South Notts Ringing Group

Holme Pierrepont waders

2012-02-01T20:12:00.001Z

I've been joining Chris for more evening sessions at Holme Pierrepont since Christmas in an attempt to catch some waders, in particular one of our target species; the Common Snipe. Obviously so many factors can dictate the number of birds which are present at any one time, from year to year. For example - weather conditions, availability of food and good quality feeding habitat, influx of birds from overseas, not to mention human disturbance.

It seems that the Snipe don't really want to play the game this winter, at each session we have put up fair numbers of birds in the darkness as we walk around the A52 pit, but only a handful seem to be going in the nets. It appears that overall the number of Snipe present this winter seems to be at a low, and when I think back to how rock-hard the fields at Holme Pierrepont have been until quite recently, it's difficult not to guess why.

However, as most of us know, with ringing of this type, it's not always about quantity, but quality. A retrap Redshank which we caught at a recent session was initially ringed back in January 2010 and Chris also told me about the retrap Jack Snipe which he caught earlier this week, which turned out to be a bird ringed last winter at Holme Pierrepont. Also, it is always great to get experience of new birds and to study Woodcock and Lapwing in the hand over the past few weeks has been excellent.

So although a lot of effort goes into work like this, often with only a small number of birds caught, capturing valuable information about them and the importance of sites like Holme Pierrepont as wintering grounds for these species, somehow makes it more than worthwhile. Well, it does to night-time nerds like myself and Chris anyway!

Ian

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 29 January

2012-01-31T21:37:00.001Z

Another cold and frosty start with no wind, all was looking good. Gary had brought along some kit to catch non-passerines around the lake and set off to try that whilst Nick and I set the nets around the feeders. Before we had finished setting Gary was back with a Moorhen! The catching rate at the feeders was disappointingly poor despite the perfect weather conditions and we finished on just 31 birds, 24 of which were retraps. The full capture list was (new/retrap): Chaffinch 1/3, Blue Tit 1/2, Goldfinch 0/4, Yellowhammer 2/4, Dunnock 0/1, Great Tit 0/6, Blackbird 1/1, Robin 1/1, Reed Bunting 0/2, Moorhen 1/0.

Kev

Granby, Sunday 29 January

2012-01-30T19:52:00.000Z

Duncan, Libby, Pete and myself made visit ten to Granby today. Again, we had cold, calm and overcast weather; ideal for ringing. There were few birds about other then a few small flocks of Fieldfare, several hundred Wood Pigeons feeding on rape seedlings and the local 'yaffle'.

The frost brought the Yellowhammers in again and they dominated the catch with 32 handled. Star birds were the first Song Thrush and Reed Bunting of the winter. The Song Thrush or 'Mavis' as they're known in East Anglia was the fifth for the site and first for three years. Three of the Song Thrushes have been ringed on various 31 Decembers! The Chaffinches dropped from 20 on the last visit to to six this time. Nearly half the Blue & Great Tits were new birds, whereas on last few visits they were virtually all retraps. This often happens mid-winter; not sure what it means.

The full catch was 78 birds (53 new / 24 retrap). All the retraps were from this and last winter bar a 5 yo Blue Tit and 3 yo Yellowhammer. Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Dunnock 2/-, Robin 2/2, Song Thrush 1/-, Blackbird 4/1, Blue Tit 5/6, Great Tit 6/8, Treecreeper -/1, Chaffinch 5/1, Yelllowhammer 27/5, Reed Bunting 1/-.

The plan is to return to Granby next weekend, as well as possibly going for the HPP Reed Bunting roost on Saturday.

Jim

A nice pair of tits. (male left, female right) (PML)

An intriguing retrap Robin, known to be an adult and with a dark interior to the upper mandible, yet with four slightly shorter outer greater coverts each supporting a thorn (though these are the orange typical of adults, one would not normally see an abrupt end to the thorns, but a gradual decreas in size across the coverts). Furthermore, it appeared to have two ages of tail feather with those on the bird's right hand side being rather thing and pointed and those on the left being broad and rounded! If you think you can explain this - leave a comment! (PML)

AGM, Rushcliffe Country Park, Saturday 21 January

2012-01-22T15:09:00.001Z

A good turn-out for last night's meeting, although some escaped the photo! Thanks to Nabegh for his talk on the Birds of Syria.

Granby, Sunday 15 January

2012-01-16T20:10:00.004Z

Yellowhammer & Tree Sparrow (Jackie Lawrence)

Duncan and myself, and special guests Adrian Blackburn and Jackie Lawrence, made the ninth visit to Granby yesterday. At last some nice cold weather to bring the birds in to the feeding station. It was calm, being overcast at first and then bright for most of the session. They were a few thrushes and a Little Owl around as we drove up. Otherwise, the only bird of note was the first Willow Tit sighting of the winter that Adrian heard calling. The sunshine also got the Robins singing.

As we now expect, the frosts brought the Yellowhammers in in good numbers with 12 on the first round and 24 ringed in total. All were first winter birds bar an adult male. The Chaffinches also made their return with 20 processed and, in crude terms, small females (local?) being caught early on and big males (foreign?) being caught later on in the session. The full catch being 59 new birds with 34 retraps. The former being mainly Yellowhammers & Chaffinches and the latter tit retraps. With the cold there were several retraps of older birds (which seem to turn up when they want some dependable food) with two 5 year old birds and 3 & 4 year old Blue Tits together with 6 year old Great Tit and Chaffinch.

Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Robin 2/3, Blackbird 6/-, Blue Tit -/13, Great Tit 3/13, Treecreeper 1/-, Chaffinch 17/3, Greenfinch 2/-, Bullfinch -/1, Tree Sparrow 4/1, Yellowhammer 24/-.

Lastly - the first pic below is the 1000th Yellowhammer to be ringed at the site!

Jim

1000th Granby Yellowhammer (Jim Lennon)

Treecreeper (Jackie Lawrence)

The Blackbird below was a 5M with strange moult - 2ogc on right wing and 6 on left and several replaced inner secondaries.

Blackbird (Jackie Lawrence)

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 15 January

2012-01-16T19:56:00.000Z

A cold and frosty start gave us hope that a few more birds might be visiting the feeders than last week. It proved to be much better with more than twice the catch of the previous week, unfortunately many were retraps of recently ringed birds. A new Lesser Redpoll was nice and the oldest retraps we had were a Blue Tit from 2006 and a Robin from 2007. We ended with 57 birds of which 39 were retraps. The full capture list was (new/retrap): Chaffinch 7/5, Blue Tit 1/5, Goldfinch 1/0, Yellowhammer 5/5, Dunnock 0/3, Great Tit 1/11, Blackbird 2/0, Greenfinch 0/1, Lesser Redpoll 1/0, Robin 0/6, Reed Bunting 0/3

Kev

Granby, Sunday 8 January

2012-01-09T19:37:00.000Z

Duncan, Ian and myself made the eighth visit of the winter to Granby on Sunday. Weather was breezy at first and then calm and overcast for most of the session. It was generally quiet and not many birds were around. Highlights were two Cormorants flying over, and Dunnocks & Robins (encouraged by the balmy weather no doubt) having a bit of a sing-song. Of course, the mild conditions meant the catch was small compared to this time last year. The full catch being 19 new birds with 17 retraps. Two of the Blue Tits had originally been ringed in 2006 (one in a nest box about 1km away) and a Great Tit from 2008. As it was quiet I thought I'd try to tape lure the Tree Sparrows that were hanging around the feeders, and two were caught right next to the player. Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Wren 1/-, Dunnock 1/-, Robin -/1, Blue Tit -/8 Great Tit 1/8, Chaffinch 4/1, Greenfinch 1/-, Tree Sparrow 3/-, Yellowhammer 7/-.

Jim

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 8 January

2012-01-09T19:33:00.000Z

Not much to say about this mornings visit to RCP, weather was good but very few birds. We ended with only 23 birds of which 14 were retraps. All the retraps were recently ringed birds. The full capture list was (new/retrap): Chaffinch 1/3, Blue Tit 0/3, Goldfinch 0/1, Yellowhammer 4/5, Dunnock 1/0, Great Tit 0/2, Song Thrush 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1/0.
Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Friday 30 December 2011

2012-01-02T19:40:00.000Z

This Christmas holiday I was lucky enough (thanks to some Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and Cropwell Bishop Stilton bribes) to spend some time with Chris, SNRG's "Lone Sniper".

We were hoping to catch some Snipe and Woodcock over on the fields surrounding the A52 pit at Holme Pierrepont one evening as they come in at dusk to feed, but due to the ground being so hard and dry (still!) and the blustery winds we decided to give it a go over near the Grange pit one early morning before dawn. This time we hoped to catch birds coming off the fields to roost in the reedbeds as the sun came up.

Unfortunately many of the birds either flew straight over us or avoided the nets and took cover right at the back of the reedbeds amongst the calling Water Rail and noisy Coots.

