Billinge 29th October 2018

I wasn't sure what to expect after my week away, more so given the clear and frosty start, but it ended up being quite a good session for late October. There were a few thrushes moving early on resulting in 9 Redwings, a Fieldfare, and a Blackbird being caught but they soon fizzled out. There wasn't much in the way of visible migration, once the thrushes had stopped, but a Crossbill and a few high flying Siskins were noted along with a small movement of Woodpigeons. The most interesting sighting came mid-morning when a Woodcock (my first of the autumn) landed on the track near to where I was stood, it took a few steps and then fanned its tail and raised it over its back in the manner of a Black Grouse but then it noticed me an flew off. I have never had such a good view of a Woodcock before or seen one tail fanning so that was a nice bonus.

The nets continued to produced a few birds after the initial rush of thrushes and the final total of 36 new birds and 1 retrap was quite a good result, all things considered. There were no surprises but 10 Goldcrests was a good number and a flock of Long-tailed Tits helped bulk the numbers too, while a female Sparrowhawk caught in the last round was a great way to end the session.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 29/10/2018 were: Sparrowhawk 1; Coal Tit 2; Blue Tit 2; Great Tit 1; Long-tailed Tit 7 (1); Goldcrest 10; Robin 1; Blackbird 1; Fieldfare 1; Redwing 9; Lesser Redpoll 1.

This 1CY female Sparrowhawk was in one of the nets when I went to take them down at the end of the session. I have done quite well for catching female Sparrowhawks this autumn as they are usually very good at getting out of mist-nets.

 

Billinge 18th & 19th October 2018

I didn't get chance to write reports on these visits before going away on holiday, or while I was away for that matter, but I felt there was enough of note to merit this belated summary.

The most notable feature of the 18th was the number of Goldcrests present with the 27 ringed being the highest total of the autumn in terms of new birds but equalling the 26 new and 1 retrap that were caught on 7th October. Thrushes made up much of the rest of the catch with 21 Redwing and 4 Song Thrush keeping me busy in that first hour or so around sunrise.
Ringing Totals for 18/10/2018 were: Coal Tit 1; Great Tit 2; Goldcrest 27; Redwing 21; Song Thrush 4; Chaffinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 2.

Goldcrest 18/10/2018

The 19th saw a big change in the number of Goldcrests present with only 2 ringed and there were fewer thrushes around too. However, there were more finches moving with a good movement of Bramblings in particular. I wasn't able to keep track of the numbers of Bramblings involved but the flocks and groups I counted in between net rounds just got into 3 figures so I am sure the true figure must have been far higher. A few Bramblings also found their way into the nets and 5 were ringed (first to be ringed this autumn).
Ringing totals for 19/10/2018 were: Goldcrest 2; Redwing 9; Brambling 5; Lesser Redpoll 5.

Male Brambling 19/10/2018

Coal Tits on the move.

The highlight of this mornings visit to Billinge was the capture of 15 Coal Tits which is the highest total for the site by some margin. They were all caught towards the end of the session with a flock of 7 being caught at 10am and a flock of 8 an hour later. The previous day record of 8 was only set on 7th October this year so it is clear there is much more movement going on than usual. Some vis-mig sites around the country are recording similar irruptive behaviour so it is a widespread phenomena. It's not just happening in the UK either as Falsterbo Bird Observatory, in southern Sweden, is also ringing above average numbers of Coal Tits and is on track for one of their highest autumn totals.

One of this mornings Coal Tits, 

Ringing totals for 16/10/2018 were: Coal Tit 15; Blue Tit 2; Great Tit 5; Blackcap 1; Goldcrest 7; Nuthatch 1;  Redwing 14; Song Thrush 5; Robin 1;Lesser Redpoll 3. Total 54 new birds.

Sparrowhawk double

It had to be a shorter session than usual at Billinge this morning because I had an appointment to go to but it turned out to be interesting nevertheless. There weren't many thrushes moving but over 2,000 Woodpigeons were counted going south by 9:00am (per CAD). A single Brambling was the first of the autumn and another or the same was heard again later. There were no warblers, not even a Chiffchaff, but Goldcrests found their way into the nets at regular intervals and a total of 13 were ringed. A couple of Sparrowhawks livened things up with a 1cy male being caught first and a 2cy female being caught in the same net an hour later. Catching 2 Sparrowhawks in the same session doesn't happen very often but the 3 previous occasion it has happened have all been in mid October like today's double act. The lively theme continued when a rather feisty Jay was caught and it did its best to take lumps out of me, as they usually do. The last net round produced a group of 5 Lesser Redpolls and, interestingly, 4 of the 5 were adult males which continues the predominance of adults in the Redpolls caught so far this month.

