The first Swift has arrived

Although it is only two weeks since the last blog, several things have been noticeable, not least the sight of my first Swift of 2015 earlier this afternoon, flying over the garden.

We have not done a lot of ringing, mainly because I had to take to my bed with a temperature but also because Steve came to put the management's new, hand-built potting shed up. So, most of these records refer to the week before last. The last few days have been cold and temperatures below average for the time of year. The signs corroborated this with birds of all species ransacking the food I put out like there was no tomorrow. There was to be one, because I was putting out good quantities of the stuff (SFH, suet, mealworms & sultanas) three times a day!

On the other hand, we did get in a couple of early sessions down the meadows. Day 1 was warm with bright sunshine, Day 2 was dull, damp and cold. We managed to catch the local male Dipper (unringed) and both adults of a pair of Kingfishers nesting nearby. The treat was handling the 2CY female Blackcap bearing 'Paris7851989' on both occasions, even though we were using a different net set-up. With a 79.5 mm wing and weighing in at 21.5 grams the second time (up 1.5 g), she was a big girl with no signs of carrying much fat or of a brood patch.

Paris Blackcap

Female Kingfisher

1st Sedge Warbler of 2015 (24/04)

Other birds of note down there were a pair of Bullfinch, the first Sedge of the year, my first Swallows, just one of the Willow Warblers, a female, and a couple of territorial male Blackcaps that were 'lean and mean'. Most of the other birds were trapped in the garden orchard, before I went down with the lurgi. There was little point after the shed was up as the weather had changed for the worse.

Ninety birds of which 59 are new ringings. This includes the next lot of infant Robins, the first 3JJ Dunnocks and the first of the newly fledged Greenfinches (this Thursday 30th). Still no signs of any young Blackbirds coming to our lawns.  

Woodpigeon - 1; a small, underweight but feisty bird in active wing moult (3 centres), the first one to "stick" this year.

Kingfisher - 2; a pair

Blue Tit - (1)

Great Tit - 1 (4);

Swallow - 2; now back at the stables in good numbers

Chiffchaff - 1

Willow Warbler - 4; passage seems to have stopped about a week ago

Blackcap - 6 (2); even split on sex

Sedge Warbler - 1

Wren - 2 (2); one 'eggy' female

Starling - (1)

Dipper - 1; territorial male

Blackbird - 3 (2)

Robin - 6 (2)

Dunnock - 2; young bird on 25th

House Sparrow - (3)

Chaffinch - 2 (2); mixed ages/sexes, male from 2013,

Bullfinch - 2; an unexpected 2CY pair

Greenfinch - 6 (4); 50% adult males, 2 birds from 2012

Goldfinch - 16 (8); two-thirds males, still some passage going on, weights >18 g

Siskin - 1; breeding female on 18th (BP4)

One bird missing off this list is Redstart - a calling individual was heard for about 30 minutes in the tops of the Ash trees while we were putting the roof on the shed.

[406:31]

Whoosh!

Well, we've had some more torrential rain - and our third severe gale of the winter. Trees down, tiles off, glass smashed ... but the nets stood firm! February rainfall now 168mm, that's more than twice the monthly recorded average for the time of year, and we're only half way through the month. Any way, it's started raining again. The forecast does look to be improving at long last, though. That should help the pumps down on The Levels (locally re-named "Lake Paterson"). 

I managed to get out and set the net for the best part of a day on three occasions this week, whenever the wind had died down to a safe level. I do have some shelter in the orchard if the wind is in the right vector. Ryan, a trainee, came yesterday and cut his teeth on a new species for him, Siskin.

Male Siskin

The 21 re-captured Goldfinches comprised - 1 from the 2010/11 winter period, 3 from 2011/12, 4 from 2012/13 & 13 from previously this winter. The oldest bird would have been hatched in 2009 (or earlier). One of the Siskins was a control from 8km west, ringed as an adult male last spring; the other re-trap was also from the last winter period, while it was still immature. The suspicion is that the wet weather and the gales have ruined the remaining Alder tree seeds for the Siskins, bringing them back into the gardens at last.

