Horsham Ringers

How Do You Fit a 20ft Net in a 10ft Gap?

2012-02-11T02:04:00.000Z

Martin has been getting quite a few Redpolls now coming to his garden feeders of which at least one was bearing a ring, so we decided to try a netting session here. The only problem was that his garden is only 10ft wide and the birds fly along it rather than across it. So, how do you fit my smallest net (20ft) in a 10ft gap? Obviously, you bend it! This was actually easier than I thought and with the help of a convenient little tear in the net in which to guy off the supporting pole (below), it worked very well. In the end 33 birds were caught which included 2 Nuthatch, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 8 Robin and 19 Redpolls one of which was a control. I was assuming that this would be one of this winters birds from Leith Hill, but turned out to be one of Wes Attridge's birds that he ringed in Capel last winter.

Over the rest of the last couple of weeks I did a brief morning in my garden catching 41 new birds including a Great-spotted Woodpecker, six Greenfinch and three Starling, the latter of which I rarely see in the garden.

There were also three mornings spent up on Leith Hill including a couple of ringing demonstrations for different groups of National Trust volunteers and overall caught 96 new birds, still being dominated by Redpolls. Also a few more controls which were L484304, X786799 and Y169992 (which I also caught in early January).

Birds ringed:
Redpo sp. - 19
Common Redpoll - 66
Lesser Redpoll - 4
Goldfinch - 7
Chaffinch - 5
Blue Tit - 22
Siskin - 7
Robin - 11
Great Tit - 9
Coal Tit - 1
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Starling - 3
Redwing - 2
Long-tailed Tit - 4
Nuthatch - 2
Greenfinch - 6

Second Time Unlucky

2012-01-28T22:51:00.001Z

Leith Hill continues to throw up more Redpolls, but a few other species also graced the session on Monday including a Long-tailed Tit and only the second Treecreeper for the site. Two more Redpoll controls were caught - L054653 and Y469779. The addition of the first displaying Woodlark of the year was also a nice early sign of spring.

After the successful first session at North River, I had high hopes for our second outing on Wednesday, especially with fairer weather. Unfortunately this was not to be with just five new birds and just nine in total with the highlight being the first Treecreeper (above). Sightings faired a lot better with c100 Fieldfare and 4 Mandarin Duck standing out.

Have had a couple of recoveries back too this week:

X317744 - Redpoll - 1st year male ringed at Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods, Horsham on 22/12/2008 and recaught at Hollesley Heath, Suffolk on 19/10/2009 301 days and 162km NE.

L080823 - Reed Bunting - adult male ringed at Chesworth Farm, Horsham on 30/12/2009 and recaught at Chobham Common, Surrey on 12/11/2011 682 days and 41km NNW.

L977558 - Lesser Redpoll - 1st year ringed at Whitehouse, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire on 10/10/2011 and recaught at Duke's Warren, Leith Hill on 21/10/2011 11 days and 207km SSE (below).

Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods and Chesworth Farm are no longer active sites but still good to be getting records back.

Birds ringed:
Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 46
Redpoll sp. - 5
Goldfinch - 2
Robin - 1
Siskin - 3
Blue Tit - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Great Tit - 2
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Treecreeper - 2
Song Thrush - 2

New Site, New Birds

2012-01-18T21:42:00.001Z

A full-on last four days of ringing saw three sessions achieve 256 new birds of 15 species.

Gary and Louise joined me for a morning in my garden netting around feeders and caught 97 new birds, half of which were either Blue or Great Tits, but also included 24 Goldfinch, 11 Greenfinch, six Chaffinch and two Redwing. Whilst the highlight of retraps was a Blue Tit originally ringed here in late 2008 and a Crossbill flew over.

Monday saw myself, Paul and Martin up on Leith Hill again and after a quiet couple of weeks here this session was incredibly busy with a huge number of finches present. At least 200 Redpoll, c40 Crossbill, c40 Chaffinch, c80 Siskin, 40 Goldfinch, 3 Bullfinch and 5 Brambling were seen. A total of 138 birds were ringed but only involved four species - nine Goldfinch, 19 Siskin, one Lesser Redpoll, 14 Redpoll sp. and again dominated by Common (Mealy) Redpoll with 95. One of these Common Redpoll was one of the northwest subspecies either rostrata or islandica which breed in Greenland and Iceland (below). Also caught another control Redpoll - Y469533.

Today, Paul and I spent the morning doing the first ringing session at a new scrub and riverine ringing site that I have set up not far from my home called North River. Although the weather was uncertain I had already booked the day off work so went with it. A series of small damp patches during the morning certainly limited the catch and only 24 birds were caught of eight species. But this began with a great start and the first bird caught of the morning being a Barn Owl (below top two with Paul)! If this was not enough a couple of hours later one of the ten Blackbirds we caught was bearing a ring from the Dutch ringing scheme (below bottom two)! This bird had characteristics of the continental race as did six of the others which could potentially show a small movement across from Europe. In addition, a Dunnock this morning had a large fat score and weight which could be a migrant from further north or east. What a morning and what will the next ringing session here bring?

Birds ringed:
Chaffinch - 6
Blue Tit - 40
Great Tit - 10
Goldfinch - 33
Robin - 5
Dunnock - 3
Nuthatch - 1
Greenfinch - 11
Redwing - 3
Blackbird - 11
Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 95
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Redpoll sp. - 14
Siskin - 19
Song Thrush - 1
Barn Owl - 1
Goldcrest - 2

Gambia 12th - 23rd December

2012-01-11T21:18:00.002Z

Finally got round to sorting my photos of my first experience of ringing abroad which was literally quite amazing. I was lucky enough to get a place on the third ringing expedition to the Kartong area of The Gambia along with ten other British and Irish ringers. This expedition to The Gambia was very well organised by Jez Blackburn and Colin Cross in conjunction with British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Gambian Parks and Wildlife Department and Kartong Bird Observatory. The objectives of the expedition were to learn more about migrant Western Palearctic birds on their wintering grounds and to increase the limited knowledge of West African birds. The team pictured below:

The Kartong area has a great mix of habitats within a walkable area, such as beach, mangroves, coastal scrub/acacia, scrub woodland, wetland scrapes, reedbed, secondary forest and paddy fields. Most days started around 5.30 - 6am and finished around midnight with mist netting in the morning, ride cutting and net setting in the afternoon and dazzling in the evening - full on!

Good numbers of herons, raptors, terns, shrikes and African passerines were caught including 70 Long-tailed Nightjar (above) and 50 African Jacana. Most importantly 250 Western Palearctic passerines were caught including warblers such as Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Melodious, Subalpine, Orphean, Bonelli's, Western Olivaceous, Reed and Sedge as well as Nightingale, Redstart, Bluethroat, Tree Pipit and an amazing 19 Woodchat Shrikes (below top). We also saw an Osprey with a satelite tag but were unable to read the colour ring. Some of the African birds were doing some very interesting moult strategies, but the most curious was a 1st winter Chiffchaff that was in active primary moult. As we know neither adults nor first year birds moult in their wintering quarters, so it seems like it could actually have been an Iberian Chiffchaff (below bottom) which does moult in this way and would also be a new species for The Gambia. The team also proved winter site fidelity with a Melodious Warbler that was retrapped after being ringed here in March and some direct migration thanks to three birds that were already ringed by other ringing schemes. The first was from a Sandwich Tern with a BTO ring that had been ringed on Coquet Island, Northumberland earlier this year, followed by another Sandwich Tern from Helgoland, Germany and a Sedge Warbler wearing a French ring. Can't wait for the feedback on these.

Woodchat Shrike study group

possible Iberian Chiffchaff in wing moult

The combination of bird ringing and bird watching produced 217 species of bird with a number of new species recorded for the area such as Great Swamp Warbler, European Rock Thrush, Short-toed Lark, White-crowned Robin-chat, Red Kite (only the fifth record for The Gambia), Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (a new species for The Gambia - North African race reiseria below) and Horus Swift which is potentially a new species for West Africa!

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Difference between Western (left) and Eastern (right) Olivaceous Warbler - note the paler colour and the shorter and thinner bill of Eastern, also noted was pinker shade to the legs with the legs of Western being greyer.

So, eleven days multiplied by eleven team members equals 121 species caught - how freaky is that! With over 1200 birds caught below is a selection of photos:

Purple Glossy Starling

Red-billed Hornbill

Yellow-billed Shrike

Red-billed Firefinch

Double-spurred Francolin - unfortunately unringable due to the appendages below! Must be another way we can tag these birds so that we can learn more about them!

Yes, that is my blood!

African Pygmy Kingfisher - one of two caught that were originally ringed over 3 years ago

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu - renamed on the trip as Red-cheeked Gordon Bennet by Mr Prior to defy the French!

Little Bee-eater

Spur-winged Plover - caught over 60 and fitted with leg flags. What an amazing attacking device on its carpal joint!

Yellow-winged Bat - the most impressive of a number of bats caught.

Yellow-winged Bat - head view

African Paradise Flycatcher

Shikra

Slender-billed Gull

A very excited team having caught two European ringed Sandwich Terns as well as two Grey-headed Gull, Whimbrel and Slender-billed Gull

African Jacana - makes a noise like a Velocoraptor and feet like a spider!

Wryneck

Laura and her three Orphean Warblers

A very happy Colin with the first Blue-cheeked Bee-eater to be caught in the area especially as it is the emblem of the Kartong Bird Observatory

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Wood Sandpiper study group

The big boy - Giant Kingfisher

...and with two of its cousins the smaller Malachite above (also the most aggressive in the hand) and Pied below

An amazing beast eyeing up a Lanner Falcon

...and another view - how it stayed in the net we will never know!

Crested Lark - one of three caught on the edge of the mangroves

Four-banded Sandgrouse

Little Bittern

One of six Cattle Egrets caught being held by Manuel

African Grey Hornbill

Squacco Heron

Standard-winged Nightjar - a female so no flamboyant flight feathers

Grey-headed Bush-shrike

The Gambian whoosh netting team with Toby and Keith and their catch of four Piapiacs.

Piapiac - these birds with amazing purple eyes are being darvic colour ringed so hopefully lots of in field sightings may highlight how far these birds are moving.

Fine-spotted Woodpecker

Another memorable experience was the establishment of the 'Kartong Navy', which involved myself Submariner Sam 'The Bagger' Bayley, Captain Matt 'The Ticker' Prior and 1st Lieutenant Roger 'The Dodger' Walsh being the intrepid adventurers cutting an 80ft ride into dense reedbed within crocodile infested waters to cut a net ride. The borrowing of a little boat from a local fishing guide saw Matt and Roger splayed out the front of the boat forcing the reeds out of the way whilst I was up to my armpits in the water pushing the boat forward! Only the laughter, songs and sheer determination kept us going to get it completed for the following day. Setting the net that morning was all done from the boat as was the net round which was a new experience for all of us!

After two hours and in near darkness we finished, having no disturbance from crocodiles, but on removing my waders I found 24 leeches attached to my legs! My initial response being to take them off as quickly as possible was the wrong move, but Doc Keith was at hand to apply bandages, ably assisted by 1st Lieutenant Walsh who also proved to be a very good nurse. The hidden talents of a Headmaster!

A big thank you to all of the intrepid team, Jez Blackburn (ringer in charge), Colin Cross and Binta (Kartong Bird Observatory), the Gambian helpers Moses, Manuel, Denbo and Abdoulie and the village of Kartong for enabling such an amazing trip! Also to Hanni and the staff at Lemonfish who managed to keep up with my voracious food appetite!

Another team are heading out at the end of January so I wish them a very jealous best of luck. Hope we left some birds for you to ring!

Good Start to 2012

2012-01-09T23:20:00.000Z

2012 has started as 2011 left off with the two sessions at Leith Hill this week producing 62 new birds again dominated by Redpolls, but resulted in my first eight species ringed for the year. Paul Stevenson and Martin Gray have now become regular helpers with my ringing sessions at Leith Hill whose input has been greatly appreciated.

Apart from controls I have only caught six retrap Redpolls over the last year, but these last two sessions have seen us catch eight retraps. One of these retraps, a Common Redpoll caught today, had been originally ringed here in December 2010, which is amazing to show that this bird has migrated two seasons running from Scandinavia to the same winter location. Along with the retraps, we also caught three control Redpolls - L032848, L771690 and Y469682!

Birds ringed:
Common Redpoll - 25
Redpoll sp. - 12
Lesser Redpoll - 7
Siskin - 7
Robin - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Goldfinch - 4
Goldcrest - 1
Redwing - 4

Last Session of the Year and Totals

2011-12-30T18:19:00.001Z

My last ringing visit to Leith Hill for 2011 this morning certainly saw a definite chill in the air, but produced another 44 new birds which again involved a range of Redpolls. The most interesting birds though were the three Bullfinch, doubling the 2011 site total, and six Goldfinch, which I had only caught one of previously! Thanks to Paul Stevenson who joined me this morning.

Otherwise it was fairly quiet with very little else around except the regular flock of c60 Crossbill and a few Redwing.

Birds ringed:
Redwing - 2
Goldcrest - 4
Lesser Redpoll - 4
Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 8
Redpoll sp. - 11
Siskin - 2
Chaffinch - 3
Goldfinch - 6
Bullfinch - 3
Robin - 1

My annual totals for 2011 involved 3764 birds which were as follows:
Mute Swan - 3
Canada Goose - 1
Mallard - 16
Grey Heron - 16
Mandarin Duck - 1
Sparrowhawk - 1
Moorhen - 1
Woodcock - 1 (new species for me)
Common Tern - 5
Stock Dove - 4
Woodpigeon - 2
Collared Dove - 6
Barn Owl - 13
Tawny Owl - 3
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 23
Swallow - 65
Tree Pipit - 1 (new species for me)
Pied Wagtail - 23
Wren - 54
Dunnock - 38
Robin - 67
Blackbird - 41
Fieldfare - 2
Song Thrush - 37
Redwing - 18
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Sedge Warbler - 2
Reed Warbler - 58
Lesser Whitethroat - 2
Whitethroat - 28
Garden Warbler - 14
Blackcap - 107
Chiffchaff - 138
Willow Warbler - 60
Goldcrest - 179
Firecrest - 2
Spotted Flycatcher - 4
Long-tailed Tit - 40
Marsh Tit - 5
Coal Tit - 28
Blue Tit - 692
Great Tit - 430
Nuthatch - 10
Treecreeper - 15
Jay - 3
Magpie - 3
Jackdaw - 26
Starling - 1
House Sparrow - 10
Chaffinch - 94
Brambling - 2
Greenfinch - 79
Goldfinch - 105
Siskin - 289
Redpoll sp. - 203
Lesser Redpoll - 330
Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 337
Bullfinch - 20
Reed Bunting - 4

Garden to Gambia

2011-12-11T17:12:00.000Z

Having been prevented from ringing all week due to strong winds I managed to do a brief session in my garden today before the rains came. Just 15 new birds including two Greenfinch and seven Goldfinch.

This will be my last post for a couple of weeks as I am heading off to The Gambia on a ringing expedition. This is to look into Western Palearctic migrants on their wintering grounds and more study into West African birds.

Birds ringed:
Greenfinch - 2
Blue Tit - 4
Goldfinch - 7
Great Tit - 2

Two Demos and Two Finch Recoveries

2011-12-06T00:19:00.001Z

With a rather windy week, it hasn't been ideal for doing two ringing demonstrations for National Trust volunteers! The first was on 2nd Dec at Henman Bunkhouse, Broadmoor on the northern side of Leith Hill. The catch was mainly Blue and Great Tits, but also included a continental Blackbird, three Goldcrest and a Lesser Redpoll, whilst the only retrap was the huge winged Goldcrest that I had ringed on Leith Hill on 21st Nov.

The second was in the normal spot on Leith Hill this morning with the catch including five Redpolls, two Siskin (above) and two Redwing. Interestingly during this morning I caught eight retraps, which is the most ever caught up here in one session involving Siskins originally ringed in May, July, August, September and November!

Apart from these demos two normal sessions were had on Leith Hill catching 55 new birds including 35 Redpolls, four Siskin, two Redwing, four Goldcrest and a female Bullfinch (above).

