More of a seaside tan

The weather looked promising. However! It was a cool night with broken cloud and wind from the north. When the nets were up at 5am (BST), there were precious few birds about, just a mewing Buzzard, a noisy Song Thrush, the local Rooks making their way to the tip and the Herring Gulls squawking on the factory roofs. A Chiff hurtled into net 1 ... and hurtled back out again. That was it. The sun was up an hour later and shone brightly, too brightly for my liking. And that cold north wind also picked up, streaming across this flat, open site. Cooked one side, chilled the other.


The beginning of a lovely day - but not for ringing.

Generally, there were far less birds about in the vegetation. Either the majority had moved on in the last night or two, or they had cleared out of the way of that 'evil bastard' that had given them 'a right going over' the other day.

By 10am, the nets were highly visible and starting to blow. It was time to pack up and go home. I did manage to catch 12 new birds and 5 retraps from earlier in the week.

Kingfisher (1)
Long-tailed Tit 2
Blackcap 2 (3)
Whitethroat 3 (1)
Chiffchaff 2
Willow Warbler 1
Goldfinch 2

Weights of the retraps were down a smidgin on last time. A couple of the post juvenile stage Blackcaps were starting to put on some weight but there was no signs of fat deposition as yet.


"Fan-tailed" Willow Warbler - wind assisted.

I intend to look at another piece of 'dead ground' during the week, that will mean going in another way and then being restricted from reaching the rest of the site. It has certain possibilities, especially when the horses are turned out to graze after the hay cut.

Well Chiffed!

Starting at 5 o'clock, the weather was admirable for ringing, sort of grey at 6 oktas. Not that many birds were awake and moving around searching for breakfast - a Song Thrush was first off the mark, a male just starting its full moult. A Dipper 'purred' overhead and dropped into the stream. Soon there was a smattering of young birds on the wing and falling prey to my three nets, Blackcap, Wren, Dunnock, Chiffchaff and, best of all, another young Kingfisher in Net 1.


Juvenile (female) Kingfisher

Net 2 started well with a family party of Whitethroats but faded after a couple of Chiffs and a Willow Warbler once the sun got up and exposed the netting.

I had set a 60' in a new site among the group of mature apple trees the other side of the stream where it would intercept, hopefully, some birds as they worked their way along the banks of "Policeman's Helmet" [Impatiens glandulifera - a noxious weed much loved by bees and insects] that line the stream. Finally, at about 7 o'clock, it took a good hit with a mix of species. This included a juvenile retrap Great Tit and an adult Blue Tit in heavy moult that was originally ringed in the garden back in mid-March. This net continued to pull in the Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs until I decided to abandon the session as the wind had picked up considerebly.

Back at Net 1, yet another Kingfisher to finish the morning.

After lunch, the wind had ameliorated and I went back to the "Apple net" to see what passed through as often birds move again about an hour or two after sidereal noon. It gave me a chance to sit and watch how the moving birds behaved, with the possibility of positioning a net to intercept them some other day. It turned out to be a good 90 minutes with some new Chiffs for ringing.


The sole juvenile male Chiffchaff of the day


Today's numbers covering 12 species were:
Kingfisher 2
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Great Tit 2 (1)
Chiffchaff 9 (1) - a preponderance of females today
Willow Warbler 1
Blackcap 7
Whitethroat 6 (1)
Wren 2
Blackbird (1)
Song Thrush 1
Dunnock 2
Goldfinch 1 - my first juvenile of 2011

Total 34 (5)

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.