Barn Owls - Autumn Update

We managed to ring another eight barn owl chicks on Saturday. As seems to be the norm, seven of these were ringed at Normanton, nr Bottesford, which is a hot spot for late broods. The Indian summer is being kind to them and the BOs are finding enough food at the moment. This is unusual as late breeders tend to have very small clutches and or fail entirely once the autumn gales and rain kick in. Last year I ringed 88 pullus, with seven of those ringed in September. So far this year I've ringed 38 pullus, but 27 of them have been ringed since 1st September and there's still one more brood to hopefully ring in November!

Jim

Attenborough Ringing Demo, Sunday 6 October

We had a good turn out of ringers for the demo at Attenborough on Sunday on a glorious morning with a light westerly breeze. Unfortunately we had very few birds and not very many visitors. The total catch was just 9 new birds comprising 3 Blue Tits, 1 Great Tit, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Robin 1 Tree Sparrow and 2 Dunnocks. Despite the lack of birds and visitors it was nice to have time to catch up with people and have a chat. Thanks to Jim, Mick P, Alex, Sue, Kate and Sophie for helping out and as usual many thanks to the staff at the visitor centre for keeping us fed and watered throughout.

Kev

Recent Recoveries

This time we have a number of reports, mainly of Barn Owls, which were ringed as chicks and controlled at nest boxes during June 2013:

From Costock in August 2008 to Hickling Pastures
From Caunton in June 2009 to Kirklington
From Plumtree in June 2009 to Costock
From Bingham in July 2010 to Plungar
From Screveton in July 2011 to Screveton
From Screveton in July 2011 to Shelton
From Shelford in May 2012 to Claypool, Lincolnshire
From Upper Broughton in July 2012 to Cotgrave
From Aslockton in September 2012 to Upper Broughton
From Collingham in June 2011 to Girton

In addition to the Barn Owls, we also have some other findings:

A Kestrel ringed as a chick at Shelton in June 2012 was found dead in a cattle trough at Scarrington in March 2012.

A House Sparrow ringed at Hucknall in December 2011 was discovered dead in a Hucknall nest box in May 2013.

A Tree Sparrow ringed at Bestwood in March 2012 was also found dead in a nest box at Bestwood in April 2013.

A young Blackcap ringed at Holme Pierrepont in August 2012 was controlled at Cambridge in June 2013.

A young Waxwing ringed at Manchester in February 2013 was captured again in April at Clifton.

A young Garden Warbler ringed at Wraysbury Gravel Pits, Windsor and Maidenhead in August 2011 was captured again at Attenborough in June 2013.

A Reed Warbler ringed at Pitsford Reservoir, Northampton in July 2012 was captured at Holme Pierrepont in June 2013.

Ian

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 23 September

Kev, Gary, Duncan, Tom, Alex, Sue and I spent most of the final session of the season sun-bathing on an unusually warm and still September morning. The site didn't feel particularly busy with birds and it may be that many summer migrants have left. A few small flocks comprised mainly Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, with a sprinkling of Blue and Long-tailed Tits, but there were no enormous flocks.

The total number of birds trapped was 24 (18 new/6 retrap), comprising: Robin: 4/2, Blue Tit: 2/1, Blackbird: 1/1, Dunnock: 2/1, Wren: 0/1, Chiffchaff: 3/0, Blackcap: 4/0, Whitethroat: 1/0, Reed Warbler: 1/0. The oldest retrap was the Blackbird at 3 years.

Chiffchaff (Pete Leonard)

It's been an odd season and despite the lack of gales and floods that we've become accustomed to, many species don't appear to have had a particularly good year. But as always, it is difficult to gauge this sort of thing until a much broader data set is available.

Away from the nets, Meadow Pipit passage was regular throughout the morning and a handful of Swallows were the only hirundines. A couple of Buzzards soared over and Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers were all around. Snipe bombed over on a couple of occasions and wildfowl numbers are already building with good rafts of Tufted Duck and Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall and Wigeon all present in small numbers. Butterflies included Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Speckled Wood and what were probably a couple of Small Coppers whizzing by. Good numbers of hawker dragonflies were most likely Migrant Hawkers. And just as we were leaving we watched a Hobby circling near the A52.


Pete

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 15 September

Alex, Duncan, Gary, Sue, Tom and I made a visit to the Grange side of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. The weather forecast was not good but we started in sunny and calm conditions. Unfortunately this soon deteriorated with the wind picking up and rain showers starting, by mid morning we decided to call it a day. The site was very quiet and we only managed a catch of 12 including 2 retraps. They included just 5 warblers, 2 Blackcaps, and single Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler. Overhead there were many House Martins and a couple of Jay's dropped in near the nets - but not near enough.

Kev

It's all over now... or is it?

