I went back to 17 boxes last Friday, where adults had been hanging round previously or they'd been early breeders. It proved well worthwhile with 3 broods of Barn Owls (11 chicks) ringed and several to go back to ring in late September.
They highlighted the very mixed season with a couple of genuine second broods and some second breeding attempts (with new chicks sat beside dead first broods and where females must have re-laid within two weeks of her first chicks dying).
This really is a summer of 2 halves.
Jim
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Monday, 27 August 2012
Reed Warbler with suspended moult
When we visited Holme Pierrepont on 12 August we caught an adult Reed Warbler which appeared to have retained some innermost secondaries on each wing from the previous year. We have not encountered this before but would be interested to hear from anyone who has.
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 26 August
Despite the inevitable predictions of armageddon weather over the August bank holiday weekend, conditions were pretty much perfect and an excellent team of 9 members gathered for a good steady morning's ringing.
The site didn't seem particularly noisy or overrun with birds, but we managed 81, with the majority being migrant warblers. Totals as follows (new/retrap): Whitethroat 13/0, Lesser Whitethroat 8/0, Blackcap 11/0, Garden Warbler 5/0, Willow Warbler 13/0, Chiffchaff 1/0, Reed Warbler 5/0, Robin 2/0, Wren 4/1, Dunnock 6/0, Great Tit 2/1, Blue Tit 4/0, Bullfinch 2/0, Goldfinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.
Willow Warblers put in a particularly good showing in marked contrast to Chiffchaff with only a singleton caught. Sylvias helped make up the bulk of the catch whereas resident birds, notably tits, were a little thin on the ground. In fact there only seemed to be one substantial tit flock moving about the site. Perhaps the only other notable sighting was a flock of at least 200 Goldfinches feeding on the thick stands of thistle and knapweed. In contrast to previous years, such vegetation is particularly lush and the standing water everywhere a constant reminder of the damp season we've had.
One Willow Warbler showed intriguing plumage. A young bird that had apparently completed post-juv moult, it showed stark contrast between olive-green mantle and greyish wing coverts. It seems unlikely that it had retained all these coverts but we were left scratching our heads for a reason why it should look like this.
Insects were fairly uninspiring with a couple of Migrant Hawkers, a few Common Blue Damselflies and the odd Common Darter. A couple each of Meadow Brown, Large White and Speckled Wood were the only butterflies seen. Blackberries, however, were beginning to ripen in force...
Pete
The site didn't seem particularly noisy or overrun with birds, but we managed 81, with the majority being migrant warblers. Totals as follows (new/retrap): Whitethroat 13/0, Lesser Whitethroat 8/0, Blackcap 11/0, Garden Warbler 5/0, Willow Warbler 13/0, Chiffchaff 1/0, Reed Warbler 5/0, Robin 2/0, Wren 4/1, Dunnock 6/0, Great Tit 2/1, Blue Tit 4/0, Bullfinch 2/0, Goldfinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.
Willow Warblers put in a particularly good showing in marked contrast to Chiffchaff with only a singleton caught. Sylvias helped make up the bulk of the catch whereas resident birds, notably tits, were a little thin on the ground. In fact there only seemed to be one substantial tit flock moving about the site. Perhaps the only other notable sighting was a flock of at least 200 Goldfinches feeding on the thick stands of thistle and knapweed. In contrast to previous years, such vegetation is particularly lush and the standing water everywhere a constant reminder of the damp season we've had.
One Willow Warbler showed intriguing plumage. A young bird that had apparently completed post-juv moult, it showed stark contrast between olive-green mantle and greyish wing coverts. It seems unlikely that it had retained all these coverts but we were left scratching our heads for a reason why it should look like this.
Insects were fairly uninspiring with a couple of Migrant Hawkers, a few Common Blue Damselflies and the odd Common Darter. A couple each of Meadow Brown, Large White and Speckled Wood were the only butterflies seen. Blackberries, however, were beginning to ripen in force...
Pete
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 19 August
We ran another session on the Grange side of the Holme Pierrepont site on Sunday. The team consisted of Gary, Steve, Nick, Duncan and I. Good to see Duncan out again after his mishap on the Shiants. The weather was perfect, broken cloud with no breeze. As we erected the nets the site again seemed very quiet first thing but at least all our poles were still in place so the nets went up quickly.
Catching was brisk early on despite the quietness, with the majority of the birds coming from the nets near the tape. The catch rate did diminish as the temperature started to rise but we were still kept busy all morning. We ended with 75 birds including 11 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 1/2, Robin 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Sedge Warbler 2/1, Reed Warbler 17/1, Lesser Whitethroat 2/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Garden Warbler 1/0, Blackcap 14/2, Willow Warbler 6/1, Chiffchaff 3/0, Long-tailed Tit 7/2, Blue Tit 4/0, Great Tit 2/2, Bullfinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.