However, we didn't go home disappointed as the early morning light gave us an opportunity to enjoy a few Blackbirds and three Teal which went in the nets, all male, two adult and one young bird. I thought readers of the blog may find my photographs interesting, in particular the tail and wing shots as it is pretty easy to see the contrast in feather colour, two generations, indicating a juvenile.

I'm hoping for some calm weather as after a recce of the A52 fields later that morning, we discovered many probe marks, wader poo and feathers, suggesting concentrations of birds in certain wetter areas of the site, so fingers crossed for some calm nights.

Ian

Notts Wildlife Trust link

2012-01-02T13:47:00.000Z

Note this link, just added to the list on the right:

http://www.southnottswildlife.org.uk/

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-01-01T07:30:00.000Z

Granby Longevity Records

2011-12-30T21:49:00.000Z

The Granby cutting from the bridge. (PML)

The recent capture of an elderly female Yellowhammer got me wondering about what other old birds we have had at the Granby feeding station. The table shows the top ten species longevity records for the site and gives the national records for comparison.

They are pretty much as you might expect in that the oldest birds come from the biggest samples. For example 990 Yellowhammers have been ringed there over last 12 years, so it's perhaps not so surprising that a nigh on nine year old bird has been retrapped. The older Robin retraps are mostly males and, given their territoriality, they are perhaps more likely to be recaught in the spring as they are frequently retrapped. Whereas the Blackbird was only retrapped the once. Disappointingly we’ve had no sight or sound of Willow Tits this winter, but this three year old bird was trapped 14 times over three years. Of the 399 adult Tree Sparrows ringed, only four have been trapped in the following winter and P575873 is the only one caught beyond that. Also, none of the 91 Tree Sparrow pullus ringed in the vicinity have been caught at the feeders.

Jim

Granby, Tuesday 27 December

2011-12-30T21:24:00.002Z

Robin, age 3 (PML)

Duncan, Ian, Pete and I made the sixth visit to Granby on Tuesday. Weather was breezy from the SSW and overcast for the whole session. The feeders were sheltered from this, but the track nets caught less as a result (only 3 birds after last week's 20 plus!)

The full catch was 55 birds (27 new / 28 retrap).Highlights were the first Reed Bunting of the season and the biggest Blue Tit catch so far. One young male Blackbird was intriguing as it had replaced three inner secondaries on both wings. All the retraps were all from this and last winter with the exception of two Great Tits, one 4 and the other 5 years old.

A good illustration of how similar adult and young Great Tits can look. The bird on the left is a youngster and yet it shows hardly any green on the primary coverts. However, when compared with the primary coverts of the adult on the right you can see the inferior quality of the feathers and, most notably, the rather scruffy, pointed tips. (PML)

Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Dunnock 2/2, Robin 1/0, Blackbird 4/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/1, Blue Tit 4/8, Great Tit 3/10, Chaffinch 5/4, Tree Sparrow 2/0, Yellowhammer 3/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.

Jim

Without doubt the best weapon against the Granby Fridge Experience is sloe gin made with Granby sloes. Seasonal ringing at its finest. (PML)

Rushcliffe Country Park, Saturday 24 December

2011-12-27T20:10:00.000Z

Ruth, Duncan, Gary and I spent Christmas Eve morning at Rushcliffe Country Park. The morning started well but soon slowed down and we ended with 44 birds, 23 of them new. As at Granby we seem to have the local Great Tit population marked with all 8 birds caught being retraps, one of them from 4 years ago and no subsequent captures until today. The full capture list was (new/retrap): Chaffinch 10/3, Blue Tit 3/5, Goldfinch 4/0, Reed Bunting 2/2, Yellowhammer 2/2, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 1/1, Great Tit 0/8.
Kev

Granby, Wednesday 21 December

2011-12-23T00:25:00.000Z

Duncan, Libby, Pete and I made the fifth visit to Granby on Wednesday. Weather was calm, damp and overcast for the whole session.

More variety this time with 13 species caught. The full catch was 28 new birds with 30 retraps. Though the catch at the feeders was poor compared to recent weeks as the majority of the the catch came from the additional nets we put up along the railway track bed. This may be down to the milder weather, but there was a big drop in the number of Chaffinches about and only one was caught & ringed this time (also noted in the Retford area). The extra nets produced our best ever catch of Long-tailed Tits with a flock of 18 birds processed. Six of the Lotti's had been ringed last winter, including five in the same catch in November 2011. So, they seem to have fared quite well in the harsh cold last winter. Also of note was four first winter Bullfinches in the track nets. That's now six so far this winter compared to to 14 ringed over the last 10 years at Granby.

Note the male's 4 and the female's 5 retained juvenile greater coverts.

We seem to have the entire local population of Great Tits marked as none were ringed on the day for a change. Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Wren -/1, Dunnock 1/2, Robin 2/2, Blackbird 2/-, Goldcrest 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 12/6, Blue Tit 3/5, Great Tit 0/9, Chaffinch 1/0, Goldfinch 1/-, Bullfinch 4/-, Tree Sparrow 2/-, Yellowhammer 3/-.

This young Goldfinch had retained 4 juvenile greater coverts, obvious with their buff, not yellow, tips.

One of the best sightings of the day was a particularly bold weasel which came very close to us, although you wouldn't think so judging by the terrible pictures...

There wasn't much else around to see, though a few flocks of Fieldfares and the odd Redwing were still stripping the last few hawthorn berries.

Jim

Starting young

2011-12-22T23:46:00.001Z

The youngest member of the Shiants Auk Ringing Group gets a ringing tick.

Recent Recoveries

2011-12-22T22:50:00.000Z

The most recent batch of reports from the BTO comprised 10 recoveries and 1 control.
As usual, the bulk were made up of owl recoveries, with 5 Barn Owl and 1 Little Owl. Not suprisingly 5 of the recoveries were dead birds, 4 of which were ringed as chicks and failed to make it beyond their first 6 months; life really is quite tough for these birds.

Probably the most interesting was a Barn Owl ringed at Upper Broughton in July 2011 which travelled 82km in 2 months where it flew into power lines and died in South Yorkshire, illustrating just how far young birds can disperse after fledging.

Happily one Barn Owl ringed at Barton-in-Fabis in 2008 was still doing well at Elton this summer.

Other birds included a Tree Sparrow ringed as a chick at Attenborough in June found dead in a nestbox a month later and a juvenile Sedge Warbler ringed at Bestwood in August trapped in Grantham during the same month and putting on a bit of weight ready for migration.

Speaking of migration, a juvenile Blackcap ringed at Holme Pierrepont this September turned up at East Bedfont in Greater London having travelled 174km in just 7 days whilst gaining weight also, this bird really was heading somewhere!

The control was a Reed Warbler ringed as a juvenile at Marston Sewage Works in Grantham back in July 2010 which we picked up on 3 July 2011 at Holme Pierrepont, again strongly suggesting that birds return to the general area where they were born / were present at previously.

This is the kind of stuff that makes ringing really interesting.

Ian

Granby, Sunday 18 December

2011-12-22T22:47:00.000Z

Duncan, Ian and I made the fourth visit to Granby on Saturday. Weather was frosty with sleet & drizzle early on, but fairly calm.

For a change , the majority of the catch was tits. The full catch was 17 new birds with 26 retrapped; down on previous visits. A big drop in the number of Chaffinches trapped accounts for this. Twelve of the thirteen Great Tits were already ringed. The poor showing for the Dunnocks continued with just one retrap. All the retraps were recent bar Great Tits from 2008 & 2009.

Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Dunnock -/1, Robin -/4, Blue Tit 3/6, Great Tit 1/13, Treecreeper -/1, Chaffinch 7/2, Tree Sparrow 1/-, Yellowhammer 5/-

Jim

Attenborough, Tuesday 20 December

2011-12-20T20:50:00.000Z

Tim, Ruth and I set a couple of nets behind the Attenborough Visitor Centre this morning for a couple of hours aiming to catch some Tree Sparrows. We had better netting conditions than when we tried a couple of weeks ago but still only caught 13 birds, six of which were retraps and only 3 of which were Tree Sparrows. However, it has become the norm to catch something a little different at this site and today was no exception. We had a retrap Great Spotted Woodpecker, a control Tree Sparrow and a Sparrowhawk. Ruth ringed the Sparrowhawk, which was apparently her second and exactly two more than Ian has managed to do. Ruth sent a text to Ian to let him know and received an immediate response, unfortunately it would not be appropriate to repeat it here.
Kev

A little bit of SNRG history

2011-12-19T20:19:00.000Z

Many of you will know that the ringing group was started in 1971 by Humphrey Dobinson who started the Fairham School Ornithological Society (the Bird Club). Humphrey spent much of his free time taking pupils out on field trips and our transport was usually his Bedford (the Beddy) minibus. Humphrey now lives in Norway and recently his son Colin arranged for the minibus to be restored, the restoration made it on to Norwegian television and can be viewed on http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostfold/1.7641950. I can't help with the translation of the commentary but to some in the group this will bring back many happy memories.
Kev

2010 Ringing Report

2011-12-16T22:50:00.000Z

Our ringing report for last year is now available and members should have had it sent to them already. Anyone else interested in a copy, please email me directly on pleonard at care4free dot net (expanded address to avoid detection by spam software...).
Cheers
Pete

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 11 December

2011-12-14T19:18:00.000Z

On Saturday the forecast indicated we were not going to get a session in on Sunday, heavy rain being forecast from early morning. So it came as no big surprise that the forecast was wrong again and a full session was completed, it only started raining when I was nearly home. Unfortunately the lack of rain was almost matched by a lack of birds as we ended with a catch of 45 birds, including 31 retraps, most of them recent. This was our lowest catch this winter and with few new birds. The best of the few older retraps being a Yellowhammer from 2006. The full breakdown of the catch was (new/retrap): Robin 0/3, Goldcrest 1/0, Blue Tit 0/4, Great Tit 0/16, Chaffinch 7/3, Goldfinch 4/0, Greenfinch 0/1, Bullfinch 1/0, Yellowhammer 1/4.