How we got on:-
Great Tit - 2; first of the year
Chaffinch - 1; a large, adult male bird
Greenfinch - 6 (1); an awaited increase in numbers
Goldfinch - 36 (21); still coming through, (see above)
Siskin - 16 (2); a sudden, noticeable increase in numbers coming to the feeders
Bullfinch - (1); a 2011 female
Others - 5 spp. (8)

The sun's come out, albeit briefly!

February starts green and gold.

The wintry weather since my last blog has not done much for the art of bird-catching. The enemy has been the strong winds and their friend, the rain.

I made use of this poor interlude to visit family in Bedfordshire and to meet up with Martin Garner and Tormd Amundsen on their UK tour. Not having been to a Beds Bird Club meeting for over two years now, it was inevitable that I would be teased by my many friends of times past, all in good humour. It has been less wet since returning home but, boy, has the wind been a problem combined with the low temperatures. 

The hundreds of thrushes have left the horse paddocks by the river, leaving the dozen or so Blackbirds in possesion and in peace. More recent notable sightings have included a Red Kite, a Green Woodpecker, the Magpies lining their nest (which they built a month ago), a silent Chiffchaff, the usual Egrets and the return of a Grey Heron working the river, now that the waters are receeding. The real "red letter" was a noisy Kingfisher, which, between us, we have only seen once since last April; the floods have created some suitable, if rather soft, banks for a possible nest. Perhaps they will return this spring and raise young again.

Nonetheless, I have been able to open a sheltered single 60', with the 1st and 3rd being the better catching days. Otherwise, it's been grab a couple of hours after sunrise or after lunch - and hope for the best.  During this period, I did manage a "first" for me; I controlled an adult male Siskin, albeit from Denise just 14km to the west under the edge of Exmoor. Previously, I have had just two recoveries, both long-distance, of the species many moons ago, so this was a real bonus. Perhaps there will be more.

Two species took overwhelming precedence, just two others were also ringed, plus a further five species "fell in" as retraps. All revealed now. (All different birds)

Blue Tit (1)

Blackcap (2) - the 'left-leg pair'; the 'right-leg' pair' also present

Blackbird (1)

Robin (2)

Dunnock 1 (2)

Chaffinch 2 - 'big' birds

Goldfinch 21 (3) - 50/50 on age; 20 male, 4 female (significant).

Siskin 21 (1) - 73% were 2CY; 12 males, 10 females

Bullfinch (2) the 2 adult females, both showing the beginnings of a brood patch

New = 45, recaptured = 13

2CY male

The ratio of Goldfinch males to females at this time of year falls in line with previous work I have done on the species in a different part of the country. Three of the four females were full adults. February seems to be Siskin catching time, while new Goldfinches should feature heavily until the end of April (mean egg laying date 27 April).

3CY Female

Nowhere to go

Appointments, appointments, appointments; one of those weeks. So when it wasn't raining, and I wasn't busy attending to this, that and the other, it was another week of garden ringing. Fortunately we get some protection from the northerly winds or I'd be scuppered.

Blackcaps are making a show at the moment. I had five new birds through in late October (ringed), two more last week and four this week. Fellow ringer, John, had a whopping twelve during the back half of November. It's no good, I shall have to plant some Fig trees!

First male Blackcap of this autumn

I don't think that I've caught two Collared Doves in a week before; both were hatched earlier in the year - and that may explain it, 'cos the regular adults know how to avoid getting caught (or how to get out!). There has been an influx of Blackbirds locally but the Redwings and Fieldfare groups seem to have passed on, leaving the odd bird or two to the residual food. A pleasant surprise was a small party of Siskins that came to the feeders. Four were caught as they tried to escape our terrier, with a lone bird calling from the top of the apple tree.

Siskin under-tail coverts (adult)

This week saw 16 species, with 36 new birds plus 18 re-captures.
Collared Dove 2 - both young birds (from the spring?)
Goldcrest (1)
Blue Tit 8 (3)
Great Tit (2)
Coal Tit (2)
Long-tailed Tit (2)
Chiffchaff 1 - almost certainly an abietinus
Blackcap 4 - 2x 1CY plus 1 adult female and a 1CY male, 
Blackbird 4 (2)
Robin 1 (3)
Dunnock 2 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 2 (1)
Goldfinch 5 (1)
Siskin 4 - all caught at once
Bullfinch 2 - both young females

Wintering Chiffchaff

          Young Robin 'with the hump' on a cold day

Must go and make 'best use' of this sunshine, today!

