October 2017

A session at Billinge on the last day of the month produced a catch of 38 birds and was made up of 36 new birds, a retrap and a control. There were a few Goldcrests in every net round and they easily took top slot with 24 ringed. There weren't many thrushes moving but a Fieldfare found its way into a net and was the first to be ringed this autumn. Just a couple of Lesser Redpolls were caught but I was pleased to discover that one of them was a control (a bird ringed elsewhere) so it will be interesting to find out where that one has come from.

The control Lesser Redpoll was an adult female with ring number S341203.

Ringing totals (retraps/controls in brackets) for 31/10/17 were; Great Spotted Woodpecker 1; Goldcrest 24; Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 1 (1); Fieldfare 1; Redwing 7; Lesser Redpoll 1 (1).

A total of 746 birds were ringed at Billinge during October which is disappointing by that site's standards and is roughly half the total achieved in previous years. The main reason for this has been the lack of easterly winds which has resulted in much lower numbers of Redwings and Goldcrests passing through the site. However, Redwing and Goldcrest were still the most numerous species ringed by far and they topped the totals for the month with 292 and 259 respectively. Song Thrush came in third with 50 followed by Lesser Redpoll with 29 and Blackbird with 21. At the other end of the scale a Tawny Owl was only the second to be ringed at the site and a Firecrest was only the third ringing and sighting record of that species.

That's more like it.

Things have been relatively quiet at Billinge since my last post but that changed this morning with the biggest movement of Redwings of the autumn so far. I was kept busy ringing and didn't have time to look up very often so the 1500+ I managed to record was probably less than half the number that actually went through. There weren't many other thrushes with them and only half a dozen Song Thrush were noted along with a couple of small groups of Fieldfares; Blackbirds were surprisingly scarce and no migrants were seen or heard.

There were a good number of Goldcrests around with 22 being caught but they were eclipsed by a Firecrest, which is even rarer than Yellow-browed Warbler at the site. I have ringed over 2,200 Goldcrests in the past 4 years but Firecrests have remained stubbornly scarce and today's is only the 3rd record. When I first realised the site was so good for migrating Goldcrests I thought there was a chance that one or two Firecrests would occasionally tag along with them but that hasn't proven to be the case.

1cy male Firecrest 19/10/17

Other birds around included: a Hawfinch seen flying south by CAD; 2 or possibly just 1 rapidly moving Yellow-browed Warbler that was heard briefly by myself and shortly after by CAD on the other side of the site but didn't hang around long enough for either of us to get any views; 4 Bramblings seen by CAD were the first of the autumn; 2 Swallows, also seen by CAD, are obviously quite late for that species.

Ringing totals for 19/10/17 were: Goldcrest 22; Firecrest 1; Great Tit 1; Blackcap 1; Song Thrush 2; Redwing 53; Chaffinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 5; Goldfinch 1. A total of 87 new birds.

A late morning Firecrest

The forecast was for near calm conditions so I headed up to Billinge again this morning. I arrived half an hour later than planned and Redwings were already leaving their roost before I had time to get the first of the three nets up. So not the best start to the day but at least the forecast was spot on with hardly a leaf turning on any of the trees.

The first net round only produced 1 Blackbird and clearly wasn't helped by the late start which mean't I had missed the best chance of catching some Redwings. The catching rate remained fairly slow for the next couple rounds although there was some quality with a Fieldfare and a Grey Wagtail finding their way into the nets. The Grey Wagtail was a big surprise as there are no water bodies at the site and it must have been attracted to the size 11 puddles in the muddy part of the net ride where it was caught. There didn't seem to be any Goldcrests around to help make up the numbers and it was a little after 8am before the first 2 were caught.

The catching rate didn't really improve as the morning went on but another Fieldfare, a couple of Lesser Redpoll and a few more Goldcrests provided just enough interest to keep me going. Things then ground to a halt with nothing captured for a good hour and I was thinking about packing up when 2 Goldcrests and a Firecrest turned up in the nets. This encouraged me to stay on longer and another 3 Goldcrest were ringed, bringing their total to a respectable ten. When I eventually went to take the nets down a flock of Long-tailed Tits had been just been caught and gave the ringing totals a last minute of extra time boost. Sticking with it certainly paid off in the end with the Firecrest being the stand out highlight.

1CY female Firecrest, this is only the 2nd Firecrest to be ringed at the site making them rarer than Yellow-browed Warblers! 

Information from other ringers suggests there has been a small influx of Firecrests into the region in recent days.

A cracking little bird and one that made today's ringing session even more worthwhile.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 13/11/2016 were: Goldcrest 10; Firecrest 1; Blue Tit 1; Long-tailed Tit 9; Wren 1; Blackbird 5 (1); Fieldfare 2; Grey Wagtail; 1 Bullfinch 1 (1); Lesser Redpoll 2. Total 33 new birds and 2 retraps.

While I catch quite a few Grey Wagtails during their peak passage in September this was the first I have caught at the site in November and without the aid of an audio lure.

Firecrest and only a year late.

One scarce bird that I expected to find at Billinge last autumn was a Firecrest and I thought it was even more likely when it became apparent that large numbers of Goldcrests migrated through the site. Well I didn't see or hear one last autumn but one finally turned up today amongst another wave of Goldcrests, and a cracking male at that. With southeasterly winds forecast for the next few days there might be one or two more nice surprises like this with any luck.

Male Firecrest

A new species for the ringing site.

Another 22 Goldcrests were ringed today and only 1 was retrapped; a bird ringed 3 days ago. The lightest bird weighed 4.9g and the heaviest was 6.1g with the heavier birds being fat enough to undertake an overnight flight and migrate some distance. A weight of 5.0g is about average for a Goldcrest and most were above that so will be moving on pretty quickly, probably tonight.

Other birds caught were in line with recent visits although 4 Coal Tits perhaps hinted at some movement in that species. There was a bit more movement overhead today, although I didn't have time to do any counts, with a Tree Pipit being the highlight. 

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 26/09/15 were: Meadow Pipit 7; Robin 3; Blackcap 2; Chiffchaff 8; Goldcrest 22 (1); Firecrest 1; Great Tit 2, Coal Tit 4; Goldfinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 8. Total 58 new birds and 1 retrap.