A couple of recoveries I have had back as follows:

L977558 Lesser Redpoll - 1st year ringed on 10th Oct 2011 at Cannock Chase, Stafford and caught on 21st Oct 2011 at Leith Hill 11 days and 200km SE later (below).

X403389 Siskin - 1st year male ringed on 5th May 2009 at Slaley, Northumberland and caught on 30th Nov 2011 at Leith Hill 881 days and 430km SSE later (below).

Birds ringed:

Redpoll sp. - 15

Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 22

Lesser Redpoll - 4

Siskin - 6

Great Tit - 13

Blue Tit - 9

Chaffinch - 1

Bullfinch - 1

Goldcrest - 8

Wren - 2

Redwing - 4

Blackbird - 1

Fieldfare and Siskins Return

2011-11-29T18:22:00.002Z

Another week and another two sessions on Leith Hill producing another wealth of Redpolls (a cracking adult male Common below). Wednesday being the first non-foggy day for almost a week and a half produced another 39 with a supporting cast of four Chaffinch which seemed to be of northern origin and a few Goldcrest - including a first year male with a huge wing length of 58.5mm, well outside the accepted size for this species.

The second visit yesterday morning was much more productive with 101 new birds which included 12 Goldcrest and 43 Redpoll, but was highlighted by a Great-spotted Woodpecker (below top two), my first Fieldfare of the year (below bottom three) and 22 Siskin.

The woodpecker is an obvious first year bird and is showing a huge amount of bleaching and wear on the older feathers. The Siskins were a real surprise as there have been very few about recently and I have only caught 12 since the beginning of October (seven new and five retraps). They were all coming to nyger which is usually not started in earnest until the New Year when the natural food starts to become scarcer. Only the next few weeks will tell!

Also today another control Redpoll was caught Y439009 and the following recoveries were received:

Y443956 - Redpoll ringed on 29.10.11 at Queen Mary Reservoir, Surrey and controlled on 16.11.11 at Leith Hill 18 days and 27km SE later.

DHC979 - Goldcrest ringed on 16.10.11 at Hardham, Sussex and controlled on 17.10.11 at Leith Hill one day and 29km NE later. This was a great movement for such a little bird in just one day, and seemingly in the wrong direction for autumn migration!

Birds ringed:

Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 65
Lesser Redpoll - 3
Redpoll sp. - 14
Chaffinch - 5
Blue Tit - 12
Great Tit - 6
Robin - 1
Siskin - 22
Wren - 4
Goldcrest - 20
Redwing - 2
Fieldfare - 1
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1

Redpolls Continue and Recoveries

2011-11-23T00:33:00.002Z

Two very foggy sessions at Leith Hill over the last week saw another couple of hits of Redpolls, again mainly Mealies (a couple of pictures of variation below), with a supporting cast of Redwing, Goldcrest, Chaffinch and a few Tits.

A couple of controls were also caught L623717, X816840 and Y443956 and received a few more recoveries as follows:

5256658 Canada Goose - ringed as a juvenile in Regent's Park, London on 4th July 2010 and seen by Jake Everitt at Warnham LNR on 3rd November 2011 - 487 days, 52km SSW

DHX336 Goldcrest - ringed as a 1st year male at Lancing College, Sussex on 6th November 2010 and caught at Leith Hill on 31st December 2010 - 55 days, 38km N

T400793 Great Tit - ringed as a 1st year female at Gomshall, Surrey on 20th December 2005 and caught in my Warnham garden on 18th September 2010 - 1733 days, 15km SSE

L852356 Lesser Redpoll - ringed as a 1st year at Easter Inch Moss, Blackburn, West Lothian on 27th August 2011 and caught at Leith Hill on 30th September 2011 - 34 days, 565km SSE

Birds ringed:
Chaffinch - 8
Common (Mealy) Redpoll - 35
Lesser Redpoll - 10
Redpoll sp. - 18
Blue Tit - 3
Great Tit - 3
Coal Tit - 1
Goldcrest - 11
Redwing - 1

Woodcock and Rye Bay

2011-11-15T23:28:00.000Z

A phone call from Jake on Monday 7th November, began 'How quickly can you get to Warnham LNR?' I was luckily able to go and within ten minutes I was there and arrived to find Jake holding a box that he had been given by a local resident. I quickly learned that the box contained a Woodcock (below by Jake Everritt) that the residents cat had brought into the house! Although the bird was slightly shell shocked, it was completely unharmed so I ringed it, took a few photos and then released it.

The following day saw another session up on Leith Hill although with a much reduced amount of Redpolls present catching just 15. One of which was a retrap from the previous winter ringed here on 1st February 2011 which shows winter site fidelity. Other highlights were two male Chaffinch probably of a more northern origin, four Redwing and two continental male Blackbirds (below).

note thin yellow orbital ring and dark bill

note grey scalloped edges to breast and belly feasthers

Then I spent this weekend in ringing luxury with the Rye Bay Ringing Group at Icklesham. The new accommodation here is great and a vast improvement on the caravans of the past. The birds didn't disappoint either with about 600 new birds over Saturday and Sunday which is exceptional for this time of year. The highlights were a Water Rail, a Teal (below top), three Firecrests, Meadow Pipits, the first Ring Ouzel here since 2005 (below bottom), c250 Redpolls, c40 Siskin and four species of warbler (Chiffchaff, Blackcap, a very late Whitethroat and two late Reed Warbler).

The incredibly warm and sunny weather on Sunday saw a good number of butterflies and dragonflies and the most unexpected catch of the weekend. As I was checking one of the rides I flushed a dragonfly that was sunning itself into one of the nets. As I got it out of the net I realised it was something different and after further investigation it turned out to be a female VAGRANT EMPEROR!!! Although there have been a number of sightings this year there have only been about 20 records for Britain prior of this Mediterranean species (below).

note whitish frons and brown eyes

note sitting position and yellow blotch within wing

To finish, I had a short session in my garden this morning catching 53 new birds including a Coal Tit, 11 Goldfinch, a Treecreeper and four Dunnock.

Birds ringed (not including Rye Bay):
Robin - 2
Redpoll - 14
Chaffinch - 5
Blue Tit - 28
Coal Tit - 1
Goldfinch - 11
Great Tit - 3
Dunnock - 4
Wren - 1
Goldcrest - 6
Treecreeper - 1
Greenfinch - 2
Redwing - 4
Blackbird - 2
Woodcock - 1

Redpolls and Recoveries

2011-11-06T23:53:00.000Z

Another successful ringing session at Leith Hill on 29th Oct produced another 88 Redpolls taking the Leith Hill Redpoll tally for the year to 645! Continuing the theme of the last month at least 46 of these were Common (Mealy) Redpolls.

A further session on 31st Oct was cut short due to the onset of rain with just nine birds caught which involved another Redpoll, a Redwing, seven Goldcrest and a very late Chiffchaff (below) which was possibly the same bird that was seen here on 29th.

Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 6
Great Tit - 2
Redpoll - 39
Common Redpoll - 46
Lesser Redpoll - 4
Chaffinch - 2
Chiffchaff - 1
Goldcrest - 7
Redwing - 1

Also received a few recoveries this week as follows:

L991303 Blue Tit ringed as a juvenile on 5th Jul 2011 at Gomshall, Surrey and controlled on 10th Oct 2011 in Rhododendron Wood, Leith Hill 6km away.

X317180 Blue Tit ringed as a first-year on 12th Oct 2008 at Warnham LNR, Sussex and taken by a cat on 7th Oct 2011 in Horsham, Sussex 2km away.

DJB232 Chiffchaff ringed as a juvenile on 18th Jun 2010 at Warnham LNR, Sussex and controlled on 3rd Aug 2011 at Weir Wood Reservoir, Sussex 22km away.

X969143 Blackcap ringed as a first-year female on 21st Sep 2009 at Chesworth Farm, Horsham and controlled on 23rd Jul 2011 at Cissbury Ring, Sussex 21km away.

Also, Sue Cocker found Canada Goose 5256306 at Southwater Country Park on 15th Sep 2011 which had been ringed on 6th Jul 2009 as a juvenile at Wimbledon Park, London 48km away.

Siskins Return and Common Redpolls Continue

2011-10-28T21:56:00.001+01:00

Just ten new birds caught at home on Saturday morning showing that there is still not much coming to my feeders! This involved a Dunnock, six Goldfinch, a Song Thrush, a Blue Tit and amazingly a Common (Mealy) Redpoll! This was a first for my garden and was a very pristine immature male (below).

My next visit to Leith Hill with Martin again produced a bounty of Redpolls although much reduced from last week. A total of 34 Redpoll were caught of which 32 were Commons and just two were Lesser and one of these Lessers was a retrap from 28th Sep which was only the second caught this autumn. Same site retraps of this species are uncommon in autumn and winter because they are generally moving areas all the time in search of food. A selection of photos of these Commons are shown below:

Bird1 - Adult male

Bird 1 - Adult male

Bird 2 - 1st winter

Bird 3 - Unaged

Other species caught included 11 Goldcrests, two Long-tailed Tit and after a couple of weeks absence five Siskin. These were all first year birds and four of which were retraps having been originally ringed here on different dates between 22nd August and 27th September.

Birds ringed:
Dunnock - 1
Goldfinch - 6
Blue Tit - 5
Common Redpoll - 33
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Great Tit - 1
Goldcrest - 11
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Song Thrush - 2

Common Redpoll Galore

2011-10-22T00:05:00.000+01:00

An amazing morning on Leith Hill which started with my first two Redwing of the winter (below), typically being adults as the first arrivals. Crests also had a good showing with 18 Goldcrest and another Firecrest.

But the highlight was another onslaught of Redpolls, but this time I was able to devote more time and caught 134 by 10am! Although this was a huge count what was more amazing was that 112 were Common Redpoll (below)! I was very grateful to have Martin Gray and Wes Attridge with me so that we could discuss the finer points of this species ID.

Adult Male Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll with Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll with Common Redpoll

This sudden arrival of this species was quite unexpected as the normal trend is for them to migrate over from Scandinavia to the Northern Isles and the north east coast and steadily more south, but this hasn't happened. The only other place to have been catching large numbers of this species is Dungeness Bird Observatory where they have been catching them since 15th October so are these birds arriving from the south-east? Another interesting confusion was that the majority of these birds were unusually smaller and variably coloured compared to the standard fare for this species to the point where there is a greater resemblance to Lesser Redpoll. This is also the same as birds caught at Dungeness (pictures here) and starts thoughts as to the origins of these birds.

One of the few Lesser Redpoll caught was already bearing the ring L977558.

Sightings during the morning included 120+ Fieldfare, 1 Woodlark, 100 Crossbill, 2 Woodcock, 5 Brambling and 200+ Redpoll.

Birds ringed:
Redwing - 2
Goldcrest - 18
Firecrest - 1
Robin - 1
Blue Tit - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 20
Common Redpoll - 112
Redpoll sp. - 1

A Morning to Remember

2011-10-17T23:06:00.000+01:00

Just a quick posting about this mornings visit to Leith Hill which was cut short due to the large number of birds present. As I put up the two nets just prior to first light I was not expecting to have finished after the first net round!

On returning to the nets they had been swarmed mainly by Redpolls and Goldcrests and just shy of 100 birds were caught! Myself and helper Colin set to work extracting and closing the nets as we went and in the end we caught 94 birds. This included 71 Redpoll including one retrap from 14th Oct and 16 Goldcrest including a British control DHC979.

This part of Leith Hill was absolutely alive with birds with sightings including c200 Redpoll, c100 Siskin, c100 Crossbill, 10 Meadow Pipit, 1 Wheatear, 5 Skylark, 50+ Goldcrest, c100 Redwing and 2 Fieldfare.

Birds ringed (retraps/controls):
Redpoll - 70 (1)
Great Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Blue Tit - 3
Siskin - (1)
Goldcrest - 15 (1)
Long-tailed Tit - 1 (1)

International Control

2011-10-16T22:40:00.000+01:00

Within the last ten days I have done five ringing sessions to try to make the most of the abundant autumn migration and managed to avoid the really windy conditions.

On Leith Hill the large influx of Lesser Redpoll continued with another 65 caught over two visits along with just six Siskin, four Goldcrest, nine Long-tailed Tit and a Firecrest (above) amount others. Whilst the highlight was a Lesser Redpoll that had been originally ringed in Belgium 11535633 (below) - my first international control that I have caught. A third visit to Leith Hill was too windy, so I relocated to the sheltered Rhododendron Wood where a Nuthatch, five Goldcrest and 25 Blue and Great Tit were caught in an hour and half as well as a control Blue Tit L991303.

The two other ringing sessions were in my home garden catching 91 new birds of which 46 were Blue and Great Tit, 14 Goldfinch, two Song Thrush, eight Goldcrest, 13 Greenfinch and probably my last three Chiffchaff of the year.

Birds ringed:
Lesser Redpoll - 65
Siskin - 6
Blue Tit - 51
Dunnock - 3
Goldfinch - 14
Great Tit - 28
Chaffinch - 1
Wren - 5
Goldcrest - 17
Chiffchaff - 3
Firecrest - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 9
Greenfinch - 13
Nuthatch - 1
Blackbird - 1
Song Thrush - 2

Firepoll

2011-10-06T02:45:00.000+01:00

What a difference a week makes! Three short pre-work sessions at Leith Hill proved very productive with 165 new birds caught. The 28th September visit produced the first ten Lesser Redpoll of the autumn, along with two Siskin, a male Nuthatch and large counts of nine Goldcrest and 14 Chiffchaff. The Nuthatch which was caught had a very interesting head colouring that comprised a lot of white/creamy plumage along and behind the eye, which I had never seen before (below).

Two days later I caught six more Goldcrest, eight Siskin and 57 Lesser Redpoll and was highlighted by a control Lesser Redpoll L852356, while session three on 3rd October caught another 51 Lesser Redpoll. Both of these sessions had to finish early as there were at least another 100 Lesser Redpoll were circling about the nets and would have been too much to handle. In total 118 new Lesser Redpoll were ringed and there was a huge variety in the plumage, but there was also an interesting variation in the colour of the 'poll' (the forehead). All but three had a red poll of variable shades from blood red to soft red (below top). Two birds had what I and others refer to as a golden poll (below middle) which I have seen a number of times before, but another had what I could only describe as a 'firepoll' which was half and half (below bottom). I can't think of how this has been caused or whether this has been seen before!

Adult male Lesser Redpoll

A day at home on 2nd October produced 28 new birds which included another Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, two Nuthatch, eight Greenfinch, three Wren and a Blackcap. Also caught a control adult female Goldfinch L614106.

Interestingly, over the last 6 or 7 weeks there has been a huge decrease of birds coming to feeders at home and at a number of gardens up on Leith Hill, especially tits and finches. Where have they all gone, are they making the most of the availability of natural food, have they moved further afield or have they suffered the worst?

Birds ringed:
Lesser Redpoll - 118
Siskin - 10
Blue Tit - 3
Coal Tit - 1
Robin - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Blackcap - 1
Great Tit - 2
Goldfinch - 3
Dunnock - 1
Chiffchaff - 18
Goldcrest - 16
Wren - 4
Nuthatch - 3
Greenfinch - 8
Song Thrush - 1
Blackbird - 1

128 Birds Later

2011-09-27T00:04:00.001+01:00

The last two weeks has gone by so fast and with a hectic work load of late have not kept up with the blog! But I have still managed to do some ringing with four sessions at home and three sessions at Leith Hill which totalled 128 birds.

The sessions at home produced mainly Blue Tits and Great Tits, but a few highlights included the first Coal Tit here for the autumn (above), nine Goldfinch, six Long-tailed Tits, a Blackcap, a Goldcrest and two Chiffchaff. Meadow Pipit migration is is full swing, but although I attempted to catch some of these on each session unfortunately came up with a big fat zero! Will keep trying. An interesting catch was a juvenile Greenfinch which had a partial amount of wing moult, having moulted primary feathers 5 and 6 with primary 4 just coming through (below)

At Leith Hill, I continued to try to catch some of the migrant Siskin that are coming through, but as with the Meadow Pipits, this proved far harder than expected as after three sessions only managed to catch eight! One of these juveniles (below) looked as though it could have been a bird of northern origin as it had a darker plumage than the local birds and was further behind in its moult. Considering there were large numbers around including a flock of over 300, this was really poor, but they all seemed to be focusing on eating natural food instead of coming to feeders. Although the Siskins weren't present in numbers ringing included 17 Chiffchaff and 7 Goldcrest. Other migrants over Leith Hill included a few Woodlark, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, lots of Swallow and House Martin, but highlights were a Marsh Harrier and a Honey Buzzard.

Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 40
Great Tit - 14
Coal Tit - 3
Dunnock - 4
Siskin - 8
Chaffinch - 2
Robin - 3
Goldfinch - 9
Blackcap - 1
Goldcrest - 8
Wren - 4
Long-tailed Tit - 6
Chiffchaff - 19
Greenfinch - 5
Blackbird - 1
Song Thrush - 1

Chiffs and Hawk

2011-09-10T00:56:00.000+01:00

This week I spent a morning ringing at home and a morning at Leith Hill. Highlights from the garden included two Goldfinch, a Chiffchaff, a migrant Blackcap with a huge fat score and my first Sparrowhawk of the year (below - a second-year male).

Whilst at Leith Hill there was a big movement of Chiffchaffs through the site with 20 new birds caught in two hours from two nets as well as a Long-tailed Tit and another four immature Siskin. There are large movements of Siskin coming out of Scotland at the moment which we will hopefully be seeing them down south soon.

Birds ringed:
Robin - 1
Blue Tit - 20
Blackcap - 1
Goldfinch - 2
Great Tit - 2
Siskin - 4
Chaffinch - 2
Coal Tit - 1
Chiffchaff - 21
Willow Warbler - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Sparrowhawk - 1

August Catch Up

2011-09-02T02:06:00.000+01:00

During the remainder of August three visits to the heathland at Leith Hill, a visit to Warnham LNR and a bit of nest ringing produced 163 new birds of 23 species.

A continued study of the Siskins at Leith Hill has slowed dramatically with just 12 new birds, whilst another six were retraps from previous weeks and a single juvenile male Siskin bearing another ringers ring - L867948 (above top). Other species caught included two Coal Tit, three Blackcaps, two Whitethroats, nine Willow Warbler (including a northern 'acredula'-type above middle and bottom) and 15 Chiffchaff. Although the highlight was a migrant immature Tree Pipit (below) which happened to be the last bird I caught on 22nd Aug as I was taking the last net down.

A last trip to my regular Swallow nests produced three more to be ringed which resulted in 12 nestlings, which brings my years total to 65. Whilst Ruby managed to find a Bullfinch nest in the Rhododendron Wood which had four chicks ready for ringing.

The session at Warnham LNR on 27th Aug produced a Sedge Warbler, four Reed Warbler, a Reed Bunting, five Chiffchaff, three Willow Warbler and an amazing 32 Blackcap! This is the largest count of Blackcap I have ever caught in one session and seems to match the high migration levels of this species that are being caught elsewhere.

Birds ringed:
Blackcap - 35
Dunnock - 2
Blue Tit - 22
Sedge Warbler - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Bullfinch - 2 + 4 nestlings
Great Tit - 13
Robin - 4
Siskin - 12
Chaffinch - 2
Tree Pipit - 1
Whitethroat - 2
Coal Tit - 2
Blackbird - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Willow Warbler - 12
Chiffchaff - 21
Goldcrest - 2
Wren - 5

Wader Trip

2011-08-14T20:49:00.000+01:00

Having had very little experience with waders, I have over the years tried to go on a few trips to increase my ability, but to date I have only experienced 1 Redshank, 1 Curlew, 2 Snipe and a Common Sandpiper! The last two species of which I actually ringed locally by chance and the first two where the result of a long weekend targeting waders in the Wash.

So when Gary asked if I wanted to join him on Friday going wader ringing with the Swale Ringing Group on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent I jumped at the chance, although wasn't expecting much after my last few experiences! So Gary, Helen and myself drove over to north Kent to meet up with the other eight people who were taking part and then split into three groups to man the different pools that were being worked on the marsh.

The wind was stronger than had been predicted and looking at the billowing nets I feared another negative evening. Although the setting was great as we waited for high tide, lying on the edge of the marsh waiting to see movement in the net under a balmy, partly moonlit night with the only noises being the various groups of waders and the faint sound of music from a wedding reception nearby!

At about 11.30pm (an hour and a half before high tide), we caught our first bird - a Grey Plover (below top - in amazing summer plumage), which was shortly followed by two more and a retrap Greenshank (below bottom).

definitely 'Black-bellied Plover'

By just before 1am we had caught 11 birds which included three more Grey Plover, three Bar-tailed Godwit (below top and middle) and two Whimbrel (below bottom)! What a fantastic hour and a half.

standing before take-off

When we got back together with the two other groups we had caught nearly half the birds, but the other groups had caught a couple of other species in the form of a retrap Redshank and four Dunlin (below).

So, in total 24 birds were caught of which two were retraps and I got to ring and experience five new species. A big thank you to Gary for inviting me and to Rod and the rest of the Swale Ringing Group for providing such a great evening. I did not mind at all that I had done a full days work and then didn't get home until just after 4 in the morning!! Well worth it!

My First Lot of 'A' Permit Ringing

2011-08-14T19:37:00.000+01:00

Realistically no different to 'C' permit ringing with the exception that I am responsible for all my own ringing data and submissions to BTO and am solely responsible for all birds and ringers that ring with me. I also have to purchase my own rings of which my first installment has just cost me just over £600! Hopefully this will last me at least six months, but I doubt it!!!

In just over a week I have made two visits to Warnham LNR and a single visit to Leith Hill with a bit of Swallow ringing in the middle.

Warnham reedbed produced 67 new birds of 15 species including ten Willow Warbler, six Long-tailed Tit (first I have caught since June!), a Treecreeper, nine Reed Warbler, two Bullfinch, six Blackcap, a Whitethroat and the highlight being a Lesser Whitethroat (below - only the third caught here since 2005). Just a single retrap from both days which was the seven year old Reed Warbler again.

Not generally thought of as a reedbed species, but the six Greenfinch (juvenile below) which were also caught that are part of a group which has started using a group of willows as a post-breeding roost.

At Leith Hill, the heathland is still producing large numbers of new Siskins, with another 20 new from this weeks session along with three Chaffinch, a Nuthatch (first for site), two Coal Tit, four Chiffchaff and seven Goldcrest as highlights. All of the sexable Siskins fell in line with the dark spot on the tail measurements as well as the six retraps which were previously unsexable, so looking good so far!

Two Swallow nests were ringed at one of my neighbours stables which held four and two chicks.

Birds ringed:

Reed Warbler - 9
Blackcap - 7
Blue Tit - 12
Robin - 7
Bullfinch - 2
Whitethroat - 1
Dunnock - 3
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Great Tit - 8
Siskin - 20
Chaffinch - 3
Coal Tit - 2
Swallow - 6 nestlings
Wren - 3
Willow Warbler - 11
Chiffchaff - 7
Treecreeper - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 6
Goldcrest - 7
Greenfinch - 6
Nuthatch - 2
Blackbird - 1

Two Ringing Demos and Five New Species

2011-08-03T21:31:00.000+01:00

A really busy fortnight of ringing which started with an early morning and late afternoon session at home on 22nd which although totalled 52 new birds only involved six species. Although the vast majority was Blue Tits and Great Tits, the highlights were two Treecreepers and an adult male Spotted Flycatcher (below top)! After having not seen them in my garden for a couple of weeks I thought that they had gone, but was I wrong! This then tempted me to make a renewed effort to search for a nest and stepping into the adjacent tree line was all it took as the female then started to scold me and I quickly found the nest in a seven foot high fork in a Field Maple with three ringable chicks (below bottom). Later in this week I also ringed a new nest of Song Thrush with three chicks.

The 24th was the first ringing demonstration of the fortnight which was for the Friends of Warnham LNR and was very successful catching 19 different species. This began with a Grasshopper Warbler (below top and with Jake) which was only the second record for the reserve after one was caught here in July 2008. Other highlights included two Garden Warbler, two Bullfinch, two Willow Warbler, a Goldcrest, a Nuthatch, three juvenile Magpies (below middle with Gary) and a juvenile Moorhen that I managed to catch by hand right at the very end (below bottom). Another session here this week was fairly quiet, but I did manage to catch four Willow Warblers, seven Reed Warblers, a very newly fledged family of Chiffchaff and a Sedge Warbler.

A big thank you to ringers Gary and Jake who assisted me with the demo and afterwards Gary and I visited one of my regular Swallow nesting sites and ringed nine chicks from two nests.

Leith Hill on the other hand, also had two sessions up on the heath and included another 27 new Siskin, four Willow Warbler, three Coal Tit, two Great Spotted Woodpecker and two Goldcrest. The second of which was yesterday and was a ringing demonstration for the National Trust volunteers here which was very well received, especially the bacon butty after the early start! Whilst at my office up here the late arriving Swallows were finally ready to ring and had five chicks.

And to top it all off I made one of my fairly regular visits to Cheshire to see family and stopped in for a bit of ringing with Dave Riley at Woolston Eyes in Warrington and finally managed to ring my first Willow Tit (below) for which they are doing a colour ringing scheme.

So five new species for the Horsham/Dorking ringing year - Spotted Flycatcher, Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Moorhen and Magpie. And a new bird for me - Willow Tit.

Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 43
Great Tit - 36
Spotted Flycatcher - 1 + 3 nestlings
Blackcap - 12
Robin - 9
Garden Warbler - 2
Reed Warbler - 13
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Chaffinch - 2
Bullfinch - 2
Dunnock - 2
Sedge Warbler - 1
Swallow - 14 nestlings
Siskin - 27
Coal Tit - 3
Whitethroat - 1
Treecreeper - 2
Wren - 8
Chiffchaff - 10 + 4 nestlings
Willow Warbler - 10
Goldcrest - 3
Greenfinch - 7
Nuthatch - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Song Thrush - 2 + 3 nestlings
Magpie - 3
Moorhen - 1 nestling

'A' Permit and Retrap Reed Bonanza

2011-07-21T21:21:00.002+01:00

Its official, I have just qualified and received my bird ringing 'A' permit after just over six years of training!

A pretty quiet week, mainly due to lots of wind and rain, but did manage to do a couple more Swallow nests close to home, a quick visit to Coot Pond and a session at Warnham LNR reedbed on Wednesday morning which was turned out to be a cracking session for retrap Reed Warblers.

The first two sessions at Warnham LNR produced only one retrap Reed Warbler (X638196) which had originally ringed on 19th May 2009, whilst this last session produced seven retraps which had been ringed as follows:

P905721 ringed as an adult female on 9th June 2005
X846178 ringed as a juvenile on 18th July 2009
L238147 ringed as an adult male on 24th May 2010
L238376 ringed as an adult male on 3rd June 2010
L238408 ringed as an adult female on 6th June 2010
L424079 ringed as a juvenile on 14th July 2010
L424605 ringed as a juvenile on 10th September 2010

The last six haven't been caught since they were originally ringed, but the first was recaught here on 25th June 2006 and 24th May 2010. This bird is now at least seven years old and has endured the journey to and from Africa each year. I thought that this was a lot until I checked the Euring database and the oldest known Reed Warbler was over 14 years old! Also caught an adult male Bullfinch that was originally ringed as a juvenile on 26th September 2009.

New birds included a juvenile and adult male Reed Bunting, 11 Reed Warbler, a Bullfinch, two adult Willow Warbler and four Blackcap. Sightings this morning included at least three Kingfishers, a Common Sandpiper and a calling juvenile Sparrowhawk.

Whilst a quick visit to Coot Pond after this produced two new juvenile Mallard.

Birds ringed:
Swallow - 9 nestlings
Reed Bunting - 2
Reed Warbler - 11
Blue Tit - 2
Blackcap - 4
Robin - 1
Bullfinch - 1
Willow Warbler - 2
Wren - 2
Chiffchaff - 2
Blackbird - 1
Mallard - 2

Two More Sessions

2011-07-14T00:08:00.000+01:00

Just two ringing sessions this week with the second reedbed visit on Saturday followed by a couple of hours at Leith Hill on Monday morning.

The visit to Warnham LNR reedbed on Saturday produced 41 new birds including eight Reed Warbler, eight Blackcap, four Bullfinch (above), a newly fledged Willow Warbler, a Goldcrest and only the second Whitethroat caught here since 1998 (below).

Highlights of the retraps included the same control Reed Warbler as last week (L400228) and an adult male Reed Warbler ringed as a breeding adult in May 2009 and caught again breeding in 2010.

In the afternoon, I had a visit from my cousin Charlie, his wife Jess and son Michael. Charlie had never seen an owl or a badger before so took them to see my last Barn Owl nest box at Leith Hill which needed ringing. I visited this box three weeks ago and found two newly hatched chicks and four unhatched eggs but on this visit the box contained the adult female, two 3 week old chicks and just two eggs. This possibly suggests that these two had eaten their two siblings that hatched later (above and below)! This was then followed by a successful visit to a local badger sett seeing two adults and a juvenile.

Whilst on Monday, Leith Hill produced another 40 new birds including a Garden Warbler, three Blackcap, three juvenile Chaffinch, two Whitethroat and 15 juvenile Siskin. Also, the Pheasant nest from last week had hatched and fledged the nest revealing seven hatched out of ten eggs (below).

Birds ringed:
Reed Warbler - 8
Dunnock - 2
Bullfinch - 4
Blackcap - 11
Blue Tit - 5
Great Tit - 14
Whitethroat - 3
Robin - 3
Garden Warbler - 1
Siskin - 15
Chaffinch - 3
Coal Tit - 1
Wren - 2
Goldcrest - 1
Willow Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 6
Blackbird - 1
Barn Owl - 2 nestlings

The First Session in the Reedbed for the Year

2011-07-06T21:45:00.000+01:00

The two sessions at Leith Hill (one morning and one evening) produced another 37 new Siskin including just two adults. I have been measuring every juvenile Siskin I have caught (103) and there has been a real variation in the blotch size of between 18mm and completely dark tails. Going on the paper by 'Marine and Copete' 53 would be male (below 28mm), 47 female (above 29mm) and three intermediates at 28mm or 29mm. There are also definite peaks around 21/24mm (32), 32/33mm (21) and completely dark tails account for 12 individuals. Also, a few of the juveniles are starting to moult and five were clearly males (below) which helped to see how reliable measuring the tail blotches are for sexing. These five birds had blotches of 18, 19, 20, 22 and 25mm - all within the male range.

Nests this week have involved two Pied Wagtails (five chicks in each), the Whitethroat nest from a few weeks ago was ready (three chicks and two eggs - below top), one Robin (three chicks) and one Wren (five chicks). Whilst a visit to another Barn Owl box at Leith Hill produced a new adult male and a Pheasant was found sat on eggs (below bottom).

This week also included my first visit to the reedbed at Warnham LNR where in three hours I managed to catch 60 new birds of ten species including six Robin, seven Chiffchaff, 14 Blackcap, 15 Reed Warbler (below top), a Reed Bunting and a real surprise was a Greenfinch! Whilst the highlights of the already ringed included an adult male Great Tit ringed here on 18th Oct 2006 as an immature, a control 2nd year female Reed Bunting (below bottom) which was ringed 8km away in Capel, Surrey on 30th December 2010 and a control Reed Warbler (L400228) which I am yet to get details of. Amazingly these are only the second and third controls caught at this well worked site since at least 2000! The other one being an immature Blue Tit (V945935) caught on 23rd November 2009 which I have yet to find its origin! Does anyone recognise these two?

Birds ringed:
Pied Wagtail - 10 nestlings
Robin - 7 + 3 nestlings
Siskin - 37
Whitethroat - 1 + 3 nestlings
Coal Tit - 1
Great Tit - 16
Blackcap - 15
Dunnock - 3
Reed Warbler - 15
Blue Tit - 7
Reed Bunting - 1
Chaffinch - 2
Wren - 5 + 5 nestlings
Chiffchaff - 7
Greenfinch - 1
Blackbird - 1
Barn Owl - 1

Three Gold Recoveries

2011-06-29T00:01:00.001+01:00

Just had three recoveries back from the BTO of varying interest:

The first was an immature female Goldfinch L757075 which was ringed in my garden on 13th November 2010 and found dead 153 days later on 15th April 2011 just 2km away in Warnham (map below).

