The storm has passed

Little or no damage locally; cannot be said of other parts of our 'large' county. 

Barometer down to 975mb, winds around 35-40 mph from 4-5 am and 1 inch (25.5 mm) of rain. The Monksilver Stream is chocolate brown, fast but not that high, so flooding unlikely  - even though we have had in excess of 160 mm of rain this month already.

Male Goldcrest

Back to birding/ringing. During the last week we saw signs of winter approaching. This was evident from the sudden appearance of certain species in the garden. These were Goldcrests, Blackcap, continental Chaffinch (long-winged female), Song Thrush and Siskin, with other species picked up by sight or sound while walking the dog down by the meadows. They included an influx of Pied Wagtails, a Curlew, generally more Blackbirds in evidence,  passing Fieldfares (they head for the tops, e.g. Dunkery Beacon at nearly 400 m high), singleton singing Skylarks drifting south on most days and the flocking of the Goldfinches. Blue Tits are making more forays to the feeders; for some while now the feeders have hung silent. We are also being entertained, briefly, by the whirring gangs of Starlings, passing over the garden an hour after dawn and a couple of hours before dusk.

Immature Song Thrush

DJO has returned to Bedford with an improved Somerset list. He found a Jack Snipe in a ditch at Capton, French Partridge on Exmoor and some wintering Stonechat. He also picked up some more Barn Owls. Because of the weather patterns lately, little ringing has been possible but I have managed some brief interludes on the calmer days. Two weeks have yielded 30 new birds and 11 re-traps covering 13 species. Nothing out of the ordinary but, with lots of eastern and trans-Atlantic vagrant birds about, from Shetland to Scillies, you never know what may turn up.

Goldcrest 4 - 3 males

Blue Tit 2 (4)

Great Tit 1 (2)

Coal Tit 1

(Blackcap - freed itself as I went to handle it, female)

Chiffchaff 2 - males at 62 & 64 mm wing chords

Wren 2 (1) - a new adult (>2CY) male

Blackbird 3 - 2 females & a male, immatures of probably local origin (short wing lengths)

Robin 1 (1)

Dunnock 1 (1)

Chaffinch 1 - 1CY female with a wing of 90 mm is most likely 'Continental'

Greenfinch - 1 - released unringed as it had Trichomonas symptoms

Goldfinch 11 (2) - r/ts from Jan 2012 (a 2010 or earlier female) & 1CY in Dec 2012

Immature Coal Tit

From now on, all activities will be weather dependent, even getting to the annual Ringers' Conference in Derbyshire. "So long", until next month.

Start of the rainy season

Here in Somerset, our wettest months are October through January as a rule, with at least 4 inches (104-110 mm) of rainfall on average each month. However, it can be nearly 6 inches (140+ mm) in one of those months.

From a ringing perspective, the possibility of catching good numbers does increase throughout these four, traditionally wet, months. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, the natural food supply dwindles and birds are drawn more to human habitation, and, secondly, as the food supplies run down in the east of the country (the side that most migrants first land on) the birds move westwards seeking under-used resources. That is how we differ from all those ringers gathered on the North Sea coast. They catch the rarities, we ring the survivors.

Talking of which, here are a couple that I received recently from BTO HQ.

Male Chaffinch - minimum of 4.5 years old

This bird died when it hit a window. It may even have been the kindergarten on the T-junction. Strangely, I have driven passed the spot (10 km N of Gjovik) when I lived in Norway as I was going to my girlfriend's girlfriend's home just the other side of the lake at Nes.

Male Blackcap - found here post breeding, the year after
it left the country for the first time (E. Sussex)

It seems that many summer migrants prefer to move to the south-east of the country before they make the crossing to France. Sensible, really - it's shorter and therefore less hazardous and with more options of making landfall whatever the wind direction.

