Recent Recoveries

To kick off, the Norwegian Black-headed Gull (J8TN) is back again for another winter at Trent Bridge (ringed as an adult in 2013). Another Black-headed Gull seen by Tom at Colwick in November last year was a Polish ringed bird, ringed as a chick at Pyzykona Reservoir in 2015.

Tom has also been checking the Canada Geese around the Meadows area for colour rings and on 6 October, 8 were noted (one with just a metal ring). They were all from the Nottingham University study, with birds from 2016 to 2018 and the oldest from 2009.

A Tawny Owl ringed at Bunny this May as a chick was found dead on the roads in nearby Bradmore on 20 October.

A Sand Martin from the Attenborough colony, ringed as a chick in July 2017 was retrapped at Lax Hill, Rutland in June this year.

A Reed Warbler, ringed at Holme Pierrepont on 15 July was retrapped by ringers in Littington, East Sussex a few weeks later in August, and another ringed at the same site on 21 July was retrapped at Ickelsham on 27 September. Also from Holme Pierrepont, a Garden Warbler ringed on 14 August was retrapped 12 days later at a site in Kent.

One of the few Blackcaps ringed at Brack in early spring this year was a control, it had been ringed at Retford Sewage works in August 2016.

A Blue Tit ringed as a chick by Birklands RG in 2017 was retrapped by Mick at Bestwood in September this year.

A starling from Alex's Garden, ringed at the end of April, met its fate at the hands (paws) of a cat in a nearby garden two weeks later.

Lastly, a Blackbird, ringed as a chick in Watnall in 2015 was found dead on the roads in Greasley in August this year

Tom

Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, Wednesday 17 October

After a couple of attempts to go to this site were called off at the last minute because of the weather, Mick T and I finally made a visit to Ramsdale. We set the same 7 x 18m nets as we did on the last visit, in near perfect conditions. Two mp3 lures were set playing, one with mixed warblers and one with Redwing song. The catch on the first round was effectively repeated on the subsequent rounds, with the vast majority of birds being in the nets at the very top of the hill. The warbler calls attracted nothing, the only warbler caught was close to the Redwing mp3 (but we did hear a Chiffchaff calling as we finished!). The Redwing song worked well as usual and all the Redwings caught were around this mp3 player.

We ended with a catch which was steady throughout the morning, 32 Redwings were nice as few had been reported so far this month with the winds being predominantly from the west. We ended with a total catch 86 including 3 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 2/0, Song Thrush 2/0, Redwing 32/0, Dunnock 3/0, Robin 3/1, Blackcap 1/0, Goldcrest 3/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Blue Tit 7/0, Great Tit 7/0, Long-tailed Tit 6/2, Bullfinch 5/0, Lesser Redpoll 6/0, Greenfinch 5/0. The oldest retrap was a Long-tailed Tit from 2015.

Kev

Sibthorpe, Sunday 7 October

It's been a while since I last ringed in my Sibthorpe garden. In fact last session was 19 May! Issie Connell and I set the nets up last Sunday and we had us a busy morning with 108 birds processed.

It looks like the House Sparrows and Goldfinches are species that have bred fairly well in this strange weather year. They accounted for about a half and a quarter of the catch respectively. A pleasant surprise was an early winter Reed Bunting. Oldest birds were a 2015 female House Sparrow and two Goldfinches from 2016.

Species totals (new/retrap) 96/12, total 108, comprising: Dunnock 4/1, Blackbird 2/0, Blue Tit 5/0, House Sparrow 55/8, Goldfinch 29/2, Greenfinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.

Jim

Holme Pierrepont, Monday 8 October

Mick T, Gary and I went to the Grange end this morning with a view to closing the site down for the year and removing all the poles and guys at the end of the session. The conditions were breezy from the start with mainly overcast skies and we set a limited number of nets with two mp3s playing warbler calls initially. We kept seeing and hearing Jays so we tried changing one of the mp3s later to Jay but it failed to attract their attention!