The next was an immature male Goldcrest DNK024 which was also ringed in my garden on the same day and was caught by ringers at the well known migration site Landguard Point, Felixstowe, Suffolk on 27th March 2011 - a distance of 149km (map below). These dates would suggest that this was possibly a Scandinavian bird which had come to winter in Britain and was then caught whilst on spring migration going back, although the only way we will truly known would be if it was then caught in Norway or Sweden! I can only hope.

The last recovery and by no means the least was another immature female Goldfinch, L132885, which I ringed at Chesworth Farm, Horsham on 15th March 2010 and was caught 654km away by a ringer on 24th April 2010 at Inch Island, Donegal, Ireland (map below)! This is the fifth longest movement of a Goldfinch within Britain and Ireland, but by far the fastest of those five and the only one of those to have had to cross the sea. Obviously must have been a spring migrant, but had it flown down from its birth place in Ireland to Sussex for the winter and was heading back or was it dispersing from birth place? Difficult to know, but if it had flown any further it would have been heading out into the Atlantic - next stop Canada!

Another Busy Week

2011-06-27T15:16:00.000+01:00

Two sessions on Leith Hill, two sessions at home, a morning doing the rounds of the Horsham Barn Owl boxes, another duck rescue at Horsham Hospital and a few more nests! In total, 193 new birds ringed this week of 26 species.

Sunday at Leith Hill was ended early with only two hours of ringing due to the onset of rain and just four new Siskin were caught along with a handful of Great Tits and the first juvenile Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler of the year. Whilst the session this morning had to close the nets early because of too many birds! Siskins were everywhere, with 36 caught (22 new) along with three Blackcaps, two Whitethroat, a juvenile Treecreeper, a juvenile Goldcrest and two Willow Warbler being the highlights which mainly came in one check of the nets!

The two sessions at home were again dominated by tits, but a few highlights included my first juvenile Goldfinch (above) and Long-tailed Tit (below) of the year, another five juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker (making 19 for the year so far) and a Jay. The extra surprise was the pair of Spotted Flycatchers that had taken up residence this week, hopefully they will breed which will be a first for my garden. Fingers crossed!

A trip round the remaining Horsham Barn Owl boxes was very successful. Being joined by Barrie and Graham we visited four boxes of which one was empty, one held three chicks and two had four chicks (photos below). Which were all ringed as well as an adult male, whilst an adult female was retrapped that was originally ringed as a chick in nearby Lambs Green in 2005.

Graham with his first Barn Owl

Barn Owl chick being weighed

Adult male Barn Owl

Whilst doing the owls, one barn also had a pair of Stock Dove nesting on a ledge which had two perfect sized chicks. Whilst other nests done this week were five Pied Wagtail chicks at my Leith Hill office and ten Swallow chicks (below) from three nests local to home.

The last ringing of the week was a return to Horsham Hospital where Linda and I rescued another family of five Mallard ducklings and rehomed them onto Horsham Park pond next door!

Birds ringed:
Great Tit - 57
Siskin - 26
Blue Tit - 24
Robin - 3
Chaffinch - 4
Blackcap - 3
Whitethroat - 2
Swallow - 10 nestlings
Pied Wagtail - 5 nestlings
Goldfinch - 5
Dunnock - 2
Wren - 1
Chiffchaff - 3
Willow Warbler - 3
Treecreeper - 3
Goldcrest - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 4
Greenfinch - 8
House Sparrow - 1
Nuthatch - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 5
Song Thrush - 1
Mallard - 5 ducklings
Stock Dove - 2 nestlings
Jay - 1
Barn Owl - 1 + 11 nestlings

19th June 2011 - More Youngsters and Two Recoveries

2011-06-19T20:07:00.001+01:00

Rain restricted a lot of ringing this week, but the increase of juvenile birds on the scene kept numbers up.

A short session at Leith Hill on Sunday produced just 11 new birds including only four new Siskin, but I did find my first Whitethroat nest with five eggs (below).

A visit to a couple of neighbours houses on Monday produced two more ringed Swallow nests (chicks below). Interestingly, one of these was a brand new nest and had been completely constructed of cow dung which must have been a substitute material for the lack of mud this spring.

I got a phone call from Linda Baker at Horsham Hospital this week asking for my help in relocating a family of Mallard that had bred in one of the courtyard gardens. With no way out for the ducklings, Linda and her dad Eric have been providing a water feature and some extra food until big enough to fend for themselves. So, the three of us caught up the seven ducklings which I then ringed and then Linda and Eric led the mother carrying the ducklings to Horsham Park pond which backs onto the hospital.

Linda with one of the ducklings

Before meeting Linda and Eric I had a quick stop at Coot Pond and very quickly managed to catch my first Canada Goose of the year (below).

Ringing at home over this week produced 111 new birds which were almost all juveniles and mainly consisted of Great Tits. Highlights came in the form of a nest of Blackbird (2), a nest of Song Thrush (5) and from netting a juvenile Blackcap (below top), a juvenile and two adult male Whitethroat, two juvenile Treecreepers (below middle), four juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Collared Dove and an adult Starling (below bottom). This Starling is only the second that I have caught at home since I began ringing here in 2008!

A couple of recoveries have come through, as follows:

Lesser Redpoll L080774 ringed on 14th December 2009 at Chesworth Farm, Horsham as a first year bird was controlled at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire on 13th March 2011 as an adult male, probably on its way back to Scandinavia.

Grey Heron A47 ringed on 9th April 2011 at Warnham LNR as a nestling within the Heronry and was sighted at Thorpe Park near Chertsey, Surrey on 12th June 2011. This bird was last seen at Warnham LNR on 30th May 2011. A quick movement of 40km over 13 days NW.

Birds ringed:

Great Tit - 64

Siskin - 4

Swallow - 9 nestlings

Robin - 6

Blue Tit - 12

Chaffinch - 2

Blackcap - 2

Whitethroat - 3

Dunnock - 1

Treecreeper - 2

Willow Warbler - 1

Greenfinch - 5

Blackbird - 3 + 2 nestlings

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 4

Starling - 1

Song Thrush - 2 + 5 nestlings

Canada Goose - 1

Mallard - 7 ducklings

Jackdaw - 1

Collared Dove - 1

9th June 2011 - Jars and Lots of Different Youngsters

2011-06-10T00:49:00.000+01:00

This week began with an evening on Leith Hill trying to catch Nightjars with the help of colleagues Catherine, Matt and Graham. After 30 minutes two birds had just missed the net, so we moved the net to a new location and resulted in a catch within just two minutes (below). It is always an experience catching a Nightjar, but this one turned out to be even better than normal as it was the juvenile bird that I had caught at this site last year! This is a great event to know that this bird was almost certainly born at Leith Hill last year, migrated off to Africa for the winter months and then has come back to the same area for its first breeding season. Hopefully he will find a mate!

This week has also been full of youngsters as the first birds start leaving their nests. A couple of sessions at Leith Hill produced another 19 new juvenile Siskin and newly fledged Garden Warbler (below top), Great Tit and Whitethroat (below bottom).

Three newly fledged Wrens (below top), a juvenile Nuthatch (below middle), a juvenile Blackbird and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker (below bottom) and the first large juvenile tit flock catch.

Also around home I made a visit to a few nesting possibilities including Stock Doves (two chicks ringed - below top) and the first Swallow nestlings. And at Leith Hill I found my first Wood Warbler nest (below bottom) which the chicks were too big to attempt to ring to the point the first one fledged whilst I sat back and watched for 15 minutes!

Pam Mears joined me on Tuesday afternoon to go to Warnham LNR to ring the two pairs of Common Tern chicks that were nesting on the artificial rafts with only about five days difference between the two families (below).

And I just had to mention the very territorial male Pheasant that has been on Leith Hill for the last month. Whenever I am doing a ringing session it follows be as I check the net rides, pecking at my shoes, jumping at my legs and clucking constantly with its colourful neck feathers raised. I have finally managed to get a decent video below:

Birds ringed:
Siskin - 19
Great Tit - 21
Garden Warbler - 1 + 2 nestlings
Dunnock - 1
Swallow - 5 nestlings
Whitethroat - 1 nestling
Blue Tit - 1
Willow Warbler - 1
Wren - 3 nestlings
House Sparrow - 1
Nuthatch - 1
Blackbird - 4
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Stock Dove - 2 nestlings
Common Tern - 5 nestlings
Jackdaw - 1

1st June 2011 - Siskins and Firsts for Garden

2011-06-01T13:05:00.000+01:00

31 birds ringed this week which started with a nest of four Robins at home which I had only just noticed on Friday (27th), which I quickly ringed before having to rush off to my brother's wedding! Dressed in my tails it was probably the most presentable nest ringing ever done! (Below - my brother's wife Abi with myself, best man Glen, Ben and Rob.)

This was followed on the Bank Holiday Monday with a netting session in the garden which resulted in just seven new birds, although did include a juvenile Dunnock, two juvenile Robins and my first ever warblers for May here - a Chiffchaff and a female Whitethroat! The other two birds were also the first ever juvenile House Sparrows caught here in nearly three years (below)!

Then back to Leith Hill on Tuesday (31st) catching 20 new birds which included 16 juvenile Siskin. As Siskin juveniles cannot be sexed on standard plumage I tried out the sexing criteria studied in Spain which looks at the size of the dark spot on the second outer tail feather. This proved to have a huge variation in size from covering the whole feather (below top) to just the tip (below bottom). With preliminary results showing that six were female and ten were male, but whether the British Siskins follow the same rule as the the Spanish is yet to be found out! Hopefully I will be able to catch these same birds again once they have undergone post juvenile moult and can be sexed on standard plumage as well to confirm these measurements.

Also caught was a juvenile Chaffinch which had an all adult tail (below), which had me fooled for a minute, and had presumably lost its tail at a very early stage and shows the importance of checking all ageing criteria.

Birds ringed:

Robin - 2 + 4 nestlings

Dunnock - 3
Whitethroat - 1
Siskin - 16
Blue Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Chiffchaff - 1
House Sparrow - 2

25th May 2011 - More Siskins, Tits, Jackdaws and a new Warbler

2011-05-25T23:41:00.001+01:00

This week started with a trip up to Leith Hill in the evening to try to catch Nightjars, but the weather became a lot windy than forecast, although at least two males were seen and heard. Before going for the Nightjars, I went up a few hours early to see if an evening session would be any different from my normal mornings here. Happily, this produced another seven new birds including four Siskin, a Garden Warbler, a Song Thrush and a Great Spotted Woodpecker (latter two being new species caught on the heath).

The following day, a late afternoon visit to Warnham LNR to ring the last two boxes of the nest box scheme which were both Blue Tits and interestingly had two of the smallest broods of just five and six! Whilst here a quick view of the Common Terns showed two pairs on eggs which the first pair had hatched at least two chicks by the time of writing.

Saturday morning at home produced the first two juvenile Robins of the year (above), and the last nest boxes of Blue Tit (again just five chicks) and Great Tit. But the best catch was my first Lesser Whitethroat for the garden (below) and surprisingly it had a fairly well developed brood patch! Because both sexes incubate the eggs (so both get brood patches) it wasn't possible to sex it but shortly afterwards a pair were seen in another part of the garden and a male was heard singing! Why haven't I seen or heard them prior to this?

Back to Leith Hill on Tuesday morning and nine new Siskin (including many juveniles) and a new Goldcrest were highlights and with thanks to Stephen Menzie for the link to a paper about sexing juvenile Siskins that I will try on my next visit. The following day I went to do the last two nests of Jackdaws on Leith Hill helped by colleague Ruby (above with one of the chicks). One of the nests was in a beech tree and was quite interesting as the nest hole had no bottom, but had been filled with stick to make it so (below top) and a lower whole had had two eggs laid in it (below bottom). I have presumed that as there were just two nestlings these two eggs had been laid by the same female and she had chosen to just incubate the top nest!

Birds ringed:
Siskin - 13
Garden Warbler - 1
Blue Tit - 16 nestlings
Robin - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Blackbird - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Great Tit - 8 nestlings
Goldcrest - 1
Jackdaw - 5 nestlings

18th May 2011 - First Juvs and More Nests

2011-05-18T15:37:00.000+01:00

Yes, more nests! Starting this week with a Pied Wagtail nest under the eaves of the house next to my Leith Hill office, then a further trip to Warnham LNR to do more Blue Tit nestboxes.

I have been watching a nest of Chiffchaff at Village Greens Farm Shop in Ockley and they were finally ready for ringing. So, on Sunday (15th) met up with Louise and Gary to ring these and a quick trip around the Jackdaw boxes on Etherley Farm, where four nests were now also ready for ringing. Another box containing three chicks were still too small and will need a later visit.

For the rest of the day, Gary and Louise were trying to develop their nest finding skills in the woodland and around Leith Hill Tower. Finds included a Great Tit nest in a tree tube, a Treecreeper nest, two Blue Tit nests (including one by one of the top windows of the Tower), two seperate female Chaffinch carrying food, a pair of Whitethroat carrying food and a female Firecrest carrying food! Unfortunately, none of these were ringable until right at the end of the day another Chiffchaff nest was located and were perfect size for ringing! I was on car park duty and whilst visiting the car park in Forest Green I stumbled upon a beautiful Greater Butterfly orchid (above and below).

Another two hour Monday morning netting session on Duke's Warren was rewarded with a catch of 15 new birds which included 11 Siskin of which six were my first juveniles of the year. Although Siskin cannot be sexed at this age there certainly seemed to be two plumage differences, the first pale and more grey (below top) and the other bright and yellow (below bottom). If anyone knows different please let me know!

The only addition to my garden ringing this week was a new Collared Dove that I caught in a potter trap on Saturday.

Birds ringed:
Pied Wagtail - 4 nestlings
Blue Tit - 59 nestlings
Dunnock - 1
Siskin - 11
Chaffinch - 1
Whitethroat - 1
Chiffchaff - 10 nestlings
Willow Warbler - 1
Collared Dove - 1
Jackdaw - 12 nestlings

A Batch of Recoveries

2011-05-11T21:38:00.002+01:00

After ringing nearly 5000 birds last year I had hoped for more recoveries than I have currently received, but got a recent batch of 13 recoveries that has redressed the balance somewhat.

The first four were all Mallards - three of which were all juveniles which had been ringed on 6th June 2010 at Warnham LNR, two of them were shot just 3km away in Warnham on 31st December 2010, whilst the third was shot 18km away in Pulborough (furthest movement so far). The fourth was an adult male that was ringed at Coot Pond, Horsham on 28th November 2010 and was shot at Warnham again just 2km away on 21st January 2011. These are the 2nd - 5th recoveries of this species; with the first in 2009 also being a juvenile shot in Warnham.

The next two were Grey Herons from the Warnham LNR colour ring project as follows:

1504256 (A04) ringed in nest CP15 (one of four chicks) on 28th March 2010 found freshly dead 'Taken by Animal' in Westbury, Wiltshire 129km W on 4th Oct 2010 (map below).

1505253 (A35) ringed in nest MP5 (one of three chicks) on 28th May 2010 found freshly dead 'caught up in fishing line and weights' at Burton Millpond, West Sussex 24km WSW on 30th October 2010.

These are the 4th and 5th recoveries of the Grey Heron project and so far gives absolutely no trend for dispersal from the colony as one moved close E to Weir Wood Reservoir, West Sussex, one moved far NE to Rainham Marshes, Essex, one moved close N to Capel, Surrey, then the other two as above! The only direction not taken is South.

The next was a nestling Woodpigeon ringed at Horsham Hospital on 14th July 2010 was found in Horsham on 30th July 2010 with a broken femur and taken to a local vets where it was looked after. Although not a great story, this is actually the first recovery for one of my Woodpigeons.

An exceptional juvenile Great-spotted Woodpecker ringed at Chesworth Farm on 14th June 2010 was found freshly dead 'Taken by Animal', possibly a cat, on 2nd November 2010 86km E in Ivychurch on the edge of Romney Marsh, Kent! This is a huge dispersal for this species which generally doesn't move any further than a couple of kilometres and makes you wonder whether it would have eventually migrated across the Channel if it hadn't died (map below)! This is just the third recovery of this species for me for which the other two also died and moved no distance at all.

