More Tawny Owl box-checking

Ian and I spent today checking my allocation of Tawny Owl boxes. It was a very pleasant and mild day with lots of migrants including my first Lesser Whitethroats and Garden Warblers of the year and as it started getting hot we clocked up six species of butterfly.

We found two broods of Tawny Owls, which was two more than last year. Perhaps not as many as I would have liked, but we can't be too fussy. One brood was just big enough to ring, the other slightly too small. We managed to catch and ring the adult females in both boxes as well - interestingly, both older birds and both unringed.

The wing of one of the adult female Tawny Owls, showing three generations of primaries.

However, perhaps the most encouraging thing about today's broods was the amount of prey cached in each box. The first contained 5 voles and the second at least 12 items, seemingly a mixture of mice and voles (see below).

Of all the other boxes that we checked 5 were empty, 2 damaged, 3 had Jackdaw clutches and 2 had Stock Doves. So all in all, a reasonable start to the season, though it would be nice if the Barn Owls could do a little better.

Pete

Jackdaw eggs

Holme Pierrepont, Saturday 19 April

Having looked at the weather forecast for Easter I decided Saturday would be the best day for a ringing session at HPP. The morning started still with light cloud but the breeze increased as the morning went on. Alex, Gary, Nabegh and I made up the team, Duncan having dropped out due to illness, get well soon Duncan.

The acros were back and singing and Whitethroat was evident as well. Overhead the pair of Buzzards were around all morning again, joined later by another bird.

Another decent spring morning with a catch of 38 birds, totals new/retrap were: Song Thrush 1/0, Reed Bunting 3/2, Blackcap 2/1, Great Tit 2/0, Cetti’s Warbler 0/1, Willow Warbler 1/2, Chiffchaff 2/3, Wren 2/1, Bullfinch 4/1, Robin 2/1, Long-tailed Tit 2/1, Whitethroat 1/0, Reed Warbler 1/1, Sedge Warbler 0/1.

It was nice to get some returning warblers. The oldest was a Reed Warbler from 2010 and there was also a Sedge Warbler and Willow Warbler from 2013.

Kev

Tawny Owls so far...

Ruth and I checked 24 boxes on Friday and the results were as follows:

Tawnys: 1 female on 2 chicks + addled egg; 1 sat tight; 1 with abandoned single egg

Stock Dove: 2 with small chicks; 3 with warm eggs; 1 with single cracked egg

Jackdaw: 3 with cold incomplete clutches; 3 nests at N2/3

Squirrel: 5

Empty: 4

Disappointing, but still 30-40 boxes to check, mainly north of the river. Nothing ringed, but the retrap female at Hawton was ringed as 8F in 2007 in front of BBC cameras and only caught in 2011 since then. It must be at least 10 years old.

Jim

 Tawny Owl (RW)

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 13 April

A fine and still morning greeted Duncan, Alex, Gary and I as we opened up Holme Pierrepont for the year. I thought I heard an acro calling first thing, but none found the nets and we did not hear any more. There were Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps which did find the nets along with 2 Cetti’s Warblers and a Jay. Overhead were A few Swallows, Sand Martins and a Common Tern, there was also a pair of Buzzards around all morning showing a lot of interest in one particular area of large trees!

A very pleasant morning with a catch of 43 birds, totals new/retrap were: Jay 1/0, Blackbird 3/1, Song Thrush 1/0, Dunnock 1/0, Greenfinch 2/0, Blue Tit 2/0, Reed Bunting 4/2, Blackcap 3/0, Great Tit 2/1, Cetti’s Warbler 1/1, Willow Warbler 4/0, Chiffchaff 8/0, Wren 1/1, Bullfinch 0/3, Robin 0/1.

The oldest retrap was a Bullfinch from 2010, the Cetti’s was from 2012.