No visit is planned for next Sunday because of another event taking place at the park but weather permitting we plan to hold a session on Christmas Eve.

Kev

Granby, Saturday 10 December

2011-12-11T20:05:00.000Z

Duncan, Ruth and I made the third visit to Granby on Saturday. Weather wise it was the usual winter GFE (Granby Fridge Experience), but nevertheless bright and sunny with less wind than predicted. And also enlivened by Pete & Penny dropping in.

Yet again the majority of the catch was Chaffinches & Great Tits, with birds being caught steadily through the morning 'til we packed up early at midday. The full catch was 57 - 32 new birds with 25 retrapped. Fifteen of the 16 Great Tits were already ringed, so I guess we now have the local population well marked. The Yellowhammers are starting to build up with five caught, no Dunnocks were caught again. So that's three in three visits. It does look like they got hammered by the dry weather this year.
Virtually all the retraps were from the last year or so, bar a Great Tit from 2007. Typically, for an old bird, it turned up late morning. There were plenty of thrushes roosting when we arrived and the first five Blackbirds of the winter were trapped. We also ringed the 14th ever Bullfinch at the site; all bar one have been captured before the New Year.
Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Blackbird 5/1, Robin 0/1, Blue Tit 1/7, Great Tit 1/15, Chaffinch 16/1, Greenfinch 3/-, Bullfinch 1/-, Tree Sparrow, Yelllowhammer 4/1.
Jim

Recent recoveries

2011-12-09T22:38:00.000Z

The most recent batches of recoveries from the BTO are dominated by Barn Owls (21 of 27). About three quarters of these were female, which is to be expected as we mostly just catch the females in boxes in the breeding season, with the males roosting elsewhere. Usually, when we catch new breeding birds, especially females, they are first summer birds, but this year there were: 4 first summer, 3 second, 2 third, 1 fourth & 1 fifth summer females. Some of these weren't in the same box last year as there were different females in them then and they would have bred elsewhere since fledging. This is uncommon and I put it down to the bad snow and cold we had last winter, in which birds presumably moved off their winter territories and/or lost their mates, went in search of food and stayed put wherever they ended up. Of the 5 males controlled, one was 5 and the other 6 years old. The Barn Owl movements varied between 4 and 93 km, with the median distance being 15 km. Most recoveries were movements within our study area (south Notts and Vale of Belvoir), but there were also 3 from Lincs, 1 from Cambridgeshire & 5 year old male from South Yorks.

Aside from the BOs, we also had a Jackdaw pullus from Kersall that hit an overhead wire near Southwell 12 km away at one of the farms where we have boxes. A typical Kestrel recovery is one found dead in a barn in its first winter. So, no surprise when 2009 Kestrel chick from Brackenhurst was found 5 km away in a barn near Southwell in September. Of more interest was another 2009 Kestrel chick from Bunny that was caught in a Barn Owl box with chicks near Bottesford; a movement of 24 km. There are very few live recoveries of Kestrel and this adds to our knowledge on their dispersal. In addition, there were also two local recoveries of Long-tailed Tit and a Yellowhammer on the Brackenhurst Campus.

Jim

Attenborough NR, Monday 5 December

2011-12-05T22:11:00.000Z

Strong breeze forecast, not good for a session on the peninsula at the back of the visitor centre. Tim and I decided to give it a go for a couple of hours but the breeze was really too much and we managed only 9 birds including 2 retraps. The breakdown of the catch was (new/retrap): Woodpigeon 1/0, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1/0, Blue Tit 1/0, Great Tit 0/1, Tree Sparrow 4/1.

Kev

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 4 December

2011-12-05T22:09:00.000Z

A brisk breeze to start with that slowly increased throughout the morning appeared to affect the catch, this was the first session this winter with less than 80 birds! The session ended with a catch of 53 birds, including 29 retraps, most of them recent. The best of the few older retraps being a Great Tit from 2005, which was also caught in 2006 but has evaded the nets every year since. The full breakdown of the catch was (new/retrap): Dunnock 0/1, Redwing 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 4/1, Coal Tit 0/1, Blue Tit 2/6, Great Tit 2/14, Chaffinch 5/2, Goldfinch 3/1, Greenfinch 5/0, Bullfinch 1/0, Yellowhammer 1/2, Reed Bunting 0/1.

Interesting to see Jim's comments on the blog regarding the lack of Dunnocks at Granby. I mentioned to Gary on Sunday that we did not seem to be catching many Dunnocks at Rushcliffe, so having done a little checking - after the first four visits in 2010 we had caught 8 individuals, in 2011 it has only been 2.

Kev

Granby, Friday 2 December

2011-12-04T14:48:00.000Z

Duncan, Libby and I made the second visit to Granby on Friday. The weather was initially calmer than predicted, but blew up later. It was pretty chilly with ground frost at dawn, but maybe the very mild autumn has made us soft.

Again, the catch was dominated by Chaffinchs & Great Tits, with most of the birds being caught around the middle of the day. The full catch was 39 new birds with 25 retrapped. The 31 Chaffinches (22 were male) processed is the highest ever for a single session at Granby, and is even more unusual for being in the autumn as higher Chaffinch catches have tended to be in the spring. Also, there were no Dunnocks caught on the first visit and only three on this (two were adults). To account for this, it may be that they had poor winter survival and then a poor breeding season due to the drought like conditions we've been experiencing.

Most of the retraps were from the last 12 months. The exceptions were a Blue Tit ringed as a chick nearby in 2006, and singleton Great Tits and Chaffinches trapped in 2008. Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Wren 1/-, Dunnock 1/2, Robin 0/2, Blue Tit 3/4, Great Tit 4/13, Treecreeper -/1, Chaffinch 28/3, Greenfinch 1/-, Yelllowhammer 1/-.

There was not much else around bar Redwing, and occasional Skylark, Tree Sparrow, Bullfinch, and Reed Bunting. If the weather's okay, the next session will be Saturday 10 December.

Jim

Cannon-netting Wigeon at Dunham

2011-11-27T22:25:00.000Z

Mick and I are bi-curious in that we also ring with North Notts Ringing Group. Early today, Libby & Duncan joined us at Dunham for a cannon net catch of Wigeon along with the Blackburns and other ringers. The last time we were there, Mick and I were twinkling til after one o'clock. So, it was great to take a firing just after eight o'clock with a catch of 70 Wigeon (including four retraps) and a solitary Coot.

An excellent morning in good company.

JIM

Raptor petition

2011-11-24T19:32:00.000Z

A worthy petition that's quick to sign:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23089

Granby, Tuesday 22 November

2011-11-23T21:01:00.000Z

What with the damp and drizzle, Duncan, Libby, Nabegh and I did not approach the first visit to Granby this morning with any great optimism. But in the event, the intermittent drizzle cleared up by about 10 and then brightened a little. The catch was dominated by Chaffinchs & Great Tits, with most of the birds being caught late morning. Though a pair of Goldcrests and a couple of Treecreepers added some welcome variety. The full catch was 53 birds (37 new and 16 retrapped). All the retraps were from last winter, bar a Chaffinch from 2006, and a Yellowhammer originally ringed in January 2003 as an adult female. This bird is more than 10 years old, which is a very good record considering the oldest Yellowhammer from ringing is under 12 years old.