I thought of this headline before Pete did his. (Great minds think alike - ed.) Ruth, Emma and meself went back to several Barn Owl boxes over the weekend (where birds had been present, on eggs etc back in the summer) to see what they were up to. Until then, only a paltry 12 chicks had been ringed on my rings, but by Sunday we'd added another 18! Surprisingly, this included broods of 4 & 7 in boxes c1km apart on the Smite, and the females had swapped boxes since last year. Makes you wonder if there's an alpha male providing for both of them. It was the first time I'd seen a brood of 7 and there are only 3 records ever of broods of 8 fledging. Chicks we have ringed have mostly been in clusters at Barkestone, Halam, Flintham, Normanton & Shelton, for reasons I'm not sure why.

Though the factors affecting the Barn Owls probably include:

• 2012 started off as a promising short-tailed vole year, but the wet and cold summer/autumn hit them hard and very few were found cached.
• Barn owls bred well to start with in 2012, but the poor weather and food availability hit them hard with lots of chick stage failures. Some boxes had the same female fail twice and in others two different females failed, and chick weights were low.
• The poor weather continued into the autumn & winter/spring which caused very poor first winter survival. To maybe show this, in 2012 I processed 19 first summer barn owls, this year it was 5. In 2011 & 2012, I ringed c80 pulli. Not hellishly scientific, but a crude measure showing a 75% drop in first winter survival between 2011-12 and 2012-13.
• The winter extended well into spring this year. The BTO had 3-4 times the usual recovery rate of dead Barn Owls and these, unusually, were mainly experienced adults who, for lack of food, left their territories and got killed on the roadside. In a good year they would have been on eggs by April.
• Birds that survived to breed in 2013, either tried early on and mostly failed or appear to have delayed and are having some success now.

These late breeders, and I potentially still have 2 broods to ring in October, will need a good autumn to fledge this weekend's young and for them to find their feet.

Sorry if this sounds pessimistic! A mild winter (please) and a good vole year will allow the Barn Owls to come back from this very poor year for them.

Jim

A late goal in extra time

I had to cut down my boxes this year due to lack of time. I realised this would mean I ringed fewer owls, but that's just how it had to be. However, I didn't think my total would ever be this low. Today I ringed my first and probably only brood of Barn Owls of the season in Colston Bassett. A fairly healthy brood of four. I'm sure Jim will be reporting more soon, but it seems as if the small number of successful pairs have been very late breeders this year. Earlier in the season I ringed two broods of Little Owls but I didn't get any Tawnys this year - and that's out of 60 boxes checked! Let's hope for a kinder winter and a better crop in 2014.

Pete

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 1 September

Alex, Duncan, Gary, Sue, Tom and I made another visit to the A52 side of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. It was good that we were also joined by Nabegh and great to see he has made it out of Syria again. He flies back out to the Middle East later this week but thankfully to Jordan where he is hoping to stay for a while.

We had deliberately left no poles on site at the Grange end this year and only a few at the ‘safest’ net rides at the A52 end - but we still found that two had been taken when we went to erect the nets. There was a bit of a breeze to start with and the forecast was for it to increase, and so it did, stronger than we expected. We still managed a decent catch of 46 including 6 retraps - the oldest being a 3 year old Blackbird. As usual the catch was made up mostly of warblers. However, there were no Sedge Warblers and only two Reed Warblers. Overhead a few hirundines were passing through and a Hobby passed by quite low as we sat at the base.

Kev

Fulmar recovery

It may sound odd for a land-locked ringing group, but we've just received details of a Fulmar that was ringed by the group as an adult in July 1988. The bird was ringed by Mick T at a cliff top site on a day that 29 Fulmars were ringed (mostly pulli but 4 adults were fleyg netted). It was towards the end of a week that Gary, Mick T, Chris, Garry Barker and Kev spent ringing seabirds around the top of Scotland. They did another 13 the next day including 4 more adults. They ringed at various sites including mist-netting at the Loch of Mey where a variety of waders and gulls were caught, including a Great Black-backed! They also managed to round up a brood of Shoveler. The Fulmar in question was caught a mere 5km from the original site but a whopping 25 years later. However, the longevity record for this species is 40yrs, so let's hope someone visits the area in about 2029....

Recent Recoveries

A young Waxwing ringed in Norway in October 2012 was controlled at Clifton in February 2013.

A Grey Heron ringed as a chick at Attenborough Nature Reserve in April 2013 was found dead near Loddington, Kettering, Northamptonshire in July 2013, an interesting movement for a young bird.

A Barn Owl ringed as a chick at Langar in June 2012 was hit by a lorry near the same site in February 2013.