Kev

 

Jay and Cetti's Warbler (GHG)

Recent Recoveries

A Barn Owl ringed at Sutton Bonington in May 2009 was found dead in Costock in May 2013.
A Barn Owl ringed as a chick in Normanton in July 2011 was retrapped 18km away at Hathern, Loughborough in September 2013.
A Barn Owl ringed as a chick at Lambley in August 2012 was retrapped 29km away at Hathern, Loughborough in September 2013.
A Barn Owl ringed at Costock in June 2012 was found dead in the same location in May 2013.
A Barn Owl ringed as a chick at Bunny Hill in June 2012 was found dead at Costock in September 2012.
A Barn Owl ringed as a chick at Wysall in May 2013 was found dead at Bunny Hill in September 2013.

And lastly a non-Barn Owl... An interesting bit of news about a young Reed Warbler ringed at Holme Pierrepont in August 2013 which was caught again in Charente-Maritime, France 24 days later having travelled 832km.

Ian

Wales - nest boxes

I told the volunteers for the Wales nest box trip that I would decide on Thursday, depending on the weather forecast, which day we would go at the weekend. It seemed an easy choice as all day Thursday the Met office were saying mid-Wales was going to be dry on Saturday and wet on Sunday. I was pleased to see this forecast was still true on Friday morning having let everyone know we would go on Saturday. Unfortunately by Friday night they changed the forecast but the plan was in place and Nick, Alex, Duncan and I went on Saturday morning.

We had a good journey through to the site and set off round the boxes in light drizzle with 18 new/refurbished boxes. I wondered how the west facing wood had fared in the westerly gales that we had been battered with over the winter but was glad to see that damage seemed minimal. The task was completed by early afternoon having used 17 of the 18 boxes we took.

I was glad that we found only 2 unfledged chicks from last summer, so a good season was had which hopefully will mean plenty of birds returning this spring. Alex had one box containing a couple of wood mice, other than that the usual inhabitants for the spring trip were there, namely slugs and fleas! Spring seemed later in the valley, as usual, and the only summer migrants were a few Chiffchaffs calling. Also around/overhead were Nuthatch, Raven and Fieldfares along with a few Buzzards and Red Kites.

Kev

Update for Brackenhurst & Granby ringing efforts

Just a quick summary of recent visits to the feeding sites at Brack and Granby. They've been characterised by low catches due (I guess) to the unseasonably mild and windy weather we've been experiencing, perhaps combined with poor breeding over the last year or so. Certainly Yellowhammer totals will be down by a third this year. Positives have been:

• Ringing early migrant Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. 1st April could be the earliest date the Group has marked this species?
• Clearly all the Great Tits are settled on their territories as all 24 birds were ringed!
• Nice to ring what appears to be resident pair of Treecreepers at Granby.
• Time at Granby for Gary and I to burn some more of the brash, helping the Grizzled Skippers.
• Getting back into ageing Chiffs with three in the hand together.

Totals for individual species (ringed/retrapped):


Granby, Wednesday 19 March
38 (23/15): Chaffinch 7/0, Great Tit 0/9, Robin 0/2, Tree Sparrow 1/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Yellowhammer 14/4

Brackenhurst, Saturday 29 March
21(12/9): Blue Tit 0/2, Chaffinch 3/0, Chiffchaff 3/0, Dunnock 1/1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1/0, Great Tit 0/6, Robin 1/0, Yellowhammer 3/0

Granby, Tuesday 1 April
27(10/17): Blue Tit 0/3, Chaffinch 1/3, Great Tit 0/9, Reed Bunting 2/0, Robin 1/0, Tree Sparrow 1/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Willow Warbler 1/0, Wren 0/1, Yellowhammer 4/0

Jim

A gloomy start at Granby on 1 April. (JL)

One of a pair of Treecreepers that appear to be resident at Granby. (JL)

Cowslips out at Granby. (JL)

An early Willow Warbler at Granby. (TS)

Getting rid of all the scrub that's been cleared to help Grizzled Skippers. (JL)

An adult Great Tit at Granby on 1 April showing well marked primary coverts and alula. (JL)

A first winter Great Tit at Granby on 1 April showing worn primary coverts and large alula feather with fault bars running through them. (JL)

 A young male Great Spotted Woodpecker at Brackenhurst. (JL)

Brackenhurst, Sunday 9 March

We met at 06.30 on Sunday morning at the usual place. The team was Kev, Alex, Tom, Sue, Pete S and myself and we were joined soon after putting nets up by Rebecca to carry on her study of feather mites on Yellowhammers. Only the feeder nets were erected as no birds coud be seen in Orwin's and the nets in there have produced very few birds during the last few visits.