I raised the question last week 'have the adult Reed Warblers already moved out?'; well this week all 18 birds caught were juvs so I guess the answer is yes. The only retrap Reed Warbler was a bird from last week so I guess the majority of the birds we caught were juvs moving through.
Kev
Catching was brisk early on despite the quietness, with the majority of the birds coming from the nets near the tape. The catch rate did diminish as the temperature started to rise but we were still kept busy all morning. We ended with 75 birds including 11 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 1/2, Robin 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Sedge Warbler 2/1, Reed Warbler 17/1, Lesser Whitethroat 2/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Garden Warbler 1/0, Blackcap 14/2, Willow Warbler 6/1, Chiffchaff 3/0, Long-tailed Tit 7/2, Blue Tit 4/0, Great Tit 2/2, Bullfinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 1/0.
I raised the question last week 'have the adult Reed Warblers already moved out?'; well this week all 18 birds caught were juvs so I guess the answer is yes. The only retrap Reed Warbler was a bird from last week so I guess the majority of the birds we caught were juvs moving through.
Kev
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Recent Recoveries
Just a couple - a Gery Heron ringed as a chick at Attenborough was found 3 weeks later a couple of kilometres away having been possibly taken by a fox and a Blackcap ringed as a youngster in September 2010 at Holme Pierrepont was caught in May of this year by Sorby Breck RG in Derbyshire.
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 12 August
We ran a session on the Grange side of the Holme Pierrepont site on Sunday. The team consisted of Gary, Jim, Steve, Ewan (on a visit from Aberdeen, nice to see him again) and I. The weather was good, bright with only a little breeze but the site again seemed very quiet first thing. The net erecting took longer than it should as we spent quite a while looking for some of the poles, before resigning ourselves to the fact that another 3 had been pinched.
Catching was fairly steady right up to the time we took down but again there were no flocks of birds moving through. A Sparrowhawk was a nice find in the bottom shelf of one of the nets, no Ian around to ring it so Steve got another one. Although we had 19 Reed Warblers it was a lot less than the last visit to the Grange and the two retraps were both juvs; have the adults moved out?
We ended with 64 birds including 8 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Sparrowhawk 1/0, Wren 1/1, Robin 2/0, Sedge Warbler 2/0, Reed Warbler 17/2, Garden Warbler 1/0, Blackcap 11/0, Willow Warbler 8/2, Chiffchaff 2/0, Blue Tit 1/2, Great Tit 1/0, Bullfinch 7/1, Reed Bunting 2/0.
Kev
Catching was fairly steady right up to the time we took down but again there were no flocks of birds moving through. A Sparrowhawk was a nice find in the bottom shelf of one of the nets, no Ian around to ring it so Steve got another one. Although we had 19 Reed Warblers it was a lot less than the last visit to the Grange and the two retraps were both juvs; have the adults moved out?
We ended with 64 birds including 8 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Sparrowhawk 1/0, Wren 1/1, Robin 2/0, Sedge Warbler 2/0, Reed Warbler 17/2, Garden Warbler 1/0, Blackcap 11/0, Willow Warbler 8/2, Chiffchaff 2/0, Blue Tit 1/2, Great Tit 1/0, Bullfinch 7/1, Reed Bunting 2/0.
Kev
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 5 August
We decided to run a session from the A52 side of the Holme Pierrepont site because of another major event being held at the Water Sports Centre. The team consisted of Gary, Jim, Nabegh and me - 3 trainers and a trainee who had travelled from Syria - but no local trainees!. The weather was excellent, overcast with only a little breeze but the site seemed very quiet first thing. The site had dried out a little but not enough to make it possible to wear walking boots instead of wellies. Catching was steady right up to the time we took down but other than a small Long-tailed Tit flock there were no flocks of birds moving through and the 3 Long-tailed Tits we caught were all adults. A Kingfisher was a nice surprise along with 16 Willow Warblers. We ended with 65 birds including 7 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Kingfisher 1/0, Wren 1/1, Dunnock 2/0, Robin 3/0, Blackbird 2/1, Sedge Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 6/1, Lesser Whitethroat 4/1, Whitethroat 2/0, Garden Warbler 2/0, Blackcap 8/0, Willow Warbler 14/2, Chiffchaff 3/0, Long-tailed Tit 2/1, Blue Tit 2/0, Great Tit 3/0, Greenfinch 1/0, Goldfinch 1/0, Bullfinch 2/0.
