Tree Pipits come to the fore

The last couple of days have seen a marked increase in the number of Tree Pipits on the move at Billinge with a minimum of 10 recorded yesterday and 30+ today. It is not easy to keep track of numbers when you are busy ringing and it doesn't help that many don't call when flying over so I am sure I will have missed a few on both days. The increase in numbers on the move was also reflected in the ringing totals with 5 ringed yesterday and another 12 today.

Today's total of 12 ringed is the 2nd highest day total for the site and has only been bettered twice; on 14/08/14 and 17/08/15 with 13 ringed on both of those dates. Half of today's Tree Pipits were adults which is quite unusual but it gave me an opportunity to photograph some of the plumage features used when ageing birds in autumn. More information on ageing Tree Pipits can be found here, here and here (the latter being the best in my opinion) They are fairly straightforward to age once you get your eye in and fully understand their moult, especially if you get to handle quite a few, but I would say they are not as easy to age as Meadow Pipits.

S881408 1cy Tree Pipit. The fringes of the unmoulted median and greater coverts are quite worn and very pale (a cold bleached straw colour) when compared with those of the adult below and is probably from an early brood. It should be noted that the margins of median coverts and greater coverts of juveniles from later brood are less worn and can be more olive-buff like adults.

S881401 Adult (2cy+) Tree Pipit. Adults have fresher and more olive-buff fringed median and greater coverts.

S881401 2cy+ Tree Pipit. This adult was interesting in that it hadn't replaced 2 lesser coverts which stand out as being very worn and bleached.

S881401 2cy Tree Pipit. A closer look at those retained lesser coverts. They are very worn and have a narrow and bleached white fringe and shouldn't be mistaken for retained juvenile feathers. Birds like this can easily trap the inexperienced and unwary.

S881401 2cy+ Tree Pipit tail. Fresher and generally more pointed than the typical juvenile tail except for the central pair which are usually a bit more rounded when fresh compared to the central pair of a worn juvenile (see tail of S881408 below) but be aware some juveniles replace the central pair of tail feathers.

S881408 1cy Tree Pipit wing. This bird hasn't replaced any of the median coverts, greater coverts or tertials so there are no obvious moult limits to make ageing easy. Even the outer row of lesser coverts are all old. You just have to rely on wear and colour with birds like this.

S881408 1cy Tree Pipit tail

S881410 2cy+ Tree Pipit tail.

S881410 2cy+ Tree Pipit wing.

Ringing totals for 20/08/17 were: Sparrowhawk 1; Goldcrest 3; Blue Tit 9; Chiffchaff 6; Willow Warbler 15 (1); Blackcap 1; Whitethroat 2; Treecreeper 1; Wren 1; Tree Pipit 5; Chaffinch 1; Linnet 2; Goldfinch 2.

Ringing totals for 21/08/17 were: Chiffchaff 2 (1); Willow Warbler 6 (1); Whitethroat 1; Nuthatch 1; Tree Pipit 12; Chaffinch 4; Bullfinch 2.

Juvenile male Sparrowhawk 20/08/17

Juvenile male Sparrowhawk 20/08/17

Nuthatch 21/08/17

A few more Tree Pipits

It was back to early starts at Billinge yesterday following a break that had been enforced by wet and windy weather. The first Tree Pipit was seen heading south at sunrise and the morning was punctuated by the calls of others passing over. A total of 19 were logged making it the best count of the autumn so far. Unfortunately a better movement didn't translate into more being caught and only 2 were ringed.

Tree Pipit

Willow Warblers put in a reasonable showing with 11 ringed but both Chiffchaff and Blackcap were present in lower numbers than is usual for late August. Blackcaps have been thin on the ground throughout August, after a very good showing in July, and some other ringers are also reporting lower numbers of Blackcaps than expected at their sites. It will interesting to see how the season pans out for this species.

Blackcap

Coal Tits are starting to get more vocal and mobile now and they can give the impression of being on passage but most probably don't go very far. The supporting cast of less frequently caught species included another Willow Tit (6th of the year) and more surprisingly another Nuthatch (3rd of the year).

Male Coal Tit

Willow Tit

Nuthatch

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 23rd August 2016 were: Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 2 (2); Coal Tit 2; Willow Tit 1; Chiffchaff 1 (1); Willow Warbler 11; Blackcap 3; Whitethroat 2; Nuthatch 1; Robin 1; Tree Pipit 2; Chaffinch 7; Bullfinch 1; Reed Bunting 1. Total 37 new birds ad 6 retraps.

This morning started off a bit breezier than expected and it forced me to set the nets in a different configuration and further apart than usual to get the best shelter from the north westerly breeze. The extra walking between the nets and rapidly rising temperature made for a real Betty Swollocks of a ringing session. The breeze did drop off a bit as the morning went on but by the time it did it wasn't worth moving any of the nets back to the usual setup so I just had to sweat. 

