Species
|
Full grown
|
Nestling
|
Total
|
Mute Swan
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Sparrowhawk
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Stock Dove
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Woodpigeon
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
Collared Dove
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
Barn Owl
|
5
|
19
|
24
|
Tawny Owl
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
Green Woodpecker
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Great Spotted Woodpecker
|
23
|
0
|
23
|
Swallow
|
4
|
39
|
43
|
Tree Pipit
|
9
|
0
|
9
|
Meadow Pipit
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
Pied/White Wagtail
|
0
|
7
|
7
|
Wren
|
59
|
0
|
59
|
Dunnock
|
35
|
1
|
36
|
Robin
|
77
|
8
|
85
|
Redstart
|
6
|
1
|
7
|
Blackbird
|
54
|
9
|
63
|
Song Thrush
|
19
|
0
|
19
|
Redwing
|
30
|
0
|
30
|
Reed Warbler
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Whitethroat
|
9
|
0
|
9
|
Garden Warbler
|
12
|
0
|
12
|
Blackcap
|
58
|
0
|
58
|
Chiffchaff
|
88
|
0
|
88
|
Willow Warbler
|
64
|
0
|
64
|
Goldcrest
|
300
|
0
|
300
|
Firecrest
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Spotted Flycatcher
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
Long-tailed Tit
|
23
|
0
|
23
|
Marsh Tit
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
Coal Tit
|
98
|
0
|
98
|
Blue Tit
|
504
|
6
|
510
|
Great Tit
|
234
|
16
|
250
|
Nuthatch
|
11
|
0
|
11
|
Treecreeper
|
11
|
0
|
11
|
Jay
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
Magpie
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Jackdaw
|
3
|
15
|
18
|
Rook
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Starling
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
House Sparrow
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Chaffinch
|
88
|
0
|
88
|
Brambling
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
Greenfinch
|
55
|
5
|
60
|
Goldfinch
|
96
|
4
|
100
|
Siskin
|
224
|
1
|
225
|
Linnet
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Common Redpoll
|
301
|
0
|
301
|
Lesser Redpoll
|
265
|
0
|
265
|
Redpoll (Common/Lesser)
|
142
|
0
|
142
|
Common Crossbill
|
33
|
0
|
33
|
Bullfinch
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
Total
|
2985
|
121
|
3129
|
Sunday, 6 January 2013
End of 2012 Totals and start of 2013
With us now entering the start of a New Year I am planning to restart my blog after 6 months of absence, mainly due to just too much else going on!! So to start off, below is a quick round up of the totals I achieved in 2012. Highlights have been the 24 Barn Owl, 9 Tree Pipit, 7 Redstart, 2 Firecrest, 6 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Rook, 708 Redpoll and 33 Crossbill. Also, the unexpectedly large totals of 300 Goldcrest and 98 Coal Tit. A big thank you to Paul Stevenson, Sue Walsh, Martin Gray and Claire Boothby for their help with my ringing this year.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Firecrest, Redstarts and the start of the juvenile season
The last couple of weeks has seen a real increase in the number of birds being caught per session with the now evident presence of juvenile birds.
North River
The weather prevented more than a single session at my CES site over the last two weeks, but this session did yield 13 new and eight retraps with the new birds involving ten juveniles. This included a Song Thrush, the first two Blackcap and Chiffchaff and Goldcrest (below).
Warnham Garden
As usual for the summer I have done very little in my garden although the potter trap has produced another new juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Jay that I originally ringed here on 19th Feb 2011.
Although I did ring two Swallow nests in a neighbours stables of five and three young in each.
Leith Hill
Two sessions here produced 77 new birds which included a couple of surprises. Amongst the juvenile Blue Tits and Great Tits were 15 Siskin (seven juvenile), two Whitethroat (amazingly only the 3rd and 4th to be ringed up here this year), 14 juv Willow Warbler, four juv Chiffchaff and three Goldcrest. But the biggest surprise was a newly fledged Firecrest (below top) on 25th June and two Tree Pipit and four Redstart (three juveniles and an adult male - below bottom).
Case's Yard
Another nest of three Swallows were ringed.
Barn Owl Boxes
The last two weeks has also seen me complete my Barn Owl box ringing locally, which has been very successful. Of the six nestboxes that contained breeding birds all were successful with broods of two (1), three (3) and four (2). In addition I was able to capture five of the adult birds of which three were new, and two were controls. The first being a female that had originally been ringed as a chick in Rowhook about 3km away from this nest in 2005, whilst the other GC41832 also a female is yet to be found out.
