Holme Pierrepont, Grange - Saturday 22 September

The weather forecast for Sunday was terrible (oh how they got that wrong!) so Duncan, Mick T and I went to the Grange end on Saturday not expecting too much as most of the warblers had probably moved on. The conditions were calm with overcast skies and we set a limited number of nets with two warbler call mp3s playing. Catching was steady all morning but included quite a few Blue and Great Tits and for the first time in a few months warblers did not make up the majority of the catch.

There were still a few warblers in the catch though and we ended with a total of 51 birds including 18 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 1/3, Dunnock 0/3, Blackcap 5/0, Chiffchaff 6/0, Reed Warbler 1/1, Goldcrest 1/1, Treecreeper 0/1, Blue Tit 13/2, Great Tit 1/4, Long-tailed Tit 1/2, Bullfinch 2/1, Reed Bunting 2/0.

The oldest retrap was a Dunnock from 2016. We did have an interesting juvenile Wren that was caught twice during the summer and now seems to be in full wing moult! Plenty of Swallows and House Martins overhead but no other summer visitors were noted.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Blotts - Saturday 15 September

Carried out by Duncan, Gary and me. Still and clear to start but the breeze soon picked up. Decent first two rounds but then catching dropped dramatically and we took down a little early again. We removed all the poles today as this was likely to be the last session of the year at this site. We ended with a catch of 41 including 7 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Song Thrush 1/0, Wren 0/1, Robin 0/1, Dunnock 0/1, Blackcap 14/2, Chiffchaff 7/1, Willow Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 2/1, Blue Tit 1/0, Great Tit 5/0, Reed Bunting 3/0. The oldest retrap was a Blackcap from 2015.

Kev

Rushcliffe Country Park - Wednesday 12 September

Duncan, Gary, Mick T and me, along with Christine, Maureen, Chris the ranger and a number of other very welcome volunteer helpers assembled to catch the resident family of Swans. We caught all nine cygnets in one go, followed by the male and female shortly afterwards. A few photos appear on the ‘Friends of Rushcliffe Country Park’ Facebook page.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Blotts - Sunday 9 September

Carried out by Sue, Tom, Duncan, Mick T, Gary and me. It was really a bit too windy today and the catch was certainly reduced because of it. There were still plenty of warblers though and we ended with a total of 45 including 15 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Wren 1/1, Robin 0/1, Blackcap 14/1, Whitethroat 1/0, Lesser Whitethroat 1/0, Chiffchaff 8/5, Willow Warbler 2/0, Reed Warbler 1/0, Blue Tit 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 0/4, Bullfinch 1/2. The oldest retraps were 2 Long-tailed Tits from 2016.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Grange - Wednesday 5 September

Carried out by Mick T, Duncan, Gary and me. Perfect still and overcast conditions, contrary again to the forecast but we didn’t complain this time. We ended with a catch of 62 including 14 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 3/1, Robin 2/3, Cetti’s Warbler 1/1, Blackcap 7/1, Goldcrest 2/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Willow Warbler 5/0, Reed Warbler 6/0, Sedge Warbler 9/0, Blue Tit 2/2, Great Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 4/5, Bullfinch 1/1, Reed Bunting 2/0. The oldest retrap was a Long-tailed Tit from 2016.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Blotts - Sunday 2 September

Carried out by Alex, Duncan, Mick T, Gary and me. The forecast of mainly overcast skies with a slight breeze was wrong, we had clear skies and a stiff breeze all morning which undoubtedly affected our catch. However, there were still plenty of warblers in the catch and we ended with a total of 51 including 7 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 2/0, Song Thrush 1/1, Wren 1/1, Robin 5/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/0, Blackcap 18/2, Garden Warbler 1/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Lesser Whitethroat 2/0, Chiffchaff 3/0, Willow Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 4/1, Sedge Warbler 2/0, Blue Tit 0/1, Great Tit 1/1, Bullfinch 1/0. The retraps were all recently ringed birds.

Kev

 Cetti's Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler (K. Hemsley)

August Ringing Round-up

The sessions came thick and fast. A few brief summaries below:

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, 18/08/18 – Carried out by Sue, Tom, Gary and me. Plenty of warblers again, though the weather conditions keeping the catch down. Nice to get a few Long-tailed Tits at last. The retraps were all recently ringed birds.

Holme Pierrepont - Grange, 21/08/18 – Carried out by Mick T, Duncan and me. Perfectly still and overcast conditions so a little surprised the catch was not larger, but a good catch of Reed Warblers. The oldest retrap was a Goldcrest from 2016.

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, 23/08/18 – An afternoon ringing demonstration at the NWT Skylarks Festival kept Jim, Mick T, Duncan, Trish and me surprisingly busy. The forecast was for quite windy conditions from lunchtime so we were wondering which nets we would be able to keep open. Luckily the wind did not really increase too much until late afternoon and we were hardly ever without a bird to show the many visitors. A rush at the end of the day as the previously mentioned scarce Long-tailed Tits arrived in force and along with other birds we ended with a net round of 40 or so. The oldest retraps were a Dunnock and a Long-tailed Tit from 2016.

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, 27/08/18 – Carried out by Sue, Tom, Mick T, Gary and me. A bit too windy really and fewer birds to start but a last minute rush saw another 29 Long-tailed Tits find the nets, surprisingly with no retraps from the catch 4 days ago. Where have these birds been all summer? The oldest retrap was a Long-tailed Tit from 2016.

Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, 30/08/2018 – The forecast was for perfect still and overcast conditions – well they got the still bit right but it was full sun from the start. Mick T, Gary and I started the usual line of nets further up the hill to counter the increasing vegetation height. It turned into a Blackcap day with a few other warblers mixed in but few resident birds again. The oldest retrap was a Blackcap from 2017.

Ringing totals in the table below.

Kev