Retrap Manx Goldfinch highlights an unexpected bumper catch

I went up to Haigh again this morning and met up with John G. We put up 3 nets on what started out as a perfectly calm if slightly misty morning. The mist soon developed into fog which usually reduces catching rates as it makes nets much more visible but today, for some reason, the catches actually increased as the fog rolled in. This was also surprising given the very mild conditions of recent days.

By the end of the morning we had caught 110 birds which bucked the trend of recent visits and is around double the last catch. More than half were retraps which is to be expected at a regularly visited baited site come mid winter.

Retrapping birds is an important element of ringing and one of the retrap Goldfinches was also a control (ringed by others). We first encountered this bird at Haigh last January. It was originally ringed on the Calf of Man, a small island off the southern tip of the Isle of Man and a bird observatory for those of you who don’t know. It was aged as a 1J at the time of ringing which means it was a very recently fledged juvenile and hadn’t moved far from the nest. This makes it a Manx bred bird that has now been caught two winters running at Haigh. What we don’t know is where this bird spends the summer as a breeding adult. Does it stay to breed in the vicinity of Haigh or return to the Calf or elsewhere on the Isle of Man?
 

Manx ringed Goldfinch X211840 caught for the second winter running at Haigh.
A female and quite a dark individual for the species.


View Goldfinch X211840 in a larger map

Ringing totals for 06/01/13 with retraps in brackets.

Blackbird   1 (1)
Blue Tit   5 (15)
Brambling   1 (1)
Chaffinch   5 (2)
Coal Tit   – (5)
Dunnock   – (2)
Goldfinch   4 (3 + 1 control)
Great Tit   4 (12)
Greenfinch   21 (8)
Long-tailed Tit   - (6)
Reed Bunting   2
Robin   4 (4)
Wren   1 (1)
Total   48 (61 + 1 control)

13th October 2012

I went up to Haigh this morning with John G and put up a couple of nets. I have been baiting the area for over a week but was also hoping to draw in some passage birds and more Goldcrests. Passage was very disappointing considering the conditions with very few birds on the move. Only 4 Redpolls were seen 2 of which were caught. Other finches on the move were limited to small numbers of Greenfinches and even fewer Chaffinches and Goldfinches and some of these could have just been local feeding flights rather than migration. The first Fieldfare of the autumn flew north and few Song Thrushes dropped in with 5 or 6 blogging about in the tree tops for a while. Two Blackbirds also dropped in from height typical of migrants and a few Redwings were heard.

Greenfinches topped the totals but 9 Coal Tits and 8 Goldcrests came in a respectable second and third place for new birds ringed.

 

Messy eater, This Greenfinch has clearly been feeding on rose hips.

Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)

 

Haigh Hall Totals
Greenfinch  21
Coal Tit  9 (+4)
Goldcrest  8
Great Tit  5 (+5)
Blue Tit 2  (+5)
Chaffinch  3 (+1)
Nuthatch  1 (+2)
Lesser Redpoll  2
Goldfinch  1
Bullfinch  1
Wren  1
Total  55 (+17)

 

On getting home the calm conditions allowed me to put a net up in the garden; the 11 Goldfinches ringed bringing the total ringed there to 83 so far this autumn. 

Orrell Garden Totals

Goldfinch  11 (+1)
Collared Dove  2
Starling  1
Blackbird  1
Blue Tit  1
Total  16 (+1)

Seeking shelter

A moderately windy day limited my ringing options to the woodland at Haigh Hall. I found a couple of sheltered spots and tried a few different lures but there was little about or passing overhead to call in. I was hoping the good blackberry crop would produce a few late Blackcaps but not a single Blackcap was heard or seen.

It was fairly slow going but I had a new camera to get to grips with and that helped pass the time. Goldcrests topped the totals with 7 ringed bringing the total ringed at Haigh to 34 this month and to 55 for all sites. These birds fascinate me and it will be interesting to see how many October will bring.

