Not summer, anyway.

It's been a funny old four weeks since I last blogged about bird-ringing. Although I've been able to ring most mornings, the impending Christmas rituals and the presence of a plumber in the bathroom has frustrated my efforts to present this piece to the world.

Over this period, I handled 22 different species. Let's look at some of the more interesting ones.

1CY Blackcap, male

5CY Blackcap, male.

Notice the juvenile, dark brown, crown feathers admixed with the black ones, acquired during the post-juvenile moult, in the young (1CY) male Blackcap above. The lower Blackcap is in its 5th year. It has a much broader, big alula feather than the young bird. The bird itself has an olive-grey mantle compared to the olive-brown of the young bird. Overall, it's a "neater" bird.

Adult Grey Wagtail, showing the broad primary coverts

Under-tail of adult male Grey Wagtail

This Grey Wagtail can be seen most days either on the rocks down at the stream or flitting around the rooftops of the nearby houses, the coach garage, Travis Perkins' outlet or the railway station buildings. It was a complete turn-up to catch it in a net in our orchard instead of a net across the stream.

The downside of being a ringer - Blue Tits!

1CY Siskin, showing the 3 white-edged, unmoulted, greater coverts

Below is a shot of an unusual Greenfinch. It has 5 primary coverts with grey tips, indicative of an adult male. Further inspection shows that the outer 5 primaries (the outermost is tiny) are somewhat different from the inner five. The yellow of the outer edge is brighter on the "adult" feathers. This bird had done more than the usual post-juvenile moult; a few youngsters do moult out primaries 6 and 7 and rarely 8. I have never seen primaries 6 to 10 moulted in sub-adult Greenfinches before.

1CY greenfinch with primaries 6-10 replaced

I now know that the local population of Dunnocks equals or exceeds 14 birds at the moment. One bird, a juvenile, had "emigrated" from neighbouring ringer John's place about 2 km away. They have all put on weight lately, some 3 grams heavier than during days with longer daylight. One adolescent bird has acquired these rather unsightly growths on its feet but it doesn't seem to affect it at the moment.

Cysts on the feet of a juvenile Dunnock

We now come to the "results page". Two new species for the year were caught and ringed in the last week. The cummulative totals, excluding multiple re-traps, are as follows:

Sparrowhawk - 1; young male.

Collared Dove - 1; this year's, male on size.

Jackdaw - 1; this year's, female on size. A new species for 2014.

Goldcrest - 4 (2); five were males.

Blue Tit - 14 (7); six were adults, three of which were new.

Great Tit - 2 (7); two were adults and one of those was a new male.

Coal Tit - 1 (1); both 1CY birds.

Long-tailed Tit - (6)

Chiffchaff - 1; 3rd week of November. None since.

Blackcap - 11 (1); one adult, plus a "control" not seen since February 2011.

Wren - (3); one adult female, ringed two years ago.

Starling - 1; adult male. A new species for 2014.

Dipper - 1; a full adult. 

Blackbird - 5 (4); just one "near continental" type.

Redwing - nil;

Robin - (5); all 1CY, except a female ringed as a juvenile in July 2011.

Dunnock - 4 (10); oldest bird was a female from January 2012.

House Sparrow - 5 (11); just five females.

Grey Wagtail - 1; an unexpected adult male found in the bottom shelf.

Chaffinch - 5;

Greenfinch - 14 (1); 9 male / 6 female. Five adults, 

Goldfinch - 91 (44); incl. one 'control', ringed by a neighbouring ringer.
        There were 2 adults from 2010/11 winter, 1 from 2011/12, 4 from 
2012/13  and 6 from last winter.

Siskin - 2; both in the last week of November, none seen/heard since.

With the Christmas holidays now upon us, I should be able to make the most of two potential trainees and get in a few sessions down at the meadows, by way of a change.

There's always the chance of another new species for the year still. Just look what turned up in neighbouring ringer's garden on the 4th December!

Dartford Warbler trapped by John Webber (C)
An addition to his garden list!

The nearest site to see them used to be over 10 miles to the west. What next?

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.

Another week of green 'n yellow!

Immature male Siskin with a few un-moulted greater coverts
(those fainter feather tips at the front of the wing bar)

A week strong on Siskins, 37 to be precise - plus a few other finches, mainly of the King Harry type, which came in second best at 32. Greenfinches made a better showing with 6 individuals. This all goes to show that there must be a bit of spring passage going on over our heads. 

Immature male Goldfinch
(moult limit not easily discernible)

Immature female Greenfinch
(with quite a few old (paler) greater coverts

These numbers have been accumulated over five early morning sessions. Ringing, or rather catching, drops off fairly smartish after the first two waves of hungry visitors. The wind picking up doesn't help much either, especially from the south.  Although we have a large garden, it is surrounded on two sides by light industry and its subsequent noise and motion pollution during work hours and causal lack of green vegetation apart from the odd conifer.

This week - 58 new plus 19 re-captures & 2 from elsewhere (local ringers' birds):

Adult male Blue Tit
(we haven't seen many of these around this year)

Blue Tit 1

Dunnock (1)

Chaffinch 1

Greenfinch 5 (+1C)

Goldfinch 17 (15)

Siskin 33 (3, +1C)

Bullfinch 1

I have checked the meadows out just recently, now that the water levels have receded and the ground is firmer underfoot. There is need of a fair bit of work in order that we may start catching there again with any success. The only birds of any note were a pair of Buzzards (on the deck) and a pair of displaying Kingfishers. The water, although clearing slightly, is still too deep and fast for the Dippers and Sandpipers.