Slow down

Summer's coming, so they say. Not that we've seen any of it so far. The last fortnight has been slow to say the least, with just the one day when there was some sort of flurry. It was last Thursday, when we didn't have to go to the supermarket - because we went on Wednesday in stead. Typical.

I have ringed 38 new birds over the 16 days since my last visit, with 12 retraps if I exclude all but the first of the multiple extractions of the Bullfinch clan. [Should start to disperse more widely now].
0, 4, 3, 1, 1, 3, 2, 2, 6, 0, 0/7, 0, 10, 3, 0, 3. That's how it went.

The one uplifting moment - 3JJ Redstart

Jackdaw 1
Blue Tit 3 (3)
Great Tit 2 (2)
Long-tailed Tit 1 - my 1st juv., moulting too.
Chiffchaff 1
Blackcap 8
Wren 3 (1)
Blackbird (2) - a 6F & a 5F
Robin 2
Redstart 1 - the tail was on the previous blog
Dunnock 2
House Sparrow 8 (1)
Goldfinch 1 (1) - a very recent fledgling
Bullfinch 5 (2) - the whole family (spread over)

Now that we are able to access the net-ride sites, the 7 new birds were taken down at the meadows last Tuesday. The grasses are the tallest anyone can remember. Tally was - Blue Tit 1, Chiffchaff 1, Blackcap 2 (1), Wren 1, Song Thrush 1 [a 5M], and Dunnock 1.

The lower crossing place

Now the sun's out from 05:22 until 21:16 and even a blind man can see the nets! What's worse is the bats (brown long-eared) are back out again, wizzing round the nets at dawn and dusk - so they have to be furled until the 'danger' is over.

If 'The Levels' dry out in this warm weather, we may be out catching some warblers the other side of Bridgewater, sooner rather than later! Need to play 'catch-up' - only 500 (or 50%) behind last year's total by now.

PS. I think I've lost some HTML coding as the side bar has slipped to the end of the posts! Ha ha.

Spoke too soon

Denise got her Siskins back and I got my Goldies.


The weather has not been very conducive for ringing but the garden can be sheltered under certain conditions. This has been just so this week and I have been able to supervise the nets for half a day at a time. The resident "boys and gals" (a group of 12-13 Goldfinches) are still roaming from the meadows to my garden (for that read Holly and Birch) and on to the recreation ground, behind which we looked at an alternative house. Basically, they are following the "river" [ it's only about 6 feet (2m) wide at most!]. They do the circuit two or three times a day, spending much of their time "twittering" as a 'family group' in the tops of the mature trees. The birds that I am now catching are "incomers".

Before I moved to Somerset, I studied the Goldfinches in my other garden over a number of years. It was evident that the number of female birds that used the feeders was low in winter and increased as the breeding season progressed, culminating in a peak during the main moult, i.e. August (juveniles were excluded). Here is the graph I produced.

A similar situation is on-going; 10 of the birds caught so far this week have been Euring 5 males, 1 a 6M, 2 were 6F's and 1 a 5F. This very small (non-statistical) sample makes the females 21% of the total trapped.

Other species have been caught, but the 14 'King Harrys' dominated. The others were made up of 5 birds, all of different species. [Blackcap, Bullfinch, House Sparrow, (Blackbird), (Dunnock)]

The third Bullfinch of the week was a splendid adult male (Euring 6) and a second Blackcap, this time a new male (Euring 5). There's still another un-ringed male out there, and remaining 'slippery'.

The weather is predicted to be cold - good for attracting birds in to the feeders - but the windspeed is set for Beaufort 5, too much for mist-netting. I'm not baited up to be able to set the whoosh. we'll just have to wait.

Tails. You Loose.

