Brackenhurst Ringing Demo, Monday 13 February

We had a good team out for this event: Jim, Kev, Gary, Louise, Erin, Lorna and I set up at first light in pretty chilly and slightly windy conditions. Quite a few birds were around, although catching was rarely anything more than steady. This suited us though as we also had a steady stream of undergraduate students coming to see what we do and learn a little about ringing. Many were on environmental courses and they were an appreciative audience.

We ringed 28 birds of 6 species, comprising (new/retrap): Dunnock 0/3, Robin 0/2, Blackbird 1/0, Blue Tit 5/3, Great Tit 2/2, Yellowhammer 9/1. The oldest retrap of the morning was a Robin ringed in November 2015.

By about 10 o'clock, the sun came out and the breeze stiffened a little and the capture rate plummeted. There were still good numbers of birds in the general area though, with perhaps 50 or so Yellowhammers hanging about. Over 100 Fieldfare were also moving around the nearby fields, both Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers were heard (the latter drumming), a few Siskin came over and 2 Woodcock were flushed from marshy grassland on the edge of a copse. Highlight of the morning was probably the flock of 7 Whooper Swans that flew over heading north.

Pete

All photos by Lorna Griffiths

Brackenhurst, Monday 6 February

Jim and myself set out on a very cold morning with Rebecca coming along to watch. Despite the feeders being empty and lots of squirrels hanging around, the morning started off very busily with a good number of birds. Then suddenly things dropped off around 10am, and as we were freezing cold (note the icicles on Jim's Landy!) we packed up.

We caught 41 birds of 7 species as follows (new/retrap): Dunnock 1/2, Robin 2/7, Blackbird 3/0, Blue Tit 2/1, Great Tit 3/5, Chaffinch 1/2, Yellowhammer 8/4.

The oldest retrap was a Robin ringed in January 2013 and we also caught both Blue and Great Tits ringed in November 2014. This was also the last ringing outing for Jim's beloved Landy - it has been on many adventures, and involved in countless scrapes, but we all loved it! Hopefully the new one will be just as useful.

Louise

 all photos by Jim Lennon

3 Days at Sutton Bonington

FEEDING SITE - SUNDAY 29/01/17
Alex, Sue, Gary and I netted the feeding site again this morning. There was a slight frost to start with but it was clear and still, clouding up later. Catching was fairly steady throughout but still no large numbers despite the cold week we had just had and the seed in the hoppers being consumed swiftly. We ended with 31 birds including 16 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Fieldfare 1/0, Blackbird 0/1, Dunnock 0/3, Robin 0/6, Great Tit 1/1, Blue Tit 3/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/1, Goldcrest 1/0, Goldfinch 1/1, Chaffinch 0/1, Yellowhammer 5/1, Reed Bunting 3/1. The oldest retraps were from last winter.

DAIRY FARM – MONDAY 30/01/17
Gary and I, along with Lucy from York netted the copse at the dairy farm site this morning. No frost today but overcast and misty at times. As we walked to the copse first thing we had both Barn and Tawny Owl fly in front of us. Catching started fairly briskly for this small site but dropped off later. We ended with 26 birds processed including 10 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Wren 1/0, Robin 0/3, Great Tit 1/2, Blue Tit 2/5, Chaffinch 11/0. The oldest retraps were from last autumn. We have generally noticed an increase at all sites over the last couple of years of ‘scaly leg’ in Chaffinch. Today saw it reach a new level, we ringed 11 Chaffinch but had to let 12 go un-ringed because they were suffering from the condition!

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT – TUESDAY 31/01/17
Lucy, Duncan, Gary and I netted the sewage treatment plant this morning. The day started with breeze and light rain that had us hanging around for a break so that we could put the nets up. It did stop raining after a while and we eventually put up 4 nets although 3 of them were being caught by the breeze quite a bit. Not long after 1030 it started to rain again, sharply this time and forced us to finish early. Catching was slow but we did manage to catch a couple of Pied Wagtails and get samples from them – a prime target species as they feed directly from the filter beds. A surprise in the net on the last round was a Chiffchaff. We ended with 10 birds including 1 retrap made up of (new/retrap): Pied Wagtail 2/0, Wren 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 5/0, Goldcrest 0/1, Chiffchaff 1/0. The retrap was from the last visit.

Kev