After Sunday morning's session, I entered up the records into IPMR and ran a grand total for "ROU" (here). I noticed that there were 978 new records in the database since I started ringing at my new home, back in mid January of this year. I also noticed that the following day (Monday) would be the end of a 6 month period. Aha - thinking cap on. Could I make the magic 1,000 before the shutters came down on 'my first six months'?
With 24 hours to go, I opened the three garden nets that were already up (100' or 30m). By 2.30pm I had bagged 9 new birds, plus one of the first birds I ever ringed here, a female Coal Tit. That was nice. I started thinking that I needed to get a hurry on, so I decided to take me off, later, down the road to the water meadows. Both sites are in the same 1km grid square.
Just before 5pm, I set up 2x 40' (9m) nets, one at Net site 2, where there was a bit of shade, and the other in the corner of the first field, where the Elm hedge does a dog-leg and it would catch the evening sun. All I had to do was catch 13 new birds. It could be easier said than done. Fingers crossed.
A quick start with 2 Blackcaps and a Chiff in Net 2. Dead over by the hedge. Then something wriggling; a very juvenile Greenfinch which needed careful handling. Half an hour gone. One hour gone. Ninety minutes gone. Sandwich and a coffee. Ah!
Three birds in the net nearest, a Chiff, a Blackbird and a 'pregnant' Wren. Six needed for the magic "one thousand". [ Don't know why I'm getting worked up - I'm not a lister, by nature]. Two more over by the hedge, both Chiffs - and one's already ringed. Damn, five to go!
Another pull on the coffee flask. 7pm. A flurry of interest over in the corner. A mixed flock of Phylloscs and Lottis; now's my chance! It turned out that most went round the back of the far pole (it's a very wide hedge, fenced both sides, with a ditch in the middle). However, the haul did turn up two Chiffs, a Dunnock, a Blackcap with a spastic left leg and one of yesterday's juvenile Lottis. That still left one more new bird needed. Can't be left on 999 now! Busy myself with trimming back a large Willow that is slowly falling over and beginning to block the gateway into the second meadow.
7.30pm. Nothing. All quiet. Feed dog and eat other sandwich.
Is that something wriggling, tight to the far pole on the 'sunny' net? Yes! Looks like a Robin! Yes, it was and a 3P, at that, i.e. a this year's youngster coming to the end of its post-juvenile moult and looking resplendant in its 'red jacket'. Thank you, "Bob", - or L890642 as you will be known from here on in!
Needn't have worried unduly as three more Chiffs also went into the same net while I was chatting to the land owner on one of his quick visits, not to see me but to inspect the Willow. I think it's for the chop.
Chop-chop. Back later with more at the weekend.
Top 10 species (of 34) ringed 12-01-11 to 11-07-11:
1 Goldfinch 234
2= Greenfinch, Blue Tit 85
4 Blackbird 77
5 Long-tailed tit 73
6 Blackcap 65
7 Brambling 52
8 Chiffchaff 47
9 Siskin 42
10 Great Tit 40
... and NO Starlings!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
One more day ...
Out at early doors, having set three nets beside the D.Stream last night with the help of the "memsahib" and two dogs. Turned out a funny old day.
Net 1 (nearest the entrance) didn't do a thing until 9.am when it presented me with the first juvenile Willow Warbler of the year.
Juvenile Willow Warbler starting PJ moult (female)
Net 2, near base camp and at the junction of the two meadows, got off to the usual good start and then dried up, only to get going with a late flurry around the 10.am mark.
Lesser Whitethroat undergoing PJ moult
Net 3 is across the long grass and, unlike the other two nets, parallel to the stream in front of a bank of low Alders. It warmed up slowly but ended in a great crescendo of warblers and tits - with another Kingfisher thrown in.
Today's 'top dollar' was Net 1 that only collected five birds all morning; a 30 year quest for a Dipper came to an end with a juvenile male, that eventually flew away (after ringing, natch) whirring like a clockwork toy!
