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.

 

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.

12th July 2017 - A bunch of Blackcaps

I only managed a 06:30 start at in the top willows at Billinge but I don't think I missed much as a result, at least I hope not. I set three 18m nets under clear blue skies and with only a light breeze blowing from the NE. The catching rate was better than expected for this early in the month and suggests it has been a fairly productive breeding season, especially when compared with the last couple of years. I packed up at 11:00 as the sun was shining on all the nets by then, making them much more visible, and before it got too hot.

The final total of 44 new birds and 2 retraps was mainly comprised of juveniles and included 32 warblers, 17 of which were Blackcaps. The two retraps were an adult male Blackcap that was originally ringed as a juvenile in July 2015 and a juvenile Blackcap that was ringed just over a week ago. The Blackcaps were mainly feeding on raspberries that grow wild near one of the net rides and most of them were caught in that particular net. This raspberry patch usually attracts and holds a good number of locally bred juveniles in July although 17 is more than I usually catch in one session.

Juvenile Blackcap

Juvenile Willow Tit.
Late June and July is the peak period for juvenile dispersal in this species and this is the 3rd to be ringed at the site in the last week.

Juvenile Treecreeper
July is also a time when the young of woodland species disperse and can be encountered well away from their usual habitat. 

There was some interest overhead with the highlight being a Crossbill that called loudly as it flew SW. A Siskin was also heard but not seen and a few Swallows seemed to be heading south. I wasn't in the best place to observe the Swallow movement but small groups appeared to motoring south from time to time; they certainly weren't the feeding flights of the local breeders.

Ringing totals for 12/07/17 (retraps in brackets) were: Blue Tit 2; Great Tit 2; Willow Tit 1; Goldcrest 1; Chiffchaff 5; Willow Warbler 10; Blackcap 15 (2); Treecreeper 1; Wren 1; Goldfinch 6.

1st to 3rd April highlights

1st April

A day of showers but a brief ringing session at Billinge during a dry interlude produced my first Willow Warbler of the year, a new Blackbird and a retrap Great Tit. At least 2 other Willow Warblers were recorded at the site along with a singing Blackcap (per CAD). On returning home I was greeted by another Willow Warbler that was singing in the gardens behind the house.

Willow Warbler 01/04/2017

2nd April

Totals for a longer ringing session at Billinge (using just 2 nets) were: 1 Common (Mealy) Redpoll, 3 Lesser Redpolls, a retrap Chiffchaff (originally ringed as a juvenile 24/07/16) and a retrap Willow Warbler (originally ringed as a first-year 23/07/16). There was very little in the way of visible migration but 3 Crossbills and a Sand Martin went north. A Wheatear was also seen leaving the site and heading off north.

Not the frostiest Mealy Redpoll but a Mealy nevertheless.

Mealy Redpoll (left) and Lesser Redpoll (right).

Back home a Red-green Carpet, 2 Caloptilia stigmatella and a Caloptilia elongella were the pick of the moth catch.

Red-green Carpet

Caloptilia stigmatella. Micros are not my forte but some are fairly easy to identify.

Caloptilia elongella. This species can be difficult to separate from Caloptilia betulicola but I am fairly confident this one is elongella.

3rd April

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for another session at Billinge were: Willow Warbler 1; Chiffchaff 1 (1); Blackcap 1; Lesser Redpoll 2. The retrap Chiffchaff was originally ringed as a first-year on 20/09/16. There was virtually no movement overhead despite the seemingly perfect conditions and just 1 Siskin and 2 Meadow Pipits were recorded going north during 4 hours of observation.

Female Blackcap. The feathers around the base of the bill were matted with pollen residue, a sure sign of a recently arrived migrant. 

Chiffchaff

The new Chiffchaff had relatively pale legs rather than the text book dark brown or blackish legs.

Back home the moth trap held a surprise in the form of a Water Carpet; a new species for the garden. Having run a moth trap in the garden for many years the catching of a new species has become an increasingly rare and sometimes less than annual event.

Water Carpet: a first for the garden!!!

All in all an interesting few days and a good start to the month.

First Chiffchaffs

I went up to Billinge this morning and set 3 nets in the north east corner of the site. I didn't expect to catch much but there were a few more birds around than I expected. Goldcrests led the way with 6 ringed and a 7th escaped from one of the nets before I got to it. All the Goldcrests will have been migrants and 2 were quite fat and weighed 6.2 g. The two heavy birds also had well demarcated pale grey napes which suggests they are of continental origin, they will have a long way to go to get back to their breeding grounds.

Goldcrest

A Chiffchaff was singing not far from the nets and was my first of the year. This particular territory is usually the first to be occupied and I could see the bird was ringed so is likely to be the territory holder from last year. While the singing bird didn't find its way into the nets another male Chiffchaff did; this was an unringed bird which was a bit of a surprise as the first returning birds are nearly always retraps.