Catching was slow and other than a few Chiffchaffs we only caught one other migratory warbler, a Blackcap. We ended with a total of 29 birds including 8 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Dunnock 1/0, Blackcap 1/0, Chiffchaff 6/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/1, Blue Tit 2/3, Great Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 5/4, Chaffinch 2/0, Reed Bunting 1/0. The retraps were all recent birds. Overhead passed a a small party of Redwing followed later by a small party of Fieldfares.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Grange - Saturday 22 September

The weather forecast for Sunday was terrible (oh how they got that wrong!) so Duncan, Mick T and I went to the Grange end on Saturday not expecting too much as most of the warblers had probably moved on. The conditions were calm with overcast skies and we set a limited number of nets with two warbler call mp3s playing. Catching was steady all morning but included quite a few Blue and Great Tits and for the first time in a few months warblers did not make up the majority of the catch.

There were still a few warblers in the catch though and we ended with a total of 51 birds including 18 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 1/3, Dunnock 0/3, Blackcap 5/0, Chiffchaff 6/0, Reed Warbler 1/1, Goldcrest 1/1, Treecreeper 0/1, Blue Tit 13/2, Great Tit 1/4, Long-tailed Tit 1/2, Bullfinch 2/1, Reed Bunting 2/0.

The oldest retrap was a Dunnock from 2016. We did have an interesting juvenile Wren that was caught twice during the summer and now seems to be in full wing moult! Plenty of Swallows and House Martins overhead but no other summer visitors were noted.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Blotts - Saturday 15 September

Carried out by Duncan, Gary and me. Still and clear to start but the breeze soon picked up. Decent first two rounds but then catching dropped dramatically and we took down a little early again. We removed all the poles today as this was likely to be the last session of the year at this site. We ended with a catch of 41 including 7 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Song Thrush 1/0, Wren 0/1, Robin 0/1, Dunnock 0/1, Blackcap 14/2, Chiffchaff 7/1, Willow Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 2/1, Blue Tit 1/0, Great Tit 5/0, Reed Bunting 3/0. The oldest retrap was a Blackcap from 2015.

Kev

Rushcliffe Country Park - Wednesday 12 September

Duncan, Gary, Mick T and me, along with Christine, Maureen, Chris the ranger and a number of other very welcome volunteer helpers assembled to catch the resident family of Swans. We caught all nine cygnets in one go, followed by the male and female shortly afterwards. A few photos appear on the ‘Friends of Rushcliffe Country Park’ Facebook page.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Blotts - Sunday 9 September

Carried out by Sue, Tom, Duncan, Mick T, Gary and me. It was really a bit too windy today and the catch was certainly reduced because of it. There were still plenty of warblers though and we ended with a total of 45 including 15 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Wren 1/1, Robin 0/1, Blackcap 14/1, Whitethroat 1/0, Lesser Whitethroat 1/0, Chiffchaff 8/5, Willow Warbler 2/0, Reed Warbler 1/0, Blue Tit 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 0/4, Bullfinch 1/2. The oldest retraps were 2 Long-tailed Tits from 2016.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Grange - Wednesday 5 September

Carried out by Mick T, Duncan, Gary and me. Perfect still and overcast conditions, contrary again to the forecast but we didn’t complain this time. We ended with a catch of 62 including 14 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 3/1, Robin 2/3, Cetti’s Warbler 1/1, Blackcap 7/1, Goldcrest 2/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Willow Warbler 5/0, Reed Warbler 6/0, Sedge Warbler 9/0, Blue Tit 2/2, Great Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 4/5, Bullfinch 1/1, Reed Bunting 2/0. The oldest retrap was a Long-tailed Tit from 2016.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Blotts - Sunday 2 September

Carried out by Alex, Duncan, Mick T, Gary and me. The forecast of mainly overcast skies with a slight breeze was wrong, we had clear skies and a stiff breeze all morning which undoubtedly affected our catch. However, there were still plenty of warblers in the catch and we ended with a total of 51 including 7 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 2/0, Song Thrush 1/1, Wren 1/1, Robin 5/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/0, Blackcap 18/2, Garden Warbler 1/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Lesser Whitethroat 2/0, Chiffchaff 3/0, Willow Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 4/1, Sedge Warbler 2/0, Blue Tit 0/1, Great Tit 1/1, Bullfinch 1/0. The retraps were all recently ringed birds.

