Attenborough CES, Visit 6 - Sunday 23 June

On Sunday, Kev, Gary, Holly, Josh and myself made the sixth and final visit to the Delta area of Attenborough Nature Reserve as part of the 2024 CES. The weather was as forecast, fine and light winds, so we were keeping fingers crossed for a good catch to close the season. We set the usual 10 nets, plus Gary and Holly set an additional net (away from CES area) to try and catch one of the cuckoos calling overhead. Although the cuckoos kept calling all morning, none found the net.

The CES catch was also limited, as has been the pattern of all 6 sessions, but at least we had several juvenile birds. Totals for the day were as follows: Wren 2, Treecreeper 1, Chiffchaff 2, Reed Warbler 8, Cetti’s Warbler 1, Great Tit 4, Blue Tit 2, Dunnock 4, Blackbird 1, Blackcap 1, Jay 1.

Bird of the day was of course the Jay, which we thought might be a recapture of the bird originally ringed a couple of sessions ago. However, it turned out to be a bird originally caught on 23/05/21, which and had not been caught again until now.

The team then removed all kit from the site, to close out the 2024 CES season.

Given the low numbers of birds during the CES visits that I attended this year (all numbers low, not just migrants and juveniles), I asked Kev for his overall impression of the 2024 season. He confirmed that this CES season has been the worst in the last 10 completed seasons, except for 2018. This year we had only 148 captures (not individuals). In 2018 we had 143 captures but 4 of the 2018 visits were affected by poor weather conditions (weather was not an issue this year). The average catch between 2014 to 2021 was 220, whereas in the last 3 completed seasons the average has been 163 (down by approx 25%.)

So, let's hope for a better CES season in 2025.

Sue

Attenborough CES, Visit 5 - Sunday 9 June

This morning we made our fifth visit to the Constant Effort Site for 2024. 

A smaller total than expected, but with some interesting captures and the star bird was a Jay (photos below). 

We finished on 25 birds, including just 3 juveniles (birds fledged recently) and 1 'control' bird (a bird not ringed by our group) and we await details of this control: a Reed Warbler.

Weather wise, the morning started encouragingly, going overcast and with not too much breeze (good catching conditions) but as the breeze increased, billowing the mist nets, it brought in short spells of fine drizzle with the occasional sunny spell.

Todays catch comprised: 5x Blackcap, 1x Robin, 4x Reed Warbler, 3x Chiffchaff, 1x Wren, 1x Cetti's Warbler, 1x Jay, 1x Song Thrush, 1x Dunnock, 1x Great Tit.

Kev B

 

 

Tenacious Tawny

A few weeks ago, I had a message from a landowner to say that their owl nest box had taken a hit in a storm and had come off the tree. However, it was still wedged up in the tree. I arranged to go and recover the box and try to reattach it. 

When I arrived, the box didn't seem to be damaged, but it was leaning precariously and the entrance hole was facing almost downwards. It didn't look too tricky to recover, but then as I climbed up to it, a Tawny Owl flew out!

Somewhat surprised, I tried to look inside the box, but the angle made it very difficult. Nevertheless, there appeared to be a single egg lying in a corner and it seemed to be a Tawny Owl egg. 

Some quick calculations suggested that the egg could have been laid before the box had been dislodged and it seemed the position of the egg was very awkward and I guessed the tenacious female owl would struggle to incubate it. 

Obviously I couldn't start moving the box, but it seemed reasonably secure, so I arranged to return a few weeks later. This plan was then thwarted by a car breakdown and it was a further 2 weeks before I was able to fit it in today.

Assuming that whatever the outcome, the box was now likely to be empty, I climbed up only to have the female Tawny fly out of the upturned box again! And when I reached inside, my hand found a well grown Tawny Owl chick perched on the slopping floor. The timing now suggests that the female may have laid after the box had moved, and she had clearly been able to incubate the egg, despite the odd position within the box. 