... and one that came via email from another ringer. [details to follow]

Adult Female Hawfinch
now sporting colour rings

This bird (featured in my header) had travelled 188km in a northerly direction to the Dolgellau area where it was handled in late March. There is one other recovery of a bird ringed in the county; from Wellington to Clumber Park (Notts), a distance of 293km. There is one, relatively local, recovery in Somerset; from Gwent (Monmouthshire as was), the other side of the Bristol Channel.

So far this month, things have been a tad "weak", with a mere 19 new birds and 13 re-traps to date (1st-12th). We have also had our fair share of rain (>60 mm) with a bit of a northerly wind blowing.

Robin 1 (1) - both dispersing immatures

Blackbird 2 - both birds of the year with dark bills

Chiffchaff 2 - young males on size and tail

Long-tailed Tit (2) - 1 ringed as a juv back in August, the other was a fully grown bird back in January 2011.

Coal Tit 1 - this year's youngster

Blue Tit 3 (3) - just the one adult (r/t, 2009 or older)

Great Tit (1)

House Sparrow 1

Greenfinch 2 - both juveniles coming to the end of their limited (first) moult

Goldfinch 7 (5) - 6 of the new birds were females, 4 of the r/t birds were male.

This autumn passage period we have been severely short of out-going Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps to ring and are still waiting for an exodus of Goldfinches.

The Redwing flocks (of 15-30) did not appear here until Saturday 11th. Possibly these were birds that have travelled down from Scotland along the west side of the country until they hit North Devon and then turn east to reach their preferred destinations, somewhere further inland from us.

Let's just see what turns up later in the month!

September comes to a dead end

Well, September wasn't like other years. Partly my fault, I know, having been away for best part of a fortnight. Now the weather has set in and ringing is off the cards.

Bumped in to old Jack (ex Skomer warden that lives up the road) and he told me he had had a 1CY male Woodchat up on St. Peter's fields earlier last month (that's by the church at the other/western end of the village) while I was away. This is my No.1 UK "bogey bird"! B*****! These are 'once a decade' in this large county. I did manage to see the Lesser Grey near Leiston, (Suffolk) though, and add it to my list, as we just happened to be in the town. This was thanks to a tip-off from my first ringing trainee, Paul Oldfield, who I was to spend a couple of days with during the holiday. Later, at Languard Bird Observatory, I met another two ringers who I had helped to train at Sandwich, Nigel Odin & Tim Bagworth, the latter being this year's warden at the Obs. 

Inside Landguard Fort

Dave Odell stayed over after we got back.  He was the county bird recorder for 14 years for Bedfordshire and was lacking Dipper for his year list. A short walk down the road turned this into a positive, and the bird was there the following two days as well. They are always elusive here during August and September (post-breeding moult & dispersal of the young).

Now, back to local goings-on. October has started extremely quiet indeed. The final days of September settled for some outward bound Chiffs and a miscellany of the offspring of what were most probably local breeders. No Blackcaps and no Goldfinches, and a background of Robins advertising their (hoped for) winter territories.

ICY European Robin

Ringing results from the last report to the end of the month:

Blue Tit 7 (1) - a pre-ponderance of small-winged 1CY birds (females??)

Great Tit 1

Chiffchaff 2 - 'dark olive green' males with a 62 wing on the 28th

Wren (1)

Blackbird 1

Robin 1 (3)

Dunnock 3 (1)

Greenfinch (1) +

Goldfinch 18 (11) - all caught over 3 days before we left. X105685, a 4M in post-nuptial moult, was from a snowy January 2011 (unaged). 

Total 33 new birds and 18 re-captures of 9 species

1CY Chiffchaff showing the short primary projection
(compared with the tertials)

One last bit of news - an incoming email and subsequent 'phone call delivered a Hawfinch recovery, some 188 km away in a northerly direction (details not yet received from BTO).

Now to make the most of the bad weather and dye some nets.