Kev

 Cetti's Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler (K. Hemsley)

August Ringing Round-up

The sessions came thick and fast. A few brief summaries below:

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, 18/08/18 – Carried out by Sue, Tom, Gary and me. Plenty of warblers again, though the weather conditions keeping the catch down. Nice to get a few Long-tailed Tits at last. The retraps were all recently ringed birds.

Holme Pierrepont - Grange, 21/08/18 – Carried out by Mick T, Duncan and me. Perfectly still and overcast conditions so a little surprised the catch was not larger, but a good catch of Reed Warblers. The oldest retrap was a Goldcrest from 2016.

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, 23/08/18 – An afternoon ringing demonstration at the NWT Skylarks Festival kept Jim, Mick T, Duncan, Trish and me surprisingly busy. The forecast was for quite windy conditions from lunchtime so we were wondering which nets we would be able to keep open. Luckily the wind did not really increase too much until late afternoon and we were hardly ever without a bird to show the many visitors. A rush at the end of the day as the previously mentioned scarce Long-tailed Tits arrived in force and along with other birds we ended with a net round of 40 or so. The oldest retraps were a Dunnock and a Long-tailed Tit from 2016.

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, 27/08/18 – Carried out by Sue, Tom, Mick T, Gary and me. A bit too windy really and fewer birds to start but a last minute rush saw another 29 Long-tailed Tits find the nets, surprisingly with no retraps from the catch 4 days ago. Where have these birds been all summer? The oldest retrap was a Long-tailed Tit from 2016.

Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, 30/08/2018 – The forecast was for perfect still and overcast conditions – well they got the still bit right but it was full sun from the start. Mick T, Gary and I started the usual line of nets further up the hill to counter the increasing vegetation height. It turned into a Blackcap day with a few other warblers mixed in but few resident birds again. The oldest retrap was a Blackcap from 2017.

Ringing totals in the table below.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, Tuesday 14 August

Mick T, Kev and I set 10 nets on a mild and relatively calm morning and we began catching birds before we'd finished setting up. We continued to catch and ring without a break until 10:00h when suddenly the sun kicked in and the temperature soared, after which we had no more than a trickle.

We finished on 109 captures, including 8 retraps, breaking down as follows (new/retrap): Song Thrush 1/0, Robin 2/1, Blackcap 28/1, Garden Warbler 11/2, Whitethroat 7/0, Goldcrest 3/0, Chiffchaff 5/2, Willow Warbler 9/0, Reed Warbler 14/0, Sedge Warbler 2/0, Blue Tit 6/0, Great Tit 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 3/1, Greenfinch 2/0.

The oldest retrap was a Long-tailed Tit from 2013. The Long-tailed Tits caught today are the first we have had since June - they have been very scarce this summer and we wondered if the long, cold winter had affected them. We caught very few adult warblers and a good proportion of the juveniles were building up their fat reserves nicely, gorging on the abundant (and particularly delicious) blackberries.

A single Yellow Wagtail, a few hirundines and the occasional Swift were overhead and a young Great Spotted Woodpecker tried its luck on one of our bamboo poles. Speckled Woods and a few whites were the only butterflies and Southern Hawker was the most numerous dragonfly by some margin.