Pete

  

Attenborough CES, Visit 4 – Saturday 1 June

Our fourth Constant Effort Site visit for this year led to some encouraging results, with 34 birds
caught of 12 species – the busiest morning so far. Notable was a flock of Long Tailed Tits which were
caught. However, it was concerning that only one of eight was a juvenile – potentially a sign that
their breeding attempts could have been hindered by the weather. It will be interesting to monitor
the success of these over the next few months. Other birds caught were 2 Treecreepers, 3 Wrens, 2
Robins, 5 Reed Warblers, 3 Blue Tits, 1 Great Tit, 4 Blackcaps, 2 Dunnocks, 1 Blackbird, 1 Cetti’s
Warbler and 2 Reed Buntings. Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Cuckoo were all heard again, but did
not find the net.

Josh

Adult and juvenile Long-tailed Tits (JP)

Juvenile Robin (JP)

Adult male Reed Bunting (JP)

 

Holme Pierrepont – Saturday 25 May

Due to the visit dates for the CES at Attenborough, and with the hope of catching more birds, we
ventured to Skylarks NR this weekend. The weather was patchy sunshine, which didn’t
lend itself well to mist-netting. However, it was a welcome change to the constant rain! Despite half
the net rides being in water, all the nets went up. It was a very quiet morning, with only 16 birds.
Warblers were particularly thin on the ground, with only three Reed Warblers this time. We also
caught one Greenfinch, and four juvenile passerines – the first of the year from our visits.

Joshua

juvenile Dunnock

juvenile Great Tit

 

juvenile Robin wing

Attenborough CES, Visit 3 - Sunday 19 May

The third CES session at Attenborough was carried out under blue skies, full sun and a bit of a breeze. The conditions did not help but even so the catch was very disappointing. The usual 168m of net was erected along with another 18m well away from the CES nets at which we played a cuckoo call. We ended with just 20 birds and 4 of those came from the single cuckoo net, none of them being a cuckoo though! The MP3 lure was very effective at bringing a couple of cuckoos to investigate, but they stayed too high in the canopy to go in the net. 

The birds we did catch were: Chiffchaff 1, Wren 1, Blackcap 3, Garden Warbler 1, Reed Warbler 2, Blue Tit 4, Great Tit 2, Robin 1, Dunnock 3, Song Thrush 1, Blackbird 1. The whole site seems very quiet and  unless there is a major increase in numbers in the next 3 visits this will be the worst CES season ever at Attenborough. After this catch we did not really need any further discouragement for the coming visits but we got it in the form of the first hatch of mosquitoes, they will be out in full force by visit 4!

On a more significant note, today we said goodbye to Jake as he heads over the pond to Baltimore to start a new job and a new chapter in his life. Jake has been an active and respected member since joining us in April 2022, we will miss him but wish him well for the future. To mark the occasion we presented him with a good luck card featuring a Blue Tit on the front, so he can be reminded of just what he is missing when in the USA. Even more memorably Holly made him an ‘American’ style going-away cake called Devil's Food Cake, it was delicious but not one for those on a diet!

Kev

Ringing base (HJ)

Net ride (KH)

Jake's Cake (KH)

 

Attenborough CES, Visit 2 - Sunday 12 May

Our second CES session at Attenborough was another nice morning, but low on birds. We finished with 17 in total, and some species were notable by their absence - Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Dunnock - all heard but not caught.

The birds that did find the net were: 4 Great Tit, 3 Wren, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Robin, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Treecreeper.

Entertainment was mostly provided by the invertebrates, with 2 Hornets and 1 Tree Bumblebee successfully extracted from the nets. Lots of damselflies were on the wing, as were Hairy Dragonflies.

The Cuckoo was still present and calling, and we were lucky to see two Swifts in the mid-air act of mating over the ringing base. 

