Attenborough NR, CES Visit 2 – Sunday 11 May

We made our second constant effort visit this weekend. Despite being less breezy than the last visit,
the catch was still potentially affected by the bright sunshine. We only caught 14 birds, including 6
retraps. Highlights included a new Blackbird, a new Cetti’s Warbler, and two Reed Warblers. We also ringed a brood of 8 Blue Tits in one of the nest boxes on the delta. This provides information about the timing and success of breeding attempts. Much of the interest at this session came from other wildlife encounters. For example we found a Poplar Hawkmoth in the vegetation right near our ringing base.

Josh

 

The Juveniles Begin - Saturday 10 May

Although a few juvenile passerines have appeared in the last few days, these are the first I've ringed in 2025. In comparison, last year I first ringed a juvenile Starling on 19 May (so we're 9 days earlier this year), and juvenile Goldfinch on 16 June. But this year I first saw a juvenile Goldfinch in the garden on 28 April! It was so early I emailed the local biological recording centre so that it could be logged somewhere!

Holly

 

More on Tawny Owls

Just finished my last 4 Tawny Owl boxes today. I had a good start 2 weeks ago with 2 occupied out of 2 checked; then a less productive middle: 1 occupied out of 8 checked; and a decent finish today with 2 occupied from 4 checked. So 5 occupied from 14 is not too bad. I've not found any rodent prey in any box, only feathers and the maximum brood size was 2. It seems to be a later season this year. I have two boxes from this week to go back to, one was still sitting and the other had a chick too small to ring despite apparently having consumed all but the head of its sibling... Also, 3 adults were caught, 2 new and one a retrap from 2021.

Kev

 

Bestwood Lapwings - Thursday 8 May

A few lapwing chicks were ringed near Bestwood this morning. Their plumage provides excellent camouflage.

Mick P 

Attenborough NR, CES Visit 1 - Monday 5 May

On a very breezy morning, Josh, Gary, Kev H and I made the first CES visit to Attenborough Nature Reserve. CES stands for Constant Effort Site, and it’s a national scheme to monitor the abundance and breeding success of 24 common passerines.

The catch was no doubt affected by the wind, and we only caught a total of 15 birds. One of them was a retrapped Blackcap that was ringed as a 5 in 2022, making that bird 4 years old.

I’d like to say a personal thank you to the ringing group. It’s been nearly 6 years to the day that I first turned up at Attenborough during the CES to see what ringing was about, and today was the first day that I acted as ringer in charge so it felt like a lovely full-circle moment. 

Holly

Treecreeper

 

Tawny Owl box checks

I've just managed to finish checking my 12 Tawny Owl boxes and for the first time in years I didn't have a single one occupied by owls. 3 had Jackdaws, 4 had Stock Doves, 1 had squirrels and 4 were empty. One Stock Dove pair already had two FS chicks which I ringed. I hope the Barn Owl season is better, though at the moment I'm not sure how optimistic I'm feeling...

Pete

Jackdaw eggs

 

Bestwood - Thursday 24 April

I caught an interesting Greenfinch this morning at Bestwood. Along with the other ageing criteria to indicate it was a bird hatched last year, it had kindly replaced T5 on one side only, nicely demonstrating the difference in wear and shape. The new adult type feather with a broadly rounded tip of outer web comparing nicely with the tapering off tip of the outer web on the juvenile type feather.

Also of interest was something you don't often get in a mist net - an adult Jackdaw.

Mick P

Skylarks NR - Sunday 20 April

Laura, Duncan, Gary, Kev and I made the first visit of the year to Skylarks to see which and how many migratory species had arrived back. Although the overall catch was low, we were pleasantly surprised with the variety and had some excellent subsequent encounters.

Three of the warblers were retraps from previous years - amazingly both the Garden Warbler and Willow Warbler were ringed on 28 May 2020 which was the first outing after covid restrictions were lifted. One Chiffchaff was ringed in 2024.

We caught a total of 26 birds: Long-tailed Tit 4, Blackcap 3, Chiffchaff 3, Robin 3, Whitethroat 2, Sedge Warbler 2, Willow Warbler 2, Blue Tit 2, Wren 1, Garden Warbler 1, Reed Bunting 1, Dunnock 1, Song Thrush 1.

Conditions were cool and breezy, overcast to begin with, brightening as the morning went on. Martins were flying overhead. 

Holly

Whitethroat

 

Reed Bunting

Broomfield Comparisons

I have had a look at the ringing data collected over the last two winters at Broomfield. There are a few species caught at the feeders in sufficient numbers to do some comparisons between 2023/24 winter and 2024/25 winter.

It is known that for many species last summer was a poor breeding season - the poor weather resulting in low fledging rates for many species of passerines. This can be seen in the data we have collected over the last two winters:

Blue Tit - in 2024/25 winter total captures of individuals down 50% and the ratio of juveniles to adults dropping from 2.5:1 to 1:1.

Great Tit - in 2024/25 winter total captures of individuals down 46% and the ratio of juveniles to adults dropping from 3:1 to 1:1.

Chaffinch - in 2024/25 winter total captures of individuals down 47%, however the ratio of juveniles to adults remained roughly the same.

Overall captures of individuals of all species was down by 62%.

