A week later ...

... and the sun has returned. However, the last few days have been blustery, mainly from the north-west or west, and interspersed with showers. Bird-life has dwindled apart from the sparrows raiding the bird table alongside the camellia. Not many to show for it because I didn't put up the net between their favourite "entry bush" and their dinner. [You need to read also the post prior to this one, below]. I did keep the net between the SFH feeders in the orchard with much better results yesterday. Bingo! lots of 3J King Harrys; my favourite species at the moment.

The meadows were disappointing this weekend; perhaps I chose the wrong day. There just weren't the birds about. In two-plus hours I caught two birds and saw a Kingfisher. The only other birds were some Chaffinches moving noisily between the tops of the alders.

I've added in some photos from last week as well as this.

On of the three female Sparrowhawks that are
all too apparent at the moment

Juvenile Chiffchaff in heavy PJ moult
(with 3 ogc's)

Young Coal Tit
(showing the white nape patch)

Progress over the past six days: 77 new and 11 re-traps. All birds trapped were juveniles apart from a 2010 vintage, male Blue Tit on his fifth encounter with the human hand.

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (male)

Blue Tit 3 (6)

Great Tit 2 (1)

Coal Tit 2 - 2nd & 3rd for the year

Long-tailed Tit (2)

Chiffchaff 1

Blackcap 1

Whitethroat 1

Blackbird (1)

Robin 1 (1)

Dunnock 4 - still they come after a "disappearing act"

House Sparrow 4 (1) - see above

Greenfinch 3

Goldfinch  54 (1) - now over 400 for the year (all in the garden)

Prince Harry?
(Juvenile Goldfinch in advanced PJ moult)

The weather looks fair for the coming week - will it be too good, and the birds overfly us? We will have to wait and see.

Today, it rained.

Nothing new in that; it's a Bank Holiday. It looks as though we will get at least twice the normal August rainfall, in other words, as much as we expect each month from October to January.

This week I've not been able to put up more than one net. The orchard needed some pre-winter attention (it is left to go wild) and there was a 'Pony Week' down on the meadow. However, I did manage 36 new birds and 25 re-captures covering 16 species in the limited time available. A goodly chunk of the new birds were caught by the stream yesterday, when I erected a 60' between some willows and alders. Fortunately, the seven or so ponies were feeding out of sight on the other side of the stream. Their presence does stop me netting the ford, probably the best place.

Other birds that I have seen this week include a lone Swift over the house of an evening, two Ravens being seen off by the local crows, a young Moorhen, a couple of Grey Wagtails, the usual Dipper and Kingfishers and, a sign of winter approaching, two Canada Geese over the house, a precursor to the dawn movements from Dunster Beach to one of the inland reservoirs. The Swallows and House Martins continue to feed young.

The list:

Sparrowhawk 1

Blue Tit 2 (2)

Great Tit 2 (2)

Long-tailed Tit 3 (11)

Chiffchaff 10 (1)

Blackcap 4 (1)

Garden Warbler 1

Wren 1

Blackbird 1 (2)

Song Thrush 1

Robin (2)

Dunnock 1 

House Sparrow 2 (2)

Chaffinch 1

Greenfinch 1

Goldfinch 5

The Sparr was chasing the Sonth and both landed in the net just short of my left ear; don't know who was the most surprised. Grabbed the Sparr first (of course). The chiffs were a welcome surprise, too; several more did not "find" the net and one escaped the bag. Best, though, was my third borin' juvenile bird of the summer, giving credence to the fact that they (Garden Warblers) might nest quite local. The species was recorded as a mere 'possible', the lowest level of proof, for our 10km square on the recent national atlas.

Around here, the birds have been nesting quite late and having second or third broods, which they would not normally attempt. There are still many young birds in wholly juvenile plumage, but underneath we can see that some are already playing 'catch-up', with some new body feathers sprouting. It was particularly noticeable that the Chiffs were in all levels of plumage, as I caught them over a 90 minute period. I also 'controlled' a Chiff that my nearest ringing neighbour had ringed as 3JJ (fresh juvenile) some two months earlier. I was able to sex it on wing-length as a male.

I'm rather busy this week and the weather doesn't look good - either too windy or rain on and off all week. It must improve somewhen; not too much or all the migrants will just fly straight 'high-over'.

What's doing? Not a lot!

It has been a tad breezy down this way lately, what with the wind coming from the north-west down the Irish Sea. Although that means the old orchard net is sheltered somewhat, the new orchard net (the orchard is new-ish, not the net) does billow a bit at times. Just have to keep an eye on things, that's all. 

August is the month of the House Sparrows. This year seems to have been a good one for them. A few more and it'll be a 'ton-up'. All youngsters, of course; you won't catch a wily adult hitting the net very often, or even a second time offender amongst the teenage ranks!

Birds of some interest (that means I don't catch them very often) this period include another Collared Dove (makes three this year), a Woodpigeon, a Sedge Warbler, a Garden Warbler and the eleventh Pied Wagtail of the year.