End of a difficult summer

Ringing activities have been confined to the garden/orchard these last 8-9 days. It has been somewhat different for the time of year when compared to other years. So far, there has not been an appreciable movement of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps hereabouts. In part this may be attributable to the low numbers of Blackberries that have ripened so far, which, apart from providing sugar rich food for migrating birds, also attract significant numbers of diptera and other insects for these travellers to feed on. Also in the boundary hedge, our Honeysuckle has a profusion of berries but they are not palatable yet.

Honeysuckle berries

Back to the species list for this time period. For the sake of a couple of nets open for a couple of hours most mornings (commencing about half an hour after sunrise), it turned in a reasonable total of 28 new birds and 18 re-captures across 11 "garden" species.

Blue Tit 2 (2) - 3 young birds (2 potential males, 1 potential female) plus a 2CY male

Great Tit (1) - ad. male, ringed in the spring

Blackcap 3 - a handsome young male, & 2 females undergoing PJ moult

Wren 3 - all unmoulted juvenile males (on size & weight)

Blackbird 2 (2) - 3 young birds & a 3CY male

Robin 3 (3) - juveniles & post-nuptial females

Dunnock 1 (1) - 1 juv., 1 2CY in moult

Chaffinch 1 - juv. male at the replacing its ogc's stage (2ogc). This bird had replaced a few tail feathers (retrices) on one side. The photo shows the differing shapes between juvenile feathers (pointed) and replacement/adult ones (more rounded)

Juvenile (male) Chaffinch with rounded replacement
tail feathers (LHS) contrasting with the pointed juvenile ones

Greenfinch 4 (3) - 3 females, 2 males & 2 juv. males

Goldfinch 9 (6) - in the last 2 days - 7 moulting adults & 8 youngsters in PJ moult.  The adults all had 2-4 old outer primaries and 2-3 growing feathers. They had all begun to moult their secondaries, too. Previously, almost all recent birds have been juveniles in entirely juvenile plumage (before the PJ moult starts)

Siskin 1 - a juvvy juvenile (i.e. recently fledged!) and female.

This week's juvenile female Siskin

This small group of eighteen re-traps has provided some interesting data. 

Firstly, a female Robin (L601), ringed as a juvenile here in early July 2011, goes missing whenever she is nesting. In mid-April 2012, she was caught three days apart with a vascularised brood patch, indicating that she was starting to incubate. This was just before our big "downpour" (= major flood). She was not re-caught for a further 162 days (or 23 weeks) when she was coming to the end of her complete, post-nuptial moult. But her brood patch was still visible, although feathering up. Between these two dates it is wholly possible that she reared three broods, which is quite normal for a fit member of the species, providing there are no mishaps.

In 2013, however, she was caught in mid-March and mid-April. Between those dates, going by her brood patch, she had laid, incubated and hatched a brood. This struck me as "odd", since the weather had been cold (but dry) up until the end of the first week in April. Perhaps cold-and-dry is preferable to mild-and-wet for starting a brood of Robins. Anyhow, she wasn't to re-appear for another 106 days (15 weeks), time enough for another two broods. Once more she was completing her annual moult, just some body feathers to finish changing, and some 5-6 weeks earlier than last year. 

Next, male Blackbird (LC36), ringed as a 1CY bird in mid-November 2011, is a regular visitor to the garden and can be recognised by his plumage pattern (which is less obvious since his latest moult). Last year he disappeared for 373 days (29 weeks). He was last spotted the day after the big "downpour" and returned about the time the rains eased off. During his absence, we had 711 mm of rain (28 inches), which is 55% more than normal. I wonder what he was doing and where he went to escape the waterlogged soils?

Then there is a Greenfinch (TL94). First ringed as a 2CY female on my birthday (mid-Feb) 2012 and not seen again until this week, 568 days later. The weight was the same and the wing length a tad longer, and she was starting her annual moult. Has this bird been around all the time or does she just come for the winter and the sunflower hearts?

