Changing times

Garden ringing comes to an end with the advent of May and the start of the main part of the breeding season. All the winter and passage migrants have now left us. This doesn't mean that there is no need to put the nets out from time to time, as there will be young birds to ring at some time or other. These could well form next year's breeding stock.

Instead, we have to get "on our bike" during the summer months and visit different habitats in the surrounding area. At the moment, I have three such habitats in mind that are calling for my attention. First, there is the water meadows and 'river' at the edge of the village to which we have had access for a couple of summers already. This is good Phylloscopus  territory and where I can, on a good day, catch Kingfisher and Dipper and, maybe, a Sandpiper. Secondly, I have negotiated access to a couple of woods and a bit of parkland on the edge of Exmoor that may be just right for Sylvia warblers, tits and finches. There is potential here to put up some boxes for Pied Flycatchers.

Moon rise and the sun about to follow 

Today, I set the alarm and went to the third habitat - reed fen. This was an exploratory visit (as will be the next few), partially because the site is so vast and recovering from a major "makeover". The object of this exercise will be to look at the relative abundance, productivity and survival of the four main breeding species found on the site, namely Cetti's, Sedge and Reed Warbler and Reed Bunting. Visits will be confined to the four summer months, just like the more regulated Constant Effort Scheme run by the BTO. There are a couple of hoops to jump through before ringing can go ahead.

It was early doors when I arrived, the crescent moon was up but the sun was still rubbing its eyes and the stars were visible. This is usually the best time to get an indication of what birds are nesting where. I was amazed at the amount of low level fog and mist that suddenly appeared and it hung about for a while. This hampered me in looking for potential net sites; I deferred this until the sun was rising higher in the sky . It's not the sort of site to go wandering about on your own without prior knowledge, as "the pits" have steep sides and are ca. 10' deep.  

Nevertheless, as well as the dawn chorus to listen to, I did have the pleasure of watching a Common Whitethroat drag long bents (dry grass) across a rhyne to its nest in the stump of a coppiced Willow as I waited at the car. Later, I also stood and watched a female Reed Warbler collect the "fluff" from the head of a Reedmace (False Bullrush) and take it to her chosen site in a bank of Sedge to line her nest. On leaving, I was also privvy to a male Cuckoo, my first of the year. The list of species got ever longer as time went by and the sun burnt off the mist completely to leave a fine, warm day, if a little humid.

Ringing is on hold now for ten days or so; "the management" is treating me to some narrow-gauge railway experiences elsewhere. You'll have to wait until the end of the month for more of my drivel, I'm afraid.

Apologies for the poor photo - I didn't realise (in the dark) that the (old) camera was not on the right settings

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Hors de combat

The last couple of weeks have been hit and miss, ringing wise. Some kind soul gifted me a lurgi that is baffling the quacks right now. As a consequence, I have dived in and out of sessions in the garden, as and when I have felt able. 

Things have not all been bad and the few birds that I have managed to catch/ring have kept my spirits up - as well as adding to the year's species list. There has been somewhat of a change in the birds visiting the garden whereas others have taken to feeding away from the normal netting area.

So, in essence, I have three weeks of records to catch up on. I am afraid this will include the best day of the period, which was when I caught and ringed the Hawfinch, as per a previous post. Sparrows have risen to the fore of late and members of the crow family have suddenly descended on the garden, especially early in the morning before most people are up. As yet, I've not managed to catch a Magpie as it (there are two) flushes from the fat ball containers. A judiscious switch in the position of a net should do it.      
  

Jackdaw - breeding adult (female)

Although the list only averages out at around 2 new birds and 1 re-trap per day, the species list totalled 16 for this 3-week period. Apart from the above Jackdaw - and that Hawfinch - a Woodpigeon and a Pied Wagtail (female of the local breeding pair) were useful additions in the net. Juvenile Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Dunnock and Greenfinch were all present in the catches.   

