I've set up a remote-fired whoosh net in the garden and managed to catch a couple of adult Rooks. They are extremely wary, and usually appear very early in the morning, seemingly attracted by food and the soft ground around the septic tank. I think these were males on size, presumably the females are incubating. They are very smart birds close up!
Jim
Today’s visit to the farmland feeding site in Elton was very successful with 71 birds processed in total, including 50 Yellowhammers, one of the target species. The other birds included resident birds such as Blackbird, Dunnock, Reed Bunting and Wren, as well as several Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and our first Willow Warbler of the year. The flock of Brambling we saw on the previous visit had moved on, but it was nice to hear some summer migrants singing in the trees. Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 chaffinches we caught had 'scaly legs' caused by Fringilla papillomavirus. They were released unringed, but it is worrying that we found it here.
Alex T.
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| Yellowhammer (A. Turnbull) |
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| Yellowhammer (A. Turnbull) |
Josh and I stayed at Portland Bird Observatory for a week-long ringing trip at the start of April, hoping to catch and monitor the returning spring migrants. Although the weather was far from ideal (very windy all week with rain on and off) we enjoyed a steady trickle of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps alongside the mostly-resident birds such as Dunnock, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Robin and Great Tit.
The highlights were two stunning male Redstarts and a female Sparrowhawk. Birds seen but that evaded the mist nets were Ring Ouzel and Serin. One male Blackcap weighed a whopping 22.8g with a fat score around 6 or 7, which makes you wonder how much further North he was planning on travelling. Nearly all of the other Blackcaps weighed around 17-18g.
What was slightly different for us was that at Portland they play-safe on ageing Chiffchaffs in spring because they do a pre-breeding moult. Although the pre-breeding moult is usually confined to body feathers, Svennson says 5% of birds can moult a few greater coverts. This means that any bird returning could have at least two ages of greater coverts. Moth traps were set every night but returned little in numbers (understandable given the weather).
As it was my first time visiting Portland, what struck me the most was the social aspect and company of fellow ringers and naturalists who were also staying at the Obs. It was great to chat with others about their ringing experiences and learn so much. Thanks to the wardens, Martin and Jody, for their hospitality and guidance.
Holly
It's that time of year again when we join forces with NNRG to ring Raven chicks at their undisclosed site. This year the birds had chosen a new nest site which proved a bit difficult to locate. However, last week it was eventually found and four chicks were seen.
On 10 April, Kev B, Holly, Jake and I joined Adrian and Tara from North Notts RG, the site manager and the Access Techniques team to ring the chicks. The Access Techniques team are very proficient and Andy soon reappeared with the chicks. I was surprised to find that there were 5 large, healthy chicks, a first for this site as the broods have always been smaller.
Whilst the adults kept watch from nearby, the chicks were ringed (unfortunately only one could be colour-ringed this year due to problems with the supplier) and returned safely to the nest.
I will continue to monitor the nest so its outcome can be added to the nest record and submitted to the BTO.
Many thanks to Andy and Anthony for taking the photo of the birds once they were safely back in the nest.
Mick P
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Jim, Alex and I met Ben at the farm in Elton on a cold but bright morning, hoping that the day would bring plenty of birds coming to the feeding site, especially as the supplementary feeding elsewhere on the farm had stopped for the season. Ben had been feeding the site regularly and had seen plenty of birds coming and going, including some Brambling.
We set the nets, with some affected by a stronger than expected breeze, but nonetheless we managed a decent first round, which dropped off subsequently, with a steady trickle of birds for the remainder of the morning. There were indeed plenty of Brambling, with birds calling around the copse all morning, but only one found the nets. A few Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting added to the mix along with a couple of pairs of Bullfinch.
Later in the morning we put on a tape for Chiffchaff and managed to catch 4 birds during the session, along with an unexpected male Blackcap, that was caught without any use of sound lures.
All in, it was a pleasant early spring morning with the sunshine keeping us very warm and even stirring awake several butterflies with Brimstone, Orange-tip and Peacock seen.
Total new birds ringed were Blackbird 1, Blackcap 1, Blue Tit 1, Brambling 1, Bullfinch 4, Chaffinch 1, Chiffchaff 4, Long-tailed Tit 1, Reed Bunting 4 and Yellowhammer 13. There were also 3 retraps, a Blackbird and 2 Dunnock.
Tom
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| Brambling (A. Turnbull) |
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| Reed Bunting (T. Shields) |
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| Yellowhammer (T. Shields) |
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| Chiffchaff (T. Shields) |
It's not that long ago that Cetti's Warbler was unknown from our part of the world and it was retricted to England's southernmost counties, but in the last 25 years or so, it has spread to almost every region of England and Wales.
Mick P.
A very modest catch today in windy and sunny conditions, though it did take longer than usual to put up the nets because just as we reached the last one, the first pole in the line snapped in half, collapsing the whole line. It took a while to get the nets back up and free of twigs and alder cones...