Passage overhead was largely limited to small numbers of Meadow Pipits along with a few Swallows and House Martins. However, a Turtle Dove caused me to do a double-take and was a complete surprise given their status these days.

A Southern Hawker was caught in a mist net and gave a photo opportunity as did a sheltering hoverfly and a Speckled Wood. The temperature only just reached levels to make these insects active and then only for very brief periods as clouds rolled by.

Anyway here a few photos taken with the new camera; an Olympus XZ-1 compact.

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

 

Spangle Galls

 

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

 

Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

 

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

 

Hoverfly spp.

 

Hoverfly spp.

 

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea)

 

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea)

Ringing totals for the day were:

Goldcrest 7
Great Tit 3 (1)
Goldfinch 1 (1)
Coal Tit (2)
Wren 1
Dunnock 1
Long-tailed Tit 1
Blue Tit 1
Nuthatch 1
Greenfinch 1
Total 17 new birds and 4 retraps

Blackcap Weekend

Went to Haigh Hall yesterday and today for a few hours and managed to catch a few birds. Yesterday was mainly spent cutting back along some net rides after carefully checking that there were no nests but I did have a couple of nets up for a while.

A bit more effort was put into ringing today with Blackcaps being the main target. One of  the male Blackcaps caught had a largely brown cap that was just flecked with black. I haven't caught a spring male with such a brown cap before.


male Blackcap (Sylivia atricapilla)

   

male Blackcap (Sylivia atricapilla)

 Also ringed a few birds in the garden over the weekend including the first juveniles of House Sparrow and Starling.

Weekend Ringing totals:

Haigh Hall
Blackcap  10
Willow Warbler  1 (1)
Chiffchaff  2
Long-tailed Tit  2 (1)
Goldcrest  1
Blue Tit  1
Bullfinch  1
Blackbird  2
Robin  1
Total  21 (+2 retraps)

Garden
Starling  3
House Sparrow  1
Robin 1
Total 5

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.

Golden day

With the forecast for yet another glorious day and wall to wall sunshine a trip to the baited site at Haigh wasn't likely to produce many birds. I agreed to meet John (Gramauskas) and Mike (Cooper) at 08:30. Early morning starts haven't been productive for a while so a sensible start time was the order of the day and is always appreciated.

We erected two nets and waited to see what the warm weather, slight breeze and bright sunlight on the nets would allow us to catch. The catching rate wasn't too bad for the conditions and resulted in a reasonable catch up to lunchtime.

Highlight of the day was a control (ringed elsewhere) Goldfinch; ring number R695571. It may be a while before we discover where it was ringed but details will be posted in due course. This is the second control Goldfinch caught at Haigh this year.

Control Goldfinch R695571

That wasn't the only Goldfinch of interest. Another was caught wearing an avicultural plastic colour ring. This bird was obviously part of some breeding programme to enhance various plumage features and had presumably been released.

Some of the outer webs of the wing feathers were orange instead of yellow and there was much more white in the tail, especially the sub terminal patches on the inner web of the tail feathers. Some of the primaries were narrower than normal and the colours weren't symmetrical so it probably didn't make the grade and was presumably released by its breeder as a result.



Ex-cage bird showing unusual plumage

I had caught a Chiffchaff at the site just a few days before and what I thought was the same bird was still on territory and singing near the nets but when it was caught it turned out to be a new unringed bird.

Chiffchaff

The final tally for the morning was:

Bullfinch 2

Robin 2

Chaffinch 6

Great Tit 1 (1)

Blue Tit 2 (1)

Lesser Redpoll 1

Goldfinch 3 (3)

Chiffchaff 1

Long-tailed Tit 1

Total 19 new birds and 5 retraps shown in brackets (including the control Goldfinch).

Just before leaving Bryn (the dog) alerted me to a Hedgehog that was stumbling about in the open. It was clearly emaciated and probably on its last legs. I tried offering it water, worms and snails but it made no attempt to eat or drink and stumbled on. As it wasn't prepared or able to eat or drink it was probably beyond any help and may have had other underlying problems.

Sickly Hedgehog