The young Dipper, C.c.gularis
Today's scoreboard:
62 for 18 spp (+ 3 r/t)
Kingfisher 1 - a 3rd juv
Dipper 1 - male juv; a first
Wren 1 - juv
Dunnock 3 - PJ juvs
Robin 2 - PJ juvs
Blackbird 3 - juvs
Song Thrush 2 - 5M & juv
Reed Warbler 1 - juv; another first
Les. Whitethroat 1 - PJ juv
Whitethroat 2 (1) - 2x 5M & r/t 5F
Blackcap 9 (1) - 2x 5F, 5 juvs, 2 PJ juvs, r/t 5F
Chiffchaff 13 - 1 ad male old, 8 juvs, 4 PJ juvs [7x=M,5x=F]
Willow Warbler 3 - juvs, all 'ladies'
Lotti 5 (1) - all juvs
Blue Tit 6 - juvs
Great Tit 2 - juvs
Greenfinch 6 - juvs, even sexes
Goldfinch 1 - almost a 1J
Ye olde speckled hen?
Tomorrow is a special day - more about that another time.
[see "Thank you, Bob"; Tuesday July 12]
Net 1 (nearest the entrance) didn't do a thing until 9.am when it presented me with the first juvenile Willow Warbler of the year.
Juvenile Willow Warbler starting PJ moult (female)
Net 2, near base camp and at the junction of the two meadows, got off to the usual good start and then dried up, only to get going with a late flurry around the 10.am mark.
Lesser Whitethroat undergoing PJ moult
Net 3 is across the long grass and, unlike the other two nets, parallel to the stream in front of a bank of low Alders. It warmed up slowly but ended in a great crescendo of warblers and tits - with another Kingfisher thrown in.
Today's 'top dollar' was Net 1 that only collected five birds all morning; a 30 year quest for a Dipper came to an end with a juvenile male, that eventually flew away (after ringing, natch) whirring like a clockwork toy!
The young Dipper, C.c.gularis
Today's scoreboard:
62 for 18 spp (+ 3 r/t)
Kingfisher 1 - a 3rd juv
Dipper 1 - male juv; a first
Wren 1 - juv
Dunnock 3 - PJ juvs
Robin 2 - PJ juvs
Blackbird 3 - juvs
Song Thrush 2 - 5M & juv
Reed Warbler 1 - juv; another first
Les. Whitethroat 1 - PJ juv
Whitethroat 2 (1) - 2x 5M & r/t 5F
Blackcap 9 (1) - 2x 5F, 5 juvs, 2 PJ juvs, r/t 5F
Chiffchaff 13 - 1 ad male old, 8 juvs, 4 PJ juvs [7x=M,5x=F]
Willow Warbler 3 - juvs, all 'ladies'
Lotti 5 (1) - all juvs
Blue Tit 6 - juvs
Great Tit 2 - juvs
Greenfinch 6 - juvs, even sexes
Goldfinch 1 - almost a 1J
Ye olde speckled hen?
Tomorrow is a special day - more about that another time.
[see "Thank you, Bob"; Tuesday July 12]
Friday, July 8, 2011
Lines of showers
A poor week from a ringing perspective with lines of showers running off Exmoor towards us and on up this side of the Severn Estuary. Most of these have been in the afternoons, with at least 5mm each day (or one inch all told, old money).
This has meant opening one or two 9m (30') nets when I get up around half-five for a couple of hours until breakfast time or waiting for the afternoon's heavy showers to pass, thereby getting a late bird, usually around nine (half an hour before sunset)
On one of these "wet" afternoons I was taking the dog for a walk up to the farmhouse(s) at Egrove when I bumped into the retired NT manager. It turns out we have a common background at Felbrigg through a one-time forester called Kremer. I digress. There is a wonderful couple of stands of Viper's Bugloss along here and that day we were lucky enough to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth zipping round several of the flower heads before zooming off at very high speed in a northerly (seaward) direction.
