Badgers' birthdays all at once

This was the scene that greeted me this morning. I was rather late as we had been over Exmoor yesterday and I'm not as fit as I was 50 years ago - when I thought nothing of wandering up and down those hills and valley sides all day.

I set a couple of 60's; one was in the usual place in the orchard and the other through a bed of Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens). It was a fairly fruitful session with 15 new birds and 7 retraps, covering 9 species. I packed up after 2 hours as the tractor came in to maxi-bale the hay. It did encourage the Swallows to fly low - alas, my single panels were still in the chest of drawers!

Scoreboard:
Kingfisher (1) - juv fem.
Blue Tit 5 - most were too high over (thank God)
Great Tit 1
Long-tailed Tit 1
Chiffchaff 1 (3) - r/ts from 6th, 14th & 29th.
Blackcap 4 - no retraps & only 2 with any fat [1 with F30]
Sedge Warbler 1 - a juv, naturally
Blackbird 1 (2)
Goldfinch 1 (1) - juv & ad. male r/t

Meanwhile, the Badgers have been "making hay". Much new bedding has been snitched from the nearest swath and bundles of it were apparent close to all of the many entrances to the (summer) sett.


As the rollers on the harvester now have 'crimpers' these days [it crushes the grass, opening the waxy case and allows quicker drying] it was no surprise to see the baler behind the tractor today, 2 days after the cut. This activity made me pack up whilst they were baling the two eastern meadows; it wouldn't be long before it came over my side of the stream. By lunch-time, most of the bales were already off-site and safely in store for the sheep and horses.

Other birds around the site - 4 Buzzards, Green Sand, 2 Heron, Dipper, 80-100 Swallow, 6 House Martins and 2 Little Egberts.

Wet & windy Bank Holiday

The weather was very un-seasonal for the August Holiday weekend. On the Friday, it rained - over half an inch's worth (13.5mm). On the Saturday, we had heavy showers on and off throughout the day and on Sunday they only lasted for the morning. The sun appeared but a cold wind sprung up at the same time.

So, I got the forecast about right but, nevertheless, I was able to get in some ringing in the garden at times, mainly by switching nets. I was already resigned to a 'nul' weekend because of the forecast, on top of putting up visiting relations.

Surprise, surprise; it turned out quite fortuitous.


The garden capture list:
Sparrowhawk 1 - post-juvvy female
Collared Dove 1 - a female pushed in by two romantic males
Blue Tit 1 (2)
Blackcap 1 - a fat-free young male
Sedge Warbler 1 - an early morning surprise
Wren (1)
Blackbird 2
Robin (3)
Dunnock 1
House Sparrow 1
Greenfinch 3 - all juv juvs


A surprising mix - 12 new + (6 r/t) of 11 spp.

On the Monday, I was able to get in a couple of hours down at the meadows straight after first light. More ringing was not possible shortly after eight o'clock as the wind shifted round to a point east of north, affecting the nets. The fields had still not been cut for hay when I was there, but "her indoors" said they were being cut in the afternoon when she walked her dog along the track. Just as well since the Purple Moor Grass had been 'Buff Moor Grass' for a couple of weeks now.

The meadow capture list:
Dipper (1) - a juv first caught a month ago, now with a brown 'waistcoat'
Chiffchaff 4
Blackcap 3 (1)
Dunnock 1
Greenfinch 1 - another youngster
9 + (2) of 5 spp.


The young finches are around at last; a sign of better days to come in the garden at the feeders, perhaps.

Rain, rain, go away!

It has been a week of showers - and Wednesday and today, quite heavy, and almost continuous, showers. More tomorrow and the day after with the wind increasing, too. A better picture might emerge for Bank Holiday Monday. During the better weather days this week, it has been impractical for me to do any ringing as I needed to concentrate on the house and garden chores.

I have managed to catch bits and bobs in the garden when not otherwise occupied with workmen etc. and also have been able to set a net for a couple of hours at the water meadows, with one in the orchard and another couple on the bank directly opposite.


Robin - bird-of-the-year after completing PJ moult

At this quiet time of year, ringing wise, in the garden, I procured the following: 3 new birds and 4 retraps -
Great Tit (1)
Blackbird (1)
Robin 2 (1)
Dunnock (1)
Goldfinch 1

Down at the Doniford Stream, things have been a little better, as one would expect during autumn migration. Even considering that the early morning was 'cold' and I had to pack up by half-eight anyway, I managed just 17 birds. Just as well, really, because the rain crept up and then decided to stay for the day.