Kev
Kev
A young Lesser Whitethroat showing fault bars in wings and tail (GHG)
Jim with a very relaxed Kingfisher (GHG)
Monday, 30 July 2012
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 29 July
The forecast was good for Sunday morning so Kev and I decided to ring at the Grange site at HPP. By 06.00 only Jim, Tom and myself had turned up (Kev had a knee problem). Not sure what happened to the SNRG trainees?
The usual 11 nets were set and the first round caught 26 birds, the second 25 and after that things got a little slower and that provided the chance for Tom to start ringing a few birds.
The wind got stronger as the morning went on so we finished on 60 birds ringed and 6 retraped.
Ringed/retraped as as follows: Reed Warbler 40/2, Blue Tit 1/0, Sedge Warbler 4/1, Blackcap 5/0, Robin 1/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Bullfinch 3/1, Wren 1/1, Willow Warbler 3/0, Dunnock 0/1 and Chiffchaff 1/0.
Looks as if the Reed Warblers are fairing better than we thought as 30 of the 40 ringed were juvs and 10 unringed adults, were have they come from? However, the lack of tits, Dunnocks and Sylvia warblers was very striking.
Gary
The usual 11 nets were set and the first round caught 26 birds, the second 25 and after that things got a little slower and that provided the chance for Tom to start ringing a few birds.
The wind got stronger as the morning went on so we finished on 60 birds ringed and 6 retraped.
Ringed/retraped as as follows: Reed Warbler 40/2, Blue Tit 1/0, Sedge Warbler 4/1, Blackcap 5/0, Robin 1/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Bullfinch 3/1, Wren 1/1, Willow Warbler 3/0, Dunnock 0/1 and Chiffchaff 1/0.
Looks as if the Reed Warblers are fairing better than we thought as 30 of the 40 ringed were juvs and 10 unringed adults, were have they come from? However, the lack of tits, Dunnocks and Sylvia warblers was very striking.
Gary
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Barn Owl rescue
The following story just in from Don Pritchett, co-ordinator of Vale Barn Owl Conservation:
"On Saturday 10 June I received a phone call from a Denton farmer about a tree that had blown down on the Friday night. A farmworker who lives nearby had been watching Barn Owls visiting the tree to feed young so first thing Saturday they inspected the tree and a fox was already on site and crows were gathering.
They removed 2 young owls from a hole and as the farmworker's father had a box in his back garden they fixed it to the fallen tree.
The owls were placed in the box and as requested, I had a look. Given the traumatic event and bad weather I bought six frozen white mice from a Grantham pet shop, defrosted them and took a biggish mouse from my garage trap before visiting the box with Keith Waterfall.
Keith climbed to the box and the youngest owl was not looking lively. Keith stretched his arm intending to offer my trapped mouse to the bigger owlet at the back of the box and as the mouse went over the smallest owlet, it perked up and grabbed the mouse and swallowed in one go. It then took three white mice.
The older one would not take a mouse so we piled three up near it.
That evening an adult owl was seen returning to the tree but seemed confused. On Sunday morning a peek showed two of the white mice we left had been eaten. That evening at 9pm an adult was seen entering the box.
On Thursday 11 July Colin Shawyer who monitors the boxes on this farm ringed the two young owls which were about to fledge!"
"On Saturday 10 June I received a phone call from a Denton farmer about a tree that had blown down on the Friday night. A farmworker who lives nearby had been watching Barn Owls visiting the tree to feed young so first thing Saturday they inspected the tree and a fox was already on site and crows were gathering.
They removed 2 young owls from a hole and as the farmworker's father had a box in his back garden they fixed it to the fallen tree.
The owls were placed in the box and as requested, I had a look. Given the traumatic event and bad weather I bought six frozen white mice from a Grantham pet shop, defrosted them and took a biggish mouse from my garage trap before visiting the box with Keith Waterfall.
Keith climbed to the box and the youngest owl was not looking lively. Keith stretched his arm intending to offer my trapped mouse to the bigger owlet at the back of the box and as the mouse went over the smallest owlet, it perked up and grabbed the mouse and swallowed in one go. It then took three white mice.
The older one would not take a mouse so we piled three up near it.
That evening an adult owl was seen returning to the tree but seemed confused. On Sunday morning a peek showed two of the white mice we left had been eaten. That evening at 9pm an adult was seen entering the box.
On Thursday 11 July Colin Shawyer who monitors the boxes on this farm ringed the two young owls which were about to fledge!"
