Late July: a quick update.

I managed to get out to Billinge a few times during the period 24th to 31st July but some of the sessions were weather restricted. The generally unsettled conditions with bands of showers and spells of rain also had an impact on the number of birds moving through the site on some days so the combined total of 140 new birds and 16 retraps was quite good, all things considered. 

The main target species was Willow Warbler with a total of 45 ringed during the period. This brings the number of Willow Warblers ringed in July to 105 with 101 of those having been ringed in the last 2 weeks. This is a slightly better total than last year, when 84 were ringed in July, but the increase has been achieved through extra effort rather than there being more birds around. I am still of the opinion that Willow Warblers have had a relatively poor breeding season, locally at least.

Willow Warbler migration is getting into full swing.

 A late evening visit on the 25th, to check if any Swallows were roosting, revealed that only 30 or so were gathering to roost. These were harassed a few times by a young male Sparrowhawk and this caused them to settle in a different area of the willows but not before 18 had been caught and ringed.

Juvenile Swallow

Adult Swallow

Acros continued to put in an appearance now and again with another Sedge Warbler ringed on the 28th followed by single Reed Warblers on the 30th and 31st; all were young birds. 

Sedge Warbler

Reed Warbler

Bullfinches are starting to take advantage of the Knapweed and other meadow plants that are going to seed and this resulted in 4 juveniles and 3 adult males being ringed.

Male Bullfinch

Tits continued to be very thin on the ground, to say the least, but Long-tailed Tits finally put in an appearance with a party of 3 seen on the 28th one of which, a juvenile, was caught and ringed.

Combined totals (retraps in brackets) for the period 24th to 31st July were: Swallow 18; Chiffchaff 19 (3); Willow Warbler 45 (4); Blackcap 13 (5); Whitethroat 5 (2); Reed Warbler 2; Sedge Warbler 1; Goldcrest 4 (1); Blackbird 1; Long-tailed Tit 1; Blue Tit 4; Great Tit 4; Coal Tit 1; Chaffinch 4; Goldfinch 8; Linnet 2; Bullfinch 7; Reed Bunting 1 (1).

I don't see many dragonflies at the site as the nearest pond is some distance away but this Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) found its way into one of the mist-nets. 

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis)

Tits Up

A ringing session at Crawford yesterday (22nd) produced far more Blue Tits than expected given its farmland setting. I have been baiting the site with the aim of attracting buntings, finches and sparrows but they failed to turn up in a any number and those that did mainly approached the feeders along the hedge line and largely avoided the nets. There are plenty of stubble fields in the area so they may not be struggling for food yet and although it has been cold we haven't had enough snow to cover them and restrict the feeding opportunities they provide. Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) were: Blue Tit 13 (4), Great Tit 3 (1), Willow Tit (1), Dunnock 1 (2), Robin 1 (1), Blackbird 2 (4), Woodpigeon 1, Bullfinch 1, Goldfinch 5, Greenfinch 5 (2), Chaffinch 3 (1), Reed Bunting 1, Yellowhammer 1. 

This adult Blue Tit had a long wing length of 69 mm

The site still has plenty of potential and catches may improve once the food supplies in the surrounding farmland are depleted. Birds around included 32 Tree Sparrows, 2 Reed Buntings, 3 Bullfinches, 4 Corn Buntings and 8 Yellowhammers. Chaffinches were surprisngly scarce and the only birds seen were the 4 that were caught. Up to a 18 Greenfinches frequented the feeders and few Goldfinches joined them from a flock of 44 that were feeding in some alders nearby.

This male Bullfinch was a nice addition to the finch total.

Male Reed Bunting.

Watching how the birds arrived at the site and then approached the feeders and the food on the ground caused me to have a rethink about the current set up. After I had taken down the nets I improvised some additional cover by digging in some large branches and I also repositioned some of the feeders. Hopefully this will result in more birds crossing the net rides when approaching the food and lead to better catches of the target species.

Tree Sparrows have a very patchy distribution in the area and they are absent from many sites they used to occupy.

The area still holds a small population of Yellowhammers but like Tree Sparrows they are not as common as they once were.

Christmas is coming

I went up to Haigh this morning as I have been baiting the site all week and it also offered the best chance of shelter from the cold northerly wind. It felt more like winter than late October with a very sharp frost. I soon regretted wearing wellies with thin socks as I quickly lost the circulation in my toes; very painful.

I put up a 60ft and 30ft net in the usual dog leg and also set up 3 MP3 lures. In general the catching rate was what you might call steady all morning but there were far fewer Chaffinches than expected given the habitat. The MP3 lures added 8 Goldcrests and 4 Lesser Redpolls to the catch and possibly helped the Greenfinch totals too.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
 

Visible migration was dominated by Pink-footed Geese with at least 750 birds in 5 skeins flying south-east. At least 4 other skeins were heard and not seen so the total could have easily exceeded 1,000. Around 80 Redwings were seen flying west and 3 Fieldfares flew north. Only 6 Redpolls were recorded, 4 of which were caught and a group of 3 Siskins flew north.

Ringing totals were (recaptures in brackets):

Greenfinch 28 (1)

Goldcrest 8
Lesser Redpoll 4
Goldfinch 1
Chaffinch 7 (1)
Bullfinch 2 (1)
Great Tit 13 (1)
Blue Tit 7 (2)
Coal Tit 1 (3)
Robin 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Dunnock (1)
Totals 73 new birds (+10 retraps)



Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

After returning home and lunch I walked across the road to Orrell Water Park to check out the Black-headed Gulls for rings/darvics. I took the big camera and long lens so I could photograph any ringed birds. The only ringed Black-headed Gull was an adult wearing a chunky foreign type ring. I managed to take enough photos to get the full number and address which showed it was ringed in Germany. This is the first German Black-headed Gull I have controlled.

 

German ringed Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) photographed Orrell Water Park 27.10.12

 

Grey day at Haigh

Got up before dawn to go to the feeding station at Haigh but didn't rush and enjoyed a few cups of coffee before setting off. Arrived at around 7:30 and put a 60 and 30 ft net in the usual dog leg. Didn't expect to catch too much despite almost perfect overcast conditions with only a slight breeze as so many birds seem to be on territory and breeding following the recent spell of warm weather.

The slow if steady catching rate allowed me the time to take a few photographs of species that don't usually get a look in such as Wren and Dunnock.

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

Only stayed around 4 hours but still managed to catch 19 new birds and 10 retraps with 8 Greenfinches being the most numerous of the new birds; 3 of which were adults including this fine male.

adult male Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)


Fewer Chaffinches were around but those that came to the feeders were looking their best as were the Bullfinches.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

I also tried playing Redpoll song for a while and caught 3 Lessers that were probably on their way to breeding grounds further north.  Redpolls are one of my favourite species and are likely to feature in this blog whenever I catch them.

2CY Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



2CY  male Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



2CY male Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)

Not a bad morning really for the time of year and ringed a new Blackbird in the garden trap when I got home. Had to go to work in the afternoon but caught a pair of retrap Starlings in the evening when I finally got home.

I will see if I can get up early in the morning and hope a few Redpolls are on the move.