Lastly, the Goldfinches. Six of those adults have a record. X843 is a 2010 male bird that hasn't been recorded since mid-June 2011, a gap of 820 days. His wing length is 1mm shorter than when he was a juvenile; a normal occurence in this species, whereas in some species it increases with age (e.g. tits). X882 is another male, born in 2009 or earlier, that was ringed in April 2011, re-caught in May 2012 and then again this week. He is currently in the 2nd stage (of 4) of replacing his primaries. Male L713 and female L963 were both immature birds when trapped in 2011. Neither have been seen since, a gap of 765 and 671 days respectively. Now in their third year, they were moulting and are 1 gram heavier than when they were young (approx. 7%), in keeping with the other healthy birds. The other two, males Y819 & Y930, were caught during last winter when their weights were higher than they are now; the current night time temperatures are 7C higher and daytime ones 13C higher, which explains the need for carrying extra fat in winter in order to keep warm overnight.

Young male Goldfinch acquiring its red cap

PJ = post-juvenile;   CY = calendar year;   ogc = old greater coverts;   juv. = juvenile

A dreary autumn - I hope not

Back from my visitations and trying to catch some birds for ringing once more. We have managed to get in 7 short, early morning sessions since last time, but only one of these has been at the meadows, the rest in the garden.  This has involved between 60-130 ft. of netting that was open for about 25 hours in total. Last week the local riding school held gymkhana training for the young ladies, including using the stream/fords. Unfortunately a pony had to be put down (shot) and consequently the other horses have been allowed  out of that enclosure to roam; we don't like mixing horses that have free access and our nets - for both our safety's sakes. This is why we only use the site for half a year or less.

Things seem to have dried up, or, at least, come to a temporary stop bird-wise. There are plenty of birds down the eastern side of England but little over here, excepting the usual hot-spots. DJO, a visiting friend, and former county recorder for 14 years, picked up a pair of Ravens over the garden early one morning and spotted a migrating Hobby on another evening. We regularly attract 23-31 species of bird to the garden each week [GBW survey figures]; the garden list currently stands at 77 in or over after just 38 months.

The last Chiff caught was a week ago and the  three Blackcaps have been 5 days apart. Nevertheless, we have managed to trap 15 species (one new), to ring 33 birds and recapture a further 14. This is similar to the two previous year - 42 of 16 (2011) and 31 of 10 (wet 2012) - when the predominate species were Chiff, Blackcap, Blue Tit and Blackbird. This year the mix is somewhat different.

Woodpigeon 1 - one of the breeding pair
Green Woodpecker 1 - an un-sexable youngster, 2nd for the garden, 1st to be ringed here.

Juvenile Green Woodpecker
[sexable once the malar stripe appears at the end of their
 partial (or post juvenile) moult]

Blue Tit 2 (2) - this year's birds
Great Tit 5 (1) - 1 adult male in fresh plumage; all the youngsters were moulting tails

Coal Tit 1 - first post-juvenile of the year
Long-tailed Tit (2) - returnees from the previous post 
Chiffchaff 2 - both in the early stages of PJ moult
Blackcap 3 - 2 females in PJ moult and a sub-adult male
Wren (2) - "our male" (moulting) and a juvenile
Blackbird (1) - ringed as a 1J
Robin 1 (2) - 2x 3JP's and our resident female (in her 3rd year)
The adults have finished their moult but the juveniles are mostly about half way through their partial moult, as can be seen right now by the red breast but with a speckled head.
Dunnock 2 (2) - a male, a new female & 2 juvs
House Sparrow 1 (1) - both female, one at least 3 years old
Greenfinch 7 - 6 juvs of equal sexes & a moulting adult female
Goldfinch 10 (1) - 6 young males & 4 females; r/t a 2011 male

Juvenile Robin undergoing post-juvenile moult

We trust that the weather patterns will be in our favour soon. Previous Septembers have proved to be good for catching Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch [in that order as the month progresses]. The next three weeks will make all the difference.

Where have all the Blue Tits gone?