Pied Wagtail - 2CY breeding female

     To the totals [16 spp, 45 new, 27 r/t] :

Woodpigeon 1

Jackdaw 1

Blue Tit 5 (5)

Great Tit 4 (2)

Wren (1)

Blackbird 6 (3)

Song Thrush 1

Robin 2 (3)

Dunnock 2 (1)

House Sparrow 6 (5)

Pied Wagtail 1

Greenfinch 7 (1)

Goldfinch 5 (5)

Siskin 2

Bullfinch 2 (1)

Hawfinch 1        
       The only bird so far in moult was a (r/t) 3CY female Blue Tit which had dropped its first two primaries (moult score 02) - and was a bit scruffy around the head.

The attack of the 'Lurgi' has upset my social plans for the weekend a tad. I was hoping to see my disabled brother before going on to my eldest grand-daughter who is celebrating her 8th birthday. The next day I was due in London at a reunion of three dozen of us, plus wives or partners, from the same year at grammar school, all of us already at or shortly due at the seventy year milestone. We have had two of these before (at the same celebrity's house), at 60 and then again at 65.   

Instead, as it was a "mixed traction weekend" at the local station, I popped down and took a piccy of the "Royal Scots Grays" Deltic locomotive (which was only running on one engine and making a lot of 2-stroke smoke).

Deltic "Royal Scots Grays" @ Williton

Post-Valentine's agony

Half term! The grand-children arrived on Tuesday and my priorities had to change. The garden is looking bleak after the frosts but there are signs of spring, with a few Snowdrops out and the crocuses pushing up but not yet open because of the wintry weather. The buds are showing on the Pussy Willow, too. Twelve Redwings have been sitting in the Ash trees and swooping across the garden, looking for the remaining Pyracantha berries as well as any fruits on the Ivy that the Woodpigeons and Blackbirds have missed.
It being half-term, the steam trains on the West Somerset "branch" line have started running again after the mid-winter lay-off, when essential maintenance takes place. Of course, we had to take in the station as part of our walks. This is one of Pete Waterman's locos.
During one of our local tours, we popped in to Carhampton church to view the magnificent rood screen. I was more interested in the large churchyard. This is only cut at the 'back end'; the rest of the year it is allowed to grow naturally and it contains a large variety of common and not so common plants, about 100 in all. The dozen Yew trees are magnificent and were playing host to a group of noisy Siskins and Chaffinches.
The family were leaving on Friday, so I was able to put some nets out. This gave me a chance to show Erin (8) birds close up in the hand. She liked the 'big' Redwings and the 'wriggly' Blackcap; and she was able to name them.
Here's the list of what was caught and ringed (re-trapped):
Blackcap 1 (1)
Blackbird 1
Redwing 4
Dunnock 1 (1) - still they come
House Sparrow 3 (1)
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 5
Bullfinch 1 (1)

Total 17 (4)

Yesterday, Denise and I recce'ed an orchard with a view to catching some Fieldfares before they decide to up and go. The wind was against us, billowing the nets, and the sun was also bright. We did manage to suss out the most sheltered part for a future attempt. This will probably be sooner rather than later, as the 400 or so birds could well depart as the temperature is forecast to reach the mid-teens later in the week.
Fingers crossed!

No stripes, no cigar

... but there is supposed to be a Yank (Semi-P) 50 miles up the road on the Brue. Ringing has again been slow due to the weather. Down here we've had stronger winds from the soth-east, not a good direction for 'traffic'. Saying that, when I was out tempting fate last Thursday, I did have my first Fieldfare in the orchard by the stream; none since. A few Mipit stragglers passed over in ones and twos, the four Little Egrets were 'on the patch' and were spooked by a Red Deer hind, in turned spooked by 'us' (me and the dog, Cerise). A couple of passing flocks of Siskin eventually amalgamated in one of 28-30. before flying SW over the village.

