Attenborough CES Visit 6, Sunday 22 June

Gary, Alex, Duncan, Sue, Tom and I completed the sixth and final CES visit of the year at Attenborough on Sunday. The weather was still and sunny throughout which no doubt affected the catch as most of the nets were in full sun. We have been fortunate this year to have carried out every visit in very still conditions, something I can’t ever remember happening in previous years.

We managed to catch 33 birds including 8 retraps, the breakdown was (new/retrap): Bullfinch 1/2, Wren 1/1, Reed Warbler 3/3, Reed Bunting 2/1, Great Tit 2/1, Chiffchaff 1/0, Blue Tit 1/0, Blackcap 8/0, Robin 3/0, Dunnock 3/0. The oldest retrap was the Reed Warbler from 2007 that we have regularly caught this year and a Great Tit from 2008 that was recaptured for the first time since ringing.

Around, but not in the nets, were a Tawny Owl, a Nuthatch and some Peacock caterpillars (see below). The poles and guys were all removed at the end of the visit as the Trust are to turn the cattle out on the Delta now. 

Kev

 Nets 1 & 2 (Sue Lakeman)

 Peacock caterpillars (Sue Lakeman)

Little Grebe nest

Following an unproductive ringing session at Bestwood this morning I decided to check on a Little Grebe nest I am monitoring for the BTO Nest Record Scheme. I found the nest last week and as the adult covers the eggs when leaving only 2 were visible. This morning the eggs were uncovered, revealing 4 and a newly hatched chick!

Mick P

Kestrel recovery

An interesting recovery from new box site at Epperstone. A long dead male Kestrel with its head missing - and it was ringed! I would imagine its assailant was either a Tawny Owl or a stoat. EN series rings were first used in the 1980s so it will be interesting to hear of its origins in due course.

Jim

Attenborough CES Visit 5, Saturday 14 June

A perfect morning for mist netting, no wind and overcast. Gary, Nick and I set the nets pretty quickly despite having to clear the rides a little as the vegetation had sprung up amazingly since visit 4 a couple of weeks ago.

The totals were 26 new birds and 10 retraps made up as follows: Blackcap 2/0, Great Tit 6/3, Blue Tit 0/1, Robin 4/0, Dunnock 1/1, Reed Warbler 4/2, Wren 6/1, Bullfinch 2/0, Treecreeper 1/1, Reed Bunting 0/1.

The oldest retrap was a Blue Tit from 2011. The Treecreeper retrap was from 2013 and is the first bird caught this year that has started its wing moult, with a score of 7. Overall we have had better catches this year than last (apart from visit 1) but the extra birds are resident species not warblers, there is a distinct lack of warblers at the site this year.

Kev

Wales, Sunday 8 June

Gary, Mick P, Duncan, Alex, Tom and I made the trip to Wales on Sunday to ring the Pied Flycatcher chicks. We had received varying reports about the season but generally they implied that the birds had arrived back and started laying over a longish period of time. This was borne out by what we found on site. The timing of the visit was about as right as it could be and we ringed 68 pulli Pied Flycatchers and 7 adults. We left 50 chicks unringed because they were too small, there were about 40 eggs still to hatch and 4 broods had fledged. We also did an adult Redstart but the two Redstart nests we found had eggs and small chicks. To end the day we mist-netted a Wood Warbler. Yet again there were no Buzzards nesting although there were a few around and Tom and I had excellent views of a Red Kite.

Kev

 Pied Flycatcher with 3 obvious juvenile greater coverts indicating a bird born the previous year. (G. Goddard)

Wood Warbler (G. Goddard)

Attenborough CES Visit 4, Sunday 1 June

What a contrast to last week, the sun was out from the start, not a cloud in the sky all morning. This undoubtedly affected the catch as the nets were lit up but I was still surprised at how few birds we caught. There seemed to be very little movement of birds at the site generally. Still, it was a pleasant morning for Sue, Duncan, Gary, Nick, Alex and I to spend sitting in the sun, or at least it would have been if the mosquitoes had left us alone!

