The new year saw the continuation of the wet weather; it finally petered out in the middle of February, just in time for my birthday and a birding visitor from Bedford.
The birds were not so much affected by the 200 mm of rain in six weeks as we were. Nettlecombe also got a miss, apart from New Year's day. I was able to ring for short periods before or after the daily showers but the pickings were generally slim.
Initially, it was mainly Greenfinch and Goldfinch that were interested in the SFH, with the Greenfinchs tailing off as the month progressed and being replaced with the sight of a few (local) Siskins. I managed to ring 43 Goldies, 31 Greenies and 15 Siskins by the end of January, together with 13 Long-tailed Tits (Lottis) and 11 Blue Tits, a couple more overwintering Blackcaps, 3 Goldcrests, 4 Coal Tits and 3 Chaffinch. On the non-passerine front, a Sparrowhawk, a Woodpigeon, a Rook and a Collared Dove all "stuck" long enough for me to extract and ring them.
These figures were all bolstered by a significant number of re-traps. For instance, there were another 39 individual Goldfinches in the net, 13 Blue Tits and 7 Coal Tits, virtually doubling the "new bird" figures.
So January kicked off the New Year with the following numbers of known individual birds, both newly ringed and returning birds from last year or earlier.
Sparrowhawk - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Collared Dove - 1
Rook - 1
Goldcrest - 4 (1)
Blue Tit - 11 (13)
Great Tit - (2)
Coal Tit - 4 (7)
Long-tailed Tit - 13 (5)
Blackcap - 2
Wren - (2)
Blackbird - 2 (3)
Robin - (8), 2 "locals", the rest were most likely wintering.
Dunnock - (4), resident birds
House Sparrow - 5 (4), they have a flight path which avoids the net.
Pied Wagtail - (1)
Chaffinch - 3 (3)
Greenfinch - 31 (1), an even split of the sexes; 24 immature birds.
Goldfinch - 43 (39), again quite a few with Aspergillosis
Siskin - 15 (2), one was a control from 15km west.
Records of two Kingfishers came to light. The first was a breeding female from last year that was found dead beside a pond 2km to the south. This most likely died of starvation as the streams ran full and with a heavy red-brown silt load that would have hindered fishing. The second was caught in neighbouring ringer, John's, garden 2km to the west.
I also had a recovery of a young Sedge Warbler from Donges in France, 438km south from here in just 12 days after ringing. Could have been a Welsh bird that was already on the move when I caught it. [Large breeding population 50-75km to the north of here]
Now on to February. After a while, by that I mean when the rains subsided, a different picture emerged. On my birthday, I caught the first of eleven Bramblings for the month, a species I had not handled here since mid-April 2013. With them came the Chaffinches and the Siskins. In all, I ringed in excess of 150 new finches before the end of the month.
Two more Blackcaps made 12 for the winter, two-thirds of them being males. One of these was a returning bird which I first ringed just before Christmas 2012.
So, on to February's figures.
Woodpigeon - 1
Goldcrest - 1, a splendid male.
Blue Tit - 4 (3), no signs of "pre-nuptials" yet.
Great Tit - 2
Coal Tit - 3
Long-tailed Tit - 1 (2)
Blackcap - 2, 2CY males.
Wren - (1)
Blackbird - 3 (2), display/pairing towards the month end.
Robin - 2 (
Dunnock - 3 (2), courting behaviour becoming obvious.
House Sparrow - 3 (1)
Pied Wagtail - "peg-leg" still being friendly each morning.
Brambling - 11, 7 of which were males.
Chaffinch - 15, females out numbered males 2:1.
Bullfinch - 1
Greenfinch - 21 (8), the re-traps were from earlier this winter.
Goldfinch - 63 (57), these 120 birds were but a fraction of the birds moving south(?), especially after the rains stopped and temperatures dropped. By far the majority were young birds.
Siskin - 48 (10), includes 2 controls.
The Siskin controls were each different. The first had been ringed last autumn as an adult female in Thetford Forest, Suffolk, 304km and 160 days earlier. The other was ringed as an immature female, almost three years to the day, by neighbour John at Five Bells (that's between Williton and Watchet), 1098 days previously. Is this one a local breeder??
I also received notice of a Goldfinch that had been ringed as a young bird two summers ago at Oxwich Marsh, Swansea, 74km north-west of here. As well, I re-caught another one 1572 days (that's about 4y 3m & 3 weeks) after it was ringed, then about 6 months old.
At last, I had the correct details of a 2CY female Blackcap that we trapped down the meadows last spring. It had been caught and ringed (in a vineyard) at a place called Bouloc, which is approx 20km north of Toulouse, France, and 893km to the south of here, when it was, presumably, still on or nearing the end of its autumn migration.