A Long-tailed Tit ringed on 22nd December 2011 at Warnham LNR was found dead having hit a window 2km away on the edge of Horsham on 12th February 2011. Again, this is my first recovery of this species.

Two Blue Tit recoveries show different movements - a juvenile ringed at Chesworth Farm on 28th June 2010 found freshly dead in Horsham just under a month later on 23rd July 2010 having gone less than a kilometre whilst another juvenile ringed at Warnham LNR on 3rd September 2010 was caught and released by another ringer 10km away in Slaugham, West Sussex on 4th March 2011. This again being my furthest movement of this species.

A first year female Great Tit ringed in my Warnham garden on 21st March 2010 was caught and released by another ringer 15km away in Gomshall, Surrey on 8th February 2011, again the furthest movement of this species for me.

The last was yet another first recovery for a species being a Goldfinch that was ringed as a breeding first year male on 14th June 2010 at Chesworth Farm and found freshly dead 'Taken by cat' just 2km away in Horsham on 22nd December 2010.

What will come next?

11th May 2011 - A Nesting Week

2011-05-11T21:33:00.000+01:00

This was a full on week of ringing with the grateful help of Gary, Louise, Kevin, Eddie and Jake. The week was mainly focused on going around nests and nestboxes that have been under observation over the last few weeks, but also a couple of netting sessions and a few surprises.

The week started with the first surprise being a Tawny Owl that was reported to us at Leith Hill dazed on the side of the road. Went to inspect and indeed a beautiful female (above) was sat on the side of the road. She was showing a developed brood patch, so obviously had a brood of young nearby and after about five minutes she had recovered, so quickly ringed and released her so that she could get back to her young.

Two netting sessions were had on Leith Hill catching a total of 18 new birds which included three Garden Warbler, four Whitethroat, five Willow Warbler and three Siskin and finally the first two Blackcaps for this site which involved one bird with a high fat score suggesting that this was a newly arrived migrant.

The only other netting session was in my garden at home where I have reduced to just a single net, but caught three new birds - a Blackcap and surprisingly a new pair of Long-tailed Tit (where have they been hiding?).

On Friday morning (9th) Gary, Louise and I went round all the Jackdaw boxes at Leith Hill and although the majority were still either on eggs or too young chicks we did ring an adult female and a brood of five. We were also very surprised to find two Barn Owls in a box which I had been watching Jackdaws use over the last few weeks, one of which we caught and ringed (above). Whilst going round we also managed to find a Chaffinch nest and a Treecreeper nest that were able to be ringed. Generally Treecreeper nests aren't possible to be ringed, but occasionally they are and much caution should be taken. A section of the loose bark had fallen off making them far more accessible than they should have been.

Afterwards a trip to one of my near neighbours, Bob Day, who wanted me to check two boxes at his house that he had seen activity at produced a female Mandarin (above) sat on eggs in one and then two Tawny Owl chicks (below with Bob) in the other.

This also saw the first visit to Warnham LNR for the Nestbox Scheme here of which there are 53 boxes at present managed by Friends of Warnham LNR! Although a number were unused we still managed to ring 18 nests of Blue Tit and Great Tit as well as a couple of adults.

The last ringing this week involved a couple of Blue Tit boxes at my home and a nest of Pied Wagtails at the National Trust Surrey Hills head office in Mickleham.

A very fulfilling week!!

Birds ringed:
Garden Warbler - 3
Whitethroat - 4
Siskin - 3
Blue Tit - 2 + 108 nestlings
Blackcap - 3
Chaffinch - 4 nestlings
Pied Wagtail - 4 nestlings
Willow Warbler - 5
Treecreeper - 5 nestlings
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Great Tit - 70 nestlings
Blackbird - 1
Tawny Owl - 1 + 2 nestlings
Barn Owl - 1
Jackdaw - 1 + 5 nestlings
Mandarin - 1

4th May 2011 - Just a Few Nests

2011-05-04T23:54:00.000+01:00

This last week has seen no new netting sessions, partly due to the high wind conditions, but also due to me spending the long weekend staying at Dungeness Bird Observatory! But, I did manage to do a couple of Blackbird nests this week, one on Duke's Warren (Leith Hill) and another at home, with three (below) and four chicks respectively.

Whilst ringing the nest at Duke's Warren I heard rustling in nearby fallen leaves and on inspection found a Grass Snake had just caught a Frog and was dragging it into the undergrowth whilst trying to swallow it alive! This was the first time that I had seen a snake kill and luckily had my camera with me to video some of it, but didn't want to disturb it for fear that it would abandon its meal:

I also did another visit to the Heronry at Warnham LNR which proved rather disappointing as only a single Grey Heron chick was ringable and no new nests were found! This has meant a huge reduction in the population here this year from 26+ nests last year to just ten this. Don't know any real reason for this, but a couple of possibilities could be increased pressure from the ever more present Buzzards or that there was a high mortality over this harsh winter.

My weekend at Dungeness was planned to have an amount of ringing, birding and time out with friends, this didn't quite pan out. Although the latter was achieved, ringing was impossible as the wind was so strong, but the wind did make for a fantastic display of spring passage offshore with over 120 Pomarine Skuas, 14,000 Bar-tailed Godwits and lots of Black Terns over the weekend. Whilst rarity interest came in the form of a Bee-eater which I missed by about five seconds, a Purple Heron which showed well and a Red-rumped Swallow which was found just an hour after I left!! One of the best sightings though was a young female Badger that was a regular visitor to the back door of the Observatory on most evenings, completely unphased by the over excited people staying:

Birds ringed:
Blackbird - 7 nestlings
Grey Heron - 1 nestling

26th April 2011 - Bulls and Gardens

2011-04-27T10:52:00.000+01:00

Numbers are still low with just 29 new birds ringed on another beautifully sunny week from two sessions at Leith Hill and two sessions at my Warnham home.

Friday and Sunday mornings were on Duke's Warren again with the help of Ray and Derrick and delivered not only the first Garden Warblers (above) of the year, but also the first Bullfinchs (below). Other highlights included another breeding female Siskin and Goldcrest. Also one of the three new Willow Warblers (bottom) caught had a much greyer colouring akin to the northern acredula subspecies, although not able to be verified.

Whilst at home on Saturday and Monday, a whole two days of netting produced just five new birds in the form of three Blackcaps and two Robins, although the four retraps included an incubating Treecreeper and Nuthatch.

Other sightings included at least four Cuckoo, 2 Red Kite and a lingering Brambling at Leith Hill, whilst a single Cuckoo, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Hobby were recorded from my garden. But the highlight of the week was this morning (Tuesday) when an early morning visit to Leith Hill to show Matt Farmer the Wood Warblers was interrupted when on his route up to the hill he flushed a HOOPOE from the middle of the road! Although much searching at the time and during the rest of the day failed to relocate it - lucky Matt!

Also below is a very poor video of one of the male Wood Warblers singing at Leith Hill, apologies for the quality, gaps and a wailing child in the background! The second half is the best bit:

Birds ringed:

Garden Warbler - 4

Siskin - 1

Great Tit - 3

Bullfinch - 2

Chaffinch - 2

Whitethroat - 3

Dunnock - 1

Blue Tit - 2

Willow Warbler - 5

Goldcrest - 1
Blackcap - 3
Robin - 2

19th April 2011 - Nesting Season Begins

2011-04-20T01:11:00.001+01:00

Just a single ringing session this week at Leith Hill on Monday (18th) and although only ten birds were caught they involved my first two Whitethroat of the year (below). Also a breeding pair of Siskin with the female sporting a full brood patch and a retrap adult from earlier in the month. The most frustrating was one of the three Cuckoos that were present bouncing out of one of the nets!!

Although, I have spent quite a bit of time nest hunting and have managed to ring a nest of Blackbird and a nest of Song Thrush at Leith Hill and two more nests of Song Thrush at home. Other active nests located included singles of Tawny Owl, Mandarin, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff and Blackbird.

Birds ringed:
Siskin - 2
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Goldcrest - 1
Willow Warbler - 2
Whitethroat - 2
Blackbird - 4 nestlings
Song Thrush - 11 nestlings

11th April 2011 - Start of Heron Season

2011-04-11T21:04:00.002+01:00

Quite a variation of ringing this week with two mornings at Leith Hill, two mornings at home and the start of the Heronry ringing at Warnham LNR.

On Monday (4th), a couple of hours in the morning at Leith Hill proved very poor compared to recent visits with just three new birds caught - two Lesser Redpoll and a Willow Warbler. There were very few Redpolls around on this morning and by the end of the week they seem to have nearly all gone, departing to their more northerly breeding grounds.

Wednesday (6th) and Sunday (10th) mornings were spent doing some ringing at home in the garden which produced just 37 new birds of 13 species including the first Collared Dove (above), Jackdaw (below) and Blackcaps of the year. I catch very few warblers at home even in the autumn and never in spring, so to catch 11 of three species here in two sessions was outstanding and all very fatty migrants. Also managed to find a few nests of Song Thrush (2), Blackbird (1), Blue Tit (4), Great Tit (2), Jackdaw (3), Long-taled Tit (1), Magpie (1), Greenfinch (1), Chaffinch (1).

Phil (aka 'Ice') with chick

Saturday (9th) was the start of the Grey Heron ringing at Warnham LNR, with great thanks to tree climbers Gary and Phil (pictured above with chick) who volunteered their time climbing the 40ft trees to access the nests. The timings of when these birds breed can be very dependant on the weather at the beginning of the year as well as during the nesting time. After the cold, snowy weather in January, they seemed to start nesting quite late, so planned to visit the colony a couple of weeks later than last year, but the unseasonal hot weather of the last two weeks meant that the chicks have grown very quickly. This meant that we were unable to ring four nests as the birds were too far advanced. A week earlier would have caught up with three of these, but I was on my brother's stag do in Bristol - so enough said!

Chick showing defensive crest

We still managed to ring 15 birds from five nests, with orange colour rings with black digits added to above the left knee for easier identification in the field. The only other nests were one with three eggs and another still being built, totalling just 11 nests. This is a huge decline compared to last year where 26 nests were recorded making this the biggest Heronry in Sussex. In fact, a whole area of Corsican Pine seems to have been abandoned where there were 16 nests last year! I am hoping that these might just be late starting, but the regular presence of Buzzards throughout the morning, seemingly coming out of this area, may give a clue to its abandonment! Maybe they will set up shop instead!

Chick being weighed

As I got to Leith Hill this morning for another session before work I was greeted by a huge flock of at least 100 Brambling flying around the heathland and I thought that I had hit the jackpot, so called Wes who joined me soon after. After two hours of watching the spectacle we only managed to catch one, but what a pretty bird he was in almost full breeding plumage (below with Wes). Only six other birds were caught including a female Coal Tit with a fully developed brood patch, meaning this bird is already sitting on eggs. Also present were still a few Redpoll and Siskin, a late Redwing, the first Tree Pipits and at least three pairs of Woodlark.

Wes with Brambling

Birds ringed:
Blackcap - 8
Goldfinch - 7
Blue Tit - 7
Chaffinch - 3
Great Tit - 3
Lesser Redpoll - 2
Brambling - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Willow Warbler - 4
Chiffchaff - 3
Wren - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Collared Dove - 1
Grey Heron - 15 nestlings
Jay - 1
Jackdaw - 1

4th April 2011 - First Warblers

2011-04-05T11:11:00.000+01:00

A session at home on Friday (1st) morning gave the real feel that spring is here and that birds were far more focused on breeding territory than coming to feeders as just two new birds were caught - a Song Thrush and a Blue Tit!

Whilst today up on Leith Hill, Duke's Warren was alive with Redpolls again with at least 100 in a mobile flock joined by about 40 Siskin and a few Chaffinch and Crossbill. The catch of 56 new birds included 46 Redpoll of which two were Common Redpoll (making these the 6th and 7th caught on the hill this year). Also my first warblers of the year were caught being two Willow Warbler (above) and a Chiffchaff (below) which had clumps of olive pollen stuck to its face from its feeding activities in southern Europe whilst migrating.

Other sightings here included a pair of Mandarin, a Tree Pipit and a singing Woodlark.

Birds ringed:
Song Thrush - 1
Blue Tit - 1
Robin - 1
Chaffinch - 2
Siskin - 4
Lesser Redpoll - 44
Common Redpoll - 2
Willow Warbler - 2
Chiffchaff - 1

29th March 2011 - Willow Feeding and Another Control

2011-03-29T09:03:00.000+01:00

A session at home on Saturday (26th), showed that the birds are starting to move off and claim territories with just 42 birds ringed of seven species. Highlights included a few Chaffinch and Goldfinch that were probably migrants with notable fat scores (which I am hoping will be recaught in Sweden!!), a Goldcrest which had been singing all morning and another Great Spotted Woodpecker. Also a number of the Blue Tits had obviously been feeding in willows and were facial covered with pollen (below).

Yesterday (28th), another trip onto Duke's Warren at Leith Hill was very fruitful catching 43 new birds which was mainly all Lesser Redpoll, but also included a Siskin and a stunning male Brambling (below).

Two retraps were of Lesser Redpoll ringed here last week and one ringed at Broadmoor on 1st February, but another control Lesser Redpoll was also caught, X689677, making that six controls since New Years Eve! Other sightings included two roding Woodcock as I was putting up the net and a pair of Woodlark displaying over my car!

Birds ringed:
Chaffinch - 7
Blue Tit - 19
Goldfinch - 6
Great Tit - 5
Greenfinch - 4
Goldcrest - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 39
Brambling - 1
Dunnock - 1
Siskin - 1

23rd March 2011 - Home, Away, Home and on the Hill

2011-03-23T23:54:00.000Z

Just before flying off to Bulgaria for a week skiing on 12th, I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours ringing in the garden which resulted in 24 new birds of six species, highlighted by my first two Song Thrush of the year and five House Sparrow (below). These were also new for the year and the first time I have caught House Sparrows here outside of the autumn and start of winter.

Bulgaria was a blast and incredibly cheap and the gondolas up into the mountains was a great place to spot birds with regular sightings of Black Woodpecker, Nutcracker and Crested Tit. Whilst around the village Serin, Cirl Bunting, Crossbill, Woodlark and Ring Ouzel were everywhere, with a group of c100 of the latter on one day including a male with an almost completely white head! Not a ringing or biding trip though!!

On return, had a short ringing session at home on each morning on 20th, 21st and 22nd producing 21 new birds of eight species with highlights being another Song Thrush and a female Brambling (below). This is my second Brambling caught here with the previous being another female in early 2009!

This morning I ventured back onto the heath at Leith Hill and in three hours of sunshine managed to catch 27 new birds of which 13 were Siskin and 11 were Lesser Redpoll (below). The Siskin were showing a vast array in weights from a normal 11.8g to the huge 16.3g of a bird that was very heavily laden with fat stores indicating a migrant. An interesting catch was a retrap Siskin from twelve days ago which had jumped from 11.9g to 13.2g with the addition of fat stores obviously planning on migration soon. Also caught was not one but three control Lesser Redpoll! The first, L758184, was ringed by Wes Attridge 5km away in Capel just nine days ago on 4th March, and details of the other two X281474 and L794934 will be posted as soon as information comes through. There was at least one unringed Common Redpoll present, as well as a Chiffchaff, two Brambling and a singing Woodlark.

Birds Ringed:
Dunnock - 1
Chaffinch - 5
Blue Tit - 19
Coal Tit - 1
Goldfinch - 6
Great Tit - 2
Brambling - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 11
Siskin - 13
Long-tailed Tit - 1
House Sparrow - 5
Greenfinch - 5
Song Thrush - 3

11th March 2011 - Swans and Finches

2011-03-12T00:11:00.001Z

Yesterday (10th), I ringed at a new site Elmer's Pond in Ockley for which I aided in catching and ringing the family of Mute Swans that were here (first for the year). It was quite an event as the adult male spent most of the time chasing the two youngsters which eventually helped us to catch the birds as they were forced out onto the land making them easier to corner and catch (below). The parents were then a bit more sedate although hard to tempt towards the bank, although the adult male finally came to the edge in an attempt to attack an unsuspecting dog that was being walked past. The first time I have managed to catch a swan with a dog!!! The adult female was left unringed as in the past it was attacked by a gang of kids which has left it with just one wing and never leaves the pond.