There were fewer Tree Pipits on the move with a total of 10 recorded but more found their way into the nets and 5 were caught. It seems the Tree Pipit gods have limited me to a maximum catch of 5 in any one session this autumn, regardless of how many are moving through or how much effort I put in. That is the way it goes sometimes but I have still managed to ring 38 so far this month and I will keep up the effort until passage fizzles out.

Tree Pipit

The remainder of the catch didn't include any real surprises although the juvenile Tree Sparrow is fairly unusual if not unprecedented for the site. Small parties of Tree Sparrows are occasionally recorded passing over in autumn but they are rarely tempted to drop in.

Juvenile Tree Sparrow

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 24th August 2016 were: Goldcrest 2; Great Tit 2; Chiffchaff 4 (1); Willow Warbler 7; Blackcap 4 (1); Whitethroat 3; Blackbird 1; Song Thrush 2; Dunnock 1; Tree Sparrow 1; Tree Pipit 5; Chaffinch 8; Total 40 new birds and 2 retraps.

5th April 2015

Although the weather has improved it has thrown another spanner in the works in the form of fog. I went to Crawford yesterday morning and it was grey to say the least. Summer visitors are still thin on the ground but I have been keeping the nyger feeders going there in the hope of a few Redpolls joining the Goldfinches so it was the best option for ringing some birds. I put a couple of nets up as the fog wasn't too thick and more importantly wasn't condensing on the vegetation so wouldn't be a problem on the nets; however the generally grey conditions still made them that bit more visible. A few Goldfinches and a couple of Lesser Redpolls came to the feeders but they all managed to avoid the nets. After a couple of hours and with the fog only lifting slowly I packed up having ringed just 3 birds - 2 Yellowhammers and 1 Dunnock.

A foggy view over the farmland at Crawford yesterday morning.

Male and female Yellowhammers. When you see a pair like this it is hard to believe that some can be difficult to sex.

Male and female Yellowhammers.

The sun came out in the afternoon so I went to have a look at a Nuthatch nest that my son had found the day before. The tree the birds are nesting in is close to a path so they are accustomed to people passing by and I thought that may give me a chance to get some photographs. I wasn't disappointed and the female returned to work on the nest with us standing about 12 metres away.

The birds have picked a natural cavity and at first glance didn't appear to have narrowed the entrance with mud as they usually do.

When the bird went inside I could see she had plastered it up with mud on the inside and had only left a small hole which she really had to squeeze through to get into the nest chamber. The birds wing stretched out over her back as she forced her way in.

Taking a peek while she adds a bit more mud to the already tight entrance to the nesting chamber. There is quite a wall of mud in there.

The bird then squeezed its way out shutting its eyes in the process.

Made it.

Gardenfare to start with ......

This could have been three posts rather than one but this is my attempt at stringing them together. A real dump of snow closed the M6 overnight and brought overall snow levels to around a foot deep. A Fieldfare which took up residence in the garden on Tuesday continued to eat and guard all the apples I have been putting out on a daily basis. It drives all the Blackbirds out of the garden as soon as they appear and won't tolerate them anywhere near the apples. There had been up to 8 Blackbirds feeding in the garden on a daily basis prior to the Fieldfare moving in but they don't get much of a look in now.




Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)



Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

I started taking photos of the Fieldfare from an upstairs window at first but it allowed me to go into the garden and approach it to within 4 metres; a stunning bird. The garden was quite busy with other birds coming to the feeders and I also  managed to get a good photo of Siskin and Pied Wagtail in the process but my focus was really on the Fieldfare.



Siskin, (Carduelis spinus)

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii)

Satisfied I had some good shots of the Fieldfare I walked over to Orrell Water Park. The German ringed Black-headed Gull was still present on the lower lake and was the only ringed bird out of about 110 Black-headed Gulls present. A group of 9 Moorhens were stood on the ice and looked rather forlorn. There were 12 Coot present and I watched one dive down and lift a cluster of muscles on to the ice (presumably zebra muscles) and eat each muscle whole.



Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus)



Coot (Fulica atra)

Coot (Fulica atra)

After lunch I went up to my baited site at Haigh to top up the feeders. I put up one 60ft net while I was there and caught 44 birds over the next couple of hours or so. All of the birds caught were in good condition and some were carrying good fat deposits. Only 8 birds were ringed with the other 36 being retraps. A new Redwing was the first for they year as were a retrap Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.


Redwing (Turdus ilicacus)

Nuthatch (Sitta europea)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

Ringing totals 26/01/12 with retraps in brackets.
Redwing 1
Blackbird 1
Brambling 2 (4)
Chaffinch 3 (2)
Robin 1 (1)
Blue Tit - (10)
Greenfinch - (6)
Great Tit - (3)
Coal Tit - (4)
Nuthatch - (1)
Long-tailed Tit - (3)
Great-spotted Woodpecker - (1)
Goldfinch - (1)
Totals 8 new and 36 retraps.

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