Chiffchaff

There was surprisingly little in the way of passage overhead and what there was didn't amount to much more than 3 Meadow Pipits going north. However, a lone Crossbill flying west north-west mid morning was a good spring record and made up for the general lack of numbers.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) were: Goldcrest 6; Chiffchaff 1; Long-tailed Tit 2 (1); Blackbird 1; Robin 1; Bullfinch (1). Total 11 new birds and 2 retraps.

Crossbill !!

Highlight of a ringing session at Billinge this morning was a juvenile Common Crossbill. I have seen singles and small parties fly over the site on 3 occasions already this month, including a group of 3 going south yesterday, so today's bird wasn't totally unexpected. However, it was a delight to catch one rather than just getting the usual fleeting view of a calling bird or birds flying over. I have ringed Crossbills before but not for a good many years; however, it is the first I have caught locally and hopefully won't be the last.

Juvenile Common Crossbill

Now that is a bill.

It may not be a showy red male but it is still a cracking bird.

Fault barring was present in the wing and tail and can even be seen in the tips of the upper tail coverts. Fault bars are caused by food shortages when the bird is growing feathers and leads to bands of discolouration. A shortage of food will also be the cause of the movements of the Crossbills I have seen recently and I am sure there will be many more to come this autumn.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for the morning were: Blackcap 11; Willow Warbler 6 (1); Robin 1; Blue Tit (2); Great Tit 1; Goldfinch 3; Chaffinch 1; Crossbill 1. 

This and that

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post so I thought I should cobble something together by way of a catch up. There hasn't been one stand out thing to write about but there have been some bits and bobs worth mentioning. On the birding front I have had Common Crossbills flying over Billinge and Crawford on a total of 4 occasions with most heading west. There have also been some unusually early flocks of Siskins moving south which are likely to be the forerunners or foreflyers of a large scale irruption this autumn. 

Sitka Spruce produced a bumper crop of seeds last year which meant few Crossbills, Siskins and Redpolls migrated in search of food and led to an almost complete absence of Siskins on garden feeders this spring. A bumper crop generally results in better survival and a good breeding season but is often followed by below average seed production and so provides the circumstances that can lead to large scale irruptions of the associated species.

It really looks like we are heading for one of those autumns/winters where the irruptive species come to the fore and steal the birding headlines. I don't think these irruptions will be confined to a few seed eating species either as I also think the conditions are developing for a good arrival of Waxwings. It may not be quite on the scale of the 2012/13 irruption but I certainly think it could be a good one. Why do I think it could be a Waxwing winter and the simple answer is the cold spring and its impact on pollinators and berry production across much of northern Europe. If the Rowan and Hawthorn in this area are anything to go by the berry crop could be down by at least 50% on last year if not more.

So there are some predictions or perhaps I should say educated guesses based on recent observations. Make of them what you will but right or wrong I will refer back to them later in the year when we know what has actually happened. I certainly think it is a year where some big irruptions are on the cards. One thing we don't have to wait for is to know that it has been an abysmal breeding season for many insectivorous species. I have never known so many warblers singing so late in the season such has been the level of nest failure so far and the woods and scrub near me are what you could call almost titless. 

So what have I been ringing? Well I am still catching Redpolls and Goldfinches coming to the feeders at Crawford although Tree Sparrows have dropped off now that winter cereals are starting to ripen. My last visit to Billinge on the evening of the 9th produced a few Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Linnets along with a fairly good catch of 21 Swallows that came to roost in the willows. As for the garden my local Starlings seem to have gone on their summer holidays and have largely vacated the area despite the constant supply of food. However I have caught a few Woodpigeons in the garden including two that needed fishing line removing from their feet. One of these Woodpigeons also happened to be an unusually dark individual.

Adult male Lesser Redpoll

A duskier than normal Woodpigeon and it does stand out as looking dark in the field.

This Woodpigeon was lucky to be caught and have the fishing line removed before any permanent damage was done.

Moth catches have remained below par to say the least and are a fraction of what they should be at this time of year. The only species that seem to be present in near normal numbers are Buff Ermine and perhaps Ghost Moth. Not much else I can say about the moths or lack of them other than it was nice to catch two Garden Tigers today. Garden Tiger is a declining species that is less than annual in the garden despite its name. However, Poplar, Elephant and Eyed Hawk moths are regular in the garden although they have generally emerged later and in smaller numbers this year.

Garden Tiger 12/07/15

Garden Tiger 12/07/15

Poplar Hawk Moth

Poplar Hawk Moth

Elephant Hawk Moths

Eyed Hawk Moth

Finally, an odd looking Blackbird appeared in the garden earlier today. It looked like it was carrying something until I realised it had a huge growth in its bill. It turned out it was a bird that had been ringed in the garden on 9th May when it showed some signs of a problem with the upper mandible but nothing on the scale of its appearance today. I was surprised to see that it was still able to feed with such a large mass growing from the roof of the upper mandible but it managed to pick up some food from the bird table. However, the growth is clearly taking its toll on the bird's ability to preen and clearly limits its forward vision. It is a surprise it has managed to survive thus far and shows how resilient some birds can be.