Full catch numbers were (new/retrap): Robin 3/1, Goldcrest 2/-, Blue Tit 2/3, Great Tit 7/10, Treecreeper 2/-, Tree Sparrow 1/-, Chaffinch 18/1, Greenfinch 2/-, Yelllowhammer -/1.
Jim

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 20 November

2011-11-21T20:51:00.000Z

A foggy and still morning at the Park, it never did clear all morning but we had another good session and ended with a catch of 87 birds. The number of retraps is increasing though with 48 this time, again most of them from last week or the week before. The best of the few older retraps being a Blue Tit from 2007 and the first Yellowhammer of the winter from 2009. A new Goldcrest was nice, this was only the fourth for the site and the first ever for Nabegh. The full breakdown of the catch was (new/retrap): Dunnock 1/0, Robin 1/1, Goldcrest 1/0, Blue Tit 2/14, Great Tit 7/21, Chaffinch 6/5, Goldfinch 12/2, Greenfinch 8/1, Bullfinch 1/0, Yellowhammer 0/1, Reed Bunting 0/3.
We are not planning to visit next week because there is a big event at the Park but will be back the first Sunday in December.
Kev

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 13 November

2011-11-14T19:18:00.000Z

We started in dark overcast conditions with a little light drizzle but the forecast was for it to soon clear up and it did. The first net round was a little disappointing but it picked up from then on and we ended with a good catch of 80 birds but this did include 35 retraps, most of them from last week! The best of the few older retraps being a Chaffinch from 2008. The full breakdown of the catch was (new/retrap): Robin 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Coal Tit 0/1, Blue Tit 4/9, Great Tit 8/15, Chaffinch 7/4, Goldfinch 15/3, Greenfinch 7/1, Bullfinch 0/1, Reed Bunting 1/1.

Kev

Clive Minton wins prestigious Eisenmann Medal

2011-11-09T20:57:00.000Z

Several group members have ringed with Clive - a founder member of the Wash Wader Ringing Group and pioneer ringer in Australia. Here's a press release from Birds Australia:

Birds Australia is pleased to congratulate Clive Minton on being awarded the 2012 Eisenmann Medal by the Linnean Society of New York.

The Eisenmann Medal is awarded to people not only for their great achievements in ornithology, but to those who have also provided outstanding guidance, assistance and encouragement in working with volunteers, amateurs or students as a personal mission (not as part of their employment) to interest them in ornithology.

Clive's countless hours of work with both the Victorian and Australasian Wader Studies Groups for so many years on so many different levels has made him an obvious and deserving candidate for this prestigious award.

Granby re-opens for season 12 at the fridge!

2011-11-08T20:38:00.000Z

Duncan and I spent this morning cutting back the vegetation at the Granby feeding station, and the thorn bushes along the track. Growth wasn't too bad after the dry summer and autumn, but we still worked up a sweat in the gloom. The hoppers are now back up and baited. There was the odd Yellowhammer about and a few mixed thrushes, but otherwise pretty quiet bird wise.

I will see if birds are coming to the bait in a week or so. Plus, need sloes for the gin! Aim will then be to start ringing there on either Friday 18 or Sunday 20 November.

Jim

Rushcliffe Country Park, Sunday 6 November

2011-11-08T20:33:00.000Z

We opened up the site for the winter on a nippy but sunny morning. The sun soon warmed things up and the number of birds caught kept us busy throughout. We ended with the best opening catch for a good few years with 83 birds caught including 6 retraps and a nice catch of Goldfinch. The oldest retrap was a Reed Bunting from February 2008 and not seen again since March 2009. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was a new bird for Ian, luckily it had blunted its bill drawing blood from Gary when he extracted it so was no problem later to Ian. The species caught were (new/retrap) Great Spotted Woodpecker 1/0, Blackbird 0/1, Blue Tit 14/1, Great Tit 18/2, Coal Tit 1/0, Chaffinch 14/1, Bullfinch 2/0, Greenfinch 5/0, Goldfinch 22/0 and Reed Bunting 0/1. Let's hope it continues to catch well throughout the winter.

Kev

Recent Recoveries

2011-11-08T20:26:00.000Z

15 of the recent batch of 19 recoveries were Barn Owls. Many were initially ringed as chicks in 2008/2009 with the 'oldest' initially ringed in 2005. Most birds seemed to move no further than 6-8 km from their original site, but some spread a little further including a bird ringed as a chick in Sleaford back in 2007 which was picked up 35km away at Brock Hill, Leicestershire in June this year, and a 26km movement for a chick from Barton in 2008 which turned up near Elton this summer. One heavy bird ringed at Old Dalby still seems to be eating all the pies as it weighed in at 430g this June at Upper Broughton.

It was good to hear about the female Cetti's Warbler caught in June at Attenborough which was originally ringed as a juv in Pembrokeshire in October 2010 as well as the male Blackcap also caught at Attenborough which made its way to us after being ringed as a juv in North Yorks in the summer of 2006.

Other recoveries included a Shelton Little Owl found at Lambley, a Hucknall Goldfinch ringed in April this year and found dead not too far away 2 months later. Sorry Mick!

Ian

Holme Pierrepont - Sunday 23 October

2011-10-29T20:24:00.000+01:00

Yet again the forecast was not good, it was going to be far too windy for mist netting but yet again they were wrong and we soon had all the usual nets erected. The site seemed quiet and it turned into a steady morning of just a few birds each net round. All the summer migrants had gone, not even a Blackcap managed to find the nets. The only bird of interest caught was the first Redwing of the winter.....oh and a new Cetti's Warbler but then we do catch one every October at this site now! All the poles and guys were removed but we will need to do a fair bit of 'gardening' again one day this winter ready for next spring.
Kev

Attenborough Migration Day Ringing Demo - Sun 16 October

2011-10-17T20:16:00.000+01:00

No full ringing session was held yesterday but a few of us went to do a ringing demo at the annual Attenborough Migration Day event. On a previous demo there we had managed only four birds but the weather conditions were near perfect and I was hopeful of a few more birds finding the nets. The first round produced 17 birds, the second round was almost as good and then it did start to tail off. We finished with 43 birds, our best ever total for one of these events, the majority were Tree Sparrows but a few other species as well gave the visitors plenty to look at. The visitor numbers were high and many seemed very interested, especially the children. A Nottingham Post photographer arrived and wanted to take some pictures of one of us with a bird and some children watching. Tim, as we know, is rather camera shy but volunteered and I guess it was a break for him to be in front of a still camera after all his television work. Thanks again to the staff at the centre for keeping us fed and watered.
Kev

Isle of May Oyks

2011-10-12T20:53:00.000+01:00

Isle of May - 1-8 October 2011

2011-10-10T20:06:00.000+01:00

1 Oct
Left Anstruther 14.00 on the RIB - island covered in mist and visibility less than half a mile. After unpacking at Low Light nets were set on Holymans Road and in the Top Gardens. Many Goldcrest and Thrushes on the island. Wind NE force 1. 15 birds ringed, GOLDC 3, BLABI 5, CHIFF 2, BLACA 1, MEAPI 1, BRAMB 1, REDPO 2.

2 Oct
Early start but heavy rain so no nets could be opened, just a few birds from traps until just after midday when rain cleared and nets opened. Wind E force 1 to SE force 2 by afternoon. 348 birds ringed, GOLDC 262, SONTH 10, REDWI 4, BLABI 4, CHIFF 26, WREN 1, BLACA 3, BRAMB 2, WILWA 3, REEWA 1, WHITE 1, SISKI 1, ROBIN 30.

3 Oct
Early start on clear calm morning, nets opened, traps driven and spring traps set. Birds seen laving the island. Wind has gone W force 5/7 by evening.111 birds ringed, GOLDC 52, SONTH 2, REDWI 3, CHIFF 13, WREN 1, MEAPI 24, REDPO 2, WILWA 1, ROBIN 4, TREEC 1, WHEAT 3, ROCPI 5.

4 Oct
Woke up to strong westerly winds going NW by evening, no nets could be opened so spring traps set and used all day. 17 birds ringed, GOLDC 1, SONTH 1, REDWI 2, CHIFF 1, REDPO 1,WHEAT 1, ROCPI 8, WHINC 1, SNIPE 1.

5 Oct
Strong W to NW winds all day and no nets opened, all birds have moved out. 10 birds ringed, SONTH 1, MEAPI 6, ROCPI 3.

6 Oct
Strong westerly winds all day, no nets opened, spring traps set in afternoon, 12 birds ringed, MEAPI 4, REDPO 5, WHEAT 2, ROCPI 1. 700 Pink-footed geese and 42 Barnacle geese over island plus 4 Golden Plover.

7 Oct
Winds north-westerly and have eased after a 3 day blow bright sunshine at times. 18 birds ringed, GOLDC 2, REDWI 2, BLABI 1, CHIFF 2, WHEAT 1, ROCPI 3, DUNNO 6, OYSTE 1. 1368 Pink- footed geese over island and over 1000 Kittiwakes on the sea.

8 Oct
Left island at 11.00 after another great week.

Total for the week 531 birds ringed.