The weather was very mild and a little windy but we hoped for a good catch. The final score was 47 birds caught with 25 new and 22 retraps. A Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Kestrel helped to make it an interesting morning.

Final totals were (new/retrap): Yellowhammer 15/10, Great Tit 2/8, Chaffinch 2/1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1/0, Dunnock 2/2, Blue Tit 2/1 and Kestrel 1/0.

Other birds of note were a Peregrine that Alex found flying over, at least 3 Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk.

Gary

Granby, Sunday 2 March

A more than stiff breeze greeted the five of us when we met at Granby at 06.30 on Sunday morning, so hoping for some shelter in the railway cutting we put up the usual nets. What we had not planned on was bird scarer positioned by the local farmer in the field only a few metres behind the nets. With two blasts every 20 minutes or so we knew it was going to be one of those mornings, but hoped for some sort of catch.

The team was Jim, Kev, Duncan, Nick and myself. It was a disappointing catch with only 32 birds handled and only 9 of those were new birds. The breaksown was as follows (new/retrap): Yellowhammer 2/1, Great Tit 1/13, Blue Tit 4/6, Dunnock 2/1, Chaffinch 1/0 and Robin 0/1.

Only other birds of note were the Buzzards overhead.

Gary

Brackenhurst, Saturday 22 February

Certainly picked the right day to ring at Brack this weekend as it's blowing a hoolie outside right now. Saturday was more spring like weather, being dry and pretty calm in between the occasional blustery spells. It was nice to hear the Little Owl calling as Alex, Duncan, Gary Pete S and I wandered down to the feeders at first light.

As with Granby, earlier in the week, the Yellowhammers showed up and made up nearly half the catch of 70 birds. The birds turned up regularly through the morning, and it was nice to again have Song Thrush and Greenfinch in the hand. We catch so few of these nowadays.

Oldest retraps were a Great Tit and two Yellowhammers from the 2010/11 winter period. 

Totals for individual species ringed/retrapped (41/29) were: Goldcrest 0/1, Song Thrush 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Dunnock 0/4, Blue Tit 8/3, Great Tit 5/6, Chaffinch 3/3, Greenfinch 1/0, Yellowhammer 22-12.

Jim

Adult male Yellowhammer ringed as juv 23/10/2010 and not caught since, until yesterday. (GHG)

 

 

1st winter  Song Thrush, with 7 unmoulted greater coverts. (GHG)

Granby, Wednesday 19 February

Despite the mild temperature, Duncan, Gary and I experienced a decent ringing session at Granby on Wednesday. By that I mean what you might expect in a normalish winter. We processed 67 birds of 11 species in a steady flow through the morning and had time to talk about what we do with some passing dog walkers. Blue and Great Tit and Yellowhammer all took a quarter share of the catch, and it was nice to get amongst the latter for the first time this winter at the site. The weather was, I guess, what you'd call typical April with bright sunshine interspersed with showers. Apart from the Yellowhammers, best birds were the Song Thrush and the five year old male Reed Bunting who had his latest missus in tow.

Oldest retraps were:

2008/09 - male Reed Bunting
2010/11 - two Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit
2011/12 - Great Tit

Totals for individual species ringed/retrapped (38/29): Song Thrush 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Wren 0/1, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/1, Blue Tit 7/9, Great Tit 5/11, Chaffinch 5/4, Reed Bunting 1/1, Yellowhammer 16/1.