The totals were 16 new and 7 retraps made up as follows: Blackcap 3/1, Great Tit 1/1, Chiffchaff 0/1, Robin 3/0, Dunnock 1/1, Garden Warbler 0/1, Reed Warbler 1/1, Wren 2/0, Blackbird 3/0, Cetti’s Warbler 0/1, Chaffinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/0. The oldest retrap was the Garden Warbler from 2010 that we also caught last week. We did catch our first juvenile warbler of the year, a Blackcap.

Kev

 Juvenile Robin (Sue Lakeman)

Box checking in the Vale

Well, I ringed more owls yesterday alone than in the whole of 2013, so things are looking up. I'd been a bit concerned after a week of incessant rain, but it seems that many pairs were well ahead of schedule with good sized young that were perhaps more able to weather the storms.

I began with Kestrel boxes and found a wide range from birds on eggs up to a brood of 5 that must have been half grown. The pic below also shows the head of the sixth sibling which had become breakfast at some point (the fifth is hidden in the far left hand corner, perhaps hoping to avoid the same fate)...

Next were two boxes with large Little Owl chicks. Talking to several people, these appear to have had a good year in 2013, unlike Tawny and Barn Owls. I wonder if we are now seeing the result of that? (Yes, Penny decided that an old bridesmaid's dress was the correct attire for box-checking...)

Lastly, 2 of 3 Barn Owl broods I found were big enough to ring and seemingly doing well with a few prey items cached.

Fingers crossed for not too much more wet weather.


Pete

Ian's Little Owl nest box success

It has been good to find the Little Owls have been using the nest boxes which I erected last winter around Cropwell Butler as well as the boxes at Clifton Grove which Rob Hoare has kindly granted me permission to monitor with him.

I was pleased to find an already ringed female with chicks, she appears to not be a South Notts ringed bird so I look forward to finding out more about her shortly.

It was also good to know that some of these rather smelly chicks had very full bellies regardless of the cool and wet weather we have had recently.

Ian

 

Clifton Grove and Barton under threat again!

The Clifton Grove and Brandshill area of the Trent Valley is one of the county's great wildlife hotspots, and once again it appears to be under threat. The Council are planning extensive sand and gravel extraction across a large area of a site which hosts a numbers of resident red-listed bird species that are of high conservation concern: Grey Partridge, Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Song Thrush, Marsh Tit, Starling, Linnet, Reed Bunting and the Corn Bunting.

It is also a key stop-off point for migrants such as Ring Ouzel, Wheatear, Short-eared Owl, Hobby and Whinchat and a large cast of migrant waders.

There are also a host of Little Owl nest boxes which myself and Rob monitor yearly, which also fall into this zone.

Please voice your concerns wherever possible. The Clifton Pastures area has been very badly effected by the tram and A453 developments as of late and now the proposed activity at Barton looks set to bring further upset.

Check out Rob Hoare's fantastic Clifton Grove Birds website for further information:

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

Ian

Recent Recoveries

A Cormorant which was colour-ringed as a chick at Attenborough Nature Reserve in April 2013 was re-sighted at Cossington, Leicestershire in March 2014. Another Cormorant which was also colour-ringed as a chick at Attenborough Nature Reserve in April 2013 was re-sighted at Lound, Retford in July 2013.

A Sparrowhawk which was ringed as a chick at Clifton in 2009 was recovered after hitting a window in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire in March 2014.

A Great Tit ringed as a chick at Cotham, Nottinghamshire in May 2009 and a Great Tit ringed as a chick at Hawton in June 2012 were both controlled at Elston, Nottinghamshire during January 2014.

Two Lesser Redpoll which were ringed at Bestwood in September 2011 were both controlled at Warsop in February 2014.

Ian

Attenborough CES Visit 3, Sunday 25 May

The Met Office are as accurate with their forecasts as I am picking the lottery numbers, which led to Nabegh, Sue, Duncan, Gary and I spending the first half hour of this CES session standing in the pouring rain with the nets still in their bags. It did stop which allowed us to put up the nets, then started, then stopped etc. which had us on the starting blocks to run and furl until about 09:00 when the cloud started to break up. It was worth our perseverance as we had the best catch of the season so far and a little variety with a new Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Magpie.