I haven't heard or seen any Redwings but one or two new male Blackbirds have arrived/stopped off. They look alot cleaner than our local juveniles and, all bar one, congruously with the shorter wing-lengths of the 'south-western locals'. Goldcrests have returned after a two month absence and the Coal Tits are noisesome again. The thing that is most noticeable is the number of Blue Tits coming to the garden orchard. On trapping, these are mainly birds that were ringed at the end of the winter or immediately post-fledging, none having been seen since they obtained a BTO ring.

I found a dead Badger at the end of the road. It was clean and had no marks and may have been a true road-kill; you can never tell round here as some unscrupulous farmers leave them beside the road to look as if they died an accidental death. Two days after, I noticed a couple in a Landie carefully picking it up; why they wanted it, I do not know, perhaps to just remove and bury it.

Apart from the Mipits, there has been a strong passage of Skylarks, probably a couple of hundred every morning. there have also been the odd day with a trickle of 'alba' and grey wagtails. No Robins or noteworthy thrushes yet. Today, another Sparrowhawk - only I was on the wrong side of the net at the time and it rolled out and back the way it came. Bugger. The Bullfinches are now out and about in the hedgerows, talking of which, this year's poor crop of Blackberries is almost over. Must admit, I enjoyed two suppers of blackberry and apple pie with ice cream this weekend though!

To catch up, birds ringed from Thurs. to Sun. -
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 14 (5)
Coal Tit 2 (2)
Long-tailed Tit (9)
Wren (1)
Blackbird 2
Song Thrush 1
Robin (1)
Goldfinch 3 (1)

As the WSR comes to the end of the season (trains stop from November to February, apart from Xmas specials) there are no scheduled trains on Mondays and Fridays. This allows 'driver training' on both steam and diesel. This often means a mix of wagons made up especially for the "new" drivers under instruction. Below, and three fields away, is one such, a GWR mixed goods behind a more modern diesel loco. [Looks like a Class 33]

Not one, but two side-by-side

Managed to inveigle the "part-time assistant" into venturing down to the water meadows for a spot of pole holding last evening before it got dark. Set and furled 3x 40 foot nets ready for this morning's dawn "raid".

I was operational by 5am when the sun was beginning to brighten the place up. A family party of Ravens came up the valley (the coastal cliffs are barely a mile away) heading for the Quantocks. At 5.30, the sun peeped over the hill and a muffled clanking came from the railway sidings as the fire was raked out from a visiting loco for the start of another day. The grass was wet with a heavy dew. A Tufted Duck flew upstream. The Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were stirring, too.

The next round ( the three nets are widely spaced apart) found a net bent in two with the weight of an "obese" male Woodpigeon; my scales shot to the bottom with a wallop and so a 'dash' was entered in the weight column of my note book. Dark smoke started to issue from the Pacific locomotive.

70000 'Britannia' - due to run as a light engine until it's inspection is completed

A Grey Heron called 'frark' as it lifted from the trees, possible annoyed by the incessant piping of the young, fledgling Greenfinches. After processing a bunch of warblers, it was time to return to the "woodpigeon net". Well,well, TWO Kingfishers, side by side, about 4 inches (10 cm) apart in the middle shelf. These birds were both 'birds of the year' (juveniles, age 3 or HY)

Kingfisher 1, bill starting to show 'red' = female

Kingfisher 2, bill all black & smaller bird = unsexed

On the way back to the ringing table (i.e. boot of the car), 2 Grey Wagtails showed excitedly along the stream, and the first Swallow of the day swooped over the wet grass which was beginning to 'buzz' with Meadow Browns and grasshoppers. The next net also held a 'twosome', namely an adult and a juvenile Song Thrush.
By 8.30, I had reached 30 birds, the hiss of steam started to come from the loco and the local Buzzard was on the wing.

No sign of the Little Egret this morning (seen Friday), just a Cormorant sat atop the electricity pylon. Come 9.30, the engineer had enough steam up to blow the engine's whistle and this also signalled the end of the session for me. Generally a quieter pattern had set in, except for the excited 'chatter of the Linnets, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Yellowhammers. At least two of these (the first and last) ought to make the totals list before too long.

