CES No3 23rd May 2014

We met on the railtrack at 04.45 for our third CES session for the group.The weather was fine but a little breezy, although light showers were forecast. All the nets were erected by 06.00. We had an excellent start to the session. On the very first net round we caught a new juvenile Kingfisher, Simon was extremely pleased. The day continued with the next 2 rounds providing us with retrap male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

3 Male Kingfisher (SCW)

5 Male Great Spot (SCW) 

Soon it was time to take down the nets starting at the far 'Apple' ride which consisted of 3x60' nets. Simon and myself had taken down the first 2 nets and were about to start on the third, when what we initially thought was a bird of prey enter the partially collapsed net. On closure inspection we were delighted to see a female Cuckoo. Fantastic a ringing tick for me and the first Cuckoo ringed at Stanford for over 11years. By the end of the session we had dealt with 48 retraps, 31 new birds, and the rain had held off. A very enjoyable day was had by all concerned.

5 Female Cuckoo (SCW)

5 Female Cuckoo (SCW)

Nest box inspection part 2

The weather forecast for the weekend was wet and windy so we had already decided to call off any mist-netting a few days earlier. As it happens the rain stayed away but boy was it windy! We arranged to meet at the later time of 08:00 and start checking the nest boxes in the shelter of the woods. On the previous inspection there were quite a few female tits sitting on eggs so now two weeks later we expected to be ringing our first tit pulli. Blue Tit clutch sizes of 2 x 8, 2 x 11 and 2 x 12 were average with just one dead clutch of eight. Great Tit broods of 1 x 8, 3 x 10 and 1 x 11 were also typical although one clutch of 1 x 3 included five dead eggs. Seven more nests held young that were too small to ring and a further twelve nests were still in the incubation period. From a total of 57 tit boxes thirty-three have had nesting attempts made, a further six have been occupied by Bumble Bees and eighteen have been left unoccupied or have not advance from nest building. So overall things are looking slightly better than 2013 where we recorded twenty-seven occupied boxes and theres still time for the odd late attempt of replaced clutch by Great Tits. We checked on a brood of Tree Sparrows that were too small to ring on Monday and they were found to be ready. Although once again it doesn't look like they are quite ready to colonise Stanford just yet with just one nest found so far. The residents of our larger boxes are doing well with two more Tawny owlets ringed. This brings the total to three pulli this year so far and a vast improvement on 2013 when no nesting attempts were made in the whole of the resevoir area. Jackdaws are still in their incubation period and some adults were noted flying from boxes where we know there are eggs from the last inspection. It doesn't matter how quietly you approach a box occupied by Jackdaws, they always hear the russle of a jacket or snapping of a twig and vacate the box before the ladder touches the tree. So overall it looks like our nestbox species have got off to a pretty good start. All we need to do now is check the boxes on the other side of the reservoir and start looking for some more warbler and finch nests to boost the numbers for the nest recording scheme. Adam

First pulli ringed

I met Dave and Simon at the railtrack gate at 05:00 and once again the weather conditions were perfect. We decided yesterday that we would set our nets up from the feeding station to the point on the east side of the reservoir. A Grasshopper Warbler has been singing in this area for a few weeks now and it was reported again yesterday but unfortunately it managed to evade our nets. The first round of the nets produced 29 birds including 8 Whitethroats, 4 Willow Warblers, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcaps, 1 Sedge Warbler and 1 Garden Warbler. Dawn arrived at 07:00 to assist with the ringing which gave me an opportunity to inspect some of the tit boxes and larger boxes later on. The next two rounds included 4 Sedge Warblers, 6 Tree Sparrows and a couple more Garden Warblers. Half of the Tree Sparrows were females and showed good brood patches so we were hopeful of finding some of our nestboxes with pulli ready to be ringed. As it turned out there was only one box occupied by Tree Sparrows which had 5 young too small to be ringed. There seemed to be more occupation from Wood Mice, Hornets and bees than birds so where are the Tree Sparrows nesting? I checked the larger boxes with slightly more success. A Tawny Owl flew from the first box and on inspection one chick with feathers just emerging sat looking up at me. Dawn was the lucky ringer who received an excercise in applying larger rings which she carried out very well. One of our pole boxes succombed to the winter winds by being blown from its mount but the other pole box was found to contain 3 warm Stock Dove eggs. Our ringing total of 26 new and 45 retraps was a good effort by all involved and it was 2:30pm when Dave and I drove down the railtrack. I checked a couple more large boxes at the inflow end. One contained a cold Tawny Owl egg and the other held two cold Stock Dove eggs. I hadn't previously checked these so there's no telling how long they have been there but both unfortunately look like they have been deserted. I'll give them another couple of weeks to see if there are any developments with these two nests. So the first pulli of the year has been ringed and hopefully there are plenty more to come in the next few weeks.

