Billinge: 30th September 2016

A relatively cool start with crisp clear skies gave this morning much more of a autumnal feel for a change. I didn't expect to catch much but the three nets produced a better than expected catch of 60 new birds and 2 retraps. Linnets topped the totals with 24 ringed from a flock of at least 100 that were feeding nearby and others that were moving south. There were fewer Goldcrest around than of late but this was partially offset by a good number of Chiffchaffs with the 11 ringed being an excellent total for the last day of September. The only disappointment was that only 1 Meadow Pipit found its way into the nets despite a steady stream of birds going south throughout the morning. Other bits of visible migration noted between net rounds included 50+ Skylarks, 9 Swallows, 8 Siskins, 1 Redpoll and 6 Reed Buntings.

1cy male Linnet

Ringing totals for 30/09/2016 were: Goldcrest 11 (1); Blue Tit 2 (1); Great Tit 5; Coal Tit 1; Chiffchaff 11; Blackcap 1; Dunnock 1; Meadow Pipit 1; Chaffinch 1; Linnet 24; Goldfinch 1; Reed Bunting 1. Total 60 new birds and 2 retraps.

A total of of 778 new birds of 30 species were ringed at the site during September with the top 5 being: Goldcrest 237; Chiffchaff 175; Blackcap 88; Linnet 32; Great Tit 30. It all starts again tomorrow, assuming the weather allows me to get out, and while Goldcrest is likely to remain in the top 5 for October Redwing should top the totals if the last 2 years are anything to go by. I caught the first Redwing of last year on 1st October but doubt that will be repeated this year; however, the weather for Sunday going into Monday is looking interesting and may just see the the first Redwings reaching this part of the country.

1cy female Reed Bunting.
Reed Buntings narrowly failed to make the top 5 in September with 29 ringed. 

8th April 2016: Siskin Surge

Well I didn't have long to wait to find out which way Siskin numbers were going to go as I caught 41 in the garden today, so the simple answer is up and significantly so. I actually went to Billinge first thing this morning and put a few nets up there but I only caught 6 birds as there was nothing moving, apart from 1 Swallow north (I had been hoping for some Redpoll passage), so I packed up early and a good job too. I got home just before 10am and set the usual 6m net in the garden with the first Siskins being caught as soon as I stepped away from the net. I furled the net just before noon having caught total of 21 new and 2 retrap Siskins which is an excellent total for the garden.

I opened the net again for an hour late in the afternoon and caught another 14 new birds and 4 retraps bringing the day total to 35 new birds and 6 retraps which is a record Siskin catch for the garden. There was a broad mix of weights with some fairly light birds that were carrying very little fat but at the other end of the scale there were some whoppers including one at 17.2g which is the heaviest I have caught this spring and 5.5g heavier than today's lightest bird.

Another fine adult male Siskin

I also received two recovery reports for Siskins from the BTO during the afternoon. Unfortunately both birds had collided with windows but then the finding details provide useful information on the hazards birds face in addition to the information on movements.

Siskin S144588               28/02/2016 Orrell, Greater Manchester
Freshly dead (hit glass)   05/04/2016 Lochearnhead, Stirling, Perthshire, 334km NNW, duration 37 days

Siskin S144699               13/03/2016  Orrell, Greater Manchester
Freshly dead (hit glass)   29.03/2016 Morpeth, Northumberland, 195km NNE, duration 16 days

Recovery map to be added here in due course.

While this morning's visit to Billnge didn't produce many birds it wasn't without interest. I did catch my first 2 Willow Warblers of the year with one of them being a retrap from last year. A new adult Willow Tit was worth the visit on its own, such is the scarcity of the species these days, and a standardised set of photographs and extra measurements were taken as I usually do for this species. The other birds caught were a 2 new Chiffchaff and a new Linnet so not a bad little catch really and a good start to what turned out to be a brilliant day.

Willow Warbler 08/04/2016

Willow Tit 08/04/2016

Female Linnet 08/04/2016

9th April 2016: Siskin Update
I didn't think I would be able to open the net in the garden as it was too sunny but increasing cloud cover provided two brief opportunities in the afternoon (there was a useless sunny slot in between that caused me to furl the net for a couple of hours). There were plenty of Siskins around and another 23 were caught (20 new birds, 2 retraps and a control). The retraps didn't include any of the birds ringed yesterday and one had been ringed in the garden on 29/03/16 and the other 2km away at Billinge Hill on 13/09/15. The latter being quite surprising as it is the second Billinge bird to turn up in the garden this month from only 19 ringed there last autumn. The control was a male and the ring was from a fairly old sequence (Y281---) so it will be interesting to see when and where it was ringed.

