Two weeks have passed

In those two weeks things have moved closer to the shortest daylength, now just five weeks away, and there has been a small amount of movement. During weeks 45 & 46 in other years (all three, big deal), I have caught 21 different species and averaged 26.33 new birds per week. The only species that has been trapped but not turned up as a new bird is the Long-tailed Tit. This year, I have achieved 32.00 new birds per week covering just 14 species. Below I've tabulated all 21 species, with the average number of new birds over the last three years alongside this years.

1CY female Chiffchaff

1CY male Chiffchaff

These are the two Chiffs from this period. Athough the same species and approximately the same age, they look much different (and not just because of my photography skills). This female was greener and yellower than the male. It was a pity that my new trainees were not around when these were caught, but there will be plenty of opportunity for that at a later date, rest assured.

As you may be aware, I love my 'Stillits' (that's Norwegian for Goldfinch) and I'm having a good year for them. Of the 14 retraps, 5 were males, the oldest 467 and 348 days from ringing, the others ringed as juveniles this year. The other nine were females, three of which were returning adults, the rest all juveniles with the oldest ringed back at the beginning of July. Female Goldfinch X105685 was ringed 1397 days previously as a 3CY bird. She will be about five and a half years old by now. It happens to be the 92nd Goldfinch that I ringed, in my first ten days here, while there was snow on the ground. [See http://masterringer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/king-of-kings.html] With a long history of being caught in different months, I suspect that she breeds and remains locally.

Note: average new for weeks 45/46 shown in square brackets [-] thus. As always, current retraps, counted once only if more than one re-capture during this period, in brackets (-).
Collared Dove [0.67] - 1; a 1CY bird from early in the year
Gt. Spot. Woodpecker [0.33] - 0; a cracking adult male, noisy too!
Magpie [0.33] - 0
Goldcrest [2.33] - 2 (1); both males, one an adult renewing part of its tail that "came adrift" elsewhere
Blue Tit [10.00] - 7 (4); two adults, the rest youngsters
Great Tit [1.00] - 1 (1)
Coal Tit [0.67] - 1
Long-tailed Tit [0.00] - 0
Chiffchaff [0.67] - 2; 1CY of opposite sexes
Blackcap [3.67] - 2; both males, the first a full adult (Euring age 4)
Wren [1.00] - 0
Blackbird [4.67] - 2; both young males (probably fairly local, going by wing legth)
Song Thrush [0.67] - 0
Redwing [0.67] - 0
Robin [1.00] - 2 (2)
Dunnock [1.33] - 0 (2)
House Sparrow [2.33] - 1 (1)
Chaffinch [2.00] - 1
Greenfinch [4.33] - 1
Goldfinch [14.67] - 39 (14)
Siskin [0.33] - 0

However, the following period started with a Sparrowhawk, a Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, a Goldcrest and another Blackcap (makes eight so far this season), all of which would have improved the figures. I get the impression that autumn has been about two weeks late this year (compared to recent years) and as yet we haven't seen any Redwing movements and many of the trees are still carrying a lot of leaf. More about them in a fortnight's time, fingers crossed.

Influx of East Europeans (and other immigrants)

It is still quite quiet here (mid-November). A couple of days ago I noticed a large number (~200) of Redwings and Fieldfares on the grazing meadows a short distance down the road. Prior to that, we had only noticed small flocks made up of 5-15 individuals, feeding in the hedgerows as they moved through the area. Normally these sheep/cattle fields play host to a flock of over 100 Jackdaws and c.50 Rooks, as they seem to be "full of worms" and invertebrates throughout most of the year. 

We have had almost a foot (285 mm) of rain in the last seven weeks and the birds that rely on the local streams moved out as the levels and flow speed increased. They either went to shallower parts upstream or to the sea (which is less than 2km away). The stream is slowly returning to more normal winter conditions (fast, almost clear & 40-45 cm deep) and the Dippers and Kingfishers have returned but not the Grey Wagtails. The Dipper is even singing from a favourite perch. 

I have had to bring the feeders in and clean them and also dry the seed (in the micro-wave) before refilling. [I do discard that which is going off.]  The damp had gotten into them with the almost daily downpours. Saying that, I've not had to top them up very much either. The Collared Doves have eaten the most, but they take the SFH from the bird tables. I am trying out some suet pellets alongside my usual winter fare of mealworms (for the Robins) mixed small seed (for the Dunnocks) and soaked sultanas (for the Blackcaps). Here are two of the latter "immigrants".

Female Blackcap (above) and a male (below)

The Lottis go on the fat balls, as do the woodpeckers, and the finches utilise the Nyger & SFH almost exclusively. We also have very many windfalls, thanks to the insect pests, and some of these apples will find their way down a thrush's throat, while the Chiffs and 'crests pick their way through the lichen and next year's buds.  

Young female Gt. Spotted Woodpecker with brilliant red under-tail coverts

 Since my last blog-posting, I have caught and ringed 33 birds and recaptured a different 31 birds that altogether cover 16 species.

