11th May 2011 - A Nesting Week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: