Brackenhurst, Sunday 16 November

The forecast held good, being overcast, calm and damp through the morning. Apart from a round of 24 birds in the Orwin's nets, it was pretty quiet with little activity around the feeders. Personally, I think when its really calm birds are less inclined to move about in order to conserve energy. Still we managed to handle 47 birds, which just about kept our team of Kev, Linda, Sue, Gary, Alastair, Emma, Alex and me engaged.

The highlight would be a juvenile Magpie, the first for Brack since we started ringing there in 2008 and an unusual mist net capture. In between times we looked for a lost ram!

The sound lure only attracted two Redwing this time, but probably also accounted for the five 'continental' type Blackbirds. Later we tried a 'crest' lure and this maybe attracted the zephyr of 13 Long-tailed Tits, five of which were ringed last winter.

Captures were (new/retraps) 47 (28/19): Blackbird 5/0, Blue Tit 3/2, Chaffinch 1/1, Dunnock 1/0, Goldcrest 0/1, Great Tit 1/9, Long-tailed Tit 8/5, Magpie 1/0, Redwing 2/0, Tree Sparrow 4/1, Treecreeper 2/0.

Jim

Granby, Sunday 8 November

Another first winter visit; this time it was Granby. Our team was myself, Gary, Kev, Alex and Alister Feather from Birklands RG. The weather was calmer than forecast, but rain was expected late morning. In the event, the rain came early and we packed up around 09:30. Despite this we processed 50 birds. Surprisingly, what with the mild weather, we caught 23 birds before we'd got the nets fully open! Species were the usual suspects, but it was good for folks to get their eye in with the 18 Chaffinches we processed. All the retraps had been ringed last winter, bar a Dunnock from 2011. One of the Great Tits had been ringed by Ian in the summer as a pullus in one of the Granby nest boxes.

Captures were (new/retraps) 50 (40/10): Blue Tit 9/4, Chaffinch 17/1, Dunnock 3/1, Great Tit 6/4, Robin 3/0, Tree Sparrow 1/0, Wren 1/0.

Jim

Brackenhurst, Saturday 1 November

The forecast held and we managed our first visit to Brack this winter. Our team was Gary, Linda and myself. Though breezy, the nets were reasonably well sheltered, but what with that and the mild autumn, many leaves had to be extracted! The initial visit of the winter is always interesting in seeing the how breeding season has gone for the more common resident species. We set nets at the feeders and in Orwin's where we played a Redwing sound lure.

Overall, we processed 69 birds. About half were tits. As you might expect all the new Great Tits were birds of the year and retraps were from last winter. It looks like they've had a good year. Nine Tree Sparrows was a good total for here, and all appeared to be juvenile types and two of them were still in wing moult, but as we get no retraps one can't be definitive. Orwin's was productive with a charm of Goldfinches in one net and the lure pulling in eight Redwing.

Captures were (new/retraps) 69 (64/5): Blue Tit 10/0, Chaffinch 7/0, Dunnock 1/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Goldfinch 5/0, Great Tit 21/4, Long-tailed Tit 0/1, Redwing 8/0, Robin 1/0, Tree Sparrow 9/0, Wren 1/0.

Jim

Rushcliffe Community Awards 2014

On Wednesday 12 November, Jim and I, attended the Rushcliffe Community Awards 2014 on behalf of SNRG. We had been nominated again for an award in the Protecting and Enhancing our Environment category by Gordon Dyne.

Unfortunately we did not win, the top award was presented to Gotham Nature Reserve Trust, but we did receive a certificate again in recognition of our work.

Thanks go to Gordon for nominating the group.

Kev

Baiting up and clearing rides

Granby is open for business and ready for season 14 mist-netting in a couple of weeks. Thanks to Ewan Weston and Mike Lennon for big help in getting it ready for the winter last Saturday. However, Brackenhurst beckons this weekend.

Jim

Attenborough Sand Martins

There are now a couple of videos on the Attenborough website documenting the Sand Martins that the group has been helping with:

http://www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk/sightings/

http://www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk/things-to-see-and-do/sand-martins-at-attenborough

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 12 October

A very foggy autumnal morning greeted Duncan, Alex, Nick, Gary and I when we met at Holme Pierrepont. The temperature gauge on the car went down to 4 degrees celsius on the journey to the site. This was going to be the closing session for the season at the Grange end of the site and as such the likelihood of a good catch was not thought to be high.

We set all the usual nets except for one which still had a tent erected in the ride, still apparently unoccupied. With no wind and few birds calling a warbler tape was set in the hope of catching any remaining migrants and we retired to the base.

A couple of the nets seemed to be catching the moisture in the fog and frequently needed shaking dry. From the first round catching was brisk and only really fell off towards the middle of the day as the fog lifted and the sun lit up the nets. We ended with a very good total of 69 birds including 26 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Robin 3/3, Wren 4/4, Dunnock 4/1, Blackbird 1/2, Blackcap 1/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Treecreeper 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 10/4, Blue Tit 4/8, Great Tit 3/2, Bullfinch 3/0, Chaffinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 6/1.

We only managed to catch the one migrant warbler, a Blackcap, and that was as we were taking the nets down and the tape was off! The oldest retraps were a Blackbird and Blue Tit from 2012.

Overhead was pretty quiet, a few Jays were around and a Grey Wagtail but no winter thrushes as yet. At the end of the session all the poles and guys were removed and the site closed down, I guess the next big visit well be early next year to do some vegetation clearance.

Kev

Recent Recoveries

Only a few recoveries have been dribbling in of late, but the latest one is a little more remarkable than the usual ones we get.

A Snipe, which was ringed at Holme Pierrepont in December 2011 was shot 994 days later on the 16th of September this year, having travelled to Ringkøbing in western Denmark. Interestingly, this bird was also retrapped between these dates at Holme Pierrepont in March 2013, so has a bit of history with the group!

In other news:

A Jackdaw ringed as a nestling in Normanton in June 2013 was shot in the same area almost a year later.

A Male bullfinch was found dead in July this year, having hit a window in Hucknall, after being ringed 3km away in Bestwood in 2011.

And a Barn Owl that was ringed as a nestling in Eaton in 2012 was found dead in the same area in September this year.

Tom

Long-eared Owl nest baskets

Don Pritchett and myself spent a pleasant couple of hours roaming a thicket in the Vale of Belvoir in the late sun yesterday afternoon putting up the LEO nest baskets he'd made from various garden centre products. LEOs are regularly seen here in the winter, so fingers crossed...

 

 (LEO's view from the nest!)

Is bird ringing still necessary?

Good read on the subject here:

http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/article/bird-ringing-still-necessary/

Holme Pierrepont, Tuesday 30 September

Duncan, Jim, Gary and I made a final visit to the Skylarks end of Holme Pierrepont on Tuesday. Another fine, clear morning with very little breeze, we erected most of the usual nets and set 4 tapes playing. At this time of year we do not expect to catch many birds as the warblers have generally moved out. There were a couple of Chiffchaffs singing but other than that the site seemed relatively quiet.

However catching started at a brisk pace before the breeze got up a little and the sun rose high in the sky. We caught only two species of migratory warblers but these were in good (and surprising) numbers. We finished with 70 birds including 7 retraps and a control, made up of (new/retraps and controls): Robin 5/2, Wren 3/0, Dunnock 1/1, Blackcap 13/0, Chiffchaff 12/1, Cetti’s Warbler 0/1, Goldcrest 2/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 8/3, Blue Tit 5/0, Great Tit 1/0, Bullfinch 2/0, Chaffinch 2/0, Goldfinch 6/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.

The oldest retraps were the Cetti’s Warbler and one of the Robins that were both from 2012, we also had a control Chiffchaff. Overhead passed a few Skylark, a Swallow, two Buzzard and a couple of Jays. At the end of the session we removed all of the poles and guys, effectively closing this site for the winter.

Kev

Help the Notts Mammal Atlas

A provisional mammal atlas for Nottinghamshire has been produced by the county recorder, Michael Walker. The atlas is a collation of all the mammal records currently held in Nottinghamshire and can be viewed or downloaded here: http://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/images/uploads/Notts_Mammal_Atlas_2014.pdf

There are a large number of gaps in the data and the aim of its provisional publication is to encourage people to record and submit mammal records, including widespread and common species. Details of how to do so are included on the pdf.

Notts BTO Conference

The BTO are holding a regional conference in Nottinghamshire in November. Click here for details.

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 21 September

Duncan, Pete and I made a visit to the Grange end of Holme Pierrepont today. A fine, clear morning with very little breeze, we got 7 nets up quickly and then found 2 tents erected, one at the end of one of our usual net rides so we made do with just a couple more nets. As the morning went on, we decided there was either no one inside the tents or they were out for the count.

The site seemed relatively quiet (apart from the singing Cetti’s) but the first few catches were quite good before the breeze got up a little and the sun rose high in the sky. The warblers seem to be mostly gone but it was surprising to get only one Blackcap after the numbers caught in previous weeks.

We finished with 51 birds including 4 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Robin 2/1, Wren 2/1, Dunnock 2/0, Reed Warbler 5/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Blackcap 1/0, Chiffchaff 5/0, Long-tailed Tit 9/1, Blue Tit 2/0, Great Tit 1/1, Bullfinch 4/0, Reed Bunting 12/0. The retraps were all from the this year except the Great Tit which was from 2013.

Overhead passed a few Skylark and Meadow Pipit, two Ravens, two Buzzards, a couple of Grey Wagtails but no hirundines. A few Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall were on the water along with a family of Little Grebes and a Snipe was flushed from the reeds.

Kev

 The back pit still has water cover throughout (just) despite the dry summer, though in most places it is only a few inches deep.

 Five years ago this path had little more than the odd scrubby willow beside it and some group members remember when it was the grassy shoreline of the gravel pit.

 A young Whitethroat having almost completed its post-juvenile moult. The replaced covert is more chestnut than the adjacent juvenile feathers. (All photos PML)

Twite

On Tuesday 16 September I joined Jamie Dunning and Steve Christmas at their moorland site near Manchester to assist in their project to colour-ring Twite.

They, along with a local bird enthusiast, have been baiting the site in an attempt to whoosh net the birds. A previous session resulted in 3 Twite being colour-ringed, today we managed to colour-ring 15 and also to ring 3 Linnet.

As they are generally a moorland and coastal bird it is unlikely that we will spot any colour-ringed birds in Nottinghamshire but please keep a look out whenever in suitable habitat.

For more information please contact Jamie jamiedunning8@gmail.com

Mick P