Sunday's trip was poor; the wind had swung to the south overnight and was stronger than forecast. Nets now in the wrong places, haha! Five new birds and three re-traps for five hours hard graft with four nets (one didn't catch). And the Green Sandpiper decided to fly "the wrong way".
Kingfisher (1)
Chiffchaff 3
Blackcap (1)
Wren 1
Dipper (1) juv in tail moult
Dunnock 1
Have now ringed 221 new birds of 20 species, with 24 re-traps, since I started here, on the water meadows, 5 weeks ago.
Weather forecast not good for the coming week. B****r.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Busy doing nothing
Wednesday evening, we went to look for Nightjars on Exmoor. At a site where they are usually seen, we put two nets up. We switched the lure on and off and on and off until it was pitch black. Nothing. It was late in the season and the weather has been poor of late so we suspect that the birds left early, after rearing just the one brood during that glorious month of June 2011.
On Thursday, in the garden, it was "the return of the re-traps"; by this I mean that the locally breeding birds and their offspring are beginning to be more conspicuous and can't help falling in the nets just to tease me. I haven't got a full set-up yet, as I need the poles elsewhere. That problem will be solved (with a few blisters and some sticky fingers) shortly. The eventual outcome will be new 24, 2 section poles, enough for 6 nets here and 6 down at the water meadows.
Blue Tit (1)
Great Tit (2)
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Chiffchaff 1
Wren 1 (1)
Robin 1 (2)
Dunnock (1)
House Sparrow 1
Blackbird 2
Goldfinch 3 (2)
Total 9 (10)
The aluminium tube for the new poles arrived yesterday - I went to buy a pipe-cutter.
Today, Friday, was a dull day. Overnight the temperature slumped to 16C and hardly picked up from there. None of the water meadow nets did much early on, probably because it was still "dark", but they did "try harder" later.
The stream was the busiest place this morning. Every time I crossed it, I spooked a silent Dipper. Kingfishers were noisy today but not as noisy as a Green sandpiper that dropped in for a quick poke amongst the pebbles. At one point a group of passing Swallows dropped in for a drink and a very quick "wash-and-brush-up". The orchard net (which is positioned on the meadow across the stream) managed to trap a second juvenile Dipper, probably the same one that I kept disturbing.
Juvenile Dipper undergoing PJ moult - head (top), belly, undertail, wing/mantle (bottom).
I kept going until I knew that the young girls from the riding stables would be coming; they do this alot during school holidays. To avoid any problems, I put the dog safely in the car whilst I took down. Sure enough, they rolled up just as I had shut Net 1 and was processing the last birds. Not the best of mornings but all "grist to the mill", nonetheless.
Blue Tit (1)
Great tit 3
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Chiffchaff 4
Willow Warbler 1
Blackcap 4 (2)
Whitethroat 1
Wren 1
Dipper 1
Blackbird 2
Dunnock 1
Chaffinch 1
Total 19 (4) and all juveniles. A couple of the Blackcaps were well advanced with their PJ moult but had not put on any fat ready for migration.
Juvenile female (3P) Willow Warbler.
On Thursday, in the garden, it was "the return of the re-traps"; by this I mean that the locally breeding birds and their offspring are beginning to be more conspicuous and can't help falling in the nets just to tease me. I haven't got a full set-up yet, as I need the poles elsewhere. That problem will be solved (with a few blisters and some sticky fingers) shortly. The eventual outcome will be new 24, 2 section poles, enough for 6 nets here and 6 down at the water meadows.
Blue Tit (1)
Great Tit (2)
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Chiffchaff 1
Wren 1 (1)
Robin 1 (2)
Dunnock (1)
House Sparrow 1
Blackbird 2
Goldfinch 3 (2)
Total 9 (10)
The aluminium tube for the new poles arrived yesterday - I went to buy a pipe-cutter.
Today, Friday, was a dull day. Overnight the temperature slumped to 16C and hardly picked up from there. None of the water meadow nets did much early on, probably because it was still "dark", but they did "try harder" later.
The stream was the busiest place this morning. Every time I crossed it, I spooked a silent Dipper. Kingfishers were noisy today but not as noisy as a Green sandpiper that dropped in for a quick poke amongst the pebbles. At one point a group of passing Swallows dropped in for a drink and a very quick "wash-and-brush-up". The orchard net (which is positioned on the meadow across the stream) managed to trap a second juvenile Dipper, probably the same one that I kept disturbing.
Juvenile Dipper undergoing PJ moult - head (top), belly, undertail, wing/mantle (bottom).
I kept going until I knew that the young girls from the riding stables would be coming; they do this alot during school holidays. To avoid any problems, I put the dog safely in the car whilst I took down. Sure enough, they rolled up just as I had shut Net 1 and was processing the last birds. Not the best of mornings but all "grist to the mill", nonetheless.
Blue Tit (1)
Great tit 3
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Chiffchaff 4
Willow Warbler 1
Blackcap 4 (2)
Whitethroat 1
Wren 1
Dipper 1
Blackbird 2
Dunnock 1
Chaffinch 1
Total 19 (4) and all juveniles. A couple of the Blackcaps were well advanced with their PJ moult but had not put on any fat ready for migration.
Juvenile female (3P) Willow Warbler.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
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)
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)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Makes it all worthwhile
These bats must also hunt through our study wood which is "very adjacent".
See here
"Large population of rare Bechstein’s bats found on proposed HS2 train route"
E
See here
"Large population of rare Bechstein’s bats found on proposed HS2 train route"
E
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