Jim

 No wind in the willows (JL)

 Scrapes to encourage Cinquefoil growth for Grizzled Skippers (JL)

Recent Recoveries

An Egyptian Goose which was ringed at Attenborough in November 2009 was sighted by a ringer in the field at the same site in November 2013.

A Cormorant ringed as a chick at Attenborough in June 2013 was found dead at Foston, Derbyshire in January 2014.

A young Reed Warbler ringed at Holme Pierrepont in August 2013 was controlled 9 days later in Charente-Maritime, France having traveled 784km. Remarkably, a young Whitethroat ringed at Holme Pierrepont in August 2013 was also controlled at the same site in Charente-Maritime, France 24 days later.

One of the Tree Sparrows which I ringed in Keyworth in May 2013 was controlled at Wanlip, Leicestershire later in November 2013.

Another of my Lesser Redpolls from Langar ringed in March 2013 was controlled in Darnall, South Yorkshire in November 2013. Interestingly this bird was ringed on the same day as a Lesser Redpoll which has been controlled at Icklesham, also in November. It appears the birds have travelled in opposite directions.

Ian

National Nest Box Week

Duncan and I did the final owl nest box jobs today, putting up and replacing boxes in the east of the county. It was mere coincidence that it's National Nest Box Week, as diaries, rain and wind had prevented earlier attempts to get out 'n about to do this. Twas nice to be out in the fine April weather (sun & hail).

Fingers crossed for better owling this year.

Jim

 Restoring a Barn Owl box that had come down near Swinderby (JL)

 Little Owl box near Elston (DH)

 Little Owl box near Elston (JL)

 Replacing a Tawny Owl box near Scarrington (DH)

NRS training courses in April/May

A message from Hazel Evans, Nest Record Scheme Secretary:

I thought you might like to know that we've just published this year's programme of nest recording courses www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nrs/taking-part/training-courses, which are taking place at Norfolk, Surrey, Cornwall and County Armagh in April and May.

Nest recording courses are run to help BTO volunteers improve their nest-finding and monitoring skills and they are ideal for both new recorders and those wishing to broaden the range of species they monitor. A course involves going out into the field with an experienced tutor and learning techniques for finding nests of various species in different habitats, while of course following the Code of Conduct. As well as being an opportunity to gain experience and confidence in the field, attending a course is also a great way to meet and get to know other nest recorders.

If you're interested in attending one of this year's courses or if you know someone who might be keen, please visit www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nrs/taking-part/training-courses for more details.

Brackenhurst, Monday 10 February

With windy weather stopping us ringing the last couple of weeks, and Atlantic storms reaching all the way to Nottinghamshire over the weekend, it was nice to get an all too brief window of calm weather on Monday morning. The group took advantage of this and a decent sized team consisting of Jim, Gary, Liz, Geoff, Duncan and myself met at Brackenhurst and headed down to see what was about, joined by Rebecca on another research session looking at feather mites on Yellowhammers for her dissertation project.

The site seemed quiet, with only a Robin singing in the darkness as we erected the nets, and didn't get particularly busy all morning, although large flocks of Fieldfare and Starling were feeding on the fields surrounding the ringing station. Other sightings included 2 Buzzards sat atop some pylons, and a Raven cronking somewhere in the distance.

We set nets in Orwin's to try and beckon down some more Redwing, and although one bird complied on the first net round, the nets were to remain empty for the remainder of the day. We couldn't even tempt a nearby Green Woodpecker in with some taped calls.

The nets in the feeding station were also quiet, with numbers of Chaffinch building through the morning, but little else of note. Another House Sparrow was caught, perhaps showing that they are using this as a regular feeding area now. The most notable thing was a lack of Yellowhammers, which meant Rebecca had a quiet morning, with only two caught, leaving us scratching our heads as to where they all might be.

The total catch was 39 birds, of which 25 were retraps, and are as follows (new/retrap) - Redwing 1/0, Wren 1/1, Dunnock 0/3, Robin 1/0, Blue Tit 1/4, Great Tit 5/4, House Sparrow 1/0, Chaffinch 4/11, Yellowhammer 0/2.

Tom