As it was, 37 new birds and (1) retrap:
Woodpigeon 1 ad male
Kingfisher 2 juvs
Blue Tit 1 juv
Great Tit 1 juv
Long-tailed Tit 2 juvs
Chiffchaff 6 - all juvs., 4 males, 2 fem.
Blackcap 11 (1) - 9 juvs, 2 males + 1 r/t fem
Whitethroat 4 - 3 juvs + 1 fem.
Wren 1 adult
Blackbird 2 adults
Song Thrush 2 - 1 ad. + 1 juv
Robin 1 juv
Dunnock 3 adults

Some Solace at the Equinox

A better week brought about by better weather and some welcome sunshine - for much of the time! The best day in the garden was today, Sunday.

The "semi-resident" female Blackcap spent much of each morning feeding away in the Camellia, now in full bloom (see last week's blog entry); this pissed off the pair of Robins and the result was a draw.

I played about with the nets and the feeders, trying to find the optimum layout in the orchard. Ever hamstrung by the badly cared for and mis-shaped apple trees (nobody thought of reducing the top growth), there are now 4 nets instead of the 2 that worked well when I was able to ground feed the Bramblings and Chaffinches.

The highlights were a male Goldcrest, a second straight forward collybita Chiff (most likely the one that sings from the trees in Union Lane, 5 doors away), a couple of moving Siskins and a 5M Brambling with a very low weight, fat and muscle score that must be on the move, too.


Wing detail of said 2CY Bramblefinch.

Here then is the list of the 16 species handled over the last seven days:
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 3 (1)
Great Tit 2
Coal Tit 1 (1)
Long-tailed Tit 3 (1)
Chiffchaff 3 **see below**
Blackcap (1)
Wren (1)
Blackbird 1 (2)
Robin (2) - nesters from other gardens
Dunnock (1)
House Sparrow 3
Chaffinch 1
Brambling 1
Greenfinch 6 (2) + 2 local movers (2km)
King Harry's 12 (5)
Siskin 2

***Stop Press*** Have just caught second Chiff, this one with a wing of 66m, [e6,wp4/5,2=8] with a weight of 13.3g, fat 35, muscle 2; has to be another abietinus.

This weekend is the Spring Gala of the WSR (West Somerset Railway). Just a couple of pics from yesterday.


SR 30777 "Sir Lamiel" [4-6-0 King Alfred class] tender first, passing cleared signal for Williton down platform.


'Brit' 70000 [4-6-2 West Country Pacific] starting up the incline from Williton station to Stogumber. Almost the same view from our bedroom.



Williton station in the early morning sun.
Notice the newly refurbished footbridge ex Trowbridge that was returned and lifted into position by the contractors, TEMA, on Wednesday 16th. Not much ringing done that day. Just need to fit the wooden steps and find £20K for the roof and lighting!

Some tourists

10:40 am and passengers are awaiting the first departure of the year from Williton Station, just a couple of hundred yards/metres from home. The station canopy has been completed and painted, but only just in time. The bases for the overbridge are also finished and the (new) fencing reinstated; it will be November now before the refurbished bridge is lifted into place. This week, the council also took out the unsafe footbridge at Watchet, which will also be replaced during the November closure.

The West Somerset Railway 2011 season got underway on Saturday 19 February. One surprise is the rostering of a visiting locomotive - GWR 4-6-0 no 7812 "Erlestoke Manor" - which will work one of the two steam trains. No 7812 started work by hauling the 10.25am from Bishops Lydeard facing Taunton. Here she is, tender first, entering the station.


"Erlestoke Manor" will continue starting each morning with the first train from Bishops Lydeard, until the Spring Steam Gala. This morning, pulling a full compliment of carriages (inc buffet), it was packed with folk off to Minehead, possibly Butlins, as next week is half term. We did the obligatory waving.