GOLDC 320
SONTH 14
REDWI 11
BLABI 10
CHIFF 44
WREN 2
BLACA 4
MEAPI 35
BRAMB 3
REDPO 10
WILWA 4
REEWA 1
WHITE 1
SISKI 1
ROBIN 34
TREEC 1
WHEAT 7
ROCPI 20
WHINC 1
SNIPE 1
DUNNO 6
OYSTE 1

Gary

Recent recoveries

2011-10-08T21:04:00.000+01:00

A couple that have just come through are a Tree Sparrow ringed at the Bunny colony as a chick last July which was caught in March this year at Wanlip Gravel Pits in Leicestershire, 21km to the south. The other was a Reed Warbler ringed at Holme Pierrepoint as a 3 last September and caught in Portugal on 10 August this year, 1808km to the south. Interesting how the bird travelled south much earlier once it was an adult.

Isle of May - Weds update

2011-10-05T20:35:00.000+01:00

As you might have expected from looking at any recent weather map, things have quietened down on the May and Ian reports that they are only spring-trapping. Birds around include Turnstone, Curlew, Purple Sandpiper, Merlin and Short-eared Owl.

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 2 October

2011-10-03T20:23:00.000+01:00

I did not think I would manage to get a team together for a session on Sunday but Jim said he would come along and others added their name to the list so I soon had a team of 6, including Duncan just back from Shetland.

I said I did not think we would catch much and personally would have been happy with anything over 20. The forecast was for still, sunny conditions so I thought we would be taking down early because of the heat, if the previous day was anything to go by it would reach the high twenties. The forecast was wrong, it did start still and sunny but as the morning went on and the temperature started to rise some broken cloud came along and pegged the temperature back to the mid-twenties - crazy I know but this was an October ringing session!

We started to catch well and it continued throughout the morning, we ended with 74 birds including 20 retraps. The species we caught most in the nets was, however, not a bird but hornets! We must have taken out at least 30 spread throughout all the nets, luckily without anyone getting stung. The species of bird we caught the most of was Reed Bunting with 20 followed by 12 Blackcaps. The only other warblers caught were 4 Chiffchaff and a single Sedge Warbler, the rest of the birds were a good selection from Blackbird to Goldcrest. So it might be worth another session there next week...............unless it is too hot!

Kev

Isle of May - Monday update

2011-10-03T20:00:00.000+01:00

In from Ian:

Did some spring-trapping today - Northern & Greenland Wheatears and Rock Pipits. Also watched Short-eared Owls and Great Grey Shrikes flew in from sea and landed on the island. Will get them in the morning we hope...

Isle of May

2011-10-02T22:05:00.000+01:00

It sounds like the crew on the May have got off to a good start with c300 Goldcrest ringed today. More as and when it comes in...

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 25 September

2011-09-25T14:20:00.001+01:00

This morning began with a fly-over Tawny owl and a cup of coffee as we waited for it to get light! There were only four of us initially on what promised to be a good morning according to the Met Office. However, within minutes of getting the nets up it started drizzling and we had to close the nets. In the middle of all this, with the four of us spread out, both Gary and I spotted a Spoonbill flying over and both started screaming to the others to look up. Had there been any other people in the area they might have called the police at this strange behaviour. Anyway, the bird appeared to bank and head towards the A52 pit, but despite Gary's efforts it was not relocated.

Once the rain eased we opened the nets again and managed to catch 20 birds before the tape batteries ran out and the breeze became too strong. The total included 9 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs and single Sedge Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat. Several of these we managed to show to Archie and family and all his cousins who came along mid-morning for the first time in a while.

The most interest remained with the birding though and also recorded were 30 Black Terns on the lake, 1 Curlew, 1 Hobby, 1 Green Sandpiper, 54 Lapwing, 20 Siskin, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 1 Redpoll, 1 Grey Wagtail and good numbers of waterfowl such as Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon and Shoveler. A few Migrant Hawkers and a single Speckled Wood were the only inverts of note.

Pete

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 18 September

2011-09-19T20:09:00.000+01:00

On Saturday morning the forecast for Sunday morning was fairly grim, so it was a surprise to get on site and find no wind and only scattered clouds. We quickly erected all the usual nets except for 2 that would be close to some folks camping on the site. The weather stayed good throughout and the campers moved, on so mid-morning we put up the other 2 nets. Catching was steady right up to the time we took down, although many of the warbler species seem to have mostly moved on. We ended with 69 birds including 9 retraps. The warblers caught were Blackcap 27, Chiffchaff 11 (plus 1 control), Whitethroat 3, Reed Warbler 1, Garden Warbler 1, Willow Warbler 1. Overhead were a few hirundines and Yellow Wagtails, a few Siskin and a Buzzard.

Kev

Trip to Derbyshire

2011-09-19T20:07:00.000+01:00

Today myself and Libby made a very early start and journeyed to Ramsley Moor in Derbyshire to meet Sorby Breck Ringing Group members and have a go at catching some Meadow Pipits on migration.

It was great to meet other ringers and study new species in an interesting habitat and Libby and I both managed to get our hands on some much anticipated species (Sparrowhawk and Lesser Redpoll and Goldcrest).

However, with a rather strong wind and rain showers, our catch wasn't in the hundreds as we had hoped and instead we finished on around 60ish birds, 16 of which were Meadow Pipits.

Other birds of note in the area included Yellow Wagtails, Mistle Thrush and a nice flock of Dunlin which narrowly missed the Mipit nets!

Ian B

Mick P in the spotlight

2011-09-15T19:54:00.000+01:00

A small slice of fame for Mick & the group here:

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Birds-studied-year-long-park-project/story-12245204-detail/story.html

It's not all about totalising...

2011-09-15T19:52:00.000+01:00

...but it was oddly satisfying when Duncan and I notched up the 101st Barn Owl pullus ringed last night. Especially as it was in a box that the owner thought had 'pigeons' in it. In south Notts and the eastern Vale of Belvoir, it's been an okay year for the Barn Owls, with the number of pullus ringed 50% up on 2010. However, there has been perhaps twice as many control adults as usual with breeding females moving boxes. Presumably this dispersal is down to the hard weather last winter. Elsewhere, the picture is very mixed, with poor or no breeding in the Lincs/Yorks Wolds, but record numbers of second broods in west Lincs. Just two more boxes to check later this month, and that should be it for this year.
Jim

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 11 September

2011-09-12T19:18:00.000+01:00

The forecast was not good but we gave it a go and when we met at the site it was fairly breezy. We persevered and erected all the usual nets, none of them were being blown about too much......but then the wind speed increased. Eventually by 0900 we decided we would have to take all the nets down with a paltry catch of just 14 birds including 4 retraps, half of the birds were warblers. We did hear Wigeon and Siskin so winter approaches.
Kev

Wind farm proposal

2011-09-10T20:54:00.000+01:00

Seeing as it is in our area and close to Attenborough you may find this interesting:

http://www.cliftongrovebirds.co.uk/turbine.html

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 4 September

2011-09-05T22:41:00.000+01:00

It was a strange morning, yet enjoyable and productive. We arrived in near perfect conditions - calm and overcast - at which point Ian ordered “a flock of Redstarts please”.

We had ten nets up swiftly, but then almost immediately it started to drizzle. This then came in waves throughout the morning and had us running backwards and forwards opening and closing nets. At 10:30, we threw in the towel and packed up after barely 4 hours of sporadic, damp ringing. (Actually a towel would have been useful at this point.) So it was somewhat incredible that during this period we managed to process 103 birds. It was a good job we had a big team with 9 members present.

Blackcaps made up half the total and we caught all the other common warblers in small numbers with the exception of Sedge. Blue Tit was the only other species caught in any numbers, with 14 new and 1 retrap and the remainder of the catch comprised all the usual suspects.

With the exception of 2 male Redstarts. Well we take our trainees’ requests very seriously you know. Better still, one was an adult and the other a youngster, allowing for useful comparison.

Note the adult’s blacker throat and whiter forehead. Also, its greater coverts are fringed grey and tipped orange, whereas the youngster has just a couple of the innermost feathers like this which it has replaced (barely visible here under the scapulars) and the rest are juvenile - brown, fringed buff.

And the final star of the show was a young Magpie – a species we catch surprisingly rarely.

Not many sightings to report, but 3 Little Egrets drifted over first thing, a Greenshank was heard, good Yellow Wagtail passage was noted and several hundred distant racing pigeons did their best to try to look like something more interesting.

Pete

Ian with half his requested flock.

Useful online resource

2011-09-04T12:35:00.001+01:00

Just in case you haven't seen this, it's worth bookmarking...

http://www.javierblasco.arrakis.es/families.htm

Recent Recoveries

2011-08-31T14:30:00.000+01:00

Another handful of recoveries just through include a young Tawny Owl that expired a month after being ringed as a chick 3km from the box and couple of local yearling Barn Owls, though one moved 40km. A Greenfinch ringed at RCP in 2006 as a 5 was found dead having got stuck in a house this year, making it a 6 year old bird. Lastly a Willow Warbler ringed as a 3 at HPP last August was picked up on a road in Argyll this July. It would seem likely that this wasn't too far from its natal area and we had ringed it on passage last year.