Still, we processed a total of 18 birds. The highlight was catching 4 Treecreepers together, which meant we could compare the primary coverts and we were surprised to see that they were all different!
We tried tape lures for Nuthatch, Goldcrest and Siskin, but those were unsuccessful. We caught a few Chiffchaffs early on, then a mix of Great Tit, Dunnock, Wren and Robin.
Holly
The 2023 SNRG Report is now published and available. If you would like a copy, please email the address at the top of the 'Reports' page - see tab at the top.
This was to be the final visit of the season to the winter feeding site at Broomfield campus. Nets were wind affected from the start, but a little light drizzle early on soon cleared.
We ended up with a reasonable catch of 27 birds, including 15 retraps. Blue Tits made up half the catch, plus a few Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits and 5 Robins. Only 2 Chaffinch were caught. The bird of the day was the first Nuthatch recorded for the group at this site.
Thanks to Caitin for keeping the feeders topped up!
Sue
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| Nuthatch (K. Hemsley) |
A cold a foggy start to the Sunday session at Broomfield College. A large number of recaptures this week including the resident Great Spotted Woodpecker that we caught last year. Signs of breeding preparation and pairing up were noted in a few of our birds this week, so we dusted off our brood patch score sheets!
Holly attempted to catch some birds with her newly acquired spring traps. Unfortunately the traps proved rather empty, even as the Blackbirds mocked us from the hedgerows every net round. We are coming to the end of our winter site lifespan, whilst the search for the next best summer site continues!
Jake
Gary and I had a productive morning at the Brackenhurst feeders with 43 birds of 9 species including a Brambling (the site's fifth), 15 Yellowhammers, a Chiffchaff and a Treecreeper. The oldest recapture was a 2019 Great Tit. We also had a group of students come and watch to learn about ringing.
Jim
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| Brambling (JL) |
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| Chiffchaff (Duncan) |
On 6 March we finally managed an evening session targetting ducks and waders at Erewash Meadows Reserve. With permission from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Kev, Josh and I were joined by Andy and Mel from the Cromford Canal and Codnor Res. Group, who shared their knowledge and passion for the local area and wildlife with us.
We erected our nets around the two pools on site, disturbing a few Teal and Mallard as we did so, a Snipe was also seen. We hoped to target Lapwing, Teal (mainly Teal, but any duck species) and Snipe, so things were looking hopeful.
We then waited till dusk fell, initially observing the nets with binoculars, then with the aid of Mel using Cromford Canal's thermal camera. A hunting Barn Owl provided an excellent distraction during the long wait.
Our first net round produced a Lapwing and a Teal. After processing these we did one more net round where we found two Mallards in the net. One escaped but we managed to hang on to the other.
So only three birds, and no Snipe, but it was a good session and great to collaborate with another passionate wildlife group.
Many thanks to Andy and Mel for their assistance and photographs.
Mick P
We’ve launched a new colour-ringing project and we need your help!
Since the start of 2020, we have ringed 1181 individual Goldfinches and only had 5 recoveries. This is unusually low, especially when compared to Redpoll which has a similar ringing rate but much higher recovery rate. Given that Goldfinches are more common in gardens throughout the year than Redpoll, the low recovery rate is strange. Some comparison data are below:
Goldfinch stats 01/01/20 to present
1181 individuals ringed
106 retraps 8.9%
5 controls 0.4%
Redpoll stats 01/01/20 to present
1337 individuals ringed
26 retraps 1.9%
43 controls 3.2%
It is our aim to increase the recovery rate through colour-ringing so that we can better understand survival, adult recruitment, movement and dispersal.
If you see a colour-ringed Goldfinch, please send the two-letter code and the date and location of your sighting to: goldfinchresighting@gmail.com
We will send you the history of that bird - where and when it was ringed, and where else it's been seen.
A massive thank you to East Midlands Airport Community Fund, Lush, and Mansfield Building Society for supporting this project.
Holly
Today we caught a new species for the winter feeding site - a Song Thrush. We’ve heard them singing almost every visit so it’s good to finally catch one.
The other notable catch being the large number of unringed Blue Tits. Where are they all coming from? Though we did catch a fair number of retraps as well.
All in all a typical morning in good conditions with 32 birds in total, comprising: Blue Tit 17, Great Tit 5, Long-Tailed Tit 5, Chaffinch 2, Coal Tit 1, Dunnock 1, Song Thrush 1.
Holly
In extremely wet conditions, we ventured out to our summer ringing sites at Skylarks and The
Grange to prepare them for the year ahead. This job involves cutting back any plants that may
get in the way of nets. Mostly, we trim bramble and overhanging willow.
We were prevented from clearing all the rides because both sites were flooded, so we did our
best by wading in the water up to the tops of our wellies (and in one case, over our wellies).
It’s been a while since we visited the Grange, so it was as much a general recce to see how the
site has changed as it was a bramble bashing session. The reedbeds and rides remain in good
condition, and we hope will be a productive site for Reed Warblers this year.
Holly
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