Pete

Willow Warbler - one of the few adult birds we trapped, typically with much less yellow on the underparts than most young birds (PML)

Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, Tuesday 7 August

Duncan and I set the usual 8 nets at this site and hoped the sun would not be too bright. Clouds did help for a while but once the sun came out fully the catch dried up. We ended with a total catch of 65 including 1 retrap, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Song Thrush 1/0, Wren 2/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 2/0, Blackcap 27/1, Garden Warbler 6/0, Whitethroat 6/0, Lesser Whitethroat 1/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Chiffchaff 8/0, Willow Warbler 3/0, Blue Tit 3/0, Chaffinch 1/0. The retraps were all recently ringed birds. Plenty of birds about again and only the breeze stopped us having a bigger catch. The only retrap was a recently ringed bird.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont - Blotts, Sunday 5 August

Sue, Duncan, Mick T and I made another trip to this site setting 8 nets in good conditions. Another brisk start before the sun got too hot and the birds became scarcer. Lots of warblers again and we ended with a total catch of 119 including 11 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 1/0, Wren 1/0, Dunnock 0/3, Robin 2/1, Blackcap 20/2, Garden Warbler 19/0, Whitethroat 9/1, Goldcrest 1/0, Chiffchaff 5/0, Willow Warbler 10/0, Reed Warbler 26/4, Sedge Warbler 2/0, Blue Tit 6/0, Great Tit 1/0, Greenfinch 2/0, Bullfinch 3/0. The retraps were all recently ringed birds. Plenty of birds about again and only the breeze stopped us having a bigger catch. The retraps of our birds were all recently ringed but we did catch a Reed Warbler wearing a Portuguese ring.

Kev

Recent recoveries

Here's the latest batch of recoveries. This is the first round-up since February, as there hasn't really been a glut since then!

Most interesting recovery probably goes to the Long-eared Owl which was found dead on the roads near Long Bennington in March this year. It had been ringed as a chick back in 2005 at Hawton. This is particularly of interest as it is one of only a very few LEO ringed by the group.

An Attenborough Grey Heron has been re-sighted on the reserve in April this year, having been ringed there at the nest in 2015.

A Mute Swan, also noted at Attenborough in May, had been colour-ringed by Sorby Breck RG in August 2010 at Markeaton, near Derby.

A Tawny Owl, ringed at the nest as a chick at Hockerwood in 2017 was found dead in March this year in Northamptonshire, a decent movement for this species. It had been predated, reportedly by a Buzzard.

A Kestrel, ringed in Lambley as a chick in 2011 was found after it had been killed flying into a window in Gedling in April this year.

The Attenborough Sand Martin colony continues to be a source of recoveries, with 2 birds controlled on site on 12 June. They had both been ringed as youngsters at colonies in Rutland in 2017. Another bird ringed at the reserve as a chick in May 2017 was recovered on its return migration a couple of months later in Niovilles, near Zaragoza, Spain.

A Blue Tit (not a recoveries round-up regular!) controlled at Devon Farm in January, had originally been ringed at Hoby in September 2017. A female Chaffinch ringed at Devon Farm in 2016 was found dead in Burton Joyce in March.

The Bestwood to Edwinstowe Redpoll superhighway features again; another bird ringed at Mick's site in 2016 being controlled in Edwinstowe in February. (The ringer in Edwinstowe has recovered quite a few Bestwood birds to date!)

A Dunnock ringed at Ramsdale Gold Club in October last year was controlled by Birklands RG at nearby Bestwood Country Park in February. Birklands also controlled a SNRG-ringed Goldfinch at the same site in January. This bird had been ringed in Hucknall in 2012. Another Dunnock, ringed at Brack on October 2017, was found dead up the road by Simon in July, having been taken by a cat.

Also at Bestwood, a Tree sparrow controlled on site in July had come from the colony at Beckingham, ringed as a chick in 2017.

A Blackbird, ringed in West Bridgford in June 2017, met its fate in a nearby water butt in May.

A Bullfinch, ringed at Ramsdale in September 2017 was found dead in May in Ravenshead.

Tom