Then this morning, I spent two hours before work on the Duke's Warren at Leith Hill where I managed to catch just nine birds, but this included five Siskin (below) and another Common Redpoll. This is now the fifth Common Redpoll ringed on the hill since Christmas! Other exciting observations on the hill today was a Woodcock, 14 Buzzard in the air together, a singing male Firecrest in the Rhododendron Wood and a group of about 40 Crossbill, including at least ten juveniles, that were feeding just above the net whilst I was ringing. Maybe I will be lucky enough to catch one of those in the future...

Birds ringed:
Mute Swan - 3
Blue Tit - 1
Great Tit - 1
Common Redpoll - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Siskin - 5

8th March 2011 - 'A' Permit and Sparrowhawk

2011-03-09T00:15:00.000Z

No local ringing done this week as a trip to see the my wife's family in Warrington combined with me being assessed for my 'A' permit on the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning at Woolston Eyes. A big thanks to trainer Dave Riley, no only for doing my assessment, but for also passing me. Yippee! Also thanks to trainees Zoe Houghton and Liz Kerr who were willing for me to be acting 'Ringer in Charge' for the two days. I now just await confirmation from the Ringing Committee.

Woolston is a great place, which I have been visiting occasionally over the last two years when in the area with species highlights such as Water Rail and Willow Tit. We almost were prevented from leaving the site on the Friday evening when a Barn Owl that was flying around the whole afternoon decided to land in the middle of the access track refusing to move until I had to get out of the car and shoo it off!!

Back in Horsham, Jake managed to read a ring on an adult male Sparrowhawk at Warnham LNR on Wednesday (2nd March) which turned out to have been ringed about a metre from where it was seen on 18th August 2009 as a second year bird. Almost more interestng is that although there has been ringing done at Warnham LNR since 1987 this was the first and only Sparrowhawk to have been caught here, which has always astounded us as there are so many about.

Adult male Sparrowhawk by Jake Everritt:

27th February 2011 - A Wet Weekend in the Garden

2011-02-28T00:58:00.001Z

Dodging the wet weather this weekend I still managed to catch a total of 92 new birds in my garden with the help of Louise and Gary (below).

Highlights of new birds included the first Wren of the year, a Coal Tit, two Long-tailed Tit and another two new Great Spotted Woodpecker! Interestingly, last time I retrapped a Great Spotted Woodpecker was back in early November 2010 and since then I have caught ten new comprising two adult female, two adult male, a first year female and five first year males.

And almost the last bird caught of the weekend was a control adult Blue Tit - ring number X896793. Will post details when I get them back from BTO.

Also caught a single new Goldcrest in the Rhododendron Wood at Leith Hill on Monday.

Birds ringed:

Coal Tit - 1

Chaffinch - 5

Goldfinch - 9

Great Tit - 8
Dunnock - 1
Blue Tit - 59
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Wren - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Greenfinch - 5
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2

20th February 2011 - Barn Owl Boxes

2011-02-21T02:13:00.000Z

Thanks to the help of Barrie, Simon and Brian and the three landowners we managed to erect three new Barn Owl boxes this week around north Warnham. Possibly a little bit late for this season but the three other dates we organised to do it got drowned out by the weather and Barn Owls have been seen regularly in these areas.

The only ringing this week was a couple of hours at Leith Hill and at home producing 16 new birds including the first Jay of the year.

Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 8
Great Tit - 1
Coal Tit - 3
Chaffinch - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Greenfinch - 1
Jay - 1

13th February 2011 - Woodpeckers and Recent Recoveries

2011-02-14T01:59:00.000Z

A single session in my garden on Saturday (12th) produced 47 new birds with highlights being a Marsh Tit, a Woodpigeon and another three new Great Spotted Woodpeckers! Also caught was a Great Tit that was suffering from Avian Pox (below - abscess on chin) which continued to be seen around the garden all weekend. I see about half a dozen 1st year Great Tits a year suffering from this in various amounts. All of the abscesses have been around the head area apart from one which had a growth on the carpal joint of one wing.

Also received a few recoveries back:

Mute Swan Z18761
Ringed as adult female at Warnham LNR on 6th April 2009
Ring Read at Earlswood Lake, Redhill, Surrey on 9th December 2010
621 days 21km NE

Mute Swan Z18769
Ringed as a 1st year at Warnham LNR on 5th September 2009
Taken into care at Bough Beech Reservoir, Kent on 13th August 2010
342 days 37km ENE

Chiffchaff DJB324
Ringed as a juvenile at Warnham LNR on 3rd September 2010
Hit a window at Herne Bay, Kent on 7th October 2010
34 days 110km ENE

Greenfinch TR01622
Ringed as a 1st year female in my Warnham garden on 26th March 2010
Hit by a car in Horsham on 18th May 2010
53 days 2km E

Great Spotted Woodpecker LA33658
Ringed as an adult female at Chesworth Farm, Horsham on 8th June 2009
Found dead in Chesworth Crescent, Horsham on 26th November 2010
536 days 0km

Blue Tit L424302
Ringed as a juvenile in my Warnham garden on 4th August 2010
Killed by cat in Warnham on 16th September 2010
43 days 0km

Birds ringed:
Great Tit - 3
Blue Tit - 33
Marsh Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 3
Goldfinch - 1
Greenfinch - 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 3
Woodpigeon - 1

1st February 2011 - Redpolls, Redpolls, Redpolls

2011-02-06T23:31:00.004Z

There were loads of Redpoll at Henman Basecamp, the National Trust bunkhouse in Broadmoor, last week so on Tuesday morning I set up a single 40ft for two hours. The result was amazing with the first net round resulting in 35 Redpoll, two Blackbird (inc. a continental female - below), two Marsh Tit and three Great Tit! Whilst extracting there were still at least another 50 Redpoll in the tree tops above me.

The second round was less productive producing just another two Marsh Tit (below - note the distinctive pale edge to the mandibles which separate from the all black Willow Tit) and a Goldcrest, but no more Redpoll!

Out of the 35 Redpoll two were Lessers that I had previously ringed on New Year's Eve about 1km away on Duke's Warren, Leith Hill, while the rest were new including THREE Commons. The first (below) was significantly bigger, had a more Lesser-type plumage colouring and had a wing length of 80mm, whilst the following two looked typically Common with generally grey and white plumage and wing lengths of 75mm.

Looking at Svensson, the combination of features of the first bird matched either ssp. rostrata or islandica (Greenland/Iceland populations) of Common Redpoll which are on average even bigger than Arctic Redpoll. When released this bird flew down onto a log and then a series of short distances through the woodland keeping very much to the ground flora unlike the other two Commons and all the Lessers, which flew straight up to the tops of the trees. According to Birds of the Western Palearctic one of the characteristics of these subspecies is that they are far more terrestrial, compared to ssp. flammea or Lesser Redpoll which are much more arboreal. Any comments greatly appreciated.

Birds ringed:
Lesser Redpoll - 30
Common Redpoll - 3
Great Tit - 3
Marsh Tit - 4
Blackbird - 2
Goldcrest - 1

30th January 2011 - Yet Another Great Spot For The Garden

2011-01-31T03:26:00.001Z

A fairly quiet week in my garden, partly due to windy conditions, with just 33 new birds caught. The highlight being the 16th new Great Spotted Woodpecker for my garden in just over six months (below)!

After catching three retrap Treecreepers last week, a new bird was caught on Friday. I am looking into the ageing of Treecreepers after post juvenile moult and the size of the buff tips to the primary coverts are a great guide. Large tips are juvenile feathers while small tips are adult feathers, meaning that any retained large tips represent a first year. This said wholly small tips don't rule out juvenile as the primary coverts could have all been moulted. Photos below:

First year - Clear moult limit in the primary coverts with large tips having an extension up the shaft (also with an abberrant feather lacking any buff tip)

Unaged - uniform small tips to the primary coverts

Unaged - Gradual increase in size of tips, but interestingly no extension up the shaft. Future evidence may prove this to be an adult in a similar way to Robin.
Birds ringed:
Great Tit - 6
Blue Tit - 18
Robin - 1
Goldfinch - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 3
Treecreeper - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1

23rd January 2011 - Seven New Species for the Year

2011-01-23T23:51:00.001Z

I did three netting sessions this week with very mixed results catching a total of 38 new birds. A session in my garden was the most numerous with 28 new birds with highlights being the first Woodpigeon (below), Blackbird and Great-spotted Woodpecker, while four new Coal Tits was a day record here. Retraps included three Treecreepers (two from 2010 and one from 2009).

A two hour session before work in the Rhodi Wood at Leith Hill was disappointing producing just two birds, a Long-tailed Tit (new for the year - below) and a Blue Tit!

The last session was before work this morning on Duke's Warren at Leith Hill and although only eight birds were caught this included six Redpoll of which one was a fantastic Meally Redpoll (below).

The day finished with a quick visit to a new site, Willow Green pond at Holmwood Common, where I managed to catch the seventh new species, a pair of Mallard coming to bread.
Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 13
Great Tit - 4
Chaffinch - 1
Coal Tit - 4
Goldfinch - 1
Robin - 1
Lesser Redpoll - 5
Meally Redpoll - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Goldcest - 1
Blackbird - 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Mallard - 2

16th January 2011 - One Bird Week

2011-01-17T00:46:00.000Z

After a brilliant two hour session on Leith Hill on 31st December in which I caught 38 Redpoll and 14 Goldcrest in one net, including a control of both species (details hopefully to come soon), I felt that it was worth a second go. So on Monday 10th I spent another two hours there, but with dire return, to be honest just one Goldcrest! Oh well, that's ringing!

A visit was also made to Coot Pond, but with the huge amount of water elsewhere at the moment there were only a couple of Mallard present and they weren't interested in the bread I had! The rain and high winds then continued to the end of the week preventing any more netting opportunity, but next week is looking better.

Birds ringed:
Goldcrest - 1

1st and 9th January 2011 - Garden Start to 2011

2011-01-10T00:49:00.001Z

Two sessions in my garden started me off for in 2011 produced just 48 new birds which is very few compared with the norm, probably a result of the excessive cold weather during last month!

Birds ringed:
Dunnock - 1
Goldfinch - 8
Chaffinch - 4
Blue Tit - 15
Great Tit - 9
Robin - 1
Coal Tit - 3
Greenfinch - 5
Redwing - 2

2010 Round Up - Horsham Ringers is back!

2011-01-10T00:40:00.000Z

After over 5 months off the air, ringing has still continued although to a varying degree. I still managed to outdo my annual total from 2009 of 3995 to 4875! The full list follows:

Mute Swan - 5

Canada Goose - 10

Mallard - 30

Tufted Duck - 1

Mandarin - 1

Grey Heron - 35 nestlings

Sparrowhawk - 1

Buzzard - 3

Kestrel - 2

Moorhen - 8

Coot - 5

Common Sandpiper - 1

Herring Gull - 2

Common Tern - 3 nestlings

Stock Dove - 1

Woodpigeon - 15 + 4 nestlings

Collared Dove - 2

Barn Owl - 3 + 7 nestlings

Tawny Owl - 1

Nightjar - 1

Kingfisher - 4

Green Woodpecker - 1

Great-spotted Woodpecker - 22

Swallow - 1 + 51 nestlings

Meadow Pipit - 16

Grey Wagtail - 2 + 9 nestlings

Pied Wagtail - 15 nestlings

Wren - 55 + 6 nestlings

Dunnock - 80 + 3 nestlings

Robin - 120 + 11 nestlings

Blackbird - 121

Fieldfare - 1

Song Thrush - 27 + 3 nestlings

Redwing - 30

Grasshopper Warbler - 1

Reed Warbler - 44 + 7 nestlings

Blackcap - 95 + 6 nestlings

Garden Warbler - 14 + 1 nestling

Whitethroat - 14

Chiffchaff - 107 + 5 nestlings

Willow Warbler - 8 + 5 nestlings

Goldcrest - 66 + 4 nestlings

Firecrest - 1

Spotted Flycatcher - 9 nestlings

Long-tailed Tit - 65 + 6 nestlings

Blue Tit - 1553 + 226 nestlings

Great Tit - 599 + 93 nestlings

Coal Tit - 31

Marsh Tit - 6

Nuthatch - 12

Treecreeper - 20 + 5 nestlings

Jay - 7

Magpie - 6

Jackdaw - 5

Rook - 2 nestlings

Starling - 12

House Sparrow - 62 + 5 nestlings

Chaffinch - 259

Greenfinch - 401 + 5 nestlings

Goldfinch - 280

Siskin - 5

Linnet - 3

Lesser Redpoll - 70

Bullfinch - 8

Yellowhammer - 5

Reed Bunting - 29 + 3 nestlings

Roll on 2011!

27th July 2010 - Current Year Total

2010-07-27T23:04:00.003+01:00

Have just calculated up the ringing for the year so far and we have just reached the 3000 mark with a total of 3080.

The blog is going to be taking a break for a while, but hopefully be back some time soon.

18th July 2010 - 85 New Birds for the Garden

2010-07-18T21:39:00.004+01:00

A vast change from the last month or so was a huge catch of 85 new birds in my garden today! A lot of Blue Tits and Great Tits and very few finches which is unusual for here (juvenile Goldfinch above) but did also include some highlights such as a juvenile Jackdaw (below), an amazing five juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and six Blackbird.

But the shock bird of the morning came in the form of a migrant juvenile Grasshopper Warbler (below)! I can't imagine what it would be doing here as this is a bird more usually associated with wetlands on migration! I wasn't complaining though as this was only the second caught in the Horsham area, the first being caught at Warnham LNR in July 2008.
Also of interest was that there was only one retrap which was an adult male Blue Tit ringed here in late 2008.

Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Robin - 5
Great Tit - 28
Blue Tit - 28 (1)
Chaffinch - 2
Dunnock - 5
Goldfinch - 1
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Wren - 1
Jackdaw - 1
Greenfinch - 1
Blackbird - 6
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 5

15th July 2010 - Another Buzzard

2010-07-15T21:57:00.003+01:00

Still not having recovered from the Buzzard ringing on Tuesday I got a call from Louise at 8.30am to say that she had just picked one up off the road! As her and James (her housemate) were leaving the office near Box Hill in the rain they watched a Buzzard fly around the adjacent field and land on the road. They stopped and Louise got out and picked it up and it was rather damp, so phoned me at which I immediately dashed over. By the time I got there the bird had dried off a lot and immediately realised that it was again a first year bird, although quite a bit older than the last two and was already starting post juvenile moult (which can be seen in the wing photos below).
Being this much older makes it hard to determine where it is from, although it is likely that it was born in the near area, it could have also come from quite a distance away.
By the time we had assessed and processed the bird the weather was far better and the bird was released and flew away. Another happy customer. Well done Louise.

Birds ringed:
Buzzard - 1

13th and 14th July 2010 - Reedbed and a Selection of Nests

2010-07-14T22:48:00.004+01:00

An evening and a morning of ringing in the reedbed at Warnham LNR, joined by Eddie and Kevin on the evening. A total of 98 birds were caught including 69 new of 16 species. Highlights of the new birds included five Reed Warbler (including an autumn migrant), a juvenile Bullfinch, two juvenile Jay, a Treecreeper, a Garden Warbler, 13 Chiffchaff and ten Blackcap. The only two highlights from the retraps was a 2007 Blue Tit and a 2008 Reed Warbler.
After finishing in the reedbed, I came back to meet up with Jake, but was stopped in my tracks with a juvenile Cuckoo flying between fence posts on the meadow, coming as close as 10ft (above by Jake). Then a quick look at the sluice noted a few unringed Mallard and a juvenile Moorhen, so donned the waders and landing net and managed to catch the two unringed Mallard, but the Moorhen managed to evade me!

Then to Horsham Park to try to catch the last Canada Goose gosling, but the birds seemed well fed on bread and uninterested in my healthy sunflower hearts! But there was a surprise addition in the form of a Woodpigeon nest only six foot high which had two well grown chicks in.

Onto the farm near my house where another brood of five Swallow (below) was ready to ring, while the second broods of the other three had three, four and four eggs. Also, excitingly the Spotted Flycatcher seem to be going for a second brood in the same nest as before.
Finally got home and a check of the Greenfinch nest in a neighbours garden was successful having five chicks (one below - note the seed store on the side of the neck - weird!).
Thinking I had a really good day, Wes texted to say he had ringed three Barn Owl chicks and seven Swift nestlings in Capel today!!!

Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Garden Warbler - 1 (1)
Reed Warbler - 5 (6)
Robin - 7 (1)
Blackcap - 10
Bullfinch - 1
Blue Tit - 9 (7)
Dunnock - 2 (1)
Great Tit - 15 (7)
Chaffinch - 1
Swallow - 5 nestlings
Chiffchaff - 13 (1)
Wren - 5 (2)
Treecreeper - 1
Jay - 2
Mallard - 2
Woodpigeon - 2 nestlings
Magpie - (1)
Greenfinch - 5 nestlings
Blackbird - 3 (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - (1)
Barn Owl - 3 nestlings
Swift - 7 nestlings

9th and 10th July 2010 - What a Way to Start a New Job

2010-07-10T19:29:00.007+01:00

Day seven of my new job at Leith Hill began with my first weekly team meeting and by the time it ended it was a well deserved lunch break by all which very quickly changed to another rescue!

We were quickly approached by Jim Curtis who had been walking across the grounds of Leith Hill Place and found a BUZZARD trapped inside a tree protector! So Graham, Catherine, Sarah and myself jumped into a vehicle and headed off (rings at the ready of course). When we got there there were actually two BUZZARDS trapped inside! On approach they very quickly huddled down into a 'you can't see me' posture (below) and I was able to pick them up very easily.
It was immediately obvious that they were juveniles with the parents soaring and calling overhead and the wing feathers on inspection hadn't finished growing. But Jim then found the reason why they were inside the fencing in the form of half a dead rabbit that assumably the parents had caught and dropped in. The birds were then very quickly ringed and released. Photo above with Graham and Catherine and behind the offending tree protector!
Then this morning Eddie and I ringed at Chesworth Farm in near perfect conditions with grey cloud and no wind, but a relatively poor result in numbers although quality was very evident. Just 54 birds caught of 18 species including 39 with highlights being the first Swallow (above) roosting in the pond (autumn is here!), a Bullfinch, two newly fledged Reed Bunting (below), seven Whitethroat, a juvenile Reed Warbler, two juvenile Goldcrest (below) and an adult female Blackbird showing continental plumage.
But the two highlights of the day came in the form of retraps, first was a juvenile Chiffchaff that I had ringed at Warnham LNR just seven days ago which still hadn't started post juvenile moult. This is 3.5km as the crow flies straight through Horsham town centre, but more likely 5.5km following the river round the western and southern edge of the town. If this wasn't enough a juvenile Willow Warbler (below) was caught that had just started post juvenile moult that Wes had ringed in a nest of six at the Capel reserve on 10th June. This being a distance of 11km due south in exactly one month, although this bird probably still had at least a week in the nest to go and a sibling being retrapped there on 25th June could imply that the whole of the family was still in the area. Both very interesting signs of juvenile dispersal (see map below).
Interesting butterfly sightings included the first White Admiral and only the second Purple Hairstreak for the site.

Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Buzzard - 2
Reed Bunting - 2
Blackcap - 4
Bullfinch - 1
Robin - 2 (1)
Great Tit - 3
Blue Tit - 2 (4)
Dunnock - 2 (1)
Whitethroat - 7
Reed Warbler - 1 (3)
Chaffinch - 1
Goldfinch - (1)
Wren - 3
Chiffchaff - 2 (1)
Goldcrest - 2
Willow Warbler - (1)
House Sparrow - 4 (2)
Blackbird - 1 (1)

6th and 7th July 2010 - Owls, Reeds and Waterfowl

2010-07-08T00:02:00.006+01:00

On Tuesday, I went out with Barrie Watson round my local area to recheck the Barn Owl boxes, but first was to check a new box that I had found near Rowhook and on inspection a new female was present with two small chicks. This was a good find and is a new breeding species for this tetrad.

Then onto the others although the Dawes Farm pair still only had very small young and the Kingsfold pair which had had a single chick (pictured before) and three unhatched eggs now only had three eggs which were being brooded! This was a weird scenario as is was too short a time for the single chick to have fledged but they were still brooding the other three eggs, unless they were all new eggs!! Who knows! The only consolation was that we managed to catch the both adults with the male ringed on the last visit and the female being one of Barrie's that was ringed as a chick in 2005 just north-west of Crawley, so not far at all.
Wednesday after work I went to Warnham LNR to check the last two Reed Warbler nests with Eddie and although unfortunately too late for one which had already fledged, the second held quite well grown chicks (above) which were ringed. Then just further on the Reed Bunting nest fond last time with eggs now had three perfect sized chicks (below).
We then went to check the sluice and were pleased to find a few young Mallard and two juvenile Coot feeding at the bottom, so donned the waders and climbed in further down stream and flushed them all up to the plunge pool where I managed to net four birds including both Coot (below) and two of the Mallard.
As I got home, started watering the garden and noticed something flapping around in the greenhouse and on inspection found an unringed juvenile Blackbird unable to find its way to the open door!

Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Barn Owl - 1 (1)
Reed Warbler - 4 nestlings
Reed Bunting - 3 nestlings
Coot - 2
Mallard - 2
Blackbird - 1

2nd to 4th July - Finally a Bullfinch!

2010-07-05T18:27:00.004+01:00

On 3rd, I ringed in the reedbed and Feeding Station at Warnham LNR catching 78 birds of which 64 were new. Apart from the Blue Tit and Great Tit flocks highlights of the new birds included another juvenile Coal Tit (below), 9 Robin, 3 Chaffinch, six Chiffchaff, a Nuthatch, two juvenile Reed Warbler and a pair of Bullfinch (male above). After catching nearly 100 new Bullfinchs in 2009 this year has been awful with Wes catching about a dozen and including these two I have caught just five!
The highlights of the retraps were a Robin and a Jay ringed in 2007.

The 4th was a morning of ringing at home catching 20 birds of which 18 were new including two more Jackdaw and a juvenile Wren (not many caught here). Afterwards I popped over to a couple of neighbours to ring the nine Swallow chicks from the two pairs they have nesting.

Wes managed to ring a nest of three Blackbird and a nest of six Pied Wagtail on 2nd as well.

Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Blackcap - 3
Robin - 11 (2)
Reed Warbler - 2 (5)
Great Tit - 22
Blue Tit - 20 (1)
Dunnock - 1 (3)
Chaffinch - 3
Bullfinch - 2
Coal Tit - 1
Goldfinch - 1
Swallow - 9 nestlings
Pied Wagtail - 6 nestlings
Wren - 5 (1)
Chiffchaff - 6
Jackdaw - 2
Blackbird - 3 + 3 nestlings
Nuthatch - 1
Garden Warbler - (2)

June Monthly Totals

2010-07-04T23:34:00.002+01:00

A great month with 47 species ringed with highlights being the first Mandarin, the first Stock Dove, the third Coot, the second Collared Dove, the second Kestrel. While nests were ringed of 14 species including a nest of Common Tern, two nests of Spotted Flycatcher and a nest of Barn Owl.

Birds ringed:
Whitethroat - 13
Chiffchaff - 39
Wren - 8
Willow Warbler - 4 + 8 nestlings
Long-tailed Tit - 14
Treecreeper - 5
Goldcrest - 4 nestlings
Song Thrush - 4 + 3 nestlings
Blackbird - 25 + 12 nestlings
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 6
House Sparrow - 24
Greenfinch - 51
Nuthatch - 1
Blackcap - 32 + 6 nestlings
Great Tit - 69 + 11 nestlings
Reed Bunting - 4
Robin - 34
Bullfinch - 5
Swallow - 3 +21
Blue Tit - 110 + 11
Nightingale - 1
Reed Warbler - 10 + 3 nestlings
Goldfinch - 19
Garden Warbler - 10
Barn Owl - 2 + 5 nestlings
Canada Goose - 8
Stock Dove - 1
Woodpigeon - 2
Mallard - 12
Jay - 4
Jackdaw - 2
Coot - 1
Kestrel - 1
Mandarin - 1
Magpie - 2
Common Tern - 3 nestlings
Kingfisher - 1
Collared Dove - 1
Marsh Tit - 2
Chaffinch - 14
Linnet - 2
Pied Wagtail - 10 nestlings
Dunnock - 14
Yellowhammer - 2
Coal Tit - 1
Spotted Flycatcher - 6 nestlings
Grey Wagtail - 1 nestling

28th and 29th June 2010 - Monday Morning, Nests and My Last Day

2010-06-30T16:24:00.005+01:00

Another successful session by Eddie and I at Chesworth Farm on Monday morning produced 101 birds of which 58 were new. Highlights of the new birds included a breeding female Yellowhammer (above), a juvenile Whitethroat (below), a juvenile Treecreeper (only the fourth for the site), two adult Song Thrush and two adult and two juvenile Blackcap.
Retraps produced a large number of juvenile Great Tits that were ringed on the previous session, but also an adult male Blackbird that was originally ringed on 20th October 2007 as an adult.

Afterwards I went to Horsham Park again and managed to get another of the juvenile Canada Geese, leaving just one more to get and then returning home set the potter traps and managed to catch just one bird, but only the second ever Collared Dove (below). Hopefully this one will live a bit longer than the previous one!
Then on Tuesday, 29th, my last day of working for Horsham District Council, a slightly earlier start saw Jake and I venture out for my first Goldcrest nest that I had spotted on Sunday (poor shot of the nest with chicks just visible above). This was not for the faint-hearted and definitely not to try at home as the nest was about 20ft up and suspended from the end of a Douglas Fir limb at Warnham LNR. The nest held six chicks, but only four were ringable with the other two too small, but I am glad my day long ladder training course came in handy (below)!
Wes also ringed two nests today at the Capel Reserve being four Blackbird chicks and a nest of Willow Warbler which was unusually small having just two chicks and an unhatched egg.

I am now moving to a new job as Head Ranger of Leith Hill and Holmwood Common with the National Trust just into Surrey, so not too far away and although I plan to continue my ringing at the Horsham sites, the scale will be less and maybe some new ringing possibilities will be found at my new work place. Wish me luck!

Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Robin - 2 (2)
Blackcap - 4 (1)
Whitethroat - 1
Blue Tit - 10 (3)
Great Tit - 9 (15)
Dunnock - 3 (2)
Yellowhammer - 1
Chaffinch - 5
Goldfinch - 1
Chiffchaff - 3 (1)
Treecreeper - 1
Willow Warbler - 2 nestlings
Golcrest - 4 nestlings
Song Thrush - 2 (1)
Canada Goose - 1
Collared Dove - 1
Blackbird - 2 + 4 nestlings (2)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - (3)
Reed Warbler - (5)
Greenfinch - 5
House Sparrow - 7 (7)

25th June 2010 - Capel Reserve and Nests

2010-06-27T00:18:00.002+01:00

Wes did a late session at the Capel Reserve on Friday evening and managed to catch 58 new birds of 16 species with highlights being four adult Bullfinch, 13 Chiffchaff, seven Whitethroat, a Treecreeper, a Reed Warbler, a Garden Warbler and the first juvenile Nightingale! Not bad for a couple of hours!!! The Bullfinch are quite interesting as last year we ringed just under 90 in total, whereas this year so far we are only just into double figures, did they suffer a lot due to the cold winter?

The highlight from the retraps was a Jay originally ringed on 23rd June 2006. Another species that rarely gets retrapped.

Wes also managed to ring a couple of nests this week being five Blackbird and four Swallow, but also managed to catch the parent Swallows as well.

Birds ringed:
Blue Tit - 14
Chiffchaff - 13
Whitethroat - 7
Bullfinch - 4
Blackcap - 3
Robin - 3
Wren - 3
Great Tit - 2
Greenfinch - 2
Blackbird - 1 + 5 nestlings
Nightingale - 1
Treecreeper - 1
Garden Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Goldfinch - 1
Swallow - 2 + 4 nestlings

25th and 26th June 2010 - Reedbed and Another Rescue

2010-06-26T23:24:00.004+01:00

Today I visited the Swallow nests again and chanced upon a Pied Wagtail nest with five young and although there were no Swallow nests ready a further nest with five eggs was found in a grand chicken shed and some noise from an unused stable produced an adult female that seemed to have got trapped (below). Thank goodness I check everyone each time I visit, but still unsure how or why she got in there!
Yesterday, 25th, was a solo session in the reedbed at Warnham LNR produced 62 birds with 48 new. Highlights of the new birds were a Jay, a juvenile Garden Warbler, an adult and five juvenile Blackcap, a juvenile Treecreeper and a juvenile and adult Reed Warbler. The adult Reed Warbler was interesting in that it displayed no breeding signs, but wasn't a failed breeder as there was no sign of any moult either. But, it did have a certain amount of fat, so must be assumed that it is a late arriving migrant that has just arrived! Another interesting catch was a juvenile Great Tit which had the dark parts of the bill replaced with a pink colouration, although the yellow fringe was still evident (below). It would be interesting to see how this bird fares in years to come!
Retraps were fairly few for here, but the highlights were two new Reed Warblers for the year, ringed in August 2009 and August 2008, and a moulting adult female Willow Warbler with a brood patch which was ringed as a juvenile in July 2009. This Willow Warbler is very interesting as it is the first retrap of this species for the Horsham sites and could be one half of a second breeding pair on the reserve and could also be a bird born on or new the reserve last year...!

Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Swallow - 1 + 4 nestlings
Blackbird - 1 + 5 nestlings
Reed Warbler - 2 (6)
Blackcap - 6 (1)
Blue Tit - 16
Great Tit - 9 (5)
Dunnock - 4
Robin - 2 (1)
Garden Warbler - 1
Pied Wagtail - 5 nestlings
Wren - 2
Chiffchaff - 3 (1)
Treecreeper - 1
Jay - 1

19th to 23rd June 2010 - Flies, Pies, Terns and a Fish

2010-06-23T23:24:00.005+01:00

The last five days have turned into a bit of a Ringathon with me having a good amount of time off to run around catching up on nests, a rescue and a ringing demonstration as follows:

19th - Only four birds ringed on this day. A walk with my inlaws around my home patch was rewarded with a Spotted Flycatcher calling on a wire with food which disappeared into an old wooden barn and then came out without it. A quick turn of pace to get back home rustle up a gooseberry crumble for dinner (keep the family happy!) and a drive round with rings and a knock on the owner's door. Very happy to oblige, the owner allowed me access to the barn and on entering immediately spotted the nest with four ringable chicks. Shame I forgot my camera!! Also three yearling Mute Swans turned up at Warnham LNR today and Sue managed to read the ring that was on one and was one of the cygnets that was born here last year. Good to know that it has survived.

20th - A brief morning ringing in the garden was back on form after very little recently catching 28 birds with 18 new including ten Greenfinch and two juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker.

21st - RINGATHON
Part 1 - Louise and I started at 3.15am at Chesworth Farm setting the nets and was later joined by Eddie with nets down by 11am. A total of 103 birds with 83 new including a juvenile Treecreeper, 11 Greenfinch, ten House Sparrow and a Jackdaw (first caught here - above). The only interesting retrap was a Blue Tit ringed in October 2007.
Part 2 - Louise and I then went to Horsham Hospital to collect a female Mallard that had nested in one of the enclosed courtyards having seven ducklings and were unable to get out. Between us and the help of Linda from the hospital Mum and all were gathered up, ringed and taken to Warnham LNR to be released.
Part 3 - Then we made a quick visit to Horsham Park where Louise managed to bag one of the Canada Goose goslings.
Part 4 - Returning to Warnham LNR a newly fledged Magpie (above) was walking around the courtyard and I very quickly managed to pick it up, Louise ringed it and then released it out of harms way with parents nearby. Unfortunately, five minutes later a Crow came down and carried it away!
Part 5 - The main reason for returning to Warnham LNR was to then venture out onto the Millpond to ring the three Common Terns on one of the rafts (above and below), for which we were joined by Jake. The second raft wasn't so lucky with the female found dead on the raft completely emaciated leaving three unhatched eggs - possibly not being fed enough by the male?
Part 6 - A quick trip to Rudgwick by Louise, Kevin and I to meet Aston and Chris to ring another Spotted Flycatcher nest in Aston's garden which held just two young and three unhatched eggs. I remembered my camera this time (below).
Part 7 - The only unsuccessful part, was a trip to the Heronry back at Warnham LNR where there has been a lot of late breeding activity. Joined again by climber Gary we checked a nest that should have been ready for ringing, but had been predated and then found another new nest that when climbed the chicks were too old! A further new nest was also found but again just too old! A bit frustrating, but the Heronry here is now realised to be much larger than ever thought with an estimation last year of 17 nests with this year holding at least 28 nests making it the biggest in the county!

