Sibthorpe, Monday 30 October

It has been two months since I last ringed in my garden in Sibthorpe, and the calm forecast and a free day encouraged me to have a go. In the event, I was pleased I did as I handled 120 birds of which 108 were new; its a long time since I ringed 100 passerines in a day.

House Sparrows (‘spuggies’) dominated the catch accounting for just over half the birds (69). Next was Goldfinch (16), but I suspect they are local birds and their migrant cousins have not yet appeared. Several of both species were still in post-juvenile moult, which is not that surprising as they have multiple broods and tend to breed late.

Species totals (new/retrap): Wren 1/0, Dunnock 5/1, Robin 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 14/0, Blue Tit 7/0, Great Tit 4/0, House Sparrow 60/9, Goldfinch 14/2. The oldest retrap was a spuggie ringed on Christmas day 2015.

Jim

Ramsdale Park Golf Course, Monday 16 October

Jim, Gary and I made a visit to Ramsdale and set the usual line of 8 x 18m nets on an overcast and still morning. It started to rain a little on and off for the first half of the session but it never amounted to much. The strangest thing about the weather was the much reported red sky, a strange atmosphere to ring in but it did not stop the birds finding the nets and with 2 MP3s playing most of the birds were attracted to them.

We were hoping the calm before storm Ophelia arrived would be long enough to allow a full morning session and we were pleased to find the Met Office were a little out on their timings for the wind picking up. We took down just before lunch as the breeze started throwing leaves into the nets.

We ended with a catch which was steady throughout the morning. Ten Redwings were nice as few had been reported so far this month with the winds being predominantly from the west. We ended with a total catch 64 including 11 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 5/1, Song Thrush 1/0, Redwing 10/0, Wren 3/0, Dunnock 4/0, Robin 2/1, Blackcap 2/0, Goldcrest 6/0, Blue Tit 8/3, Great Tit 4/0, Long-tailed Tit 3/1, Bullfinch 2/5, Lesser Redpoll 2/0, Greenfinch 1/0. The oldest retrap was from 2015.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 9 October

The plan today was to put up the nets at the site for the last time this year, hopefully catch a few birds and then remove all the poles/guys etc. We ended with the biggest team of the year out and more birds than we expected. Tom, Duncan, Sue, Trish, Jake, Gary and I were joined by Maria and Kate who were out for the first time with the group. We set all the usual nets on a calm but clear morning. We had two MP3 players playing warbler calls. 

 

The catching rate was steady throughout with a little flurry at the end when a few Long-tailed Tits appeared with their usual ‘friends’. The migrant warblers have all gone apart from Blackcap and Chiffchaff, but it was nice to catch 3 Cetti’s Warblers. 

 

We ended with a total catch of 46 including 8 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Song Thrush 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Wren 7/1, Dunnock 5/2, Robin 2/0, Blackcap 5/0, Chiffchaff 4/0, Cetti’s Warbler 3/0, Goldcrest 3/2, Blue Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 1/2, Bullfinch 1/1, Reed Bunting 3/0. 

 

The retraps were all recently ringed birds. Overhead were Buzzard and Sparrowhawk, but no winter thrush movement was noted.

 

Kev