Viper's Bugloss Echium vulgare
Well, the week's 5-day, miserable total of 15 new and 10 re-traps was as follows:
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Great Tit 3 (1)
Coal Tit 1 - a moulting juv
Long-tailed Tit 2 (6)
Blackbird 1 (1)
Blackcap 2 (1)
Robin 1
Dunnock 1
Pied Wagtail 1
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 1
Coal Tit - juvenile starting post juvenile moult
Thankfully the coming weekend looks alot calmer and brighter, with just the odd (lighter) shower. And the village fete on Saturday. Umm.
Down the lane, by one of the old mill sites, is this, the biggest Wayfaring Tree I have ever seen. It has a spread of almost 30 feet (9m).
[Excuse the quality - I blame the weather!]
This has meant opening one or two 9m (30') nets when I get up around half-five for a couple of hours until breakfast time or waiting for the afternoon's heavy showers to pass, thereby getting a late bird, usually around nine (half an hour before sunset)
On one of these "wet" afternoons I was taking the dog for a walk up to the farmhouse(s) at Egrove when I bumped into the retired NT manager. It turns out we have a common background at Felbrigg through a one-time forester called Kremer. I digress. There is a wonderful couple of stands of Viper's Bugloss along here and that day we were lucky enough to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth zipping round several of the flower heads before zooming off at very high speed in a northerly (seaward) direction.
Viper's Bugloss Echium vulgare
Well, the week's 5-day, miserable total of 15 new and 10 re-traps was as follows:
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Great Tit 3 (1)
Coal Tit 1 - a moulting juv
Long-tailed Tit 2 (6)
Blackbird 1 (1)
Blackcap 2 (1)
Robin 1
Dunnock 1
Pied Wagtail 1
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 1
Coal Tit - juvenile starting post juvenile moult
Thankfully the coming weekend looks alot calmer and brighter, with just the odd (lighter) shower. And the village fete on Saturday. Umm.
Down the lane, by one of the old mill sites, is this, the biggest Wayfaring Tree I have ever seen. It has a spread of almost 30 feet (9m).
[Excuse the quality - I blame the weather!]
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Not one, but two side-by-side
Managed to inveigle the "part-time assistant" into venturing down to the water meadows for a spot of pole holding last evening before it got dark. Set and furled 3x 40 foot nets ready for this morning's dawn "raid".
I was operational by 5am when the sun was beginning to brighten the place up. A family party of Ravens came up the valley (the coastal cliffs are barely a mile away) heading for the Quantocks. At 5.30, the sun peeped over the hill and a muffled clanking came from the railway sidings as the fire was raked out from a visiting loco for the start of another day. The grass was wet with a heavy dew. A Tufted Duck flew upstream. The Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were stirring, too.
The next round ( the three nets are widely spaced apart) found a net bent in two with the weight of an "obese" male Woodpigeon; my scales shot to the bottom with a wallop and so a 'dash' was entered in the weight column of my note book. Dark smoke started to issue from the Pacific locomotive.
70000 'Britannia' - due to run as a light engine until it's inspection is completed
A Grey Heron called 'frark' as it lifted from the trees, possible annoyed by the incessant piping of the young, fledgling Greenfinches. After processing a bunch of warblers, it was time to return to the "woodpigeon net". Well,well, TWO Kingfishers, side by side, about 4 inches (10 cm) apart in the middle shelf. These birds were both 'birds of the year' (juveniles, age 3 or HY)
Kingfisher 1, bill starting to show 'red' = female
Kingfisher 2, bill all black & smaller bird = unsexed
On the way back to the ringing table (i.e. boot of the car), 2 Grey Wagtails showed excitedly along the stream, and the first Swallow of the day swooped over the wet grass which was beginning to 'buzz' with Meadow Browns and grasshoppers. The next net also held a 'twosome', namely an adult and a juvenile Song Thrush.