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 28 Aug

2011-08-31T14:17:00.000+01:00

We went to the A52 side of Holme Pierrepont and were surprised to find a calm an partly overcast morning, the forecast said there would be a moderate breeze and mainly clear skies. The nets were quickly erected and the first net was filling well by the time we had put up the fourth. We went on the first net round shortly after and extracted over 25 birds, 17 from a single 12m net. The next round was good as well but then skies cleared and the wind started to pick up forcing us to take down early at 1100. We ended on 52 birds, 51 were new. The catch was predominantly warblers made up mainly of Blackcaps and Whitethroat but we did have a single Lesser Whitethroat, a couple of Reed Warblers and a Chiffchaff. Tits were noticeable by their absence as they have been on most sessions this summer. Bird of the day was adult Spotted Flycatcher that made Duncan happy.
Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 21 Aug

2011-08-22T20:42:00.001+01:00

Conditions were pretty much ideal this morning and we weren't disappointed with over 50 birds caught before 8 o'clock. The following two rounds were also good, though the sun came out after that and we began packing up at about 11:30 having processed 91 birds (78 new / 13 retrap).

Most numerous was Blackcap (18 new/2 retrap) followed by Reed Warbler (13/2) and Chiffchaff (10/0) but all the common warblers put in an appearance with a clear passage of Sedge Warblers, this being (somewhat unusually) the fourth most numerous bird of the day (7/0).

A couple of unexpected birds included a young Goldcrest in post-juvenile moult with just the first few orange crown feathers emerging and indicating it a male.

But perhaps most unusual was an almost fully grown Great Crested Grebe caught on the muddy margins of a reedbed by hand.

The bird was still unable to fly, but fortunately big enough to ring. It was also an expert swimmer on release. It was fascinating getting a close look at a species rarely handled. The legs felt like they were in the wrong place, positioned right at the back of the body, rather than underneath and the toes were intriguing to see as well.

Other records included good numbers of hirundines overhead, Buzzard, Kingfisher, 2 Little Egrets, Shoveler, Teal and Gadwall. Single Greenshank and Wood Sandpiper were heard and a few Yellow Wagtails passed over too. A singing Coal Tit was a bit out of the ordinary. This must also be one of the best sites in the area for Hornets - we saw more of them than wasps today!

The water levels are now the lowest for as long as we can remember. If only the exposed mud was a little richer in invertebrate life to attract a few more waders! The back pit can now we crossed without getting wet at all and the side pit is getting very overgrown.

Pete

Some Barn Owls are busier than others . . .

2011-08-21T21:06:00.002+01:00

I've been doing some checking for second breeding attempts by the Barn Owls, as well as late breeders. The premise for this is predicated by the first brood having been born by no later than mid-April, and that the female BO showed no signs of wing moult when trapped as if they were in moult it indicates they're most likely done breeding. This reduces the number of boxes to go back to significantly, but it's also worth checking boxes close by as they will second clutch were the male's been roosting.

Anyway, this was Duncan and I's mission when we set off for the Vale of Belvoir last Friday. First, we went to two boxes at Normanton where a pair of BOs had flew from one of them in early June to see if they were now breeding. We went to that field box first and trapped a first summer male BO, that had been ringed as a chick near Flawborough last year. As it was not going through post-breeding wing moult, we wondered if the female had gone down in the box in the adjacent garden. This proved right, and we trapped a ringed female and ringed 3 of the 5 chicks that were big enough to ring, and 5 S-T Fields, 2 Field Mice and 1 shrew were cached.

Now, if you're still awake, this is where it gets really interesting. We had caught the first summer female on 3 chicks that were 3-4 weeks old on the 7 June in a nest box about 2 km away. So, not only has she bred twice, but must have been laying the second clutch while her mate was still feeding the first brood. Double broods is not uncommon with BOs, but I've only once before in 2007 at Farndon proved this rapid turn round before. Going by the cache size the male BO is obviously good at hunting. I'm left wondering if he's one of the birds that left the Normanton box in June, may be paired up with his second 'wife' who he may or may or not have bred with. All a bit Jeremy Kyle really.

Jim

Recent Recoveries

2011-08-17T15:22:00.001+01:00

Barn Owls in the latest batch include a 3 year old bird found close to where it was ringed in Laxton, then a 2 year old that moved 32km into Lincs and a 1 year old that wandered much further - 132km to Cambridgeshire.

A Chaffinch ringed at Brack was found nearby a couple of years later, a Goldfinch moved from Clifton to Beeston in 8 months and a Mute Swan moved from RCP to Derbyshire.

Some of you know about the remarkable Kingfisher record - a bird ringed in 2008 at HPP was seen at Colwick Park by Michael Welsh who read the ring through his telescope! An almost unbelievable feat...

Lastly a fantastic record of a Black-headed Gull ringed at Burnt Stump Landfill in 1987 and found 24yrs later in the Netherlands, 438km away.

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 14 Aug

2011-08-16T19:30:00.001+01:00

A fine morning for ringing with no wind and part cloud cover raised our spirits first thing but the lack of bird calls at the site had us wondering what was in store as we erected the nets. We need not have worried as the nets started to fill up, including our first Long-tailed Tit flock of the summer at Holme Pierrepont. Catching was good until about 1100 when the breeze started to pick up and we had the nets down for 1230. The total for the day was a respectable 91 including 77 new birds. The Long-tailed Tit total was 25, the rest of the catch was as you would expect except for a low number of Reed Warblers and only 3 Adults caught. Overhead we had Hobby, Buzzards and Green Sandpiper.
Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 7 August

2011-08-08T21:41:00.000+01:00

A strong breeze greeted us as we met at Holme Pierrepont and it only got stronger as the morning progressed. This undoubtedly affected the catch but the site was strangely quiet. The breeze did not give us much hope and then as we started to erect the nets and found another two poles had been stolen it only made it seem worse. We decided to take the nets down early because of the conditions and only managed a catch of 21 birds, two of them retraps. It would appear that all the 3J warblers we have ringed so far have moved on. Although we caught a few new 3J Reed Warblers we did not have any adults, surely they have not moved out already?
Kev

More pics from the Wash

2011-08-08T21:39:00.000+01:00

From Ruth:

Wash Waders trip

2011-08-06T15:44:00.001+01:00

Ian, Libby & Ruth joined the Wash Wader Ringing Group last weekend and the following pics give a flavour of their trip:

Attenborough, Tues 26 July

2011-07-29T08:22:00.000+01:00

The plan was to make a catch at the Sand Martin colony at the rear of the visitor centre. The weather was good with little breeze, we also set a net near the feeders to give a little variety. Unfortunately not many Sand Martins seemed to be still using the colony, first broods having fledged already but we did manage to catch 5, all of which were adults. The garden net produced 7 birds, including 2 retraps - it also gave a few people the chance to handle a new species. The retraps were a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a recently fledged Tree Sparrow, the new birds were two Kingfishers, a Woodpigeon and two Great Tits. Thanks to Ian for the pics.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 24 July

2011-07-25T19:46:00.003+01:00

On Saturday Duncan paid a visit to the National Water Sports Centre to check out the possibility of parking there on Sunday for our ringing session. He was advised by staff not to come down so we changed the session to the A52 side, a rather early date for us to try there. We had to clear rides before setting the nets, the breeze was picking up as the morning went on and with only 13 poles at our disposal it was never going to be a 'major' session. However, we finished on a respectable 58 birds including 5 retraps. Warblers made up 64% of the catch and we even had 5 Willow Warblers but worryingly 4 of these were adults, I think they must have had a terrible breeding season in our area this year. A relative rarity for the site was caught - a Greenfinch and a small bird passed overhead calling that had us all stumped. The retraps were all relatively recent birds and included Whitethroat and Reed Warbler that were ringed at the Grange site this year.
Kev

Norwegian Chaffinch

2011-07-18T20:45:00.000+01:00

A Chaffinch ringed in Norway as a 5M in April 2010 was found dead in a Wollaton drainpipe in June this year. The report subsequently filtered through to us at Attenborough.
Tim

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 17 July

2011-07-18T20:40:00.002+01:00

The weather was not so kind to us today, it was breezy from the start and the wind increased as the morning progressed but the rain that was forecast never did materialise. The nets were wind affected but we still managed 51 birds caught including 16 retraps. The catch was predominantly Reed Warblers. The big drop in Chiffchaffs continued with none caught but we did have a single Willow Warbler, an adult in wing moult.
Kev

Shiants match report

2011-07-16T14:21:00.004+01:00

Our trip was a great success and rough totals are below. Amongst the 400 plus retraps were: 32 yo Puffin, 33 yo Razorbill & 26 yo Guillemot. There was also the odd control including several Storm Petrels.

A few facts:

Excluding Arctics, the ringing totals are highest for Shiants since 1985.
Best ever totals for Guillemot & Razorbill by some distance.
Our total is the same as the Britain & Ireland total for Razorbills in 2010.
Only 1100 Arctic Terns ringed in 2010, and we should expect some good recoveries off the Fladaigh birds.

