Sauntering up to the Summer Solstice

This post covers the three week run-up to the longest day.

Things are busy in the garden - grass to manage, hedges to cut, borders to weed, soft fruit to pick, black-fly to purge, vegetables to tend, water and harvest, and so it goes on. At least the new potting shed is finished and the greenhouse glass repaired.

The birds have been busy too, mostly feeding their young on either natural food or that which I have provided. So far this year, I have gone through 120kg of SFH, 25kg of suet, 15kg of 'finch seed' (fine stuff) and 10kg of dried mealworms. Haven't counted the packets of sultanas! And dread to think of the cost, too. However, time to replenish stocks!

From now on, the amount of bird-food that I will be putting out will drop off considerably, allowing the birds to return to their natural diet in the countryside/farmland/housing estates. Come November, when the fog and first frosts should appear, I will start feeding more heavily. I find that the greatest demand is either during periods of snow or lengthy frosts and immediately prior to and during the breeding season. By easing off, usually by putting out food just the once 'early doors', the birds are driven to follow their natural instincts for the rest of the day. This weeds out "the chaff from the straw", leaving the fittest to make it round to next year's breeding season. 

For Goldfinch aficionados, have a look at Peter Alker's blog here; you might want to tear out the id pages from Svensson after reading this.

Now for some pictures of very young birds that have been caught recently. With still a lot of growing to do, especially of their flight feathers, it's a marvel that they manage to fly so strongly. We quite often find them high up in the nets.

recently fledged Greenfinch

juvenile House Sparrow about to join the world

unusual growth bars on a juvenile Blackbird

juvenile Nuthatch

And some not so young birds.

breeding Herring Gull (argenteus) at least 8 years old

primary wing moult in a 1st year Collared Dove
(hatched early in the year, probably early February)

A really good total for the time of year - often we are away for a week in June, so the fact that we weren't this year might have helped!

200 new birds and some 40 birds from previous.
Herring Gull - 1; a beautiful adult in moult
Woodpigeon - 0; couldn't get to it in time!
Collared Dove - 3;
Gt. Spotted Woodpecker - 2; a pair busy provisioning their young from the feeder
Jackdaw - 1; a youngster
Rook - 1; a too enthusiastic female
Blue Tit - 16 (1); a male from November 2011 (4M)
Great Tit - 12;
Swallow - 3; a first brood about 10-12 days old
Long-tailed Tit - 19 (3); all in one go!
Blackcap - 4 (2); mum & dad first, then four youngsters
Nuthatch - 1; a juvenile was an unexpected first for the garden (doesn't breed in our tetrad, a 2x2km grid square)
Wren - 2;
Starling - 5;
Blackbird - 13 (4); two birds from autumn 2013
Robin - 13 (5); our old female yet again (born here in spring 2011)
Spotted Flycatcher - 2; a pair caught together late morning on the 7th, another first!

male & female Spotted Flycatcher, June 2015
(not separable on plumage)

Dunnock - 11 (4);
House Sparrow - 32 (8); oldest a 2012 youngster
Pied Wagtail - 1; "old peg-leg", an adult (3cy) back in July 2012
Chaffinch - 6  (2);
Greenfinch - 28 (2); the real surprise - lots of new young birds
Goldfinch - 22 (8); just 3 adults - that were all male
Siskin - 5;

Over the half-way mark (750) for new birds this year and hopefully about ten more species to get as well, going by previous years. Nothing's  guaranteed in this game though!

PS. I buy much of my bird-food in bulk direct from the importers/processors/wholesalers to reduce costs. It is stored in plastic dustbins to deter the Wood Mice.

What's doing? Not a lot!

It has been a tad breezy down this way lately, what with the wind coming from the north-west down the Irish Sea. Although that means the old orchard net is sheltered somewhat, the new orchard net (the orchard is new-ish, not the net) does billow a bit at times. Just have to keep an eye on things, that's all. 

August is the month of the House Sparrows. This year seems to have been a good one for them. A few more and it'll be a 'ton-up'. All youngsters, of course; you won't catch a wily adult hitting the net very often, or even a second time offender amongst the teenage ranks!

Birds of some interest (that means I don't catch them very often) this period include another Collared Dove (makes three this year), a Woodpigeon, a Sedge Warbler, a Garden Warbler and the eleventh Pied Wagtail of the year.