Juvenile Garden Warbler
[note the grey collar]

Juvenile Sedge Warbler
[If it was an adult, it would be very abraded] 

Woodpigeon
[Always fascinated by the shape of their iris]

Altogether, there were 16 species and 63 new birds that were ringed. Ten species also had re-traps, amounting to 31 percent of the tally. This is pretty normal for me and this type of general ringing. Its the same with the Constant Effort Sites programme with which I was associated for many, many years. On the other hand, some ringers/groups target certain species at particular times of the year and their re-traps tend to be year-to-year  controls and a lot less as a percentage of their overall, annual totals. They usually make up for it with many more recoveries!

To the chase! All juveniles unless indicated otherwise.

Woodpigeon 1 - adult

Collared Dove 1 - adult

Wren 3

Dunnock 2 (2)

Robin 8 (2) - r/t adult female 1 year old

Blackbird 2 (2)

Sedge Warbler 1 - only one so far this year

Garden Warbler 1 - a second bird in two weeks! Scarce around here.

Blackcap 3 (1)

Long-tailed Tit 2 (10) - 2 r/t adults, 1 year & 2 years old

Blue Tit 10 (4)

Great Tit 1 (3)

House Sparrow 12 (2) - a new, adult male!!

Chaffinch 1

Greenfinch 1 (1)

Goldfinch 13 (3) - a new ad. male, 2 r/t ad. females, 1 of them caught 967 days ago (December) as a 1CY  

Juvenile Robin undergoing PJ moult 

Juvenile Robin at the end of PJ moult

Juvenile Blue Tit nearing the end of PJ moult

Juvenile Blue Tit - renewing old greater coverts unevenly
[notice that the alula & primary coverts are "original"]

It's 'Pony Week' - so all efforts, ornithological or horticultural, confined to the garden this week. I might be able to do something in the meadows after that, provided the remaining horses/ponies are more interested in grazing than seeing what I'm up to.

Two weeks on ...

... and we had 46 mm of rain in 5 hours. That's the same as the ten year average, all on the first day of the month! More thunderstorms have ensued since. Anyway, back to birds and the last 18 days.

Garden-wise, it's the House Sparrows that have been most in evidence, as they always are at this time of year with this year's youngsters looking for their next meal. They don't go near the feeders, as a rule, but prefer the bird table, either ours or our neighbours. That means I catch them as they cross the open part of the garden, where I don't usually net. There is still an active Blackbird's nest somewhere; both mum and dad collect mouthfuls of suet pellets early doors and scoot off with them.

Cinnabar caterpillars on Ragwort
(click to enlarge)

It's been a very good year for butterflies and moths. We have had many more Cinnabar moths this year and, with a small patch of Ragwort at their disposal, hundreds of caterpillars have emerged. Right now, they are looking for somewhere to pupate.

There has been a lot of Herring Gull activity post fledging, all ages readily coming to the broken up Hovis crusts I deliver. One pair are still attending their nest site, which they haven't used, just played about with a few bits and bobs of rubbish to form a base. The building's owners usually take the old nest away each autumn, as do many owners/occupiers. Still doesn't stop the birds from returning to their allotted spot each spring, though. 

There was a flurry of Swallow activity last week with 26 birds hunting over the garden one evening. Down on the meadows the number of individuals hawking for insects has decreased noticeably. The meadows are fully cut and part has been "mown" ready for the inevitable gymkhana that the owner's sister puts on for her young female riders. The better news is that the owners are going to fence off and gate the southern two meadows (that includes the ford) and resolve to contain the various horses in the larger northern section (that also has a crossing). Most of the site that I use could be available for ringing all year round next year.

Despite various restrictions, mainly on the domestic front, I have still managed to ring 98 new birds this period and re-capture another 26 individuals, (I discard any same period re-traps), of 19 species as under. The list is dominated by juveniles, before, during or after their post-juvenile moult.

Collared Dove (1) - long-winged, adult female of indeterminate age (>4 yrs), with BP
Kingfisher 1
Gt. Spotted Woodpecker (1)
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 6
Great Tit 3 (2) - 2 post-breeding females re-trapped
Long-tailed Tit (3)
Chiffchaff 7 - incl. adult male & female
Blackcap 10
Whitethroat 2 (1) - re-trap breeding female & a new 2CY male
Wren 8 (2)
Blackbird 8 (3) - includes the late breeding female (2x) although I try to avoid her.
Robin 5 (1)
Dunnock 1 (3)
House Sparrow 27 (8) - a new adult male & female
Grey Wagtail 1
Greenfinch 5
Goldfinch 11 (1) - adult male from beforehand

Grey Wagtail - juvenile

Goldcrest - juvenile

Blackcap -juvenile male
Note single, new, black feather emerging above eye

 Today I spotted (pun) my first local flycatchers. They, a pair, were carrying food for some youngsters tucked away somewhere around the old water-wheel site that served Egrove Farm mill. Couldn't stop - other half about to leave for Norfolk.

Off-site I did manage to meet up with two old Beds birding mates (DJO & DK) for a pint and a curry like the old days. Hilarious.