Holly

Treecreeper wing, (HG)

 

Isle of May Visit, 13-20 April

Recently, Kev B, Holly and I had the opportunity to visit the Isle of May with the Cumbrian group. The weather was breezy throughout the week, unfortunately from the north-west. This was far from ideal for bringing in birds or for putting up mist nets. Although it was quiet, we got a few new species from the heligoland traps, including 3 Brambling and 2 Ring Ouzel. On one day we tried a tape lure for the Hoopoe, which had been seen on the island for the past 10 days. However, it seemed uninterested. We also made an attempt for the Storm Petrels, but there was no success on this front either. Spring traps gave us a few Wheatears and Robins. While seawatching by the Low Light, Holly noticed a Puffin stuck in a drainage pipe, with its legs in the air! She managed to rescue it, and passed it to me to ring.

Overall, the trip was a brilliant experience. I enjoyed the isolation and wildness of island life, and sharing it with a great group of people. The best part was being immersed in the life of thousands of seabirds, while trying to count them for the daily log! Thanks to Mike, Frank and Shelagh for including me and all the help while we were there.

Joshua 

Ring Ouzel (J. Phillips)

View from the island (H. James)

Wheatear (H. James)

 

Recent recoveries - passerines

Following on from the last post, here are are few details of some passerine recoveries from between April 2022 and December 2023.

We have a few Lesser Redpoll recoveries from around the UK, which is typical for this species as Redpoll are known to disperse and move around to wherever there is food.

- One bird ringed by us in January 2022 at Bestwood was recaught three months later 2022, 317km North in Peebles on the Scottish Borders.

- Another ringed at Skylarks in October 2020 was recaught in July 2022 in Ceredigion, Wales.

- One ringed in August 2022 at RSPB Geltsdale in Cumbria was recaught by us in Ramsdale three months later.

- And finally, a bird ringed in May 2021 by Thetford Forest Ringing Group was recaught by us in January 2023 at Bestwood.

A Reed Warbler ringed in July 2022 at Manor Floods was recaught three weeks later at Gironde, France, a distance of 922km. Slightly unusual as we don’t catch many Reed Warblers at Manor Floods.

Gironde was also the source of a controlled Redwing ringed at Ramsdale in 2021, which was recaught in October 2022 in France. Considering we catch around 100 Redwing each Winter, we hardly ever get recoveries of this species.

A Blue Tit ringed by Belvide Ringing Group was recaptured by us at Trowell in January 2023, a distance of 12km. Some studies have shown that only 1.2% of British Blue Tits move more than 20km during Winter, so a movement of 12km is fairly significant for this sedentary species.

A female Cetti’s Warbler ringed by Chew Valley in 2019 was recaught by us at Skylarks in April 2023, a distance of 208km. Cetti’s Warblers are colonising more of the UK as they slowly spread North, and it’s usually the females that move the furthest to establish new territories.

A Chiffchaff ringed on the Isle of May, Fife in May 2023 was recaught by us in Bestwood in October of the same year.

A Blackcap ringed by us at Skylarks in September 2021 was caught by a cat in Chester, December 2022. Presumably we caught this one on its westward migration and it would be interesting to know where it had originated from - possibly further east on continental Europe as seems to be the pattern for many birds wintering in the UK.

A Siskin ringed by us ar Colwick in March 2021 was recaught by Grampian Ringing Group in Aberdeenshire, April 2022. 

Holly

Redpoll

 

Recent Recoveries - non-passerines

It has been a whilte since we blogged about recoveries. We detail all the most interesting records in our annual report, but we also try to publish information here when we can. Below are some of the more interesting non-passerine recoveries we've had between April 2022 and December 2023. 

A Common Tern ringed as a chick at Attenborough in 2014 was recaught in Senegal in March 2021 - a distance of 4495km! 

We often receive short-distance Barn Owl recoveries as they move between local nest boxes, but here are a couple of notable movements - a chick ringed by North West Norfolk Ringing Group in 2017 was found dead by us in May 2022 near Elston, a distance of 119km. Another was ringed in Buckinghamshire in 2017 and recaught by us in May 2023, a distance of 151km. Interestingly, the longevity record for Barn Owl is currently 15 years, 7 months and 2 days, and if we recatch one individual later this year we might be on to break that record. A male Barn Owl ringed as a 5 in Gotham on 21/05/2009 was recaught on 15/06/2023 - 14 years and 26 days.