Jim

(click table to enlarge)

Holme Pierrepont, Sun 10 July

2011-07-12T20:56:00.000+01:00

A better turn out this week with Ian, Libby and Steve joining Gary and I. With no wind again and not so hot we were hoping for another big catch. We had an eye on the weather all morning as the forecast said heavy showers developing but they never did. We ended with 84 birds caught including 21 retraps. We recaptured the Spanish ringed Reed Warbler we first caught at the site in 2008 and had a few old Reed Warbler retraps. Again the majority of the 84 birds were warblers, 64 in total. The main differences from the previous week's birds were a big drop in Chiffchaffs (only 4 caught) and no Garden Warblers, but we did have a Lesser Whitethroat..............but still no Willow Warblers!
Kev

A Field Guide to Monitoring Nests - James Ferguson-Lees, Richard Castell and Dave Leech

2011-07-10T09:05:00.000+01:00

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nrs/field-guide

The BTO have a new guide published this month and I can heartily recommend it. The book has been produced to help those involved in nest finding for research and conservation purposes. Alongside 146 species accounts it contains useful information (for newbies like myself) on fieldcraft, legislation, the BTO Nest Record Scheme.

I just thought I'd flag this up as it may be of interest to any trainees who, like me, have always been fascinated by the 'dark art' of nest monitoring, but have never really managed to get going.

Obviously there is no substitute for practice and patience, but this book (along with ye olde Observers Book Of Birds Eggs (Ebay it)) might be a good place to start.

Who knows, by next spring perhaps I'll be able to locate more than my garden blackbird's nest!

Ian

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 3 July

2011-07-04T21:52:00.000+01:00

Just Gary, Mick P and I were out for the first session at HPG in over a month. Thankfully no wind but full sun from first thing made me think it might be a slow morning......how wrong I was. First we had to clear the rides, find the poles and guys etc after such a break from ringing there the vegetation had grown quite a bit. We managed 12 nets before we had to go back round the nets, the first catch was over 30 birds so we abandoned attempts to put up more nets. The idea was to go clear the other rides when the birds stopped - but they didn't. The sun got hotter, we kept moving round the bush at the base to try to keep in the shade and the birds kept going into the nets. We ended on 117 birds including 12 retraps and a control Reed Warbler. All the usual species were caught the only missing one being Willow Warbler but we did get 14 Chiffchaff - how things have changed! 71% of the birds caught were warblers.
Kev

Just in case you needed to know...

2011-07-04T21:50:00.000+01:00

Shiants update

2011-07-03T14:58:00.002+01:00

After the first week Jim and team report that they have ringed 2500 seabirds including 1300 Razorbills and 126 Arctic Terns.

Baby update

2011-07-03T14:55:00.000+01:00

Well June must be about the the peak hatching period so the birth of Wilfred Adam Leonard on 30 June fitted in nicely. He weighed in at 6lb 13oz, he's doing very well and has already been to see the Spot Flys in the village.
Pete

Attenborough CES, Sunday 26 June

2011-06-27T21:01:00.000+01:00

The last visit of our CES season started well in overcast and still conditions. Catching was steady until the sun came out half way through the session. The temperature then started to rise quickly and the birds stopped going into the nets. After taking in all of the kit and carting it back to the cars the five of us ended up very hot and sweaty as we dare not remove too much clothing and give the attendant mosquitoes a free meal. The birds we caught were as expected for the site and we ended on 36 birds including 8 retraps. The hoped for catch of juvenile Cetti's Warblers did not materialize despite us catching both male and female in the same net over the last few weeks, although we were given a couple of bursts of song during the early morning.
Kev

Attenborough CES, visit 5, Saturday 18 June

2011-06-18T21:31:00.000+01:00

The forecast did not look good for this weekend but with a demo to do on Saturday I got up and was surprised to find it was not raining. We started to set nets wondering how long we would stay dry but the weather seemed to get better...........until about 10.30. Just after the young rangers group arrived for the demo the heavens opened which sent us running off to close the nets, we left them closed for about 45 minutes before opening them again. Fortunately we had a decent catch just before the rain started and managed to show them a variety of birds from Treecreeper to Sparrowhawk. Interestingly, for us anyway, the Sparrowhawk was a retrap. It was ringed in Attenborough Village by Tim in March when he was out with Mick P trying for Waxwings. Another surprise in the nets was a juvenile Goldcrest, the first we have ever had on a CES visit. Other than that the mix was as expected for the site and we ended on 30 birds including 11 retraps.
Kev

Recoveries & Controls, June 2011

2011-06-18T21:19:00.000+01:00

An Egyptian Goose ringed by the group at Attenborough in 2008 was found half eaten (probably fox) in March this year, but beating that was a Mute Swan ringed in Ruddington in 2003 and found dead at Attenborough recently.Whilst doing the boxes at Bunny this year several Tree Sparrows corpses were found looking as if they'd perished whilst roosting, presumably in the very cold weather. All had been ringed in either 2009 or 2010. An interesting control was caught by Mick in Hucknall in March - a Siskin ringed as a youngster in Thetford Forest in August 2009.

Hucknall Meadow Pipit nest

2011-06-12T20:53:00.001+01:00

I managed to ring the nest of 5 mipits today, 12/6/11. The chicks were at the IP stage
I found the nest with 4 eggs on the 24/5/11, this increased to 5 eggs on the 1/6/11.
Mick P

Box-checking pics from Ian

2011-06-11T23:34:00.000+01:00

Attenborough CES, Saturday 11 June

2011-06-11T23:13:00.000+01:00

At last a ringing morning dawned with no wind blowing. We arrived on site to find the growing vegetation had hidden many of the poles and guys since the last visit 3 weeks ago but eventually the nets were up, the sun out and still no wind. We had not heard the male Cetti's Warbler we caught on visit 2 (in net 5) singing since the day we caught it but on the second round of the nets I saw a Cetti's Warbler in net 5 with a ring on. I assumed it was that same bird but on processing back at base we found it was a control female, almost certainly breeding on site as it had a BP code 3. The rest of the morning produced a steady catch of the usual birds for the site, including the first Blackcap and Chiffchaff juvs of the season. By the end of the session the sun was still out and the wind had only picked up to a slight breeze. We finished on 38 birds including 11 retraps.
Kev

Wales, Sunday 5 June

2011-06-09T23:26:00.003+01:00

A disappointing visit in many ways. Luckily the weather forecast was wrong and we enjoyed generally dry weather with only a few spots of rain. During my short visit a week earlier I found 4 active Pied Flycatcher nests in the 9 I checked, this ratio was unfortunately not representative for all the boxes. We ended the box checking with only 124 pulli and 8 adult (3 of them retraps) Pied Flycatchers and 6 pulli and 1 adult Redstart. The reports of an early season were correct for a few birds with a couple of boxes that we believed had already fledged part of their broods but quite a few boxes still had chicks too small to ring and some still on eggs. The Wood Warbler that was singing a week ago in a regularly used territory had gone so we had no joy there but a bonus was two Buzzard nests with chicks. Chris did the honours of climbing and we ringed a brood of one and a brood of two, Libby now has a new favourite bird.

Kev

Cuckoo tracking

2011-06-09T22:51:00.001+01:00

This is definitely worth a look...

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking

Little Owl control

2011-06-05T21:15:00.000+01:00

We ring maybe 10-15 Little Owl chicks every year, and as a result get next to no recoveries. The last one I can remember is a chick at Scarrington that moved 30 metres from it's nest hole and drowned in a horse-trough (it's not just Barn Owls suffer this fate).

In 2008 we ringed two of a brood of three Little Owls in a walnut tree at Shelton. As this had a narrow nest hole entrance, it meant going back with Louise Gentle to use her slender arms to extract the chicks. Just recently, Mick Pearson was checking another natural nest site at Woodborough (one I'd removed debris from to encourage the Little Owls to use again) and controlled one of the Shelton chicks on its own three small chicks. That's a movement of 15 km, which is pretty good in Little Owl terms.

Jim

PS Success at last! One of the Little Owl nest boxes (of the Bob Sheppard design) that Duncan & I put up in Lincs in Feb/March had an adult & single chick in it last week. That's the first time I've managed to get Little Owls into a purpose designed nest box!

East Lincs owling, 31 May - 3 June

2011-06-05T21:09:00.000+01:00

Just for interest and a bit of comparison, a bit of feedback from what we found this week in east Lincs (from my blurred memory):

Barn Owls - 34 breeding pairs found and 1 other that might do soon. Processed 31 females (4 got the better of us). 13 of the females were unringed, which seems quite high, suggesting lower winter survival than usual with bias to the higher ground. Also processed 7 males (3 new/4 old). One male had an old break in it's right tarsus. We wondered about ringing it, but as it dug it's claw several millimetres in to Mike's finger we reckoned the foot was working well enough! Also, at least 3 controls in there, but Adrian will need to sort out which are retraps/controls.
Kestrels - 2 broods of 4 ringed. c3 to go back to.
Tawny Owls - Final brood of 2 ringed at Welton Woods.
Stock Dove - Mainly on presumably second clutches, bar the 4 ringed.
Little Owl - The highlight for me! As one of the boxes Duncan & I put up late winter was used. An adult & 3 chicks ringed at 2 sites.