1cy male Sparrowhawk

1cy male Sparrowhawk

2cy female Sparrowhawk

The female Sparrowhawk had an unusual and very hard accretion on the tip of one of its claws. I have never seen anything like this before and have no idea what could have caused it..

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 15.09.18 were: Sparrowhawk 2; Jay 1; Coal Tit 2, Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 1; Goldcrest 13; Blackbird 1; Song Thrush 3 (1); Bullfinch (2); Lesser Redpoll 5. Total 29 new birds and 3 retraps.

Late Willow Warbler

I nearly didn't go out this morning as the forecast said there was going to be more of a breeze than yesterday but the chance of catching more Redwings or something unusual got the better of me. The south-westerly breeze was a bit too strong for the net rides in the top willows so I opted for the more sheltered rides in north-east corner of the site. I set up the first net before it started to get light and unlike yesterday there were the occasional calls of Redwings flying overhead to give me some encouragement.

It turned out to be a much busier morning at the nets than I had expected so I didn't have much time for looking up to see what was passing overhead but at least 200 Redwings went south and many others would have been missed. Redwings were also the most numerous birds in the nets with a total of 19 caught but unlike yesterday there weren't many Goldcrests around and only 4 were ringed. It was almost a repeat performance as far as Coal Tits were concerned with a total of 7 ringed which becomes the second highest day total after yesterday's 8 and it increasingly looks like some are genuinely on the move. The poor autumn for Lesser Redpolls continued with only 3 ringed and 2 of those were adults which, as I said in yesterday's post, isn't a good sign. The most unusual capture was a Willow Warbler as it is a very late date for the species in this area.  It is only the second I have recorded in October but it still well short of the latest which was a bird ringed on 23rd October 2014.

Adult female Lesser Redpoll.

Ageing was straightforward as it hadn't finished moulting with the inner secondaries still growing in both wings. The tertials and coverts were also very fresh and similarly coloured as they should be.

If any further confirmation was required the tail was about as fresh and rounded as they get in adult Lesser Redpolls in autumn.

An October Willow Warbler is rarer than Yellow-browed Warbler at Billinge.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 08/10/2013 were: Coal Tit 7; Blue Tit 6; Great Tit 8 (2); Long-tailed Tit 7 (4); Willow Warbler 1; Chiffchaff 2; Goldcrest 4; Blackbird 1; Redwing 19; Song Thrush 2;  Robin 2; Chaffinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 3. Total 63 new birds and 6 retraps.

First Redwings and a glut of Goldcrest.

There have been some reasonable arrivals of Redwings on the east coast and in the northern isles over the last week so I thought there would be a good chance of seeing and possibly catching my first of the autumn at Billinge this morning. I was so keen I got up extra early and had the first net set up in the top willows before it started to get light but I didn't hear any nocturnal flight calls of Redwings or any other thrushes for that matter. I quickly set another 3 nets (my usual set up of 3 nets generally becomes 4 once Redwings start to arrive) and while I still didn't hear any Redwings flying over there were 2 or 3 Song Thrushes calling in the bushes as it it started to get light.

Initially there wasn't much moving through the bushes or overhead but that changed after the sun was up and it became quite an eventful morning. There wasn't a huge amount moving overhead but there was a quite a bit more than there has been recently. A Redwing, my first of the autumn, was heard shortly after sunrise and groups of 4, 2, 4 and 15 were seen subsequently. A couple of high flying Song Thrushes and 4 equally high flying Blackbirds were also seen and likely to be migrants from the continent. The morning was punctuated by the occasional calls of Siskins and Meadow Pipits but the stand out highlight was a flock of 19 Crossbills which passed me at eye level and close range as they flew SSW over the SE flank of the hill. Other birds on the move included small numbers of Woodpigeons, Goldfinches, and Chaffinches.