The totals were 29 new and 14 retrap, made up as follows (new/retrap): Song Thrush 0/1, Blackcap 4/3, Great Tit 6/2, Blue Tit 0/1, Chiffchaff 0/1, Bullfinch 1/0, Robin 1/1, Dunnock 2/1, Garden Warbler 1/1, Reed Warbler 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 10/1, Blackbird 0/1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1/0, Kingfisher 1/0, Magpie 1/0.

The oldest retraps were the 2007 Reed Warbler that we'd also caught last week and another Garden Warbler from 2010. Lastly we ringed a few broods of tit pulli in the nest boxes.

Kev

 Kingfisher (Sue Lakeman)

Attenborough CES Visit 2, Sunday 18 May

Alex, Duncan, Gary, Sue and I carried out the second CES visit of the year at Attenborough on Sunday. The weather was still and sunny throughout. The catch was better than Visit 1 as we caught the first few juvenile birds of the year and seemingly more migrant warblers had arrived.

The totals for the day were 27 new and 9 retraps made up as follows (new/retrap): Song Thrush 1/0, Blackcap 5/2, Great Tit 2/1, Blue Tit 4/0, Chiffchaff 3/0, Willow Warbler 0/1, Bullfinch 0/1, Robin 4/1, Dunnock 1/1, Garden Warbler 1/1, Reed Warbler 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 2/0, Reed Bunting 2/0, Chaffinch 2/0. The oldest retraps were a Reed Warbler from 2007 and a Garden Warbler from 2010.

Kev

Chaffinch (Sue Lakeman)

Bonus Tawny Owls

A bonus of some early box checking (thanks Don!) has been a few extra Tawny Owls in Barn Owl boxes. This brood was near Long Clawson tonight.

Pete

Attenborough CES Visit 1, Sunday 4 May

Alex, Duncan, Gary, Nick and I carried out the first CES visit of the year at Attenborough on Sunday. The weather conditions were close to perfect and the first bird in the net was a Cetti’s Warbler, so all looked well for a good catch. Unfortunately the birds did not share our optimism and catches were slow throughout the morning. We did get a pair off Great Spotted Woodpeckers which were interesting in that both male and female had a large engorged stage 3 brood patch. Both sexes of this species do incubate but I have never seen such an advanced brood patch on a male before although the majority of the Woodpeckers we do catch are normally caught outside of the breeding season.

The totals for the day were 18 new and 5 retraps made up as follows: Song Thrush 0/1, Blackbird 1/1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 2/0, Blackcap 2/0, Great Tit 2/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/0, Chiffchaff 1/0, Wren 2/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Bullfinch 2/2, Robin 2/0, Dunnock 1/1, Garden Warbler 1/0.



Kev

 Great Spotted Woodpeckers: female on the left (practising its pecking on Alex's hand - the blood is Alex's not the bird's) and male with the red nape on the right, blinking. (G. Goddard)

 A slightly blurry picture of the male's brood patch. (N. Humphreys)

Starlings

When we first moved into our house in Harby, Starlings inhabited the void between our bedroom ceiling boards and the roof tiles and regularly woke us at feck o'clock in the morning. At one point their enthusiastic home-making actually punctured a hole in the ceiling which began leaking odorous nesting material and such like. Being house-proud and versatile in the DIY department, I fixed the hole with a small piece of gaffer tape and started pondering eviction methods.

Reluctant to use any sort of force, I commissioned a nestbox from my dad and placed it on the wall beside the hole in the roof. It's taken a couple of years, but the roof has now been abandoned and the box occupied. I ringed the first brood of four last night.

It's good to have them here still, despite the barrage of dung covering the car and the paving in front of the house. With populations declining across the country, Harby still seems to host a large population, all of which appear to be feeding young right now.

Pete