Jim

High speed Great Snipe migration

2011-06-01T13:29:00.001+01:00

This is pretty incredible, follow the link...

Great snipe is the fastest migratory bird ever discovered

Recent recoveries

2011-05-31T21:17:00.001+01:00

The latest batch comprises a 3 year old Barn Owl, a Blackcap ringed as a juvenile at Holme Pierrepont last summer that hit a window in Long Eaton this April, a sight record of an Egyptian Goose at Attenborough four years after it was ringed there and a Reed Bunting, ringed at RCP in January 2010 and caught in Lincolnshire 69km away in March this year.

Tim's epic ride...

2011-05-31T14:53:00.000+01:00

A bit off topic here, but many of you will know Tim, group member and Attenborough NR resident. He's about to undertake a crazy ride for charity...

On 17 June 2011 my brother George and I will be cycling 1700km across Europe in order to raise £17,000 for SANDS (the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society). SANDS are a little known charity that is very close to our hearts and we have a very personal motivation for carrying out our challenge…

On 17 January 2010 my sister Gemma gave birth to a beautiful baby girl called Tilly-Rose at the East Surrey Hospital in Redhill. Sadly, due to complications in the last few days of pregnancy, Tilly had already passed away. This news came as a devastating shock for Gemma, her husband Rick and our entire family. Fortunately SANDS were on hand at the hospital to provide specialist care and support for my sister during this awful time, along with a private room away from all the usual joys of the maternity ward.

Every day in the UK 17 babies die, the tragic victims of stillbirth or neonatal death. This is a statistic that is showing no signs of decreasing, and behind each number is a family rocked to the foundations by the death of their baby. This is why we have focused on the number 17. We will start our ride in London at the head office of SANDS on 17 June 2011 exactly 17 months after Tilly passed away. We will cycle 1700km across Europe to Brno in the Czech Republic and have set ourselves the target of raising £17,000 for SANDS through sponsorship.

Our journey will take us from London to Dover where we will catch the ferry to Calais. From here we will follow the Europa Radweg R1 – a 3,500km cycle trail that runs from Bulogne-sur-Mer in France to St Petersburg in Russia! We will cycle through France, Belgium and Holland along the North Sea section of the trail. At The Hague the R1 takes us further inland towards Arnhem and then on to Germany. We will follow the trail as far as Lutherstadt Wittenberg, just South of Berlin. From here we will pick up the River Elbe – one of the largest rivers in Central Europe. The Elbe will take us almost 500km through the picturesque landscapes of East Germany and on to Prague in the Czech Republic. A final day resting in the Czech capital will be followed a 200km cycle to the city of Brno, and our final destination.

We would urge anybody to help support us by pledging a donation. Being a small charity, the money will go such a long way. The money we raise will help support anyone affected by the death of a baby. It will enable Sands to work in partnership with health professionals to improve the quality of care and services offered to bereaved families, and will help to promote research and changes in practice that could help to reduce the loss of babies’ lives.

For more information, to follow our progress online or to make a donation please visit www.ride17.com

Tim

PS Yes, we'll be keeping a bird list along the way...

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 29 May

2011-05-31T14:40:00.001+01:00

I listened to the wind through the night and it was still blowing when I got up just after five and it continued through the morning making life pretty difficult. We put up a reduced selection of nets so that we could check them more frequently than usual, but by about 10:30 we gave up and took them down. Considering this, we did well to catch the 31 birds that we processed. Most were adult male birds, with many females still tight on eggs. However we did catch a couple of newly fledged Great Tits. Also caught were Reed, Sedge, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and an adult male Greenfinch - the first for a little while.

Butterflies and dragonflies were virtually absent, courtesy of the weather, but a few hundred Swifts spent much of the morning hawking only just above net height and a single Hobby dashed through at one point. Perhaps the only other sighting of note was 3 Pochard on the water.

Pete

Nextbox pics

2011-05-31T14:21:00.000+01:00

A couple of pics from Duncan from his trips out with Jim.

Greenland Wheatear

2011-05-31T14:13:00.002+01:00

Whilst out searching for nests in Hucknall last week, and feeling pleased that I had found a Meadow Pipit with 4 eggs, a Wheatear caught my eye. Fortunately I had one of Chris`s spring traps with me and some mealworms. Within 15 minutes it couldn't resist the bait and entered the trap.

Weighing a little over 40g and with a wing of 99mm, it was an enormous bird. These figures, coupled with the characteristic late timing of the bird left me in no doubt that this was a 'Greenland' Wheatear, a large race that migrates up to Iceland and Greenland, passing through a little later than the more southerly breeders as they are waiting for their summer haunts to defrost. Another indication that she still had some serious flying to do was her fat score, which was 6!

Mick P

Peregrines

2011-05-26T20:46:00.000+01:00

Barn Owls again

2011-05-25T21:40:00.002+01:00

It's good to be back handling Barn Owls and the early visits are always interesting as you get a chance to see more adults. Here are pics of a pair from a box near Stathern. Other things that help to sex them are the whiter tail of the males and of course the female had a whacking great brood patch. (Click on the photo to see a larger version.)

The female was in moult as can be seen from the uneven primary tips in this and the next picture. Although most birds wait until breeding is over before undergoing moult, Barn Owls often start during the breeding cycle. Thanks to Ian for the pics.
Pete

Attenborough CES, Sunday 22 May

2011-05-25T21:26:00.000+01:00

Not a lot to report from the CES visit to ANR on Sunday. The wind got stronger as the morning went on and when we heard a large tree crash to the ground I decided it would be safer not only the birds, but also for the ringers, if we cut the session a little short. It sounded like a large fire-cracker going off, branches snapping as it hit the ground.
Gary

Blue Tit chick from a nestbox checked during the visit.

Garden visitors

2011-05-21T19:49:00.000+01:00

Slightly off topic, but these guys have been making an appearance in my garden lately, at around minight, to feed on peanuts.
Ian

Box checking, 20 May

2011-05-20T23:04:00.000+01:00

Kestrel clutch

I thought only their mother would love them, but Ian seemed very taken by these baby Jackdaws too.

Linby Linnet nest

2011-05-17T21:30:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures of a Linnet nest I've been monitoring. I ringed the chicks on 15 May.
Mick P

Attenborough CES, Sunday 15 May

2011-05-16T19:10:00.000+01:00

The morning started bright with only a slight breeze and the first bird out of the nets was a Cetti's Warbler, so all seemed well. Unfortunately it did not last, the breeze strengthened, the skies clouded over and it started to rain. The rain eventually made us take the nets down early and we ended with 32 birds of which 22 were new. The usual mix of birds, the only surprise, other than the Cetti's was a Whitethroat. Thanks to Ian for the pics.
Kev

The only British passerine with 10 rather than 12 tail feathers.

Examples of baldness in birds like this Great Tit are not that uncommon and there are various possible causes including mite damage, fungal infections and nutritional deficiency.

Tawny Owl update

2011-05-13T20:53:00.000+01:00

Looking at the incoming data so far, a few thoughts on the situation with Tawnys this year. There would seem to be quite a bit of variation across the county, with birds generally doing less well in the north perhaps due to deeper and more prolonged snow cover. Also, things have been a bit unpredictable with a few birds breeding in new locations and some dependable sites being vacant such as Flintham Woods.

Two birds of note are one retrapped that's at least 7 years old, it was ringed & filmed by BBC in 2007 at Hawton. Then a chick ringed at Hawton in 2007 was caught for second year at Long Bennington.

Jim

Barn Owl update

2011-05-13T20:40:00.002+01:00

Over the last two days I've have been checking, with Duncan & Ian's help, some of the Barn Owl boxes to get a feel as to how they might be doing this year in south Nottinghamshire. We checked 11 boxes covering seven territories, and 6 were occupied by Barn Owls: four on completed clutches and two on small chicks. Average clutch size is 3 to 4. Based on last year, I would have expected five pairs, so overall it was quite encouraging with birds off to a quick start. Also there's apparently good survival of adults as four of the females were retraps and the other two had been ringed as pullus last year. Lastly, Duncan finally got to ring adult Barn Owl after having processed 9 of them!
Jim

A retrap female near Cotham - she was in moult and on 4 small chicks.
Ringed as a 5 last year.

Jackdaw invasion!

2011-05-09T20:38:00.001+01:00

A short film of a story that unfolded recently in a box Jim went to check recently...

Jackdaw invading occupied Tawny Owl box

And a picture of the star of the show. (No, not you Duncan...)