November 2009 - Month Totals

The following is the total of birds ringed by this group of ringers in November:
MUTSW 1
GREGO 1
CANGO 1
MOORH 1
WATRA 1
GRSWO 1
MEAPI 5
PIEWA 3
WREN 7
DUNNO 12
ROBIN 2
BLABI 5
FIELD 1
SONTH 6
REDWI 10
GOLDC 1
LOTTI 20
COATI 3
BLUTI 197
GRETI 65
NUTHA 1
TREEC 2
HOUSP 4
CHAFF 13
GREFI 34
GOLDF 14
LINNE 2
REDPO 64
BULLF 9
REEBU 11

30th November 2009 - Waterbird Day

Over the last few weeks we have been trying to catch Water Rails at Warnham LNR using a couple of handmade potter traps which so far have been very unsuccessful but to end a good month of ringing today we managed to catch our first one for the area (above). Nothing like a bit of John West salmon to bring them in!

After this success we tried are luck again at Coot Pond for the geese and managed to catch another Canada Goose. To finish the day we also bagged the last of the cygnets at Southwater CP that so far had been eluding us.

Birds ringed:
WATRA 1
CANGO 1
MUTSW 1

27th November 2009 - Bullfinch Galore

This morning I set up three nets at Warnham LNR in the copse and feeding station and caught 27 new birds for which highlights included an adult male Chaffinch with a huge wing of 96mm (Svennson says 80-92mm), another Coal Tit and an adult male Goldcrest (above).

Also was the sighting of a group of 12 Bullfinch (never seen more than seven or eight together at once) of which I caught four, three of which were new.

Elsewhere, Wes did an evening roost session at Capel catching 33 birds of 10 species including 10 Redpoll, 8 Redwing and a Fieldfare. Whilst Jacob was handed an adult Moorhen (below) at Southwater CP by a member of public which we ringed being his third ringing tick in two days!

Birds ringed:
REDPO 2
GRETI 7
BULLF 3
CHAFF 2
COATI 1
BLUTI 9
GOLDC 1
TREEC 1
BLABI 1
MOORH 1

26th November 2009 - Linnet Roost

I made an attempt at the Linnet roost at Southwater CP this evening with John, Stuart and Jacob.

It took a long time for the flock of c70 birds to finally go into roost after circling round for what seemed like ages and as they descended in we realised the net was slightly in the wrong spot and we only managed to catch two. Although, these were both ringing ticks for Jacob and Stuart and the addition of a few Lng-tailed Tits gave Jacob another ringing tick.


Hopefully a slight adjustment of the net for the next attempt will reap better results.

Birds ringed:
GRETI - 2
BLUTI - 8
LINNE - 2
LOTTI - 3

24th and 25th November 2009 - Goose Catching

Yesterday we made a quick visit to Coot Pond where a number of geese were getting used to being fed by the local people and myself, Jacob and John fancied our chances at catching one. Within 5 seconds of getting out of the car we were rushed by the geese wanting the bread and I instantly caught a Greylag Goose, which sent the others away almost as quickly as they came.

Today we thought we would have another go and also joined by Stuart they wee much more wary keeping just far enough away, but with determination I managed to catch a Canada Goose.

I was very excited by this as they were both ringing ticks for me and took a bit of a joint effort to age, sex and do the biometrics. The Greylag was able to be sexed of bill length, while the Canada was right in the intermediate area for both sexes. We were all surprised at how small they look in the hand and how beautiful the plumage is close-up.



Greylag Goose
4F(Adult female)
Wing - 445
Bill - 62.5


Canada Goose
3(1st year)
Wing - 480
Bill - 52.0

23rd November 2009 - "Finally a control!!!"

A short lived attempt at ringing around feeders at Warnham LNR this morning produced just 20 new birds before the winds and rain stopped play.


The highlight came in the form of a control (ringed elsewhere) 1st year Blue Tit (above) which represented the first control for this site despite six years constant effort of ringing at this site!! Interestingly, the Treecreeper and Coal Tit that were ringed here three days ago were caught again today.

Other sightings included c40 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 15 Redwing, 3 Sparrowhawk and 5 Bullfinch (below).


Birds ringed:
CHAFF 4
BLUTI 10
GRETI 4
BULLF 1
LOTTI 1

21st November 2009 - Warnham Garden

Sam spent the day ringing in his garden with a single 20ft net whilst doing a bit of gardening. Although it was a bit breezy he still managed to ring 40 new birds dominated by Blue Tits again and surprisingly no Greenfinches (194 ringed here this year).


Highlights though were a retrap immature Marsh Tit from this year, a Coal Tit and a Song Thrush.

Other sightings included two Bullfinch, a Yellowhammer, a Kestrel, a Buzzard and eight Fieldfare.

Birds ringed:
BLUTI 24
GRETI 9
GOLDF 3
COATI 1
DUNNO 1
CHAFF 1
SONTH 1

20th November 2009 - Tree-dwelling Afternoon

An afternoon at Warnham LNR with one net up by a couple of feeders in the visitor centre garden proved successful. Jacob having only recently got his trainee permit was keen to start some ringing and got off to a good start with an array of Blue and Great Tits mainly comprising retraps.


Although one of the Great Tits had a huge growth on its forehead which is thought to have been the result of avian pox (which seems to be seen especially in this species).



These were followed by a selection of tree specialists with a Treecreeper, then a retrap Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker and to finish the day a Coal Tit (this being the 18th of the year).


This weeks set of ringing takes the year total to over 5,000 new birds.

New birds ringed:
BLUTI 6
GRETI 5
COATI 1
TREEC 1
GRSWO 1

17th November 2009 - Greenfinch galore

Sam and Jacob went ringing at Chesworth Farm this morning and with 5 nets managed to catch nearly 100 birds mainly from the copse. There was also a lot of bird movement this morning with 40 Fieldfare and 30+ Redwing, 10 Redpoll (adult male pictured left) and c30 Siskin, 9 Skylark (including 1 songflighting), 30+ Meadow Pipit, 8 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer over and 2 late Chiffchaff together. The highlight was the high number of Greenfinch which were constant throughout the morning.

Meanwhile, Wes caught 4 new and 1 control Redpoll at a reserve in Capel.


At the end of the day, Sam, Stuart and Jacob had another attempt at the wagtail roost at Southwater CP, but only 5 birds came in and a new Reed Bunting (right) which managed to make its way into the net.

New birds ringed today:
REEBU 3
BLUTI 24
GRETI 4
CHAFF 2
REDPO 5
GREFI 18
SONTH 3

12th November 2009 - Roost Ringing

Since early October we have been trying to catch some of the Pied Wagtails that have been going into roost in the reedbed at Southwater CP just using one 60ft net. This has been fairly successful with nearly 30 ringed here so far, but also a couple of White Wagtails which have been hard to determine even with the great write up by Iain Livingstone (very useful). Plus two weeks ago we caught a control Reed Bunting here (first of this species ever caught here)!

This evening wasn't the best with rain threatening and a bit too much wind but we did manage to catch before the weather moved in and also found a group of 30+ Linnets going into roost in a small scrub patch and c100 Starling roosting in another section of reedbed (food for thought on another occasion)!

Birds Ringed:
PIEWA 3
DUNNO 1

10th November 2009 - A morning of tits

I arrived early for work this morning, so spent a couple of hours with two nets up near the visitor centre at Warnham LNR and for the first hour and a half caught almost only Blue Tits, but then as finishing caught a family group of Long-tailed Tits.

Total ringed:
DUNNO 1
BLUTI 7
LOTTI 11