Juvenile Garden Warbler
[note the grey collar]

Juvenile Sedge Warbler
[If it was an adult, it would be very abraded] 

Woodpigeon
[Always fascinated by the shape of their iris]

Altogether, there were 16 species and 63 new birds that were ringed. Ten species also had re-traps, amounting to 31 percent of the tally. This is pretty normal for me and this type of general ringing. Its the same with the Constant Effort Sites programme with which I was associated for many, many years. On the other hand, some ringers/groups target certain species at particular times of the year and their re-traps tend to be year-to-year  controls and a lot less as a percentage of their overall, annual totals. They usually make up for it with many more recoveries!

To the chase! All juveniles unless indicated otherwise.

Woodpigeon 1 - adult

Collared Dove 1 - adult

Wren 3

Dunnock 2 (2)

Robin 8 (2) - r/t adult female 1 year old

Blackbird 2 (2)

Sedge Warbler 1 - only one so far this year

Garden Warbler 1 - a second bird in two weeks! Scarce around here.

Blackcap 3 (1)

Long-tailed Tit 2 (10) - 2 r/t adults, 1 year & 2 years old

Blue Tit 10 (4)

Great Tit 1 (3)

House Sparrow 12 (2) - a new, adult male!!

Chaffinch 1

Greenfinch 1 (1)

Goldfinch 13 (3) - a new ad. male, 2 r/t ad. females, 1 of them caught 967 days ago (December) as a 1CY  

Juvenile Robin undergoing PJ moult 

Juvenile Robin at the end of PJ moult

Juvenile Blue Tit nearing the end of PJ moult

Juvenile Blue Tit - renewing old greater coverts unevenly
[notice that the alula & primary coverts are "original"]

It's 'Pony Week' - so all efforts, ornithological or horticultural, confined to the garden this week. I might be able to do something in the meadows after that, provided the remaining horses/ponies are more interested in grazing than seeing what I'm up to.

Two weeks on ...

... and we had 46 mm of rain in 5 hours. That's the same as the ten year average, all on the first day of the month! More thunderstorms have ensued since. Anyway, back to birds and the last 18 days.

Garden-wise, it's the House Sparrows that have been most in evidence, as they always are at this time of year with this year's youngsters looking for their next meal. They don't go near the feeders, as a rule, but prefer the bird table, either ours or our neighbours. That means I catch them as they cross the open part of the garden, where I don't usually net. There is still an active Blackbird's nest somewhere; both mum and dad collect mouthfuls of suet pellets early doors and scoot off with them.

Cinnabar caterpillars on Ragwort
(click to enlarge)

It's been a very good year for butterflies and moths. We have had many more Cinnabar moths this year and, with a small patch of Ragwort at their disposal, hundreds of caterpillars have emerged. Right now, they are looking for somewhere to pupate.

There has been a lot of Herring Gull activity post fledging, all ages readily coming to the broken up Hovis crusts I deliver. One pair are still attending their nest site, which they haven't used, just played about with a few bits and bobs of rubbish to form a base. The building's owners usually take the old nest away each autumn, as do many owners/occupiers. Still doesn't stop the birds from returning to their allotted spot each spring, though. 

There was a flurry of Swallow activity last week with 26 birds hunting over the garden one evening. Down on the meadows the number of individuals hawking for insects has decreased noticeably. The meadows are fully cut and part has been "mown" ready for the inevitable gymkhana that the owner's sister puts on for her young female riders. The better news is that the owners are going to fence off and gate the southern two meadows (that includes the ford) and resolve to contain the various horses in the larger northern section (that also has a crossing). Most of the site that I use could be available for ringing all year round next year.

Despite various restrictions, mainly on the domestic front, I have still managed to ring 98 new birds this period and re-capture another 26 individuals, (I discard any same period re-traps), of 19 species as under. The list is dominated by juveniles, before, during or after their post-juvenile moult.

Collared Dove (1) - long-winged, adult female of indeterminate age (>4 yrs), with BP
Kingfisher 1
Gt. Spotted Woodpecker (1)
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 6
Great Tit 3 (2) - 2 post-breeding females re-trapped
Long-tailed Tit (3)
Chiffchaff 7 - incl. adult male & female
Blackcap 10
Whitethroat 2 (1) - re-trap breeding female & a new 2CY male
Wren 8 (2)
Blackbird 8 (3) - includes the late breeding female (2x) although I try to avoid her.
Robin 5 (1)
Dunnock 1 (3)
House Sparrow 27 (8) - a new adult male & female
Grey Wagtail 1
Greenfinch 5
Goldfinch 11 (1) - adult male from beforehand

Grey Wagtail - juvenile

Goldcrest - juvenile

Blackcap -juvenile male
Note single, new, black feather emerging above eye

 Today I spotted (pun) my first local flycatchers. They, a pair, were carrying food for some youngsters tucked away somewhere around the old water-wheel site that served Egrove Farm mill. Couldn't stop - other half about to leave for Norfolk.