Low 'Vis' Weekend

The weather forecast for the weekend had been looking really good with a large ridge of high pressure positioned over the country and the prospects of clear blue skies. The conditions looked like they would be perfect for migrants to be on the move at Billinge and I was hopeful of getting my first good catch of Meadow Pipits of the autumn. I was really keen to make the most of the weather and was up early on Saturday and had 3 nets set by first light. It was a bit misty but I expected that to burn off quickly once the sun was up. Unfortunately the mist lingered and got worse with visibility restricted to around 2 miles for the first couple of hours or so.

The low visibility had its impact on diurnal migrants and only a few pipits, wagtails and finches pushed through. The bushes seemed to be fairly quiet but there was another little rush of Goldcrests first thing with all but 1 of the 14 ringed being caught in the first hour. One of the Goldcrests was unusual in that it had a slightly longer and down-curved bill that give it a striking appearance. A few Chiffchaffs moved through later in the morning when the mist had started to lift with one being a control and the 3 new Robins were all likely to be migrants. There were a few more Linnets around than of late with birds moving between nearby feeding areas and a few of these were intercepted towards the end of the session.

The bill of this Goldcrest was a bit longer and heavier looking than normal but it was the down curve that made it look really unusual.

Its unusual bill has a little bit of a Treecreeperesque look to it.

Control Chiffchaff HVR169.

Small numbers of migrant Robins have been a feature of recent visits. The site doesn't have many resident Robins and the few there are don't usually frequent the ringing areas so any new Robins that are caught are pretty much guaranteed to be migrants.

Ringing totals (retraps/controls in brackets) for 19/09/15 were: Meadow Pipit 2; Grey Wagtail 2; Robin 3; Blackcap 1; Chiffchaff 5 (2); Goldcrest 14; Chaffinch 1; Linnet 6; Lesser Redpoll 3 (2). Total 37 new birds, 3 retraps and 1 control.

There was meant to be a bit more of a breeze on Sunday and I hoped that would help keep the mist away but when I got up I could see it was foggy and not just misty. I thought twice about going out given the conditions as I knew the fog would make the nets much more visible. Anyway I decided to give it a go just in case the fog lifted when the sun came up.

I put up the usual nets and caught 2 Blackcaps and 2 Goldcrests in the half light but then the fog started to have more impact as the light levels rose. I didn't catch anything in the next net round and thought about packing up but I decided to give it just a bit longer on the off chance the fog would clear. At about the same time a flock of about 50 Linnets gathered in the trees near one of the nets so I decided to play a lure and they immediately came down to investigate. On checking the net I found I had caught 18 Linnets and while I think the fog made the lure more effective it also made the net much more visible so both helped and hindered the catch at the same time.

All bar one of the Linnets caught were first year birds like this bird. The partially concealed red feathers on the breast show this bird is a male. 

1CY Linnet.
By the end of the morning there was a flock of about 90 feeding in a nearby field. 

The conditions slowly improved as the morning wore on but it came too late to stimulate much in the way of movement. Matters weren't helped by lingering fog that affected some of the surrounding areas, especially towards the north and east of the site. The final total of 47 birds was very good given the conditions and was largely due to the 25 Linnets that were caught. 

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 20/09/15 were: Sparrowhawk 1; Robin 2 (1); Blackcap 3; Chiffchaff 3; Goldcrest 6; Blue Tit 1; Greenfinch 1; Linnet 25; Lesser Redpoll 3; Yellowhammer 1. Total 46 new birds and 1 retrap.

Juvenile female Sparrowhawk. Always a delight to catch and always a bit of a handful.

Sparrowhawks often manage to climb out of nets just when you are nearing them and females, being larger, usually find it easier to escape than males. Luckily this one didn't get away but it got very close to doing so.

Now look into my eyes, my eyes.

Frankenfinch

What I thought would be a terrific weekend for Tree Pipits turned out to be a bit of a disappointment in that regard with a total of only 5 caught over both days. Surprisingly at least 10 were moving south yesterday despite showers coming in off Liverpool Bay compared to just 3 in the the wall to wall sunshine of this morning. Anyway another 5 ringed is better than none and I still think there is a chance of some good movements to come.

The bird of the weekend turned out to be something completely different and was a bird I had never seen before. However, it wasn't a rarity and was instantly recognisable as a hybrid Greenfinch x Linnet or Linnet x Greenfinch. There was no reason to believe it was an escape as it wasn't ringed or showing any indications of ever having been kept in captivity. It is a first year bird and still undergoing its post juvenile moult with Linnet being the most dominant plumage type coming through. The legs were also more Linnet like but the bill is closer to that of your typical Greenfinch and it also called like a Greenfinch on release. A strange bird indeed and you can see some plumage and structural characteristics of the two species in the photographs below.

