Sutton Bonington, January & February 2018

Sutton Bonington has been rather disappointing for the last two months so I thought a summary would be better than a visit by visit account. A combination of a few things, not many birds at the start of the year, nets not necessarily positioned in the best place and the weather. Two of these are much improved, the birds are now there and new net positions seem to be catching much better. The one thing we have not been able to do anything about is the weather. Our visits are restricted to a Saturday or Sunday and despite trying to follow the forecasts and pick the best day we have been hampered by the wind, rain or snow on every visit so far this year. Yesterday was no different, despite clear skies from the start it was bitterly cold and the easterly wind increased as the morning went on billowing out the nets. I think we were all glad to finish even though we had the best catch of the year with 50 birds.

The various teams this year have consisted of Maria, Kirsten, Alex, Duncan, Sue, Trish, Jake, Tom, Gary and I. Total catches for January and February have been 155 including 62 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Fieldfare 3/0, Redwing 3/0, Blackbird 3/0, Robin 2/12, Dunnock 4/8, Blue Tit 7/9, Great Tit 3/5, Coal Tit 1/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/13, Greenfinch 2/0, Goldfinch 2/0, Chaffinch 6/1, Reed Bunting 12/7, Yellowhammer 43/7, House Sparrow 1/0. The oldest retraps have been from 2015. It is at least good to see that half the birds caught have been Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings.

Thanks to Maria for keeping the feeders topped up during the week.

Kev

 The ringing Base and processing Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings (S. Lakeman)

Brackenhurst Update

Times, they are a changin . . . . Orwin's is being planted up as woodland by Brack students (see pictures), one of three new woodlands going in on the estate this winter. Generally new woodland is to be welcomed, but personally I think Orwin's should have been kept as permanent damp grassland giving another habitat on the estate and more in keeping with the landscape character of the dumble and historic farming patterns. Having said that the emergent woodland will suit bird species like Whitethroat and Willow Warbler.

Results from our last three ringing visits to the supplementary feeding station are follow:-

Saturday 20 January - Species totals: 29 birds (13 new/16 retrap):  Treecreeper 0/1, Robin 0/1, Fieldfare 2/0, Redwing 1/0, Blue Tit 4/6, Great Tit 2/6, Chaffinch 0/2, Yellowhammer 2/2. Team – Duncan, Issie, Jim & Sue.

Monday 5 February - Species totals: 45 birds (25 new/20 retrap): Long-tailed Tit 1/1, Goldcrest 1, Robin 0/3, Blackbird 3/1, Fieldfare 2/0, Blue Tit 2/4, Great Tit 2/8, Chaffinch 5/0, Yellowhammer 6/3, Reed Bunting 2/0. Team – Amy, Jim, Kev & Maria. 

Thursday 22 February - Species totals: 107 birds (64 new/43 retrap): Treecreeper 1/0, Robin 0/2, Dunnock 3/0, Blackbird 2/2, Blue Tit 2/2, Great Tit 7/9, Chaffinch 4/2, Yellowhammer 34/26, Reed Bunting 8/0, House Sparrow 1/0. Team – Abbie, Duncan, Jim & Tom.

A few highlights
Frost equals good numbers of Yellowhammers ringed & retrapped.
Reed buntings are back, we had none in 2014/15.
Oldest ringed birds were Chaffinch (2015), Great Tit (2014), and three Yellowhammer (2014).
As ever, massive thanks to Simon Taylor for keeping the seed hoppers topped up. We and the birds greatly appreciate it!

Jim Lennon

Recent Recoveries

As usual, our recent recoveries have included a lot of local Barn Owl movements, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Perhaps the most interesting recovery of the latest batch we have received is that of a Kingfisher that was ringed at Holme Pierrepont last July. We don't get many recoveries of this species, and the bird in question made a long movement down south and was found in Studland, Dorset in January. It was, unfortunately, dead when picked up.

Another Attenborough Cormorant has been re-sighted, this time a bird colour-ringed in July 2016, seen twice at Rutland water in January.

An Attenborough Heron, ringed in April last year has been found dead in Gower, South Wales in December.

An adult female Pied Flycatcher, caught at a nest-box at our site in Wales last summer, had originally been ringed the previous summer in Herefordshire as a chick.

A House Sparrow, ringed in Gary's Garden as a youngster last June, was found dead in a nearby garden on Christmas Day.

Another bird from Gary's Garden, a Goldfinch, has been controlled by ringers in France, at a site in Wirwignes, pas-de-Calais in December. It had originally been ringed in January.

A Blackbird ringed at the beginning of 2015 at Newthorpe, has been controlled by ringers on the Isle of Wight at Hasely Manor, where the Isle of Wight ringing course is held. It was controlled on the 11th June.

A Long-tailed tit, ringed in some allotments in Leicester in March last year, was controlled by the group at the winter site at Sutton Bonington on the 17th December.

Finally, a Blue Tit ringed in the nest by Birklands ringers in Bestwood Country Park during May last year, has been caught by Mick at his site nearby in November. He also controlled another Birklands Blue Tit on the same day, a 1st year bird that had initially been ringed at the country park in October.

Tom

 The Kingfisher that went to Dorset...