Off-site I did manage to meet up with two old Beds birding mates (DJO & DK) for a pint and a curry like the old days. Hilarious.

Stop-start

Torrential rain forecast for the next 48 hours. What will the birds make of that? It's not spring, but it's not winter either. But it is the coldest March for 15 or so years.

It has been a "grab it while you can" sort of week. As it turned out, the species list was one of the longest for some time, meaning summer is on its way, no matter how slowly. We have gone from Brambling to Chiffchaff, coupled with a vis-mig of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails.

Now some pics of the common birds caught lately -

Male Great Tit

Male Chaffinch (3CY+, March)

Male Dunnock

Male Siskin (March)

What's been going on since last week's blog?

Woodpigeon - 1; quite a heavy bird
Collared Dove - 1; number 19 (in 2 years)
Blue Tit - (1); young female starting to get her first brood patch
Great Tit - 1; a new male muscling in?
Coal Tit - 1; new 2CY female
Chiffchaff - 2; both males on wing length (62 & 66 mm)
Blackcap - (1); one of the males now weighing 23 g (fat 40)
Wren - 2 (2); 3 (noisy) males and a new '3CY+ lady'
Blackbird - (3); inc. 3CY female with a good brood patch
Song Thrush - 1 (1); new young male and an experienced female
Robin - (2); the 3CY female (hatched here) had a well developed BP
Dunnock - 2 (3); lost count of how many are around the garden hedges
House Sparrow - 1; male
Chaffinch - 3; 2 ad. females & ad. male - all UK on wing length
Brambling - 2; both females, both fat 20
Greenfinch - 1; opposite sex attracted by the displaying male?
Goldfinch - 1 (1); probably not locals (they know the routine!)
Siskin - 24 (2) +2C; 'prolific' - following the current, national trend.
Total captures = 61 of 18 spp. = 43 new + 18 re-traps/controls

Season's first Chiff; heavily abraded male

2CY Siskin; old secondaries, 1 old tertial, old outer tail

Female Brambling - mid March

Although we are having heavy rain with little let up, the weather is far worse further north, in Wales and north-west England. Perhaps their snow will drive the birds south briefly towards us. Perhaps it won't. We will have to see. Find out next week.

Wind stopped play

Yeah! Got the message when a strong gust took the top of the net into the apple tree. The wind tugged the net so hard, one of the guys slipped (only a couple of inches) and the net was free to fly. Out with the ladder! After that the wind got worse and stayed that way for a few days. Still bad. Doah.

We had a Community Speed-Watch session today by the school which is on the village outskirts. Despite the temperature being above freezing, the wind coming across the site meant we left gladly after an hour, the morning rush being over. Just the two miscreants from over two hundred motorists, one of them well over the 30 limit (40+ mph). That's despite four stationary bods in high-vis jackets (one a PCSO) - he needs to go to Specsavers! There were a few "front-end dippers" coming out of the 40 zone once they twigged us. Job done. Several 'thumbs-up' from drivers.

During this period since my last blog, there has been no rain, just a smidgin of dry snow. The ground is beginning to firm up at long last after all that rain from April to January (2012 was up 38.6% on the 1981-2010 local average). The Egrets are not so wedded to the local horse paddocks any more and I have spotted them elsewhere up and down the local streams. Other people have reported lots of Siskins in their gardens, but here they seem to have mainly departed and we are more likely to pick them up in the tops of the stream-side Alders, now that the cones have dried out again. What is noticeable is the build up of Blackbirds and the return of the Mistle and Song Thrushes. [Haven't a clue why the latter vacate this vicinity in winter]

The Buzzard kettles have now become courting pairs, displaying some distance from their preferred nesting site on occassions. The Moorhens are also back on territory but there has been no further sightings of the Kingfishers or Dippers. Several ringers have been shouting about the huge numbers of Redpolls that they have caught, but they are infrequent hereabouts. However, we might be lucky in the next few weeks to obtain a specimen or two during their northward passage.

From the catching and watching it has been apparent that there are quite a few more Blue Tits around. I suspect they are wanting to get into full breeding nick, hence their visits to the feeders (and the nets). As usual, they soon learn how to circumvent those (almost) invisible obstacles! Here's the running order since last we were here.



Collared Dove 1

Blue Tit 1 (8) - seems to be older males and younger females

Great Tit 1 (4)

Long-tailed Tit (2) - possible pair

Blackcap (1) - the unlucky one; the rest (4+) are busy to-and-froing to the sultanas on the bird tables. I will move the nets later.