More of a juvenile Linnet type head plumage but with a Greenfinch type bill.

Bill and head shape are like that of a Greenfinch, mantle and wing coverts like a Linnet and primaries with yellow outer webs like Greenfinch.

Tail was a bit of a mixture of Linnet and Greenfinch patterns with some yellow just showing

Odd looking to say the least.

Size-wise it was a bit bigger than a Linnet but a bit more slender than your typical Greenfinch.

The primaries are quite Greenfinch like and the wing length of 86 mm is within the normal range for Greenfinch but at the very top of the range for Linnet.

Not Frankenstein's monster but certainly an odd job of a bird that looks pieced together. 

You have got to be in it to Linnet

A couple of evenings ago I decided to see if I could catch some Linnets at the site near Billinge. There are plenty of juvenile Linnets about now and I thought I may be catch a few and test out a new net ride at the same time. The net ride is in a dense patch of self-seeded willows and is fairly close to where there is a good breeding population of Linnets so I thought it was worth a try. I was working on the assumption that the juveniles from the early broods would be roosting in the area and could be attracted to a playback lure as they returned from feeding areas to roost.

While the conditions were good for ringing they were even better for flies and both me and the dog were soon being plagued by them. Most were what I would describe as housefly like sweat flies but while they distracted you in their hundreds the clegs and other biting insects quietly moved in for a blood meal, it was horrible. It was so bad I really wished I had one of those daft looking hats with the mesh that covers your head or a full beekeepers outfit for that matter. I hadn't brought any insect repellent with me either as every fly in the area quickly found out when they homed in on me and the dog.

I put the net up as quickly as the flies would allow and set a lure playing Linnet song. It wasn't long before I caught the first birds- a Linnet, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Reed Bunting; juvenile Chiifchaffs have a really curious nature and seem to be attracted to just about any playback lure as these 2 were. I then heard a Willow Tit call once from some scrub a little distance away so I put another lure out playing Willow Tit calls and within seconds another wandering juvenile Willow Tit was caught. Not a bad start despite all the flies.

Testing out the new net ride.

Juvenile Linnet

A few Swallows started feed above the willows which wasn't surprising given the number of flies so I decided to play a Swallow lure in addition to Linnet and it wasn't long before an adult Swallow found its way into the net. The number of Swallows increased until around 50 or 60 were present and it soon looked like they may actually settle down to roost in the willows. This was a bit of a surprise as I normally associate Swallow roosts with reed beds or fields of maize and much later in the summer and autumn. The Swallows did settle to roost in another patch of willows that were only 1 to 2 metres tall and I was even able to see some of the birds sat in the upper twigs, a most unexpected sight.

Ringing totals for Wednesday evening (25/06/14): Reed Bunting 1, Linnet 2, Willow Tit 1, Bullfinch 1, Chiffchaff 2, Willow Warbler 1, Swallow 4.

I went back again yesterday evening and tried a net in a different place for the Linnets and another for the Swallows but keeping well away from the bushes the Swallows roosted in the previous night. It was a bit breezier and the flies were much less of a problem plus I had come prepared with plenty of insect repellent. I think I had probably set up a little too late for the Linnets but I still caught 3 (2 juvs and an adult male). A similar number of Swallows gathered but this time 11 were caught because I had set a net in a more open area of willows.

Interestingly 4 of the 15 Swallows caught over the two evenings were adult males with the remainder being juveniles. I can only presume this is some form of nursery roost and the adult females are incubating eggs or brooding chicks from second nesting attempts in buildings on the surrounding farms. Obviously this is just speculation and perhaps some adults and the young from the early broods are simply preparing to migrate already?? Whatever the reason it is certainly the earliest summer Swallow roost I have ever seen by some margin and shows there is still so much we don't actually know about many of our common birds.

Juvenile Swallow. All the juveniles had prominent yellow gape flanges like this bird indicating they had fledged fairly recently.

Ringing totals for Thursday evening (26/06/14): Linnet 3, Goldfinch 2, Blackbird 1, Whitethroat 3, Swallow 11.

Although Linnets were the original target I am just as pleased to have found such an early Swallow roost along with the general mix of birds ringed over the two evenings. It is still very early in the season yet so I may catch more Linnets later in the summer and through into the autumn as the number of juveniles in the population increases. I will be back to find out and I may even invest in one of those sensible hats to get some chemical free protection from the flies.

18th to 24th June summary

It has been a week since my last post and I have to say that my efforts over that period have been far more productive and interesting than those of the England football team. I have put in what you might call a solid performance to use football parlance and have ringed 88 new birds of 18 species over the last seven days.