Adult male Bullfinch, ready for another breeding season
(this bird has no juvenile feathers left - 
and has no green or yellow in its plumage!)

The weekend promises to be fine if a tad windy; perhaps next week will see some new visitors. Here's hoping!

Sivsanger og flere

Well, they cut the hay, teddered it the next day and baled it the day after. All was now clear to get onto the site beyond the area where they had been working on the river bank "repair". Three hours of blood, sweat and tears (high pollen count) saw another four racks cut out through head-high banks of thick nettle, reed, bramble, rose bay and Himalayan balsam. Two years ago I attempted a couple of sessions in the same places during August and concluded that it might be a good place for warbler passage. Now to put it to the test over the next two months.

This sub-site is right under a traditional Buzzard nest (below).

In between rounds. we were entertained by three Little Egrets, one of which was getting the worst of it. The local Swallows are now up to 40+ and going for another tranche of broods. Three Linnets appear every morning, flying high over the trees after exiting from somewhere close by; but where? 

Rear view of a young male Kingfisher

The Kingfishers and Dippers put in occasional appearances, as does the odd Blue Tit; there's an enigma in the middle of nowhere! Other signs of autumn - a Green Sandpiper flew backwards and forwards over our heads, giving its characteristic yodelling 'tittu'ee-tittu'ee' call, a Jay announcing its presence with its far-carrying call and the return of the cackling winter Canada goose flock.

We are also able to get a short net across the stream/river close by, where it could be possible to catch those migrant sandpipers as a bonus. The feeding Swifts are a bit trickier, but watching them dive down low between the reeded banks is satisfaction enough for a few (all too few) more weeks.

A couple of consecutive early morning sessions saw 13 species caught, 5 of which were warbler species. It's early days yet.

2CY male Common Whitethroat

Juvenile Blackcap

2CY male Blackcap

Juvenile Sedge Warbler

The list:

Kingfisher (1) -  from just over a week ago

Great Tit 1 - just one of several that "own" this stretch of river

Chiffchaff 3 - all juvs. as expected, and all males on size

Willow Warbler 1 - first of the autumn, a juvenile female

Blackcap 6 - including a pair of 2CY birds (nesting) 

Whitethroat 1 - a male nesting nearby; they must be close to having free-flying young by now (breeding hampered by the cold weather until 4 weeks ago)

Sedge Warbler 1 - first of the autumn, a juvenile

Wren 2 - incl.a very bleached and abraded old male (6M)

Blackbird 5 - included a 2CY pair

Song Thrush 2 - a first and a second brood bird (3O & 3JJ) 

Robin 4 (1) - 1 2CY adult

Dunnock 1 - juv. just starting post-juvenile moult (3JP)

Chaffinch 1 - juv male (on size)

New - 27, re-captures - 2

2CY European Robin

Adult (3CY+) male Eurasian Wren

Situated in a wide valley surrounded by hills, come nine o'clock, the sun reaches all parts of the site and we call it a day. Recently, there has been a stiff north-easterly blowing which also hampers our efforts. You can't win them all and we have to grab any reasonable chance that presents itself. That, we hope, will be another couple of sessions this week-end - after some sorely needed rain. [Last night's storms missed us]

No sooner said than done.

The good Lord must have been listening - He sent me a Redpoll!

We had our first spring Meadow Pipit over north last week. In the sheep field, which now has sheep and lambs in it, the Little Owl has moved out - temporarily, until the sheep go, then he/she will be back. The eight Jackdaws that nest in the farmhouse chimneys use the field instead. However, the local head Crow takes exception to this at times and harries them into leaving. The Daws just make a lot of noisy fuss, return to the rooftop and bide their time until the coast is clear once more. The Magpie nest is finished but there is no sign of incubation yet as the pair can be seen loafing on/keeping a look-out from the hill. ['She' was sat atop the nest today] With the first flush of Hawthorn leaves, the Long-tailed Tits are busy prospecting and hoping to pick up a bit of wool from the field opposite. The Moorhen pair are proving elusive.

In the garden, most of the residents are singing and their lady friends are starting to get brood patches, though none I've seen has yet got a full blooded one apart from a Robin, today. Dunnocks are everywhere. The Blackcaps (at least 3) are still with us, scoffing the soaked sultanas and mealworms between bouts of singing and dancing. I have managed to pick up a couple of Denise's Siskins lately (National Park, 11 miles away) and also a stray Greenfinch (4CY) from John who lives at the other end of our (rather straggly) village. His garden faces a wood and open farmland, while I'm surrounded by large gardens and light industrial. John has just told me he's netted a Brambling from Norway and a host of Siskins coming to drink at his pond, so I'm definitely in the wrong place.

Just broken into another £196 's worth of rings! I hope my pension's going to go up in the Budget! Good job I don't need any nets just yet!

God's gift

Plodding on regardless with a good day invariably followed by a rubbish on. Time to move the nets around. Won't be long now before the first Chiffs arrive.

Blue Tit 3 (1)
Great Tit 1 (1)
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Blackcap (2)
Wren (2) - both male, one not seen since last March
Blackbird 3 (4)
Song Thrush 1
Robin (6) - that's a full house!
Dunnock (3)
House Sparrow 1 (3)
Chaffinch 3 (3)
Greenfinch 1C
Goldfinch 13 (10)
Siskin 2 + 1C
Lesser Redpoll 1
Bullfinch (1)

27 new birds + 2 'local' Controls + (37 recaptures)

A bit different

Wind and rain stopped play - first for 20 days! Nobody mention the word "drought" - you know what happened last time!