there were mainly Tufted Ducks, GC Grebe, Coot and the occasional Moorhen passing by. The feeders there were pretty much dormant, only the occasional Blue or Great Tit visiting. However a juvenile Chaffinch did make a brief appearance and it could clearly be seen to be moulting though the pink male chest. Other than a Dunnock in the undergrowth nothing else was to visit the feeders. Just prior to leaving the hide a small group of Teal came along, feeding by the reed bed.
Continuing my journey, I spotted Common Sandpiper along the northern shore line but saw several others dotted around as I walked on. Another surprise for me was the appearance of a Red Admiral butterfly, probably the first I have seen this year.
Crossing the dam wall on the western side a bird flew up showing a clear white rump, “Wheatear” sprang to mind but was quickly dismissed. A few more yards down the dam wall another one flew up, this time definitely Wheatear. A quick scan of the rocks through my bins revealed a well spread group of three. I managed to get a quick photo, not very good,but I think you can see what it is. The Wheatears were the highlight of the walk.
On the southern shoreline there were mainly Tufties and Coot with young. Getting back closer the café I came more into contact with families again and not much else could seen.
Finally getting back to the starting point I put my feet up in the café for half and hour whilst tucking into a pork and brie baguette.
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| Wheatear |
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| Female Tufted Duck and ducklings |
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| Juvenile Great Crested Grebe |
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| Great Crested Grebe with young |
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| Pied Wagtail |
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| Adult Black-headed Gull |
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| Common Tern |
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