Chiffs predominated; all youngsters, one of which I first caught a month earlier.
Chiffchaff 7 (3)
Blackcap 2
Blackbird 3
Wren 1
Chaffinch 1


Chiffchaff - hatch year female having finished PJ moult

No idea when I will be able to make it down to the meadows again - visiting relatives from my and Jen's dad's birthplace descending on us next week.

For friends and family - our new gates (well, 2 new sets and 1 refurbed).
We are now, hopefully, terrier and, maybe, badger proof.

Bucking the trend!

Spent Friday and Saturday in the Aylesbury Vale (Buckinghamshire). Friday afternoon was all about Barn Owl boxes, while Saturday was mist netting the 'new wood'.

We visited a farmer whose land is down to grass at Long Crendon where we knew there would be chicks of a ringeable age. As we approached the box, we could see two chicks looking out with the parent bird looking over their shoulders. As the ladder went up, she took flight and left the field, crossed a neighbour's arable field and settled in a shelter belt where she could watch us. There were 6 chicks in this box, all were ringed.


Next we looked at another box where a lone bird had been seen roosting. This turned out to have 2 Stock Dove chicks in residence. Maybe the owl that had been seen was the male and father of the chicks we had just done.

Off to Waddesdon for a quick check on another box that had eggs the last time it was checked. Seven more chicks, 5 of which were ringed, the other two were 'runts', the youngest being quite small and likely to be "a picnic" for one of its older siblings.


Then to check on a box that was robbed of its eggs six weeks ago by some workmen on a huge building site. To our surprise it contained eight (8) youngsters, three of which were big enough to ring, three more looked healthy and could be ringed in a week or so, and two more that were only a few days old. The male had flown off when we entered but the female sat tight and we were able to ring her, too.

In the evening we went out and set and furled a line of five nets along a north-south ride in the wood some 12 miles away. Before dawn, we had those nets open and set about adding five more in favoured places. Our one disappointment was a "non-stick" adult male Sparrowhawk, but the wind had got up by then and it found its way out easily.


Adult Lesser Whitethroat in fresh plumage (mid-August)

After five hours on site, (the wind got up ahead of some squally weather putting paid to any more catches), we had had 12 species and 48 birds, of which 6 were recaptures.
Dave, trainee Keith and myself rated the LESWHs 'the deal of the day'.

Blue Tit 7
Great Tit 6
Marsh Tit (1)
Long-tailed Tit 6 (3)
Chiffchaff 6
Willow Warbler 4
Blackcap 2
Lesser Whitethroat 4
Wren 1
Dunnock 4
Goldfinch 1
Bullfinch 1 (2)


Post-juvenile male Blackcap (mid-August)

Next to this wood, they run sheep. At present, the closest field had tall grass in it and about forty fat lamb rams. Mid-morning we disturbed a group of birds feeding on something, a carcass perhaps, that we could not see. This group consisted of 2 Red Kites, several Magpies, a couple of Crows, an adult and a juvenile Buzzard and a Raven.

I am hoping to get back to the site in September for the late departing warblers and again in late October for the early winter thrush movement. There shouldn't be any accidents on the M5 by then as the summer visitors - human type - will have also departed, shortening my journey time!

Yes!

Following on from yesterday's blog and session by the stream, I decided to set a mist-net across the stream this morning for a couple of hours from shortly after dawn. I needed to return home early as the contractors were coming to finish the roof before it rained, and so I was prepared for just a short spell.

There was a distinct absence of Swallows today; there had been gatherings of 50+ over the last two days but this morning just two solitary birds making their way south. Likewise, I did not hear the young Dippers, wagtails or sandpipers. The only bird of note was a Raven.

I did, however, recapture my first Kingfisher, a young female, 30 minutes after setting up. Whilst walking the site with my dog, Cerise, I noticed a large party of Lottis and warblers making their way along the stream edge, moving upstream towards my net. I guesstimated that there were at least 19 birds in this group. Thankfully, some of them passed over the water, while others stuck to the bank. I had just got to the last of the seven birds when a short sharp shower ensued. Thankfully, my car was parked just 20 yards away.