Wren (2) - potential pair

Blackbird 2 (2) - the new ones were "non-standard"

Robin (2)

Dunnock (6) - there must be 10 (ringed) knocking about

House Sparrow 1

Chaffinch 2 - both young females

Greenfinch 1 (1)

Goldfinch 5 (2)

Siskin 3 - all virgin males (2CY)

Totals - 17 new birds (30 recaptured)

Finch fest

The weather has been awful. 44.5 mm of rain so far this month after 139 mm in January. Everywhere locally is sodden. A couple of days without rain saw the river go down and almost lose its colour. So it was a pleasant surprise to find a Dipper sitting on the bank by the old weir, singing. This is my first sighting hereabouts since the end of April last, when four chicks sat on my neighbour's wall, waiting to be fed by the parents. Next day we had THAT RAIN. And that was that!

Six (6) Little Egrets have been working the meadows and the horse paddocks for a while now. Occasionally, they are all together but they are more likely to be scattered over the site, which is extensive, and are often "invisible" to me from the lane/footpath. The problem is that when the meadows dry up, they will all be accessible again on foot but less inviting for the Egrets. Three of them have hung around in previous summers, so there is always the chance that they may decide to breed here. Four of the six now have nice plumes, so here's hoping!

6 Little Egrets @ Highbridge

Here's what I been up to, ringing-wise, since this time last week:
Collared Dove 1
Goldcrest (1)
Blackcap 1 (2) - all ladies
Wren (1)
Robin (2)
Dunnock (2)
Pied Wagtail (1) - the club-footed male
Chaffinch 2 (1)
Brambling 1
Greenfinch 10
Goldfinch 16 (1)
Siskin 20
Total 51 ringed (12 recaptures)

Adult male Brambling 

Today has been a pleasant day, if with a cold wind. The forecasters predict another three or four more of bright conditions which may not be all that helpful as there is yet no background of green foliage from the apple trees to hide the net! We shall see.

Turn-over

This week's blog stretches over both the old and the new years, and goes from the 364th day, last Saturday, round to the 4th (yesterday) of the current year. The weather, meantime has settled down, although the skies have remained 'grim' with a heavy overcast. As you can see in the side-bar, I ended the year on a measly 1224 new birds, added to by 517 recaptures of some of these birds and ones from the previous year and 10 of other peoples, although not from that far away (all to the west).

On day 1, after recapturing a 5F Blackbird of likely continental origin, and a 6F Goldcrest that's been hanging around since the summer, followed by a 5F Blackcap, another bird sent courtesy of the European Union, that seems to avoid the two others of the opposite sex, I finally got to put my first ring on a new bird.

Inevitably it was a first year King Harry (actually a Princess Harriet).

Voila!

No.1 and in the lead - Carduelis carduelis (5F)

14 species for the period, made up of 35 newly ringed birds and 17 doing the rounds for a second time or more. Lots of "young" birds.

Collared Dove (1) - a miracle! [they don't usually get caught twice!]

Goldcrest (2) - possible a pair bond

Blue Tit 1 (1)

Coal Tit (2)

Long-tailed Tit 6 - a third roving flock

Blackcap (2) - the two 'permanent' 2CY females

Wren (1) - ringed as an adult female, first winter period last year

Blackbird 6 (3) - surprise bird of the week; why?

Robin (1)

Chaffinch 5

Greenfinch 2 - both "1st years" (now 2CY)

Goldfinch 13 (3) - top spot again

Siskin 1 - a 5F

Bullfinch 1 (1) - another new male and a 2010 female

Checking through the Blackbirds' wing-lengths, the following is noticeable. There were two males with 'continental' lengths, 138 & 137 mm, and the other a northern UK or 'near continental' size of 134 mm, with which I was more familiar in East Anglia. There were two females with "long" wings, 136 & 134 mm, two 'intermediate' at 131 & 130 mm, and the final two with the more expected wing-length of 128 mm for local birds. Some of our local females are as short as 124 mm, so these last two were on the "big" side. All the new birds were rather "speckled" on the breast, i.e. with pale edges to the body feathers, suggestive of migratory birds.

The last couple of days have turned mild, temperatures at night being more reminiscent of January daytime figures (8-9 deg C). Whether this will inhibit birds from seeking out and using the feeders, time will tell. Some birds are striving to get into breeding condition and breeding plumage. At this time of year you're quite likely to "acquire" a few body feathers, especially from Dunnocks, as they go through a pre-nuptial moult. I sometimes wonder if these birds are not being a bit premature, but I suppose they'll survive.

My little helper ("Amber" - Lakeland x Border)

A very happy, fortunate and mega-birdy New Year to you from   Cardew Ellis

  

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!