GWR 2-6-2T no 5553 works the Minehead diagram and was the first to arrive at Williton and exchange tokens, seen above before the Manor class loco arrived. There will be four trains a day in each direction 'all this week' (except Monday & Friday) and I look forward to hearing them even as far away as Washford and Sampford Brett.

On the birdy front, I had a flock of 150-200 Siskins together with 20-30 Goldfinch in the Alders along the Doniford Stream between High Bridge and Egrove; they were disturbed by a car coming up the track. I did manage to catch and ring a pair of these diminuitive finches this morning, too. Should be able to catch more of these when the Alder seed runs out sometime next month.

Other news - we have frog spawn in our tiny pond, spotted when fishing out a dead, bloated frog that had four males hanging on to it.

40th anniversary Special

It might seem perverse to many for a railway line to be commemorating the 40th Anniversary of its closure after the Beeching proposals of the 1960’s but that is what happened on January 2nd 2011.

The commemoration took the form of a special First Great Western Diesel Multiple Unit train which left Taunton at 10.40 in the morning and was due to arrive at Minehead at 12.15, returning from Minehead at 15.00 and due into Taunton at 16.37.

Although closed by British Rail in 1971 the Minehead line began to re-open in 1976 and is today the West Somerset Railway, one of the most successful “heritage” railway lines in the country and carrying over 200,000 passengers per annum. WSR trains normally operate from or terminate at Bishops Lydeard, which is four miles from Taunton but it has remained connected to the main line and sees both excursion passenger trains and mainline freight from the national network on an occasional basis. The special train will be both a commemoration of the 40 years since the closure and also the first act in a year of events to mark the 35 years that have passed since the West Somerset Railway story began. The Railway’s annual Spring Steam Gala at the end of March will be built around telling some of the story of the WSR.

While we were waiting for the 'Special' to arrive, a Buzzard perched on the fence, then swooped down on something tiny on the track-side ballast and flew off under the road bridge. It returned a little later and sat on one of the rails under the bridge. Yesterday, I had a fly-by male Peregrine. These now bring my local total to 50 'ticks'. Hopefully this will now grow rapidly since the moving in process is practically finished and I can devote more time to birding and, very soon, ringing again.

Distant view from Williton crossing of PWE gang at "Teddy Bear Crossing"

150 class DMU No.234 approaching Williton

First Great Western DMU stationary at Williton for down token exchange

Cleared Hymek loco 7047 (pulling PWE gang) after up token exchange at Williton

A few days earlier, I treated the family, 4 adults 2 grandchildren and 2 dogs to a round trip to Minehead. A couple of record shots to prove it. And a big hole in the wallet!

My lot as the train approaches

Our 'double-header', 9351 + 88

Flat tyre, perhaps? (S&DJR 88 - "Two Fat Ladies")

A cold and frosty evening

Tonight was the first of the Carol Trains that run for three evenings. One comes up from Bishops Lydeard and the other from Minehead. They meet and exchange engines at Williton. The passengers alight together with their particular brass/silver band and sing carols, the up passengers in the car park and the down passengers on the platform.

We arrived shortly after 7pm, anticipating the first arrival at around 7:30. At first we were told that it would be 7:40 but the volunteer staff soon found out that it would be 8:40. So we sat in the warm 'Waiting Room' with a coal fire and a cup of coffee.

It turned out that the up train arrived before half-eight and before twenty minutes of carols were over, the Minehead train arrived, having been delayed by 10 minutes due to an incident. The engines then switched tracks, ready to pull a different set of carriages back to where they started. It was quite cold by now and we were beginning to feel and so we left for home. It was nearly 10 o'clock before the trains departed; I heard the down train puffing its way up the 1:99 incline to Stogumper from my bedroom as I typed this.

Today's garden birds featured a good number of Brambling again, 8 to be exact, together with 25+ Chaffinch, about 20 Greenfinch (although not all at once) and 8 King Harrys (Goldfinch to you), plus the usual Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Robins, Dunnocks, Pied Wag, Jackdaws, Rooks, Wood Pigeons and Herring Gulls.