It hasn't all been ringing though as I have also found a few nests and there have been some interesting observations along the way. Best of the bird sightings were an adult Hobby over Crawford (22nd) and a few Curlews moving back towards the coast over Billinge Hill (one on 23rd and four on 24th). Below are some random photographs from the past few days that make for much better viewing than the football did, well they do for me at least.

The weather has been glorious this last week and this female Common Toad risked being caught out in the sun while crossing a track. I presume she was trying to find damper and cooler ground on what was a very hot afternoon.

I don't catch Goldcrests in juvenile plumage very often and I always think they look a bit odd without the yellow/orange crest. This was one of 4 caught together with an adult at the site near Upholland and indicates that they are breeding nearby.

OK it is only a bramble patch but this one held the Linnets nest shown in the photo below.

This is the second nest of a pair of Linnets that fledged a brood in early June. I will check the nest at weekly intervals to see how this breeding attempt goes.

This is the first Tree Sparrow I have ringed this year and was also caught at the new ringing site near Upholland. I have seen or heard a few Tree Sparrows on every visit to this site so I will hopefully catch a few more.

Treecreepers have an interesting shape to their eyes and this juvenile prompted me to take a closer look. The reason for the elongated shape only becomes apparent when you look at it from the back as if it was climbing up a tree. The shape and position of the eye allows them to see over their backs as you can see in the pictures below.

This bird may have its back to me but it can see me with both eyes without having to turn its head. This has obvious advantages for a bird that spends most of its life shuffling up trees.

Most predators are going to try and attack a Treecreeper from behind and this closeup shows the reason for that eye shape.  If you can see the eyes the eyes can see you and this adaptation clearly gives the bird the extra peripheral vision that it needs to help it try and avoid predators. I have noticed the elongated eye shape on Treecreepers before but this is the first time I have taken a closer look and worked out why.

A few more Willow Tits have found their way into the nets. This juvenile shows that diagnostic wing panel on the secondaries really well.

When I first spotted this nest I didn't think it was occupied. In fact it looked like an old nest that was starting to fall apart. Then I noticed a few white splashes below the nest so I decided to climb up and have a look. You can't tell from the photo but it was only about 20ft up in a willow.

It was well worth the climb as I found myself face to face with 5 Sparrowhawk chicks. From the ground the nest didn't look to be big enough for a Sparrowhawk and these 5 youngsters won't have much room as they grow. 

This Wood Pigeon has certainly gone out on a limb with this nest. There can't be much to hold it on there if anything at all. It just looked so out of place.

That gives you a flavour of my week, a good performance with plenty of interest and far more to marvel at than the sorry results from the England football team.

18th to 24th June Ringing Totals with retraps in brackets.
Blackcap  11
Whitethroat  4
Willow Warbler  6 (1)
Chiffchaff  4
Goldcrest  5
Meadow Pipit  2
Willow Tit  4 (1)
Blue Tit  4
Great Tit  7
Dunnock  4
Robin  3
Chaffinch  6
Greenfinch  5
Goldfinch  1
Tree Sparrow  1
Blackbird  1
Starling  19
Treecreeper  1
Total 88 (2)

Monday 07/10/13

I took the day off work as I had to take the dog to the vets before he chewed one of his legs off. He had developed a skin complaint on one of his back legs and it wasn’t improving on its own or with any of our remedies. I also needed to sort out a few other things that can only be done and chased up in the 9 to 5, Monday to Friday world.

On the plus side the moth trap finally turned up a decent migrant moth in the form of a Vestal. It was only the fourth I have ever caught in the garden but my joy was short lived when my attempt to photograph it failed miserably. I have photographed them before but as I won’t use old photographs in my blog you will have to click here if you want to know what they look like.

This evening I wandered up to Longshaw to see how many Linnets were roosting in the willows. There is a roost there every autumn and that is what first drew me to the site but numbers vary year to year depending on the crops planted in the area. As things turned out there weren’t many Linnets in the roost but I still caught a few bird including 4 Linnets.

Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)

The one and only Chiffchaff caught was interesting in that the end of its tail had broken off. I have mentioned fault barring in previous posts and that this can lead to feathers breaking along the line of weakness and here was potentially a good example. The impact on the bird will vary with the location of the break but will never be good even in a minor example like this one. The broken feathers will not be replaced until the next moult which could be 6 or 12 months away depending on the species involved. 

Chiffchaff tail 07/10/13.

The weather is likely to take a turn for the worse towards the end of the week so I am not sure when I will post again. It could be good for Little Auks if the northerlies are strong enough on the coast and probably some winter thrushes by the end of the week too.