CES No' 1 - 3rd May

Our first CES session got under way with an early frost and near perfect conditions to ease us in gently. Last year was our first attempt at the CES project so there is only one other year to compare with this years data. With 18 new and 31 retraps yesterday it was almost identical in captures as 2013 when we trapped 17 new and 34 retraps in the same area on the 4th May. The first Garden Warbler and Reed Warbler were trapped and another two Lesser Whitethroats were welcome additions to the five already ringed in April. There are lots of Blackcap, Whitethroat and Reed Buntings singing so there's hope for a good breeding season. On Monday we shall set up our nets on the opposite side of the bay to see what the numbers are like. A Grasshopper Warbler has been heard singing for a couple of weeks in this area and Reed Warblers are singing in the point reedbed. I'll let you know how we get on tomorrow.

Tuesday 22nd April

Dave and I met at the reservoir at 05:30 this morning. It had rained during the journey from Corby but as Dave and his son Angus arrived 5 minutes behind me the rained had stopped. We drove down the railtrack, shared out the nets and went our seperate ways. By the time we had both made it back to the our base on the railtrack the rain had started again so there was no time for tea just yet. Off we went to quickly extract any birds from the nets. A few Willow Warblers and Blackcaps were the only captures and judging by the look of the sky we were wondering if we would be dodging the rain all morning and perhaps yesterday would have been the better choice of the two days. As it turned out the rain quickly stopped and fortunately stayed away for the remainder of the morning. Cloudy skies and little or no breeze made excellent conditions but most birds are still singing on territory and not a lot was moving around apart from the usual Tits at the feeders and the occasional vist from a very vocal Great Spotted Woodpecker. However, there was a Grasshopper Warbler singing again in the same area as it was on Saturday and another Lesser Whitethroat was ringed, the third this year already! A brief walk to the point revealed two Reed Warblers singing in the phragmites patch, again the first seen or heard this year. Overall it was a fairly pleasant morning with 40+ birds processed. Now it's time for me to head off to work. Well, ringing doesn't pay for itself does it?

More spring arrivals....

After finishing my nighshift I arrived home to make up my flask and packed lunch, loaded the car and drove straight to the reservoir where the team of Dawn, David and Simon had already arrived at 05:30. I arrived at 08:15 to be greeted by a chilly easterly breeze that seemed to cut right through the three layers of clothing that I was wearing. Good numbers of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers were once again the main catch. Linnets and Tree Sparrows were also noted in good numbers but the latter still showed no signs of breeding just yet. New spring arrivals included a Grasshopper Warbler that was heard reeling whilst the nets were erected, a singing Whitethroat and an Osprey flew over heading east at 09:00. Around 150 Sand Martins & 50 House Martins were feeding in Blowers Lodge bay. 50+ birds were processed throughout the day included Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet and Reed Bunting. Adam.

Slow but steady start

Our habitat management in the Blowers Lodge Bay area has finished and ringing has now started on a regular basis with our first Saturday ringing session of the year beginning yesterday. Between scrub-bashing sessions we have been able to get out to set some nets up during the week when the weather has permitted and we have already ringed good numbers of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and one or two Blackcaps. Yesterday morning we had the opportunity to get plenty of nets up but the wind soon got up which greatly reduced the number of birds caught. However, the first Sedge Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat were welcome additions to the days total which included a few more Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. When things were quiet between net rounds, Dave and I took the opportunity to check our owl boxes in Game Wood to see if any Tawnies had taken up residence. Things weren't looking good with squirrel dreys in five boxes, although a pair of Jackdaws have started a nest in their 'regular' box. On checking the final box Dave netted a Tawny Owl trying to escape. The picture below shows the owls primary and secondary feathers to be uniform and all of the same generation which confirms the age code as 8 (hatched three or more years ago).

Adult wing (Simon Watts)

She had a fully developed brood patch and on inspection of the box there were four eggs found. She was already ringed and on arriving home I checked on our database to find that she was ringed in 2012 in her 2nd year, in the same wood and again with a brood patch. So this female has been hanging around the area for a few years now and made at least two attempts to raise her young. Last year there were no attempts by Tawny Owls due to Squirrel and Hornets getting in the boxes first so this winter we have ejected the Squirrels before they have had a chance to settle in, giving the Owls a fighting chance this year.

Adult female Tawny Owl (Simon Watts)

So the season of spring arrivals is upon us and our CES project in Blowers Lodge Bay starts in May. Lets hope we have a good year and the birds have an even better one!

Adam