No it isn't carrying anything it is a growth on the underside of the upper mandible.

The same bird when it it was ringed on 9th May

Bits and bobs

There have been a few bits and bobs of interest so far this week. On Monday an early morning visit to Amberswood Common with John G and Wayne produced several Crossbills that were picked up from their calls as they passed overhead. There were a minimum of 3 birds involved but we couldn't get an accurate count through the tree cover, although I suspect there were actually 4 or 5. I had only remarked that the site looked good for Crossbills a few days earlier but finding them so soon after was still a surprise as none had been reported in the area. A Common (Mealy) Redpoll was also seen the same morning along with 6 of the Lesser variety.

The highlights of a short visit to Scotman's Flash yesterday were my first Sand Martins of the year with 4 flying south and another Common Redpoll that was seen in the company of 2 Lesser Redpolls. Chiffchaffs have been turning up here and there all week and one ringed yesterday had 'pollen horns' which is a clear sign of the bird having recently arrived from warmer climes.

A Chiffchaff with 'pollen horns'.

Pollen horns are a sticky residue that mat the feathers around the bill and result from the bird feeding on insects in flowers and possibly from drinking nectar too.

This morning I was joined by Wayne for a very brief Siskin ringing session in the garden and then we went to survey an area for Willow Tits not far from home and adjacent to the M6. We located one pair and Wayne soon found the partially excavated nest hole. This particular site looks good for at least 2 pairs but only time and much field work will tell. While checking out this area we picked out the flight calls of yet more Crossbills and this time we could see it was a party of 5 flying north. There doesn't seem to have been any other reports of Crossbills in the area or region so the two sightings this week don't appear to have been part of a wider movement. Crossbills breed very early so both of these sightings are likely to have been wandering family parties; if that is the case it would be really interesting to know where they had bred.

The moth trap has been producing routine fare all week but on checking it today there was a new species for the garden in the form of a Grey Shoulder-knot. This species is more common in southern England but is much scarcer and more sparsely distributed in the north west.

Grey Shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus), a first for the garden. 

Moth trap totals this morning were:
Grey Shoulder-knot 1
Satellite 1
Twin-spotted Quaker 1
Oak Beauty 1
Early Grey 2
Dotted Border 2
Clouded Drab 5
Hebrew Character 8
Common Quaker 16

The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)

Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)

Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)

Oak Beauty (Biston strataria)

Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda)

Some colder nights are forecast so moth catches are likely to drop off for a while but the birding should get even more interesting as spring migration 'hots up'.

Blue Sky Thinking

That sums up the weekend just gone for me, lots of lovely blue sky but sod all in it so plenty of time for thinking about what could have been. This October has been really disappointing for visible migration compared to last year. This must be a reflection of a very poor breeding season overall and not just be down to the weather conditions. A few Meadow Pipits went south but precious few finches. Even fewer Redwings were going this way and that, as can happen when they first arrive, but blink and you would miss them. A fair number of Wood Pigeons went south but were probably outnumbered by feral and racing pigeons going in all directions. Best bird of the weekend for me was a single Crossbill going north over Haigh Hall on Sunday morning.

Looking north at my ringing site at Haigh

Nice tree, shame about the empty sky.

Ringing-wise I didn’t do too badly over the weekend with 93 new birds ringed and 24 recaptures processed but this was a result of a lot of effort. The only species present in similar numbers to last year are the Goldfinches in my garden but numbers have built up a month or so later than last year. Even now some of the birds caught are in full juvenile plumage and some adults are still only just completing their moult indicating an extended breeding season and that later broods have been more successful. This has been commented on in other blogs and seems to be the general trend, in the north-west at least. Notable ringing milestones reached for the year were Goldcrest going through the 100 barrier for the first time, a direct result of effective use of MP3 lures and my fascination with them.

Juvenile Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) caught 20/10/12

Ringing sessions over the weekend included: Longshaw, Scotman’s Flash, Haigh Country Park, two short sessions in my garden at Orrell and an hour in a garden in Hindley. Weekend totals were (recaptures in brackets):

Blackcap 1

Blue Tit 16 (8)

Bullfinch 2 (1)

Chaffinch 6

Coal Tit 1 (3)

Goldcrest 11

Goldfinch 15 (1)

Collared Dove 1

Great Tit 6 (5)

Greenfinch 22 (1)

Lesser Redpoll 4

Reed Bunting 2 (1)

Robin 2 (1)

Willow Tit 2

Wren 2

Nuthatch (2)

Dunnock (1)

Total 93 (24)

Anyway it is all going to change from tomorrow. Birds piling in on the east coast today will make their presence felt, followed by more birds pushed by cold weather coming in later in the week. We hope.

Cold weather should make following the satellite tagged Woodcock interesting:

http://www.woodcockwatch.com/index.php They should really start to move.