Attenborough CES – Visit 6: Sunday 25 June

We saved the best catch for last, with 40+ birds caught during our final CES visit for the year at
Attenborough Nature Reserve. The numbers of juveniles had vastly increased, with young Robin, Dunnock, Blackcap, Great Tit and Garden Warbler caught, along with adult Cetti’s Warbler, Song Thrush, Wren, Chiffchaff, and Reed Warbler. Muddy conditions persisted by the lower nets in the reed bed. We also successfully took a few dragonflies out of the mist net, though ID skills need some work
in this area…

Holly

 

Last of my box checks – Monday 26 June

The reports of a mostly poor year for Barn Owls did not give me much hope in going to do my last few boxes of the year, but one box at Widmerpool was occupied and had two healthy looking chicks but no cached prey items. Surprisingly, in its 16th season, it is the first time this box has had a Barn Owl nest and got to the chick stage. The landowner is delighted! Unfortunately, a Kestrel box I was making my 3rd visit to, having had eggs on the previous visits, was empty. No obvious reason as to what had happened.

Kev

 

Ramsdale Park Golf Centre – Sunday 18 June

The first visit to Ramsdale this year and we found the original main ride was no longer passable. We had to get to the current rides via a different route and work backwards. Not made any more pleasant by the overnight rain that had soaked the vegetation! We eventually got 9 nets up and had the best catch for months, ending with 44 birds. Only 4 retraps, but these included 2 returning warblers. 

Kev

The original main ride!

Common Spotted Orchid

Nets up!

 

Attenborough Sand Martin colony – Weds 14 June

The results from this morning’s mist netting session. A total of 39 birds were caught, 19 new birds and 20 retraps.

 

The new birds comprisd:

• 5 adult males
• 8 adult females
• 6 juveniles. As all of the colony’s pulli that have fledged this year have been ringed, these birds have been raised away from the colony and are in the process of post-juvenile dispersal. It is unusual for such a high proportion of new birds caught to be juveniles. These birds are further advanced than the colony’s juveniles, which are too young to be undertaking this dispersal yet, so might have come from a colony to the south of Attenborough.

 

The retraps comprised:

• 12 birds that had recently fledged from the colony (many of which had not fledged on the last check on the 12^th!) 
  
• 5 adult males
• 3 adult females
• Of these 8 adults –
  • 1 was ringed as a pullus in Bagworth Heath, Leicestershire in 2019 and retrapped at ANR in 2020 and 2021
  • 1 was ringed as a pullus at ANR in 2020
  • 3 were ringed as a pullus at ANR in 2021
  • 1 was ringed as a pullus at ANR in 2022
  • 2 were ringed as adults at ANR in 2022

 

Phil

Attenborough CES – Visit 5: Sunday 11 June

This fifth visit was made by just 3 of us old-timers, not expecting too much as visit 4 produced just 17 birds. So we were pleasantly surprised to double the last catch and end with 34 birds. Nothing out of the ordinary species wise, but it was nice to get a couple of juvenile Treecreepers. As you would expect the catch is starting to consist of more juveniles as the season progresses. 

Kev

More big boxes

I finished all my first checks a couple of weeks ago and ringed a handful of Barn Owl and Kestrel chicks, and have about 3 boxes to return to, but the breeding levels were fairly low and in many boxes there were adult Barn Owls roosting with no sign of eggs of chicks, or in a couple of cases, just cold eggs.  It was nice to come across a Barn Owl I'd ringed in 2014.

It feels like it's rained quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, but at the time of checking the ground was baked and cracking - which seems crazy when only a few weeks ago it was a bog. It'll be interesting to follow the season as it progresses, but I don't think it's shaping up to be a memorable season for Barn Owls and Kestrels. 

Pete

Some of the Barn Owls processed...

An old female Barn Owl getting very white!

 

And a brood of 5 Kestrels... 

And the ground...

Raptor nestboxes

Jim was kind enough to have Josh and myself spend the day with him to gain experience
monitoring 23 nestboxes around the Lowdham area. Target species were Barn Owl, Tawny Owl
and Kestrel, we also had Stock Doves and a Jackdaw. 

It was brilliant to see adults up close and (try to!) get our eye in for ageing Barn Owl primaries.
Some Barn Owls appeared to be fairing much better than others, with healthy weights and large
rodent caches, compared to one particularly under-weight female.

We also ringed several broods of chicks. The Jackdaw was FS (feather small) and all others
were still in pin.

We were joined for a couple of hours by Louise Gentle when we visited the NTU Brackenhurst
campus with a couple of Wildlife Conservation students. Although they were knowledgeable
birdwatchers and nestfinders, our search for a Little Owl brood proved unsuccessful.

Holly 

Barn Owl wing and Jackdaw chick (H. James)

Attenborough CES – Visit 4: Sunday 4 June

The water levels at our CES site had decreased slightly, but with no improvement in bird numbers.
Just 17 birds marked another quiet morning of ringing for the fourth CES visit. We caught a new
Cetti’s Warbler, two new Blackbirds, and a Blue Tit beginning wing moult. One juvenile Dunnock has
now been caught for the third session in a row, so must like the area around the nets. Damselflies and a Hairy Dragonfly appeared when the sun came out late-morning. We also heard a Cuckoo calling, but it unfortunately didn’t manage to find the net.

Joshua

Late Tawny Owl

Checked my final Tawny Owl box today and the single chick was still in pin, so a late one. The box contained only bird remains, often a sign that small mammal numbers are low. Identifiable were a Blackbird chick and an adult Great Tit. 

Pete

Holme Pierrepont - Skylarks NR, Sunday 28 May

This was the first visit to Skylarks NR for a few weeks, necessitating some ride clearance before nets could be set. The catch was wind affected at first, with more vegetation than birds finding the nets. A Sedge Warbler was the first bird of note.

Although none were caught, there were Song Thrushes singing and it was interesting to see an egg shell, although it appeared to have been predated.

Having caught approximately 50 birds at this site end of May 2020, and 30 by the beginning of June 2022, numbers were definitely down, as we finished on 21 birds. The species caught included Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler, Wren, Dunnock, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Great Spotted Woodpecker. Not many juveniles were caught, though we did catch two feisty juvenile Blue Tits.

The bird of the day was a Jay which had been heard and luckily found the net. It is always nice to see the remarkable plumage close up, for such an elusive bird.

Of note, a group of three Reed Warblers were caught, one of which was ringed at the same site, exactly 3 years earlier on 28 May 2020. A second had been caught there twice before, in August 2021 and June 2022.

Sue Lakeman

Sedge Warbler (S. Lakeman)

Song Thrush egg (S. Lakeman)

Jay (S. Lakeman)

Jay (J. Holness)

Jay (S. Lakeman)

 

More Tawny Owls

The final nest box checks for Tawny Owls near Gotham have been completed. Out of five boxes, two were occupied by mothers, with a total of three chicks ringed. Both mothers had already ringed at the same site in previous years. Hopefully the chicks from this year will go on to be successful parents in the future.

Joshua Phillips