The moving flock did me a favour in one respect; I now know where to set an additional net on the bank to intercept a similar movement, if I am just concentrating on birds using the stream at the ford.

Bonus bird of the day - Garden Warbler - my first for Somerset. [Coincidentally, Denise also had her first of the year yesterday, a little way to the west of here]. I am so used to handling these throughout the summer back in East Anglia.


This brings the tally of species ringed to 35.

Kingfisher (1)
Long-tailed Tit 1 (2)
Chiffchaff 3
Garden Warbler 1

Mid-August weekend

I have managed to cut my way through to a large bend in the stream opposite the orchard. Here's where I now have a 60 foot. I'm hoping it will turn up an Acro or two!


Swinging right, here's the 'orchard' on the other side of the stream.
Another 60 foot goes in front of these apple trees when I work the other side of the stream.



Day 1 was cloudy with patches of light drizzle that were not really a nuisance. As the day before had been getting worse all day, it was no surprise that there was a dearth of warblers on the move now. After all, the rain only stopped just before dawn. It was very noticeable that there was little birdsong until 3 hours after sunrise. Even the Rooks and Jackdaws were slow off the mark this morning. The one bright spot was the 50 or so Swallows that kept coming over. At one point they were joined by some Chaffinch and Greenfinch in persueing, first, a female and, then, a male Sparrowhawk in the opposite direction. Chiffs dominated once again.

Saturday am: 7 (+5 r/t)
Blue Tit 1
Great Tit 1
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Chiffchaff 5 (3)
Blackcap 1; sub-adult female

Sunday was another Chiff day! I put Net 1 up, more in hope than judgement. Net 3, the Whitethroat net, disappointed yet again. At least, yesterday, a Blackbird deigned to attack it at high speed but failed to drop its arrestor hook. The new net was nearly as bad but produced a lovely, fresh-plumaged, juvenile Dunnock in the bottom shelf.


Post-Juvenile Dunnock

All of the other action, prior to 9am, took place in Net 2, the most reliable net of all. If there are birds about, and on the move, this is the one that seems to attract them; and it's only a 40'! The young Blackbirds are, by and large, steadily progressing with their moult into some semblance of adulthood.


Juvenile, male Blackbird undergoing PJ moult

The wind started to get up, so I called it another day over. However, as I went to take down Net 1, it un-blotted its copy-book and delivered five new birds "just like that". (I watched them all go in as I drove up to the field gate). Didn't manage a second Blackcap (there was one 'ticking' nearby), but caught a smashing young Whitethroat; my favourite!


Juvenile Whitethroat at the end of its PJ moult

Sunday am: 19 (all new)
Blue Tit 1; first year
Chiffchaff 11; juvs, 3 of which were growing new tail feathers & 1 ad fem. in full moult
Blackcap 1; sub-adult male
Whitethroat 1 (pic above)
Blackbird 1 (pic above)
Song Thrush 1; moulting juv.
Robin 1; ad male ending moult
Dunnock 2; juvs

Warbler totals - 2011 summer only;
Chiffchaff 93
Blackcap 69
W/throat 20
Willow W. 8
Les. W/throat 2
Sedge W. 1
Reed W. 1

Next weekend, it's off back to Beds. and Bucks. It had better be worth the 50 quid [GBP] or so in petrol. I'm taking my new 2-piece poles with me for a full field trial!

Fair blows the wind for France

[Edward II, Marlowe, C.]
The weather forecast was turned on its head on Monday. I went out to the water meadows with the intention of catching a few birdies - but the wind had other ideas. All the small song birds were well hunkered down in the 18-30 mph winds off the sea. Not at all like the 8-10 mph "breeze" that was forecast on Saturday; just shows, you have to watch the national and local TV forecasts before you go to bed on the preceeding evening - or you might be getting up, like I did, in vain.


Monday's Strato-Cumulus approaching.

The young Herring Gulls have fully fledged and have taken to stooging around the industrial estate and the locomotive sheds. I counted 195 Canada Geese heading south-east towards the Levels from the direction of Blue Anchor Bay. One of the local Peregrines appeared at low level and rounded the new woodland on the hill to the east and attempted to cut out one of the Jackdaws but it was spooked by his/her friends and all six harried the Peg away towards its home well away over the other side of the valley.

Sum total = nil birds caught.

The following day, Tuesday, I put a 40' net up in the front garden for a while. It was sheltered from the wind and I managed to catch a few birds.