Totals from 28/10 to 16/11; recaptures in brackets (no duplication)
Gt. Spot. Woodpecker 1 - a young female
Goldcrest 5 (1) - a sign winter's on it's way

Blue Tit 5 (5) - that's much better! Was getting withdrawal symptoms!
Great Tit 1 (3) - an old pair & a young pair?
Coal Tit 1 (1) - a male & a female, so probably "teen-age newly-weds"

Immature male Coal Tit
Note large black bib and 4 OGCs

Long-tailed Tit (9) - one "oldie" from Jan 2011
Blackcap 3 - all over 19.5 grams but little fat.
Wren 1 (2) - why do we only catch them in half-light?
Blackbird 3 - not long-winged individuals but not "ours"
Redwing 2 - an adult & an immature
Robin (3) - "the pair", plus a new, young female
Dunnock (4) - just one bird of the year
House Sparrow 1 - female
Chaffinch 1 - adult female
Greenfinch 1 - an adult male; no others seen!
Goldfinch 8 (3) - one new adult, the rest = 1CY

Back view of immature female Goldfinch
Note white discs on RR5&6 only and pointed tail

We have been promised some colder weather in the coming week, which may possibly turn up some more birds. I expect to see many more Fieldfares, in that case. Today was the coldest day we've had since the very beginning of April, with a max. of 8 degrees Celsius. Long-Johns weather!

PS. The East Europeans in the title could well be the Blackcaps. They may well be from southern Poland, the Czech, Slovak or Hungarian Republics, or slightly nearer, i.e. eastern Austria or Bavaria. [See page 532 of the Bird Atlas 2007-2011 for their current winter distribution]

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!

Wha' d'ya know!

It's Friday and it's piddling down and blowing stiffley and there's no ringing today. Answer - do the weekly blog update. It has been frosty most nights (down to -6C), sunny one day, cloudy the next; not the best ringing/migration weather.

The Coal Tits seem to have passed on, the Goldcrests, too, and there were far less Blackbirds evident around the house. Lots of Blue Tits at the moment - but they're canny wee birds and skip over the tops of the nets. The Redwings continue to visit our neighbours tall Cotoneaster (hence the numbers ringed), having abandoned our Holly, which is now 99.9% devoid of berries.

Redwing (adult, December)

There have been six or more Blackcaps in the garden, five of whom now have bling on their right leg. That's 12 trapped so far this month, all of which have to be immigrants from the continent. This follows the three week gap between emigrants and immigrants that was also evident at my old ringing site that I ran for twenty years in north Bedfordshire where Blackcap was the top (most numerous) species ringed. To assist them through the winter, I put out soaked sultanas on the (three) bird tables as well as the usual seed varieties. 

Need to take these wee things on AE with smaller f-stop

Dunnocks have been 'showing off' lately, with 'beta' males trying to muscle in on the flirting. The Herring Gulls are back and their friends joined them this week on the factory roofs visible from our kitchen and landing windows. At least we haven't got the LBBGs back yet; they have a habit of sitting on our chimney pots and yelling down the flues whilst we're having breakfast! Perhaps they're at Anza, Morocco. See here

A surprise bird was the juvenile Piedy Wag that was low in the net in the orchard. They are usually caught across the lawn during or soon after nesting.

8th-14th Dec. A total of 48 different birds, 28 newbies given bling, plus 20 re-visiting from previous weeks, some more than once (not counted). 

Goldcrest (1)

Blue Tit 4 (5)

Great Tit 1 (1)

Coal Tit (1)

Long-tailed Tit (3)

Blackcap 4 (1)

Blackbird 1

Redwing 4

Robin 1 (2)

Dunnock 1 (4)

House Sparrow 1 (2)

Pied Wagtail 1

Greenfinch 2

Goldfinch 6

Siskin 1

Bullfinch 1

Another flood over

I meant to say " another week over", so there.

1CY controlled Coal Tit

The flooding that occurred in the early hours of Sunday has subsided and those affected in the village have finished mopping up but are a long way from getting back to normal. The worst affected had three feet of flood water in their downstairs accommodation. However, I know of one family that has had to move out altogether in the interim; there may be more. Our plasterer could be in for a hectic period once the dehumidifiers are out.

Part of Robert Street, post flooding

This week has been characterised by cloud, 56 mm of rain and a stiff breeze for the first half, and then frost, sunny mornings and light winds for the remainder. Both these conditions have rendered bird ringing a little on the adventitious side, grabbing a few hours when the weather and temperature allowed. Nevertheless, I have managed to ring 30 new birds, including two chance Blackcaps, and recapture a further 20 birds of just 12 species.

The two first year female Blackcaps [30-11-12]

We have had two flocks, totalling at least 20 birds, of different Long-tailed Tits through the orchard. They were on the same day, about three hours apart. The unfortunate few were 'low fliers'. Two of the re-traps were first ringed here in mid March and early June last year. But, two other birds were first ringed by neighbouring ringer, John, at the end of January 2011. Both these birds, accompanied by two of mine, have a long re-trap history of passing between our two sites, which are approx. 2-3 km apart at opposite ends of the parish.