Monday, 23 July 2012
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 22 July
We were back on the Grange side of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. Another good sized team of Gary, Steve, Ruth, Ian, Tom and I started in perfect overcast and calm conditions but by 0900 the sun was blazing (I know I should not complain after the summer we have had so far) and the breeze was picking up, eventually becoming quite strong. We ended with 64 birds including 16 retraps, not got all the details to hand but the usual mix of warblers including two controls. We even caught a single juv Long-tailed Tit, the first of the year!
Kev
Kev
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 15 July
We decided to run a session from the A52 side of the Holme Pierrepont site because of a major event being held at the Water Sports Centre. A good sized team of Gary, Steve, Nick, Libby, Ian, possible new recruit Tom and I carried all the kit and poles up the track for the first session at this site for 2012. The weather was good with just a light breeze but the breeze did pick up quite a bit as the morning went on.
Unfortunately the poor weather we have had has also affected this normally dry site. The base was flooded, some of the usual nets were not possible to put up because of the water and a couple were only possible with wellies that were close to being breeched!
Catching was steady right up to the time we took down but there were no flocks of birds moving through and not a single Blue or Great Tit was caught. We ended with 63 birds including 6 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 2/0, Dunnock 7/1, Robin 8/0, Blackbird 0/1, Song Thrush 0/1, Sedge Warbler 0/1, Reed Warbler 9/0, Lesser Whitethroat 3/0, Whitethroat 4/0, Garden Warbler 3/0, Blackcap 5/1, Willow Warbler 7/1, Chiffchaff 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 2/0, Greenfinch 1/0, Goldfinch 3/0, Bullfinch 2/0.
Kev
Unfortunately the poor weather we have had has also affected this normally dry site. The base was flooded, some of the usual nets were not possible to put up because of the water and a couple were only possible with wellies that were close to being breeched!
Catching was steady right up to the time we took down but there were no flocks of birds moving through and not a single Blue or Great Tit was caught. We ended with 63 birds including 6 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 2/0, Dunnock 7/1, Robin 8/0, Blackbird 0/1, Song Thrush 0/1, Sedge Warbler 0/1, Reed Warbler 9/0, Lesser Whitethroat 3/0, Whitethroat 4/0, Garden Warbler 3/0, Blackcap 5/1, Willow Warbler 7/1, Chiffchaff 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 2/0, Greenfinch 1/0, Goldfinch 3/0, Bullfinch 2/0.
Kev
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 8 July
I still can't believe Mick P, Gary, Steve, Nick and I managed to get a full session in on Sunday at Holme Pierrepont. The forecast said it would rain by 10.00 and the morning started grim looking with slight drizzle but we went ahead and even managed to park in the car park, which was an improvement on last week - although security were on duty when we returned. Net erecting was a rather slow process because many of the rides needed clearing and the poles and guys finding. We found all the kit bar a few guys and erected nets in the usual rides, although a couple of rides had to have shorter net lengths because of the high water level. The reed beds seemed relatively quiet for a July morning!
The weather stayed mainly overcast, the sun appearing briefly mid-morning and the rain only started just as we had decided to take down, the wind was light all morning. Catching was steady right up to the time we took down.
We ended with 86 birds including 19 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 4/0, Dunnock 1/1, Robin 2/1, Blackbird 2/0, Sedge Warbler 2/3, Reed Warbler 12/8, Whitethroat 3/0, Garden Warbler 5/1, Blackcap 12/0, Willow Warbler 2/1, Chiffchaff 6/1, Blue Tit 3/1, Chaffinch 2/0, Greenfinch 1/0, Goldfinch 2/0, Bullfinch 1/0. Reed Bunting 7/2.
Interestingly the same weekend last year gave us a catch of 84 birds but 42 of those birds were Reed Warblers and in the 42 there were 27 juvs (64%). This year we had a similar number of adults (16) but only 4 juvs (10%). We also failed to sex 4 of the adult Reed Warblers as they showed no sign of CP or BP, strange for this time of year. Have they had a terrible breeding season, giving up early or just not bothering?
Kev
The weather stayed mainly overcast, the sun appearing briefly mid-morning and the rain only started just as we had decided to take down, the wind was light all morning. Catching was steady right up to the time we took down.
We ended with 86 birds including 19 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Wren 4/0, Dunnock 1/1, Robin 2/1, Blackbird 2/0, Sedge Warbler 2/3, Reed Warbler 12/8, Whitethroat 3/0, Garden Warbler 5/1, Blackcap 12/0, Willow Warbler 2/1, Chiffchaff 6/1, Blue Tit 3/1, Chaffinch 2/0, Greenfinch 1/0, Goldfinch 2/0, Bullfinch 1/0. Reed Bunting 7/2.