In addition I also helped Wes to ring a nest of Kestrel chicks locally which were very smart birds indeed (below top) and had a fantastic weekend at Dungeness Bird Observatory helping to construct a new Heligoland trap (below bottom), some great pictures of this at Plodding Birder Blog. First time I have visited Dungeness and not picked up my binoculars!!!
Birds ringed:
Barn Owl - 3 + 19 nestlings
Swallow - 12 nestlings
Blue Tit - 17
Blackcap - 3
Great Tit - 8
Robin - 2
Siskin - 15
Chaffinch - 2
Dunnock - 3
Garden Warbler - 1
Redstart - 4
Tree Pipit - 2
Whitethroat - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Willow Warbler - 14
Goldcrest - 4
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Chiffchaff - 5
Wren - 1
Firecrest - 1
Blackbird - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Song Thrush - 2
North River
The weather prevented more than a single session at my CES site over the last two weeks, but this session did yield 13 new and eight retraps with the new birds involving ten juveniles. This included a Song Thrush, the first two Blackcap and Chiffchaff and Goldcrest (below).
As usual for the summer I have done very little in my garden although the potter trap has produced another new juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Jay that I originally ringed here on 19th Feb 2011.
Although I did ring two Swallow nests in a neighbours stables of five and three young in each.
Leith Hill
Two sessions here produced 77 new birds which included a couple of surprises. Amongst the juvenile Blue Tits and Great Tits were 15 Siskin (seven juvenile), two Whitethroat (amazingly only the 3rd and 4th to be ringed up here this year), 14 juv Willow Warbler, four juv Chiffchaff and three Goldcrest. But the biggest surprise was a newly fledged Firecrest (below top) on 25th June and two Tree Pipit and four Redstart (three juveniles and an adult male - below bottom).
 |
| Juvenile Firecrest - note the yellow stripe over the eye and the black stripe through the eye, unlike the juvenile Goldcrest above. |
Case's Yard
Another nest of three Swallows were ringed.
Barn Owl Boxes
The last two weeks has also seen me complete my Barn Owl box ringing locally, which has been very successful. Of the six nestboxes that contained breeding birds all were successful with broods of two (1), three (3) and four (2). In addition I was able to capture five of the adult birds of which three were new, and two were controls. The first being a female that had originally been ringed as a chick in Rowhook about 3km away from this nest in 2005, whilst the other GC41832 also a female is yet to be found out.
 |
| Claire assisting me with a Barn Owl chick - yes you are not mistaken, that is sunshine in the background.....I had nearly forgotten what it looked like!! |
Birds ringed:
Barn Owl - 3 + 19 nestlings
Swallow - 12 nestlings
Blue Tit - 17
Blackcap - 3
Great Tit - 8
Robin - 2
Siskin - 15
Chaffinch - 2
Dunnock - 3
Garden Warbler - 1
Redstart - 4
Tree Pipit - 2
Whitethroat - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Coal Tit - 1
Willow Warbler - 14
Goldcrest - 4
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Chiffchaff - 5
Wren - 1
Firecrest - 1
Blackbird - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Monday, 18 June 2012
Altitude Record for Egyptian Goose?
Apologies for the long delay since my last posting, but has been a very busy period with ringing, work and family!
North River
My CES site has continued to do well, with two visits highlighting with the first Garden Warbler and Bullfinch and the second Jay and Whitethroat, whilst the majority of the catches were of juvenile Robins and Tits. Also, a breeding male Blackcap caught on 13th June was a control having originally been ringed in Capel, 7km away, on 9th September 2011 having gone to Africa in the meantime.
A fly over Red Kite was also a bonus on 2nd June with another or the same individual seen on 16th.
Leith Hill
My three ringing sessions here were pretty well dominated by juvenile Siskin, although in the last session were completely over shadowed by juvenile Great Tits, with just two new Siskin caught. Highlights here included the first Woodpigeon, Green Woodpecker and Jay for this site and amazingly all on 28th May, with this day also producing my best catch of Crossbill (15!). This now makes 33 for the year, not bad considering only 174 were ringed nationally in 2011. Other notables were my second Tree Pipit (breeding adult male) and two juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
A morning of nest hunting here produced just a single chick to ring, but it was a Redstart (new for me), in a box put up last year. Also the Swallows in the tractor shed by my office were ready to ring and hopefully will be good for at least one more brood.