All in all, that's 317 new birds of 22 species ringed so far this year.
Initially, it was mainly Greenfinch and Goldfinch that were interested in the SFH, with the Greenfinchs tailing off as the month progressed and being replaced with the sight of a few (local) Siskins. I managed to ring 43 Goldies, 31 Greenies and 15 Siskins by the end of January, together with 13 Long-tailed Tits (Lottis) and 11 Blue Tits, a couple more overwintering Blackcaps, 3 Goldcrests, 4 Coal Tits and 3 Chaffinch. On the non-passerine front, a Sparrowhawk, a Woodpigeon, a Rook and a Collared Dove all "stuck" long enough for me to extract and ring them.
These figures were all bolstered by a significant number of re-traps. For instance, there were another 39 individual Goldfinches in the net, 13 Blue Tits and 7 Coal Tits, virtually doubling the "new bird" figures.
So January kicked off the New Year with the following numbers of known individual birds, both newly ringed and returning birds from last year or earlier.
Sparrowhawk - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Collared Dove - 1
Rook - 1
Goldcrest - 4 (1)
Blue Tit - 11 (13)
Great Tit - (2)
Coal Tit - 4 (7)
Long-tailed Tit - 13 (5)
Blackcap - 2
Wren - (2)
Blackbird - 2 (3)
Robin - (8), 2 "locals", the rest were most likely wintering.
Dunnock - (4), resident birds
House Sparrow - 5 (4), they have a flight path which avoids the net.
Pied Wagtail - (1)
Chaffinch - 3 (3)
Greenfinch - 31 (1), an even split of the sexes; 24 immature birds.
Goldfinch - 43 (39), again quite a few with Aspergillosis
Siskin - 15 (2), one was a control from 15km west.
Records of two Kingfishers came to light. The first was a breeding female from last year that was found dead beside a pond 2km to the south. This most likely died of starvation as the streams ran full and with a heavy red-brown silt load that would have hindered fishing. The second was caught in neighbouring ringer, John's, garden 2km to the west.
I also had a recovery of a young Sedge Warbler from Donges in France, 438km south from here in just 12 days after ringing. Could have been a Welsh bird that was already on the move when I caught it. [Large breeding population 50-75km to the north of here]
Now on to February. After a while, by that I mean when the rains subsided, a different picture emerged. On my birthday, I caught the first of eleven Bramblings for the month, a species I had not handled here since mid-April 2013. With them came the Chaffinches and the Siskins. In all, I ringed in excess of 150 new finches before the end of the month.
Two more Blackcaps made 12 for the winter, two-thirds of them being males. One of these was a returning bird which I first ringed just before Christmas 2012.
 |
| First winter male Blackcap. Note the "sharp" wing and tail feathers. |
Woodpigeon - 1
Goldcrest - 1, a splendid male.
Blue Tit - 4 (3), no signs of "pre-nuptials" yet.
Great Tit - 2
Coal Tit - 3
Long-tailed Tit - 1 (2)
Blackcap - 2, 2CY males.
Wren - (1)
Blackbird - 3 (2), display/pairing towards the month end.
Robin - 2 (
Dunnock - 3 (2), courting behaviour becoming obvious.
House Sparrow - 3 (1)
Pied Wagtail - "peg-leg" still being friendly each morning.
Brambling - 11, 7 of which were males.
Chaffinch - 15, females out numbered males 2:1.
Bullfinch - 1
Greenfinch - 21 (8), the re-traps were from earlier this winter.
Goldfinch - 63 (57), these 120 birds were but a fraction of the birds moving south(?), especially after the rains stopped and temperatures dropped. By far the majority were young birds.
Siskin - 48 (10), includes 2 controls.
The Siskin controls were each different. The first had been ringed last autumn as an adult female in Thetford Forest, Suffolk, 304km and 160 days earlier. The other was ringed as an immature female, almost three years to the day, by neighbour John at Five Bells (that's between Williton and Watchet), 1098 days previously. Is this one a local breeder??
I also received notice of a Goldfinch that had been ringed as a young bird two summers ago at Oxwich Marsh, Swansea, 74km north-west of here. As well, I re-caught another one 1572 days (that's about 4y 3m & 3 weeks) after it was ringed, then about 6 months old.
At last, I had the correct details of a 2CY female Blackcap that we trapped down the meadows last spring. It had been caught and ringed (in a vineyard) at a place called Bouloc, which is approx 20km north of Toulouse, France, and 893km to the south of here, when it was, presumably, still on or nearing the end of its autumn migration.
All in all, that's 317 new birds of 22 species ringed so far this year.
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