By 8.30, I had reached 30 birds, the hiss of steam started to come from the loco and the local Buzzard was on the wing.
No sign of the Little Egret this morning (seen Friday), just a Cormorant sat atop the electricity pylon. Come 9.30, the engineer had enough steam up to blow the engine's whistle and this also signalled the end of the session for me. Generally a quieter pattern had set in, except for the excited 'chatter of the Linnets, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Yellowhammers. At least two of these (the first and last) ought to make the totals list before too long.
As it was, 37 new birds and (1) retrap:
Woodpigeon 1 ad male
Kingfisher 2 juvs
Blue Tit 1 juv
Great Tit 1 juv
Long-tailed Tit 2 juvs
Chiffchaff 6 - all juvs., 4 males, 2 fem.
Blackcap 11 (1) - 9 juvs, 2 males + 1 r/t fem
Whitethroat 4 - 3 juvs + 1 fem.
Wren 1 adult
Blackbird 2 adults
Song Thrush 2 - 1 ad. + 1 juv
Robin 1 juv
Dunnock 3 adults
I was operational by 5am when the sun was beginning to brighten the place up. A family party of Ravens came up the valley (the coastal cliffs are barely a mile away) heading for the Quantocks. At 5.30, the sun peeped over the hill and a muffled clanking came from the railway sidings as the fire was raked out from a visiting loco for the start of another day. The grass was wet with a heavy dew. A Tufted Duck flew upstream. The Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were stirring, too.
The next round ( the three nets are widely spaced apart) found a net bent in two with the weight of an "obese" male Woodpigeon; my scales shot to the bottom with a wallop and so a 'dash' was entered in the weight column of my note book. Dark smoke started to issue from the Pacific locomotive.
70000 'Britannia' - due to run as a light engine until it's inspection is completedA Grey Heron called 'frark' as it lifted from the trees, possible annoyed by the incessant piping of the young, fledgling Greenfinches. After processing a bunch of warblers, it was time to return to the "woodpigeon net". Well,well, TWO Kingfishers, side by side, about 4 inches (10 cm) apart in the middle shelf. These birds were both 'birds of the year' (juveniles, age 3 or HY)
Kingfisher 1, bill starting to show 'red' = female
Kingfisher 2, bill all black & smaller bird = unsexedOn the way back to the ringing table (i.e. boot of the car), 2 Grey Wagtails showed excitedly along the stream, and the first Swallow of the day swooped over the wet grass which was beginning to 'buzz' with Meadow Browns and grasshoppers. The next net also held a 'twosome', namely an adult and a juvenile Song Thrush.
By 8.30, I had reached 30 birds, the hiss of steam started to come from the loco and the local Buzzard was on the wing.
No sign of the Little Egret this morning (seen Friday), just a Cormorant sat atop the electricity pylon. Come 9.30, the engineer had enough steam up to blow the engine's whistle and this also signalled the end of the session for me. Generally a quieter pattern had set in, except for the excited 'chatter of the Linnets, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Yellowhammers. At least two of these (the first and last) ought to make the totals list before too long.
As it was, 37 new birds and (1) retrap:
Woodpigeon 1 ad male
Kingfisher 2 juvs
Blue Tit 1 juv
Great Tit 1 juv
Long-tailed Tit 2 juvs
Chiffchaff 6 - all juvs., 4 males, 2 fem.
Blackcap 11 (1) - 9 juvs, 2 males + 1 r/t fem
Whitethroat 4 - 3 juvs + 1 fem.
Wren 1 adult
Blackbird 2 adults
Song Thrush 2 - 1 ad. + 1 juv
Robin 1 juv
Dunnock 3 adults
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
DADs left home
Neighbouring ringer, John, picked up three of my Long-tailed Tits on Sunday that I ringed as 3JJs thirty days earlier. All three were undertaking their full moult by now and the reason for the 'headline' is my current usage of AA rings DAD7nn; I did wonder what John was on about until the penny dropped, when he sent me an email with the same heading! Movement was a mere 2km as the crow flies.
