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
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| Jackdaw eggs |
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
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
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| Whitethroat |
.jpeg)
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| Reed Bunting |
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
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
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
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| Net ride |
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| Adult Blue Tit wing with unmoulted primary coverts |
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| first year Wren with 4 old greater coverts |
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| adult Wren |
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
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
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| Brackenhurst dawn (H. James) |
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| Yellowhammer (H. James) |
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.
As part of the continuing bird monitoring at Allestree Park Rewilding, I had organised for the
inclusion of nest boxes on the site. On Friday, I met up with Jim and Sandra to install eight large nest boxes targetting birds of prey. These included two for Barn Owls, two for Kestrels and four for Tawny Owls. It may be too late for them to be used this year, but their longevity will hopefully allow increased nesting opportunities for these birds in the future. Monitoring these boxes will provide insights into predators around the park. The implementation of this project would not have been possible without the generous funding from Derby City Council, and Jim for constructing the boxes.
Josh
A session at the Brackenhurst feeders on Sunday produced 45 birds. Yellowhammer was the most numerous species, and the catch included a male (pictured below) originally ringed in March 2020 as a 5. A flock of 4 House Sparrow were the first ringed on site since 2022.
The catch breakdown was as follows (new/retrap): Yellowhammer 16/1, House Sparrow 4/0, Dunnock 0/5, Blackbird 1/0, Blue Tit 3/6, Robin 0/2 and Great Tit 0/7.
Rowan
The final winter CES visit was made to Broomfield today, although it will not be the final ringing visit to the site this winter. As usual the weather forecast was wrong and we arrived on site in rain and with more of a breeze than forecast, but fortunately the rain stopped by the time we had set the first nets.
We set the usual feeder nets and the Redwing nets, but were not expecting to catch any Redwing as they do not respond well to calls from sound lures late in the winter. There were however good numbers of Redwing and Starling feeding on one of the sports fields along with a couple of Mistle Thrush.
The feeder nets caught the bulk of the day's catch which totalled 43, comprising: 12 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 16 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Robin, 5 Chaffinch, 3 Blackbird and a surprise single Redwing. We also caught a single Bullfinch but we released it without a ring because it had scaly legs.
The breeze increased as the morning progressed so all in all a good catch considering the conditions. Overhead we had Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and a decent flock of Lapwing.
Kev
Following a couple of site visits to the Reed Pond Nature Reserve in Lambley, it was agreed that South Notts Ringing Group would hold a ringing session there on 1 February 2025. Whilst I don't think the site lends itself to regular bird ringing, a demo session was useful as it allowed us to collaborate with another local wildlife group, with several of their members visiting on the day, and it possibly helps with their understanding of the birds on site.
After the initial visit, when there didn't seem to be too many birds on site, the volunteers have since established a couple of bird feeders, so as we arrived there seemed quite an encouraging amount of activity and bird song.
We put up three mist nets which resulted in a catch of 37 birds, thanks to the feeders, comprising:
13 Blue Tits, 6 Great Tits, 9 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Chaffinches and single Robin, Dunnock, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Kestrel.
Many thanks to the Reed Pond Nature Reserve and the people who came along.
Mick Pearson
On Sunday, the seventh winter CES visit was completed at NTU Brackenhurst. The 3 feeder nets produced a total of 51 birds. This included 15 new Yellowhammers, which seem to have been thin on the ground this winter with just one caught the previous visit. Some of the first year Yellowhammers showed obvious fault bars, like the bird pictured below with a fault bar across the greater coverts.
Totals were as follows (new/retrap): Yellowhammer 15/0, Blue Tit 3/14, Great Tit 3/5, Robin 2/3, Blackbird 3/1 and Dunnock 0/1.
Rowan