22nd - In the morning I ringed the last of the Warnham LNR nest boxes resulting in five Great Tit chicks. In the early evening Wes, Jake and I ran a public ringing demonstration at Warnham LNR which was hosted by the Friends group mainly focused on the reedbed area and with a good attendance and near perfect weather caught 25 retraps and 19 new birds of 14 species. Highlights of new birds included another Magpie, two Garden Warbler, three Blackcap and two Reed Warbler (including the first juveniles of the year) and a juvenile Kingfisher which was a real spectacle. Another amazing find was of a Golden-ringed Dragonfly in one of the nets which was the first record of this heathland species for this very non-heathland reserve (below) bringing the site odonata total to 25 species.
23rd - Another Blackbird nest of four in my garden was ready to ring this morning and a post breeding check of the nest boxes at Warnham LNR, unexpected turned up a second brood of six Great Tit and of the 40+ occupied boxes on the reserve just a single dead chick was found making this by far the most successful year!

Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Spotted Flycatcher - 6 nestlings
Dunnock - 5 (4)
Goldfinch - 3 (2)
Blue Tit - 17 (7)
Robin - 4 (3)
Great Tit - 32 + 11 nestlings (6)
Chaffinch - 3 (1)
Blackcap - 3 (4)
Garden Warbler - 2 (2)
Reed Warbler - 2 (6)
Treecreeper - 1
Chiffchaff - 6 (2)
Wren - 1 (1)
Jackdaw - 1
Magpie - 2
Mallard - 8
Canada Goose - 1
Common Tern - 3 nestlings
Kingfisher - 1
Greenfinch - 21 (3)
House Sparrow - 10 (2)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2 (2)
Blackbird - 5 + 4 nestlings (6)
Mute Swan - (1)
Long-tailed Tit - (3)

17th and 18th June 2010 - MANDARIN!

2010-06-19T11:16:00.007+01:00

A brief visit to the Farm locally where I have been ringing Swallow chicks on 17th produced five chicks ringed from the third pair nesting here.
On the 18th, Louise and I ringed in the reedbed and a net in Woodpecker Hide (the newly named Feeding Station) at Warnham LNR during the morning, catching 75 birds of 17 species including 48 new birds. Highlights of the new birds included two Garden Warbler, a Reed Warbler, a juvenile Coal Tit, two juvenile Treecreeper (above), a Jay and a juvenile male Mandarin (below). The latter was one of two caught in the Woodpecker Hide net, although the second managed to escape the net. You can see it is a male as it has just started moulting into adult plumage with orange 'go-faster' stripes on the head and a few adult feathers on the side of the breast. They are almost certainly the produce of one of the pairs that has bred here and it is the first to have been caught at the sites and considering only 18 got ringed in all of Britain in 2009 it is a very good catch!
The highlight of the retraps was a breeding adult female Blue Tit that was ringed here as a juvenile on 5th Sep 2006. The Grey Wagtail pair thats nest was ringed at the beginning of May had relocated to another outlet pipe in the sluice here and on inspection had just a single well grown chick which I ringed. Unusual just to have one and no sign of any unhatched eggs!
A late visit to Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods involved a bit of nest finding with a pair of Blackcap feeding six nestlings (above) and a pair of Yellowhammer feeding, but although I spent some time looking, could not locate the nest. Very frustrating!!!

Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Swallow - 5 nestlings
Blackcap - 6 + 6 nestlings (1)
Garden Warbler - 2 (2)
Blue Tit - 6 (5)
Dunnock - 1 (1)
Robin - 2 (1)
Chaffinch - 2
Great Tit - 6 (11)
Reed Warbler - 1 (2)
Coal Tit - 1
Grey Wagtail - 1 nestling
Treecreeper - 2
Chiffchaff - 3 (2)
Wren - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 11
Jay - 1
Blackbird - 2
Song Thrush - (1)
Mandarin - 1

14th June 2010 - A New Species and a New Nest

2010-06-14T19:19:00.007+01:00

Although the forecast for today was of showers and heavy wind I risked getting up early to go to Chesworth Farm this morning and was very glad to have done as there was no rain and the wind didn't pick up until after 9am! It also turned out to be a very productive session for Eddie and I.
Although only 44 birds were caught the 27 which were new included some real quality starting with an adult male Yellowhammer (above) and the tenth Reed Warbler for the pond this year, an adult female.
Then two juvenile Blackbird (above), which was really good as all of the nests that we have found here have been predated, so glad at least one survived. Another new juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker which was probably from a different family to the ones last week as I caught them again as well and the new bird was in active wing moult while the other two not.
The last three new birds of the day were the highlights with a Woodpigeon, a Jay and a smashing adult male Kestrel (above). This is the first Kestrel to be caught at the Horsham DC sites and a real beauty having watched it hunting for the prior 30 minutes.
After Chesworth I popped back to Horsham Park and managed to catch two of the five Canada Goose goslings and then onto Warnham LNR where the first pair of Common Terns have hatched three chicks (to be ringed soon). I then spent an hour walking through the reedbed on the edge of the meadow looking for Reed Warbler nests as this is a nest that we have never ringed before and I managed to find six of which one had three ringable chicks and an unhatched egg (above). The other nests were one with four eggs, one with five eggs (below), one with one egg, one empty, and one that had been predated.
Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Blue Tit - 8 (2)
Yellowhammer - 1
Robin - 2 (2)
Chaffinch - 1
Goldfinch - 2
Reed Warbler - 1 + 3 nestlings (1)
Blackbird - 2 (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1 (3)
House Sparrow - 1 (6)
Greenfinch - 4
Great Tit - (2)
Jay - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Kestrel - 1
Canada Goose - 2

5th - 13th June 2010 - A Busy Week

2010-06-12T20:53:00.005+01:00

A very busy week with a combination of some netting and nesting.

Wes started with a session at the Capel reserve on Saturday 5th, briefly joined by me, catching 20 new birds of ten species with highlights being four Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and four new breeding Blackbird.
Wednesday 9th was a windy day but the potter traps in my garden produced three juvenile Chaffinch (above) and a juvenile and adult Greenfinch.
On Thursday 10th Jake and myself netted the reedbed at Warnham LNR catching 77 birds of twelve species including 43 new birds with highlights being a Reed Bunting, a newly fledged juvenile Garden Warbler (above), five Blackcap and seven Chiffchaff. But the best catch was a female Willow Warbler with a brood patch and a male singing nearby which is the first confirmed breeding of this species at this site. There was also an interestingly plumaged juvenle Great Tit which was very dark and lacking any yellow (below). Also on this day, Wes managed to ring a nest of six Willow Warbler and a nest of five Garden Warbler at the Capel reserve and I ringed the second to last nest box at Warnham LNR of Blue Tits.
On Friday 11th, Wes checked two Barn Owl boxes in a farm building near Capel and found an unringed male in one and an unringed female in the other with young chicks.
Finally, today I ringed at home in the morning and late afternoon catching 13 new birds highlighting in a juvenile and adult female Linnet (never caught here before - above), a juvenile Nuthatch (below) and another adult Jackdaw. In the field behind the house I also managed to find a nest of five Pied Wagtail in a log pile on a trailer which I ringed and a Linnet nest with one egg.
In a brief trip out at lunch today, 13th, to Horsham Park I managed to catch a Coot (below) in true Kane Brides fashion. Then a detour home via the Swallow nests that were at egg stage last week to find the nest with three eggs had three ringable chicks and the nest of five eggs with only day old chicks.
Birds ringed: (Retraps in brackets)
Blackbird - 5 (2)
Whitethroat - 4
Chiffchaff - 10 (3)
Great Tit - 8
Robin - 7 (1)
Greenfinch - 4
House Sparrow - 1
Willow Warbler - 2 + 6 nestlings
Reed Bunting - 2 (1)
Bullfinch - 1
Garden Warbler - 1 + 5 nestlings (1)
Reed Warbler - (1)
Blue Tit - 20 + 6 nestlings (20)
Chaffinch - 3
Dunnock - 2
Linnet - 2
Goldfinch - 6 (1)
Pied Wagtail - 5 nestlings
Swallow - 3 nestlings
Barn Owl - 2
Jackdaw - 1
Coot - 1
Nuthatch - 1

7th June 2010 - Chesworth and Owls

2010-06-07T22:25:00.007+01:00

A decent selection of species this morning at Chesworth Farm with new birds including a Jay, another new Reed Warbler (nine birds now caught here), two juvenile Great-spotted Woodpecker (below) and a good haul of 15 Greenfinch. A Spotted Flycatcher was seen, but away from the nets.
I was joined at 10am by Barrie and Anne Watson and Eddie to check the Barn Owl box here. On inspection, the box contained five well grown chicks (below) and all were of a ringable size although varying dramatically. The most amazing thing though was what else was in the box.
Apart from the knock over smell of ammonia and pellets galore there were two freshly killed mammals (which I think I had seen the male bring back to the nestbox only moments earlier) being a Common Shrew and a Field Vole (below).
We then went to a couple of other boxes near my Warnham garden finding a pair at one with four eggs, being brooded by the adult female that was caught here last year, while the other nest contained a day old chick and three eggs and a capture of the adult male (below with Barrie).
Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Robin - 4
Goldfinch - 4 (1)
Blue Tit - 16 (2)
Blackcap - 2 (3)
Reed Warbler - 1 (3)
Whitethroat - 1
Great Tit - 1 (1)
Song Thrush - 1
Jay - 1
Reed Bunting - (1)
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2 (1)
House Sparrow - 4 (3)
Greenfinch - 15 (2)
Blackbird - (2)
Wren - (1)
Barn Owl - 1 + 5 nestlings (1)

6th June 2010 - Warnham Ducks and Warblers

2010-06-06T22:32:00.003+01:00

A short session at Warnham LNR this morning by Jake and myself produced 15 birds with highlights being three new Reed Warbler and a retrap which was ringed here as a breeding adult male on 3rd June 2006, and a juvenile Great-spotted Woodpecker. Afterwards we donned the waders and got into the sluice where we managed to scoop up four of the seven Mallard ducklings that have been feeding there recently including the runt of the brood (pictured with me below).
The four remaining tit boxes at the reserve were also checked with one abandoned at nest lining stage, one with a Great Tit sat on five eggs, a Blue Tit nest with just two young and three unhatched eggs (ringed) and a Blue Tit nest with eight too small chicks. So still some more to be done!

Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1 (1)
Robin - 4 (1)
Reed Warbler - 3 (2)
Song Thrush - 1 (1)
Chaffinch - (1)
Blue Tit - 2 nestlings
Mallard - 4

1st to 4th June 2010 - More Nests and Youngsters

2010-06-04T17:07:00.004+01:00

Having not visited Coot Pond in a while, Jake and I went over with a bag of seed after work on Tuesday, 1st, and managed to catch four of the Canada Goose goslings (below with Jake) from the brood of seven that are here and hopefully catch the others another day.

Then I popped over to check a couple of boxes that have had Stock Dove in the past, but just one was occupied with an adult on two eggs (below).

On Thursday, 3rd, an early morning session was done at Warnham LNR catching a total of 34 birds including new birds with highlights being a Garden Warbler, a Reed Bunting, three Reed Warbler, two Chiffchaff (including a juvenile - above), a Woodpigeon and six Blackbird, although the star was two juvenile Marsh Tit (below).

Highlights of the retraps included two male Long-tailed Tits of which one was ringed on 23rd Sep 2006 as an unaged bird and the second ringed on 2nd Sep 2007 also as an unaged bird, neither of which have been caught since! After work Jake and I visited some local neighbours to see if any of their Swallows were ready for ringing and of the four nests, one had four ringable young (below), one had five ringable young, one had three eggs and one had five eggs. After which I popped to Kelly and her daughter Millie's house to ring their nest of Blue Tits which was small with just five chicks. Millie could hardly contain herself she was so excited!

And then yesterday, 4th, a late morning session at Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods produced just nine birds including two male Garden Warbler and two male Willow Warbler (below). Also here today were a family of Redpoll and a Nightjar was heard churring on three occasions during the ringing.

Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Blackcap - 2
Garden Warbler - 3 (1)
Robin - 4 (1)
Reed Warbler - 3
Marsh Tit - 2
Reed Bunting - 1
Blue Tit - 3 + 5 nestlings (4)
Great Tit - 1
Swallow - 9 nestlings
Chiffchaff - 2
Wren - 1
Willow Warbler - 2
Blackbird - 7 (1)
Long-tailed Tit - (2)
Great Spotted Woodpecker - (1)
Greenfinch - (1)
Dunnock - (1)

May Monthly Totals

2010-05-31T23:26:00.002+01:00

With all the nest ringing a large number of birds were ringed this month with a total of 589!

The best were all new species for the sites in the form of five fledgling Rook and a Common Sandpiper, while other highlights included nine Garden Warbler, two adult and a nest of Grey Wagtail, a nest of Pied Wagtail, a Nightingale, two Lesser Whitethroat, an adult and a nest of Jackdaw, a nest of Tawny Owl, a nest of Grey Heron and a trio of difficult nests to ring - Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit and Wren.

Birds ringed:
Blackbird - 6 + 9 nestlings
Blackcap - 9
Blue Tit - 8 + 235 nestlings
Canada Goose - 1
Chiffchaff - 5 + 5 nestlings
Common Sandpiper - 1
Dunnock - 8
Garden Warbler - 9
Goldcrest - 1
Goldfinch - 9
Great Tit - 7 + 114 nestlings
Greenfinch - 20
Grey Heron - 3 nestlings
Grey Wagtail - 2 + 5 nestlings
House Sparrow - 16 + 9 nestlings
Jackdaw - 1 + 3 nestlings
Jay - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 2
Long-tailed Tit - 6 + 6 nestlings
Mute Swan - 2
Nightingale - 1
Pied Wagtail - 5 nestlings
Reed Bunting - 2
Reed Warbler - 5
Robin - 22 + 6 nestlings
Rook - 5 nestlings
Song Thrush - 7
Tawny Owl - 1 nestling
Treecreeper - 1 + 5 nestlings
Whitethroat - 8
Willow Warbler - 1 + 5 nestlings
Woodpigeon - 2
Wren - 4 + 6 nestlings

31st May 2010 - Sparrows and Greenfinchs

2010-05-31T22:37:00.004+01:00

I was joined by Eddie and Chris Glanfield for the ringing session at Chesworth Farm this morning which was almost completely dominated by juveniles catching 42 new birds and 22 retraps. B rings were in constant use during the morning catching ten new House Sparrow (juvenile above) and 13 new Greenfinch all mainly juveniles, while other highlights included a Whitethroat, a pair of Blackcap and the best of the day a male Garden Warbler. A great find by Eddie was a nest of six Wren that was ringable under the eaves of one of the buildings (below).
Highlights of the retraps were the regular Blackbird ringed in 2007, a recent male Reed Bunting (below) and four Reed Warbler, a Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat all from 2009. In total now seven Reed Warblers have been caught in the tiny 60ft x 60ft pond here this year with five being males, one female and one unsexed and only one of which was new this year!
Other sightings included two Barn Owl, a pair of Yellowhammer, a Slow-worm, a Grass Snake and a juvenile Harvest Mouse out on the farm track!

Birds ringed: (retraps in brackets)
Robin - 3
Blackcap - 2
Goldfinch - 3 (2)
Great Tit - 1 (3)
Whitethroat - 1 (1)
Garden Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 1 (1)
Wren - 6 nestlings (1)
Greenfinch - 13 (2)
House Sparrow - 10 (1)
Song Thrush - 1 (1)
Reed Warbler - (4)
Reed Bunting - (1)
Blackbird - (2)
Great-spotted Woodpecker - (1)
Dunnock - (1)
Blue Tit - (1)