My weekend was fairly eventful with the ringing of a new species for the garden site, namely a 6F Jackdaw. Just recently, in the last couple of days, the local Jackdaws have banded together, about 200+ of them. Just before sunset, they come over the house en masse and land in the sheep field on the other side of the road/river. In flight, every bird is calling (caw-ing?) until they land and then there is just the odd 'chak' sound until they all take off again for the roost (wherever that is - I must suss it out) with more cacophony.
Jackdaw - 6 (ASY) female [Corvus monedula spermologus]
As to the rest of the weekend, the sum total was:
Jackdaw 1
Blue Tit 2 (2)
Blackcap 2 juvs
Blackbird 2
Robin 3 (all 6's)
Dunnock 1
House Sparrow 3 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch (1)
Chaffinch 6 (ASY) male [Fringilla coelebs gengleri]
Today, despite the forecast of increasing wind speeds, I decided it was time I went ringing at my 'new' site on the other side of the river. Not having been there so far, I needed to do some serious gardening before I could erect any nets. Being mid-season, the vegetation was nearly as tall as myself in the areas close to the river and patches of scrub. One 40' net was up by 06:00 and another followed shortly after. The first of the two nets provided most of the birds as the other was susceptible to the increasing wind speed as the sun rose higher in the sky. Eventually, after 18 birds, I packed up and then set about opening another rack a good few hundred metres away. I haven't really inspected the north end of the site but I think I will be able to have three nets there in suitable conditions (it's in a different 1km square)
So the end result was:
Blue Tit 1 (juv)
Chiffchaff 7 (all juvs)
Blackcap 4 (1 female with BP)
Lesser Whitethroat 1 (female with BP)
Whitethroat 1 (juv)
Robin 1 (6 female)
Dunnock 2 (juvs)
Greenfinch 1 (2CY male)
I'll have to think about getting up at 04:00 again very soon for a second visit!
My weekend was fairly eventful with the ringing of a new species for the garden site, namely a 6F Jackdaw. Just recently, in the last couple of days, the local Jackdaws have banded together, about 200+ of them. Just before sunset, they come over the house en masse and land in the sheep field on the other side of the road/river. In flight, every bird is calling (caw-ing?) until they land and then there is just the odd 'chak' sound until they all take off again for the roost (wherever that is - I must suss it out) with more cacophony.
Jackdaw - 6 (ASY) female [Corvus monedula spermologus]As to the rest of the weekend, the sum total was:
Jackdaw 1
Blue Tit 2 (2)
Blackcap 2 juvs
Blackbird 2
Robin 3 (all 6's)
Dunnock 1
House Sparrow 3 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch (1)
Chaffinch 6 (ASY) male [Fringilla coelebs gengleri]Today, despite the forecast of increasing wind speeds, I decided it was time I went ringing at my 'new' site on the other side of the river. Not having been there so far, I needed to do some serious gardening before I could erect any nets. Being mid-season, the vegetation was nearly as tall as myself in the areas close to the river and patches of scrub. One 40' net was up by 06:00 and another followed shortly after. The first of the two nets provided most of the birds as the other was susceptible to the increasing wind speed as the sun rose higher in the sky. Eventually, after 18 birds, I packed up and then set about opening another rack a good few hundred metres away. I haven't really inspected the north end of the site but I think I will be able to have three nets there in suitable conditions (it's in a different 1km square)
So the end result was:
Blue Tit 1 (juv)
Chiffchaff 7 (all juvs)
Blackcap 4 (1 female with BP)
Lesser Whitethroat 1 (female with BP)
Whitethroat 1 (juv)
Robin 1 (6 female)
Dunnock 2 (juvs)
Greenfinch 1 (2CY male)
I'll have to think about getting up at 04:00 again very soon for a second visit!
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