The nets were quite productive and produced one of the best catches of what has been a below par autumn so far. Highlights were 26 Goldcrests (the highest day total this autumn by some margin), a Redwing (obviously the first ringed this autumn), 3 Song Thrush (all likely migrants) and 8 Coal Tits (the highest day total for the site and suggestive of irruptive movement). Also of note were 2 Lesser Redpolls but only because they were both adult males; there haven't been many Redpolls this autumn and the appearance of adults without any first-years doesn't bode well for the rest of the autumn.

It was a return to something like normal numbers of Goldcrests today but the big question is will it last or is it just a one off improvement. One thing is certain only time tell.

It is always good to see and ring the first Redwing of the autumn and hopefully there will be some really big movements to come. The forecast for the middle of next week (Wednesday into Thursday) is looking promising at the moment and may bring the first really big arrivals of the autumn, lets hope so.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 07/10/2018 were: Coal Tit 8; Blue Tit 3; Great Tit 7; Long-tailed Tit 2 (4); Chiffchaff 2; Goldcrest 26 (1); Wren 2; Redwing 1; Song Thrush 3; Robin 3; Bullfinch 3; Lesser Redpoll 2; Goldfinch 1; Reed Bunting 2. A total of 65 new birds and 5 retraps.

Billinge: 1st October 2018

A light northerly breeze and generally clear conditions weren't likely to produce many birds so I wasn't surprised when a session in the top willows started off very slowly. Only 9 birds were caught in the first couple of hours so I decided to pack up early but then a flock of 8 Long-tailed Tits was caught in what was going to be the final net round and tempted me to stay a bit longer. I am certainly glad I decided to stay as the catching rate wasn't too bad for the next couple of hours, although it was largely made up of tits.  However, there were a few Goldcrests too and they included a bird that was already wearing a ring from elsewhere which was the clear highlight of the morning. The final total of 44 new birds and 1 control was much better than expected and was a good start to the month.

The control Goldcrest had a ring number with prefix KHV and it looked like a very new ring so may have been ringed quite recently. With Goldcrest numbers being very low this autumn I thought my prospects of getting any controls or recoveries would be very low too so this bird was a very welcome surprise.

There haven't been many Redpolls on the move so far this autumn and today's was the first adult male.

Adult male Lesser Redpoll

Noisy Coal Tits are often a feature of clear days in late September and much of  October but how many actually move very far is open to question.

Photographs of Great Tits rarely appear in the blog but I had to include these two as they show how different the intensity of the yellow can be. Both were first-year females. I have looked back at the sexes of the Greats Tits that were caught in September and there was a clear preponderance of females; of the 44 handled 31 were females,12 were males and 1 was left unsexed as it hadn't completed its post juvenile moult.

Ringing totals for 01/10/2018 were: Coal Tit 4; Blue Tit 8; Great Tit 6; Long-tailed Tit 9; Chiffchaff 2; Blackcap 1; Goldcrest 10 (1 control); Blackbird 1; Dunnock 1; Bullfinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 1. 44 new birds and 1 control.

Late September

The last few days of the month saw no significant change at Billinge and, like the month as a whole, can be summed up as disappointing. The ringing totals below tell the story with the only highlight, although it is not much of one, being the 15 Goldcrests caught on the 27th; their highest day total in what has been an exceptionally poor month for that species. I know I have gone on about the low numbers of Goldcrests in recent posts but that is because their numbers have been very low compared to previous years. The total for this September ended up at 71 which is very poor when compared with previous September totals of 258 in 2015, 237 in 2016 and 269 in 2017. They will bounce back in time but how quickly will depend on the severity of winter weather going forward.

September	26th	27th	28th	30th	Total
Goldcrest	12	15	4	7	38
Blue Tit	4	2	5	3	14
Great Tit	2	2	3	3	10
Long-tailed Tit	12	-	-	2 (1)	14 (1)
Chiffchaff	4 (1)	2	4	2	12 (1)
Blackcap	3	3	3	-	9
Treecreeper	-	-	-	1	1
Wren	-	-	-	1	1
Song Thrush	-	-	-	1	1
Dunnock	-	1	-	-	1
Chaffinch	3	1	-	-	4
Lesser Redpoll	-	1	-	-	1
Reed Bunting	1	-	1	-	2
Total	42	27	20	21	110

Lets hope we get some easterly winds to help improve things in October and looking at some of the long range pressure charts there is a chance, and it is only a chance, that there will be a brief spell of easterlies this coming Saturday and a longer period around the middle of the month.