Felt very much like it this last week. It has been very mild for the time of year - up to 14deg C! believe it or not. It's been like that for three weeks now. The wind has come and gone, making netting a bit hit and miss. The main problem has been the utter lack of birds, presumably because they are still finding food in the countryside and their calorie expenditure has been minimal (if they keep out of a draught at night). I did see a Siskin today, though, and the Dipper flies back and forth every morning at sunrise. The next four days may well present the birds with a different scenario - namely, FROSTS! and low (6deg C ??) daytime temperatures. The feeders have been cleaned and refilled ready.

The main excitement has been another Blackcap, this one an adult female. I include its portrait below and that of its diagnostic, wide and rounded tail feathers.



The most surprising, if only for their colour, were two male Bullfinches together at the end of the orchard. They were probably after plundering some of our apple buds.

The other significant event occured when two of the four or five Redwings stripping the last of the Holly berries, from the 'big un' out front, fell into the net. One was a immature bird, the other an adult, whose tail, wide and rounded like the adult Blackcap's, is also posted below.


And so to the grand total of all my efforts in the garden since the last blog post - it hasn't really been worth going over the meadows as they remain very wet under-foot.

Goldcrest (1) - an adult male
Blue Tit 1 (1)
Long-tailed Bushtit 1 - must be an 'incomer'
Blackcap 1
Wren 1 - an adult female
Blackbird 1 (2)
Redwing 2
Robin (2)
Dunnock 1 (5) - that makes it 12 different "Shufflewings" in the garden in the last month
House Sparrow 1
Goldfinch 2
Bullfinch 2
12 species, 13 new, (11 retraps), over five of the last nine mornings.

Happy Christmas

Managed to "slip in" a session or two early on Xmas Eve and again on Boxing Day, in the garden before the visiting friends and neighbours arrived. Highlight on day 1 was this large adult male "grey bird", as it's known locally.


On day 2, I trapped another female Bullfinch, only the second here, the other five all being males of the species. Incidentally, I have only caught one down by the stream.

Garden:
Blue Tit 1
Great Tit 1
Blackbird (3)
Mistle Thrush 1
Robin 1 (2)
Dunnock 1 (3)
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 1
Bullfinch 1

The day after Boxing Day, I was due to go to 'Clarks Village, a shopping outlet in Street. But before that, I set a net on the edge of the meadows where there is a wide Holly hedge that I had seen thrushes moving through. I duly got up in the dark and managed to trap 4 Blackbirds, one of which, a juvenile male (below) might have been of continental origins going by its winglength and weight compared to the other three "locals".


Meadows:
Blue Tit 2
Blackbird 4
Robin 1
Dunnock 3

There will be no opportunity for more ringing due to the 'social calendar' imposed upon me - unless a former trainee rolls up for some birdy fun!
[He rolled up - but so did the rain]

Saturday Awayday

I travelled up to Buckinghamshire again for a session in the New Wood. As well as Dave S, I was joined by trainee Andrew W, who normally rings with Mick A'C in the wood to the east. The two woods are very similar but that is not surprising as ours was modelled on the semi-ancient one next door. The main difference, apart from age, is that more Hawthorn (of both types, English and Midland) has been incorporated into the New Wood.

The weather was not over conducive for a large catch since the wind was at the top end of acceptable and the cloud cover was 'solid', with not the slightest hit of some sun. A little of the latter might have helped "excite" the birds. It was raining when we got up - not what the Met. Office ordered! The catch was mostly what one would have expected at an 'in-between time', with the summer birds all gone and the winter birds not arrived here yet.

During the morning, we managed to catch and ring 29 new birds and recapture a further 6.

The others found the young male Goldcrest exciting to handle which took the shine off the female caught soon after.


Me, I liked the young, male Chiff that was still undergoing a heavy PJ moult at so late a date.


Four Bullfinches was as good as this time last year but we wait to see if we will be able to ring 14 in November as we did last year.

Blue Tit 7 (2)
Great Tit 3 (2)
Long-tailed Tit 11 (2)
Goldcrest 2
Chifchaff 1
Wren 1
Bullfinch 4

Hopefully, we shall find a window of opportunity during the first half of November for a final visit of the year. With the weather and rest days against us, we (EN & DS) have rung up a total of just 70 new birds ringed (and 7 re-traps) of 18 spp. against last year's totals of 231 new plus 60 r/t of 28 spp. In November 2010, a single visit brought in 88 birds. Fingers crossed!