Interestingly 36% of the first winter Blue Tits caught in 2023/24 winter had retained some old greater coverts compared to only 13% caught in winter 2024/25.

Kev

Attenborough NR - Saturday 12 April

We had another pleasant morning monitoring birds at the Delta end of Attenborough Nature
Reserve. We set nets in a new line along the edge of woodland and into a small clearing.
We were kept quietly busy, the majority being resident species in breeding condition. The two
Song Thrushes, although caught separately and presumably not a pair, were a good addition to
the usual fair. We continued the scrutiny (and debate) over Wren’s wings, and finished on the
high of a Magpie which we deemed to be a young female.

We processed a total of 37 birds: Chiffchaff 1, Treecreeper 3, Wren 4, Long-tailed Tit 2,
Blackcap 5, Great Tit 5, Blue Tit 8, Robin 3, Dunnock 3, Song Thrush 2, Magpie 1.

Holly

 

Brackenhurst - Monday 7 April

It was a frosty start to the day at the Brack feeders, but it warmed up quickly. Although the final total was fairly low (21), it was an interesting day with some nice species. This included a retrap Jay from last week, a new Magpie and a new Collared Dove. Both the Magpie and the Collared Dove were the second of their species ringed on the site since ringing started here in 2008.

The total was (new/retrap): Yellowhammer 6/7, Dunnock 1/1, Great Tit 0/1, Jay 0/1, Magpie 1/0, Collared Dove 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Blackbird 1/0

Alex T

 

Attenborough NR - Sunday 6 April

This morning we tried another pre-CES visit to the Delta-end of Attenborough Nature Reserve.
We put two lines of nets up through woodland. The weather was cool, sunny, and slightly
breezy. 

Unlike the previous week, we couldn’t use tape lures this time as 1st April is the cut-off for
migrants. Fewer Chiffchaffs were caught as a result, though many were heard. However, we did
catch more Blackcaps and presumably they had arrived since our previous visit.

Many species were already showing signs of breeding. The 6 Wrens we were treated to allowed us to compare the ageing criteria in different birds - whether the black lines running along the secondaries and primaries are clean or stepped. 

One of the Blue Tits showed a contrast between new and unmoulted primary coverts. Luckily, it
was a retrap so we could confirm whether it was a young bird that had moulted to a greater
extent or an adult bird that had undergone a main moult but missed those few feathers. It was
an adult. Interestingly, when it was ringed as an age 5 it had retained 5 OGCs; a very high
number of unmoulted feathers for a juvenile Blue Tit. So in both instances, it had moulted less
than we would expect.

Total 31 birds: Chiffchaff 1, Goldcrest 1, Wren 6, Treecreeper 1, Long-tailed Tit 2, Blackcap 6,
Great Tit 3, Blue Tit 6, Robin 3, Dunnock 1, Blackbird 1. One of the Blackcaps was a retrap from
2021 that had not been caught since.

Holly

Net ride

Adult Blue Tit wing with unmoulted primary coverts

first year Wren with 4 old greater coverts

adult Wren

 

Brackenhurst Ringing Demo #2 - Wednesday 2 April

We held a second ringing demo at the NTU Brackenhurst campus for Ecology and Wildlife
Conservation students. Despite good ringing conditions early on, it was extremely quiet around
the feeders and we were only taking 1-2 birds out of the net each round, not leaving us much to
demonstrate!

However, the Yellowhammers turned up eventually and it was good to be able to show the
difference in plumage between the sexes and the level of feather wear in the ages.

We caught our eighth Jay for the site, and our first Reed Bunting for 3 years! Although we've
caught c100 Reed Buntings at this site previously, they have been rather absent recently. 

The oldest bird was a Great Tit from 2022. We processed a total of 19 birds (new/retrap): Dunnock 0/2, Great Tit 0/4, Yellowhammer 9/2, Reed Bunting 1/0, Jay 1/0.

The weather was cool and still early on, giving way to warm sun and a strong breeze.

Holly

 

Brackenhurst Ringing Demo, Wednesday 19 March

A very pleasant frosty start gave way to a warm and dry day. Students from the NTU
Brackenhurst campus arrived throughout the morning for a ringing demonstration. We showed
them the mist nets and explained how we catch birds, as well a how we collect data (age, sex,
moult, breeding condition, biometrics) and what that data is used for nationally. It was great to
chat with them about their interests in wildlife conservation, ecology, and habitat management.

The lack of new Blue Tits and Great Tits shows that the birds have already established their
territories, and that the birds inhabiting local territories have all been ringed. The oldest tits were
two ringed in 2021, making them at least 4 years old. We also retrapped a Goldcrest that was two
years old.

There were good numbers of Chiffchaffs passing through, and a tape lure for Chiffchaff in the
copse did well to attract them to the nets. We also saw winter thrushes moving overhead.

We caught a total of 45 birds (new/retrap): Yellowhammer 18/2, Dunnock 2/3, Blackbird 2/0,
Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Chiffchaff 5/0, Blue Tit 0/6, Great Tit 0/5, Goldcrest 0/1.

Holly

Brackenhurst dawn (H. James)

Yellowhammer (H. James)

 

2024 Report

The 2024 SNRG Report is now published and available. If you would like a copy, please email the address at the top of the 'Reports' page - see tab at the top.