 A Great Tit which was ringed as a youngster at Granby in November 2010 was discovered dead in a nearby nest box in April 2013. Another Great Tit which was ringed as a youngster at Granby in March 2009 was discovered dead in a nearby nest box in February 2013.

 A Common Tern ringed as a chick at Attenborough Nature Reserve in July 2011 was found dead (possibly predated) at Nottingham City Airport, Tollerton in July 2013.

Ian

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 18 August

I joined Kev, Gary, Duncan and Alex for my first session at HPP in quite some time and was amazed at how parts of the site had grown up. In fact when I went for a wander, paths that had been clear on my last visit were not just impassable, the were invisible with thick shrouds of brambles blocking my way.

Nevertheless, the main trapping areas were productive on this pleasant, sunny morning and the first couple of rounds were busy before the sun and wind slowed everything to a halt. We processed 56 birds, 10 of which were retraps. These were all relatively recent other than the Spanish Reed Warbler which we've now caught in 2008, 2010 and 2011 and which was originally ringed in Spain on 18/08/07 as a youngster.

Totals as follows (new/retrap): Long-tailed Tit 0/2, Wren 0/1, Reed Warbler 17/2, Blackcap 14/2, Garden Warbler 3/1, Bullfinch 0/2, Chiffchaff 2/0, Willow Warbler 4/0, Reed Bunting 1/0, Blue Tit 1/0, Robin 2/0, Blackbird 2/0.

Also seen were Yellow Wagtail, several Common Terns, a trickle of Sand Martins and Swallows overhead (but no Swifts...), a couple of Gadwall, 3 Sparrowhawks (including a pair sparring high in the air) and a couple of Jays. Butterflies were present in reasonable numbers, particularly Peacocks and Small Whites, and Brown Hawkers and Common Darters were the most common dragonflies seen.

Pete

The Spanish Reed Warbler that is something of an old friend now. (PML)

It's a battle to get to any point at which you can look over the water now, so thick are the reeds. I wonder how long it'll take for the entire pit to cover?

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 11 August

Duncan, Alex, Gary and I ran a session at the A52 end of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. We also had Sue Lakeman along with us, Sue wanted to see what ringing involved and contacted us via Lynda Milner. The morning started sunny with a slight breeze but again the wind soon got up and started to affect the nets.

We had a particularly hectic couple of net rounds and then it all went quiet as the wind increased. We ended on 76 birds including 4 recently ringed retraps. 70 of the birds were caught by 10:00am! About two thirds of the birds were warblers including 11 Blackcaps and 11 Reed Warblers, it was nice to get 3 Lesser Whitethroats as well.

To end the morning we caught a partial albino Blackbird, no need for colour rings to spot this one in the field!

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 4 August

Duncan, Gary and I ran another session at the Grange end of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. The morning started calm and bright but the wind soon got up and started to affect the nets, one net we took down early because it was billowing. Despite the conditions we caught steadily, although a couple of nets were unusually unproductive.

We ended on 56 birds including 10 retraps, the highlight was a juvenile Cetti's Warbler. The other birds were mostly warblers including 6 Garden Warblers but there were no Whitethroat caught in the nets and of the 16 Reed Warblers caught only 2 were adults - have they left early? We did recapture the French-ringed Reed Warbler we had found earlier in the summer, but other than that, the retraps were all recent birds.

To end the morning we ringed a brood of 3 Whitethroats in a nest that David found a couple of weeks ago; so there were some adults still around!

Overhead there were a few hirundines and Swifts moving through, a Buzzard went over and Gary thought he saw a couple of Sandwich Terns.

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 28 July

Alex, Tom, Duncan, Gary and I got another session in at the Grange end of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. There was a stiff breeze from the start, so we were not hopeful of matching last weeks catch. The breeze also prevented us from erecting a couple of nets. The first round produced a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a decent mix of other birds but it quickly dropped off and we ended on 33 birds including 7 retraps

Kev

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 21 July

Alex, Tom, David, Samantha, Gary and I managed to get another session in at the Grange end of Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. There was an event on at the Water Sports Centre but no one was on the gate when we got there so we parked in the usual car park. The weather conditions were not as good as last week, there was a slight breeze and occasional drizzle, which became more persistent just before we finished.

However, the birds were not put off by the breeze or drizzle and we had a 'new' best catch of the year ending on 110 birds including 17 retraps. The numbers caught kept us busy all morning, we would no doubt have been even busier but the resident campers again made us restrict the net rides we used. It was mostly the usual species caught but we did miss out on Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat and the Willow Warblers were in much reduced numbers since the previous week. Lots of juveniles again generally but a catch of 14 Long-tailed Tits contained only 6 juvs! The best of the retraps were a Reed Warbler and a Blue Tit from 2009. To end the session David was rewarded with his first Cetti's Warbler.

Kev