Sutton Bonington, January-March 2019

I think disappointing would best sum up the last three months at Sutton Bonington. Lots of effort, lots of seed used, but few birds caught. We could blame part of it on the weather, far too mild, often breezy and sometimes wet but the main concern was the enormous amount of seed used with few small birds coming in to the feeders when we were there. We have put this down to squirrels and/or corvids rifling through the seed at the feeders, scattering most on to the floor and this being ‘hoovered’ up by the many pheasant, partridge, duck, pigeons and even more corvids. We have a plan to combat this next winter but with little to show from the last couple of visits we closed the site down on 24 March. The teams during this period comprised Gary, Mick T, Duncan, Alex, Tom, Alice, Ellen, Iona, Sarah, Sophie, me and a visit by Nabegh on 20 January.

We did have a few good birds sighted on our visits including Red Kites a couple of times including one that landed in the field only a few metres from where we were sitting.

The meagre totals were 198 including 89 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Great Spotted Woodpecker 2/0, Woodpigeon 1/0, Carrion Crow 1/0, Jackdaw 1/0, Redwing 1/0, Blackbird 7/3, Robin 8/8, Meadow Pipit 1/0, Dunnock 4/3, Coal Tit 0/2, Blue Tit 11/31, Great Tit 4/6, Long-tailed Tit 7/6, Chaffinch 14/6, Greenfinch 9/1, Linnet 1/0, Lesser Redpoll 3/0, House Sparrow 1/0, Reed Bunting 16/9, Yellowhammer 17/16. The oldest retraps were from 2016.

Kev

Brackenhurst, Saturday 30 March

What with the time of year, calm weather and cold nights, my hopes were high for handling a decent number of Yellowhammers, and so it proved! It was a steady stream of birds and we processed 86 individuals of six species, including 70 Yellowhammers!

Our team of Cliff, Issie and myself set nets at the feeders and in Orwin's. The oldest Yellowhammers were from 2016 (3) and 2015 (1). As previously these older birds turn up later in the day and in early spring when presumably they’re on or near their breeding territories.

Birds of note away from the nets were 20+ Fieldfare and a Blackcap singing in his usual spot in the blackthorn blossom.

Species totals were (new/retrap) 50/36, total 86: Chiffchaff 3/1, Goldcrest 1/1, Great Tit 2/4, Dunnock 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/2, Yellowhammer 43/27.

Below, see photo of Yellowhammer & Chiffchaff for size comparison!

Jim

Yellowhammer & Chiffchaff (Issie Connell)

Pellet recovery

Whilst ringing at Bestwood the other day a photographer gave me a ring he had recovered from a pellet he had found on site. There were several pellets beneath the fence post, they were quite large, didn't appear too old and there was lots of white streaking down the post, which led him to think that it was the work of a Barn Owl.

Reporting the ring via DemOn revealed that the ring was from a Blackbird, ringed at Bestwood Country Park, 6km away on 11 November 2017.

The photographer did return that evening to see if the predator returned to that post but nothing appeared whilst he was there. I guess we will both check out that post from time to time now.

Mick P

Brackenhurst, Sunday 24 March

Finally, a calm day for mist-netting at the Brackenhurst feeders. Our team comprised visiting ringers Andy & Liz Scott, Vicki, Lewis and me. A bright morning which went from frosty to sunny, and calm to breezy. The latter in the north-west which affected the nets and we finished before midday. Birds of note away from the nets were Chiffchaff and Fieldfare.

Species totals were (new/retrap) 28/11, total 39: Goldcrest 0/1, Great Tit 2/2, Robin 3/1, Dunnock 1/0, Treecreeper 2/1, Reed Bunting 2/0, Yellowhammer 18/6. Retraps were all from last two years.

In other news, we handled our 2000th Yellowhammer since we started ringing here in 2008. This valuable long-term dataset is used annually by students in their statistics module. One result from their analyses is that older Yellowhammers are more likely to be found at the feeding station later in the morning; perhaps because they’re more experienced and know where their local McDonalds is?

Below is a fine example of fault bars in a Yellowhammers tail. It will have experienced food/temperature stress in the nest, and this is a sure indication its one of last year's juveniles.

Jim

Newark area, Saturday 23 March

Saturday was my fifth and first successful try at catching an adult Long-eared Owl (LEO). I went out at dusk – with visiting ringers Liz & Andy Scott – and set a large mesh net next to a stream & hedgerow, and once it was dark played their calls and that of a squeaking mouse. After an hour and a half (and we were about to pack up) we found this fine adult male LEO in the net. It was ringed, biometrics taken, and released in to the night.

LEOs are poorly understood as they are unobtrusive and not as easy to find as other owls. They move between the UK and other parts of north-western Europe. However, very few are ringed (<100 in the UK in 2017). Hopefully, this is just the first as we try to learn more about this stunning and secretive owl.

Jim

Sibthorpe, Sunday 24 February

The prospect of watching the mighty Hatters live on Sky at midday meant it made more sense to ring here in Sibthorpe. Issie, Vicki and I put up four nets in ours and a neighbour's garden. The morning was calm and foggy, and then sunny. Altogether pleasant ringing, and we handled 56 individual birds, before the kick-off intervened.

It was not just the weather that contrasted sharply with the session Pete and I had had the previous Thursday, but also the mix of species caught with lots more finches evident rather than House Sparrows. It was nice to ring a few Greenfinches for a change. See the wing and tail images below which clearly show the difference between first winter and adult male Greenfinches.

Species totals 42/14 (new/retrap), total 56: Woodpigeon 1/0, Blackbird 2/1, House Sparrow 12/4, Blue Tit 2/0, Great Tit 0/1, Dunnock 0/2, Robin 2/1, Chaffinch 2/0, Greenfinch 8/3, Goldfinch 11/2, Starling 2/0. Oldest retraps were a Great Tit and House Sparrow from early 2016.

Jim

 First year male (left) and adult male (right) Greenfinches.