Interestingly the same weekend last year gave us a catch of 84 birds but 42 of those birds were Reed Warblers and in the 42 there were 27 juvs (64%). This year we had a similar number of adults (16) but only 4 juvs (10%). We also failed to sex 4 of the adult Reed Warblers as they showed no sign of CP or BP, strange for this time of year. Have they had a terrible breeding season, giving up early or just not bothering?
Kev
Recent recoveries & controls, July 2012
Recent recoveries and controls for the group comprised of a number of different species and locations, quite refreshing to see, as usually it feels like Barn Owls make up the majority of data we get back.
A Barn Owl ringed as a chick at Hawton in June 2011 was found dead 8km away at Normanton in February 2012.
A Blackbird ringed in Arnold in January 2012 was found dead in the same area in March of 2012.
A young Great Spotted Woodpecker ringed at Attenborough in December 2011 unfortunately hit a window in February 2012.
And finally a Kestrel which was ringed as a chick in Shelford back in 2010 had been hit by a car near Cotgrave in May 2012, the happy ending being that after rehabilitation it was set to be released back into the wild.
Control birds this time round included a Lesser Redpoll ringed as a young bird at Bestwood in October 2011 which was controlled in Kent, in January 2012 after travelling 247km.
A young Yellowhammer from Lincolnshire, ringed in December 2010 was picked up at Rushcliffe Country Park in Feb 2012 after travelling 79km.
A Goldfinch ringed at Darlton, Nottingham back in April 2010 was controlled at The Meadows, Nottingham in February 2012 after travelling 41km.
Finally a Tree Sparrow did a fair bit of moving from where it was initially ringed at Spurn Bird Observatory in October 2011 to where it was controlled 108km away at Bestwood, Nottingham in February 2012.
Ian
A Barn Owl ringed as a chick at Hawton in June 2011 was found dead 8km away at Normanton in February 2012.
A Blackbird ringed in Arnold in January 2012 was found dead in the same area in March of 2012.
A young Great Spotted Woodpecker ringed at Attenborough in December 2011 unfortunately hit a window in February 2012.
And finally a Kestrel which was ringed as a chick in Shelford back in 2010 had been hit by a car near Cotgrave in May 2012, the happy ending being that after rehabilitation it was set to be released back into the wild.
Control birds this time round included a Lesser Redpoll ringed as a young bird at Bestwood in October 2011 which was controlled in Kent, in January 2012 after travelling 247km.
A young Yellowhammer from Lincolnshire, ringed in December 2010 was picked up at Rushcliffe Country Park in Feb 2012 after travelling 79km.
A Goldfinch ringed at Darlton, Nottingham back in April 2010 was controlled at The Meadows, Nottingham in February 2012 after travelling 41km.
Finally a Tree Sparrow did a fair bit of moving from where it was initially ringed at Spurn Bird Observatory in October 2011 to where it was controlled 108km away at Bestwood, Nottingham in February 2012.
Ian
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Barn Owl season
Well, a bit like Murray's Wimbledon final, my Barn Owl season started well and looked promising initially, but the end was a little disappointing, though perhaps inevitable. I visited my final three boxes whilst listening to 5 Live this afternoon and all three had held birds with clutches of 5 eggs about a month ago, but sadly all three had failed. Two boxes still held roosting adults, but on cold scattered eggs and one had a Stock Dove on 2 eggs. You can only ever guess at the cause of such failure, but I can't believe the weather hasn't played its part...
Pete
Pete
Monday, 25 June 2012
Attenborough CES - final visit, Sunday 24 June
Leading up to the weekend the weather forecast was poor but on Saturday it changed and said the expected rain would pass over by 0600ish. So when I looked out of the window early on Sunday I was happy to see the rain had stopped. Gary, Duncan, Nick and I met at the site and despite the dark sky we started to erect the nets. As we were on net 9 of 10 it started to spit with rain, we continued to erect the full quota of nets only to find the rain got heavier and forced us to close all of them. We then had a not so pleasant hour or so as we stood in the pouring rain getting soaked to the skin waiting for the Met Office 0600ish to arrive - eventually it did, at 0830. We opened all the nets but then the breeze got up and the sun came out. So we ended the final CES session with a paltry catch of 17 birds including 8 retraps. The most unusual bird being the first tit for a few weeks, a retrap Great Tit. Catch totals (new/retrap) Dunnock 1/0, Reed Warbler 4/1, Garden Warbler 0/1, Blackcap 2/0, Chiffchaff 0/1, Treecreeper 1/0, Great Tit 0/1, Bullfinch 1/4.
Kev
Kev
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