The orchard list (Sat - Fri; 5 sessions)

Collared Dove 1 - an immature from this spring

Goldcrest (2) - includes the adult female

Blue Tit 6 (2) - 4 of the new birds were adults, the rest 1CYs

Coal Tit (1 control) - 1CY bird - Y0874nn - ex Quantocks?

Long-tailed Tit 7 (5 + 2 controls)

Blackcap 2 - both weighty imm. females

Blackbird 3 (2) - all young birds

Redwing 1 - a lone adult, 1st this autumn

Robin (4) - there are at least 8 birds about

Dunnock 2 (1) - 

Greenfinch 3 - all females

Goldfinch 5 (1) - 4 new adult males and 2 juv males

Male Greenfinch (Nov)

As a matter of interest, over the last month (November), there have been at least 38 different Goldfinch in the garden, 35 different Blue Tits, 19 Blackbirds and 15 Greenfinch, as these are the numbers that I have trapped. We never see that number of birds, of course.

The met. people are forecasting more heavy rain for the beginning of next week. Hey ho!

TW3

Migration has certainly slowed down now. There are two reasons for thinking this. One, is the daily passage westwards of a flock of up to 100 Starlings shortly after dawn from their roost on The Levels to their daytime feeding areas, somewhere Minehead way. Two, there was a flurry of Redwings and Fieldfares on Monday, that built up to more impressive flocks on Tuesday and then waned on Wednesday. These latter birds were all moving north-east over the Quantocks in groups varying around the twenty mark, sometimes coalescing into flocks of c. 100. Up the lane, the owner has planted many berried trees and shrubs that attract them; it was quite impressive in the mornings, but tailing off before noon. Several thousand must have passed through.

John, who lives "the other side of the pylons", managed to catch a few of these thrushes recently, namely 12 Redwing and a single Fieldfare - plus loads of Blackbirds. I should add that the pylons skirt the north of the village and John lives in an area detached from the main village by an area known as 'Danesfield' where there was a battle with the Viking invaders, many, many, many moons ago. That also makes us twice as far from the coast as he is.

This week, I have again managed to catch 48 birds, as last week, but only 36 of them were new, all requiring BTO bling. As last week, the species tally was also 14. At long last, the painters have left and the scaffold has been taken away. Just leaves another week for the jobbing builders to come and do the 'snagging' and the unfinished jobs. Peace and quiet will then reign and perhaps the birds will deem to grace the feeders, etc. in the usual manner.

Top dog, sorry - bird, was the Tom Tit, followed by King Harrys, much the same as last week, with Blackie replacing the Golden-crested Wren. [These are the country-side names]. New Coal Tits are still coming through as are Blackcaps. Just the other day, I noticed a singing Chiffchaff that had taken up residence where there were two breeding territories in the summer.

The all important list:
Gt. Spot. Woodpecker (1) - ad. male first caught this Sept.
Goldcrest 1 (1)
Blue Tit 9 (3) - 5 of the new ones were 'adult'
Gt. Tit 1 (1)
Coal Tit 2 (1) - 
Long-tailed Tit (1) - from early Jan this year
Blackcap 1 - a female this time
Blackbird 6 (1) - more females than males
Robin 1 (1) - the new bird was still in PJ moult
Dunnock (1)
House Sparrow 2 (1) - all males
Chaffinch 3 - all females, 2 adult
Greenfinch 1 - a 3F
Goldfinch 8 (1) - no adult females

Male House Sparrow (1CY) November

Male Gt. Spotted Woodpecker (2CY) November

Female Blue Tit (adult) November

Female Blackbird (1CY - 4ogc) November; immigrant?

Male Blackbird (1CY - 4ogc) November; immigrant?

Female Goldcrest

  

For those of you young ones, TW3 (TWTWTW) was a satirical TV programme called "That was the week that was" with David Frost, John Cleese and many others of that genre .

No go

Apart from it being cold, down to minus 10C, the Environment Agency have been in clearing the Doniford Stream and the bankside vegetation. The place looks like an urban park! However, spring is not that far away and the herb layer will soon spring up again, ready for the returning migrant warblers. No sign of any Chiffs yet, but them continental Blackcaps are all frequent on the village bird tables (3 resident in my garden alone!)


I have managed a couple of morning sessions in my orchard with some success. The problem is that when the weather is calm at this time of year, the sun is usually pretty bright, too. High vis nets are not the order of the day. I can't wait for bud burst - that's when the Chiffs return, together with the finches.

So what did I manage to pick up?

Blackcap (2)
Wren (1)
Redwing 1
Robin 1 (1)
Greenfinch 2
Goldfinch 4 (3)
Chaffinch 1
Total 9 (7), 7 spp.

I have hatched a plan to catch the unringed Chaffinches which will be put into operation tomorrow; that's because Ferguson (our local BBC TV weatherman) says it'll be cold AND overcast.

I've had to insert the photos via my other computer since my new camera is not supported on XP.
But I have now found a simple way around the problem.

2CY Redwing Turdus iliacus