Our colour-ringed Cormorants continue to move around, with several sightings of the same individuals making for interesting life histories as we start to build a bigger picture of their dispersal and seasonal behaviour. All birds were ringed at Attenborough:

- Cormorant CVF ringed as a chick in 2015 was sighted at Holt in Norfolk in January 2023. The same bird spent the Summer of 2019 at Cley Marshes in Norfolk.

- Another Cormorant, CZ3, ringed in April 2023 was sighted only two months later in Merseyside.

- CXS was ringed in 2018 and was seen in November 2022 at Suffolk, and then in August 2023 in Essex.

- CX4 was ringed in 2016, and was seen in September 2022 in Conwy, Wales, but was back at Attenborough a year later.

A Black-headed Gull we ringed as a chick at Attenborough in 2008 was found dead in 2022 on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. We also have sightings of Black-headed Gulls in Nottinghamshire from South Yorkshire, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Poland. And a Black-headed Gull we ringed at Attenborough in May 2019 was resighted in Cork.

On the River Trent, we’ve read colour-rings of Mute Swans from Staffordshire and Greater Manchester. 

Holly 

Barn Owl ringing

Common Tern chick

Tawny Owl boxes

Several group members have been checking Tawny Owl boxes in the last week or two and the emerging picture seems to be average occupency and below average brood sizes (mostly 1s and 2s). A female near Kirklington had first been ringed in 2013 and was at least 3 years old then. She has been processed ten times in the same box with only one year with no breeding in the box. The photos below also show the colour variation in adults well.

Tawny Owl chicks in box (AT)

Female first ringed in 2013 (JL)

A photo showing a bird with multiple ages of feathers in the primaries which can be aged as a '10'. (JL)

(PL)

A very rufous female (PL)

 

Attenborough CES, Visit 1 - Sunday 5 May

This morning we ran our first Constant Effort Site (CES) session of the year at Attenborough Nature Reserve. The aim of the CES is to gather data on the survival and breeding success of birds nationally, with the dates of visits, number and duration of visits, and number of nets all standardised so that any changes in the data are a result of bird populations rather than ringer effort.

We caught a total of 29 birds (four more than our first visit last year), with a good variety of species: 5 Great Tit, 4 Blackcap, 3 Reed Bunting, 3 Robin, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Treecreeper, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackbird, 1 Wren, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Dunnock.

The net rides were much drier than last year, and the weather was warm and sunny. We heard a cuckoo, and lots of Willow Warblers even though we didn’t catch any. A range of butterflies emerged in the late morning, we saw our first damselflies, and Josh spoiled us with homemade cake too. 

Holly

Comparing Reed Buntings (HJ)

 

 

Elton Park Farm - Saturday 20 April

It was a pleasant enough morning at this interesting site and the nets were well sheltered from the cool northerly breeze. On our arrival, good numbers of Willow Warblers could be heard in the short rotation willow coppice, though this is some distance from the ringing site which turned out to be rather quiet. The flocks of finches and buntings were not in evidence, although some had been reported the previous day and we had to be happy with just a dozen birds, including Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and 2 Yellowhammer.

Pete

Willow Warbler (A. Turnbull)

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 21 April

We were hoping to get a good first visit in to Holme Pierrepont as the forecast was calm and overcast. When we went to clear the rides back in February we could only get to 3 of the net positions because of the flooding. After seeing how dry the CES rides were at Attenborough last week, I assumed all would be well at Holme Pierrepont, but how wrong was that assumption! We could only get 6 of the usual 9 nets up, but 4 of them only with care as the site was still very flooded. Bright sun and quite a breeze did not help either and we caught just 20 birds. No Reed Warblers were heard singing and none were caught. However, we did get 5 Blackcaps, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Cetti’s Warbler.

 

Kev

 

net ride (H. James)