Blue Tit (2); adult & a juv
Blackcap 1; juv
Blackbird 3; all juv, 2 males
Robin (2); adult and juv, both finishing their (different) moults.
House Sparrow 1;
Greenfinch 2; a 2CY & a F juv

Spent the next two days tripping over contractors, potential suppliers and visitors so no chance of indulging in a little net watching!

Today, Friday, I got up fairly early and was pleased to see that the wind had died down. It had, however, switched direction and was coming from the south-west. In the past, it has not been a good direction so I decided to stick with two nets close to each other, amounting to a mere 100 feet. I would have liked to have stayed all morning but I needed to get back to attend to "household activities".

Seventeen was a reasonable haul for three hours patience. I had had to use the "other car" and that meant leaving alot of my gear in my car which was stuck on the drive behind the current contractors' large trailer. Still, I made do and when I returned home had the pleasure of mending these two (Jap) nets where they had come "undone".

So ....
Chiffchaff 9; 2 adult males, the rest juvs mostly PJ-ing
Blackcap 2
Whitethroat 1
Sedge Warbler 1; my first (and only) juv of the season
Dunnock 3
Bullfinch 1; a recently fledged juv


A poor pic of the Sedge but it shows the necklace of spots that only juveniles have.


Today's notable sightings were 2 Little Egrets heading upstream and my first two, ever, sightings of Grey Squirrel (or "tree rats") in the 1kilometer square. Am I still up to "Empire Marksman" standard? One of the two juvenile Buzzards from on the hill was 'mewlling' on the lecky pylon.
I hope to get out tomorrow or Sunday as it seems to be the right sort of time for our birdies to head for France and all points south.
E

Non-stick flying plan

As well as the three, usual nets, I put up a full height 30 foot across the stream at the ford today. First up was a small wader. It must have brushed the underside of the netting as it call repeatedly but did not fly off with a big kerfuffle. It wasn't the Green Sand. that has been around for a couple of weeks, so it might have been a Common Sand. (most likely at this time). Sometime later I saw a Kingfisher pass safely under. Then a female Goldcrest, mid-stream and top shelf; gotcha!

In between net rounds, I took out a trickle of Long-tailed Tits that had been hanging around in the big Alders just upstream of the ford. Similarly, I bagged a juvenile Chiff and a juvvy Willow Warbler, both in the second shelf (from the top) and more or less centred.

Elsewhere, the orchard net did not produce much; a "Prune", a young Song Thrush and a control, juvenile Chiffy. This had come from neighbouring ringer, John, two kilometers to the west, the first recapture of the many young birds that he has ringed this summer. We both thought that there would have been more birds coming my way, but, alas, no. I have decided to abandon ringing in among the Apples during post-fledging migration time as it seems that more birds can be caught "out in the open" as they approach the trees, maybe because they are on a lower trajectory as they come in.

Net 1 produced little although there were many birds in that general area. One reason for a poor result was having to shut the net early when the showers started as I couldn't keep a close eye on all four nets. Net 2 produced quite a few Chiffs and a miscellany of other species. I could walk backwards and forwards between this net, the ford and the orchard on the other side, passing "the ringing station" without going out of the way. This avoided any problems.

Apart from the Goldcrest, I had a couple of other 'successes'; I caught the first adult Willow Warbler of the 'autumn'. It had, to all intents and purposes, finished its full post-nuptial moult [see below]. The other was my sixth juvenile Kingfisher in as many weeks, this one just as I was about to take in the ford net, all other nets by now in the boot of the car.


Adult, male Willow Warbler, August

Ahead of this, returning from the orchard, net bag in hand, I noticed that the ford net was 'hanging funny'. I couldn't see anything in it, but as I approached, a flapping started and this "large brown thing" rose up and down and eventually got enough lift to dis-engage its feet and fly off over the net. I later saw this female Sparrowhawk hanging around the site of Net 1, where there was alot of twittering, etc. Bloomin' showers!

Twenty new birds in a few hours, dodging the showers, with 7 re-captures; ten species in all.

Kingfisher 1
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 1
Long-tailed Tit 2 (3)
Chiffchaff 8 (1 + 1 control)
Willow Warbler 2
Blackcap 1
Wren (1)
Song Thrush 1
Dunnock 3 (2)


'D' permit holder