A very unusual sighting on 5th June was of a group of geese flying south over the hill comprising one Canada, four Greylag and an Egyptian Goose! This is the first Egyptian Goose that has been recorded up here, as pointed out by Martin Gray, could this possibly be an altitude record for this species in Britain? At just shy of 1000 feet and the highest point in South East England I bet it is a real contender. Let me know if you know of another record that beats it?
Warnham Garden
At home I have only done a single morning of netting which produced just one bird a new female Blackcap on 27th May. My potter traps under my feeders have done much better catching three adult Jackdaws, a Woodpigeon, a Nuthatch and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker (all new).
I have done some nests in and around my garden as well, with a brood of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Jackdaw and a second brood of Great Tit.
Case's Yard
Not far from my house is a small industrial unit where I started ringing Swallows last year (8 pairs), but the numbers this year have fallen dramatically to less than half (3 pairs), but two nests were ready to ring today along with a nest of Collared Dove that I was shown. Many thanks to Richard and Lyn Case and neighbours for their enthusiasm and keen eyes.
Birds ringed:
Crossbill - 15
Green Woodpecker - 1
Jackdaw - 3 + 3 nestlings
Jay - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Collared Dove - 2 nestlings
Blackcap - 5
Dunnock - 5
Garden Warbler - 5
Great Tit - 16 + 6 nestlings
Siskin - 41
Chaffinch - 1
Redstart - 1 nestling
Robin - 11
Bullfinch - 1
Blue Tit - 6
Coal Tit - 2
Goldfinch - 1 + 4 nestlings
Whitethroat - 1
Swallow - 12 nestlings
Tree Pipit - 1
Wren - 3
Chiffchaff - 4
Willow Warbler -3
Greenfinch - 5 nestlings
Nuthatch - 1
Blackbird - 7
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 3
Song Thrush - 1
North River
My CES site has continued to do well, with two visits highlighting with the first Garden Warbler and Bullfinch and the second Jay and Whitethroat, whilst the majority of the catches were of juvenile Robins and Tits. Also, a breeding male Blackcap caught on 13th June was a control having originally been ringed in Capel, 7km away, on 9th September 2011 having gone to Africa in the meantime.
 |
| Adult Jay |
Leith Hill
My three ringing sessions here were pretty well dominated by juvenile Siskin, although in the last session were completely over shadowed by juvenile Great Tits, with just two new Siskin caught. Highlights here included the first Woodpigeon, Green Woodpecker and Jay for this site and amazingly all on 28th May, with this day also producing my best catch of Crossbill (15!). This now makes 33 for the year, not bad considering only 174 were ringed nationally in 2011. Other notables were my second Tree Pipit (breeding adult male) and two juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
 |
| Tree Pipit |
 |
| Redstart chick a week before ringing |
Warnham Garden
At home I have only done a single morning of netting which produced just one bird a new female Blackcap on 27th May. My potter traps under my feeders have done much better catching three adult Jackdaws, a Woodpigeon, a Nuthatch and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker (all new).
I have done some nests in and around my garden as well, with a brood of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Jackdaw and a second brood of Great Tit.
 |
| Jackdaw chicks |
Not far from my house is a small industrial unit where I started ringing Swallows last year (8 pairs), but the numbers this year have fallen dramatically to less than half (3 pairs), but two nests were ready to ring today along with a nest of Collared Dove that I was shown. Many thanks to Richard and Lyn Case and neighbours for their enthusiasm and keen eyes.
Birds ringed:
Crossbill - 15
Green Woodpecker - 1
Jackdaw - 3 + 3 nestlings
Jay - 1
Woodpigeon - 1
Collared Dove - 2 nestlings
Blackcap - 5
Dunnock - 5
Garden Warbler - 5
Great Tit - 16 + 6 nestlings
Siskin - 41
Chaffinch - 1
Redstart - 1 nestling
Robin - 11
Bullfinch - 1
Blue Tit - 6
Coal Tit - 2
Goldfinch - 1 + 4 nestlings
Whitethroat - 1
Swallow - 12 nestlings
Tree Pipit - 1
Wren - 3
Chiffchaff - 4
Willow Warbler -3
Greenfinch - 5 nestlings
Nuthatch - 1
Blackbird - 7
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 3
Song Thrush - 1
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