Billinge: 25th to 29th August 2016 and a couple of recoveries.

I have managed to get out every morning recently and the results can be seen in the table below. Only 3 nets were deployed each time but there was some chopping and changing between the net rides used each day depending on the wind speed and direction and, just as importantly, the forecast cloud cover.

Retraps in brackets.

Monitoring the movements of Tree Pipits at the site has been the main reason behind these daily visits with counts being as important as the numbers caught. There was a decent movement on the 25th when at least 18 went south; counts for the following days were 5+ (26th), 10 (27th), 5 (28th) and 1 (29th).

The 10 Tree Pipits ringed over the last 5 days brings the total ringed in August to 48.

While the autumn passage of Tree Pipits usually extends from early August to late September, in this area, the bulk of migration takes place in the last 3 weeks of August and generally peaks in the 3rd week of the month. Many people think of Tree Pipits as being a September migrant but most will have left our shores by then.

Willow Warblers continued to outnumber Chiffchaffs during the period as a whole, only just, but that should change once we get into September. Both Chiffchaff and Blackcap have been present in relatively low numbers during August and there is no sign of that changing at present so it will be really interesting to see what happens with them next month.

On the other hand Goldcrests have been caught in higher numbers than usual and the 20 ringed over the last 5 days brings the total for the month to 36 which is more than double last August's total. If that is replicated in September and October then we could be in for another bumper Goldcrest autumn without any influx of birds from the continent.

Male Goldcrest

Goldcrest

Less usual captures over the period included 2 Tree Sparrows 25th, single Spotted Flycatchers 25th & 29th and a Redstart 29th. To put the capture of the 2 Spotted Flycatchers into context a check of the BTO online ringing reports revealed that only 3 were ringed in the whole of the recording area of Lancashire and North Merseyside in 2013 followed by 7 in 2014 and just 3 again in 2015, so a very infrequently ringed bird at a county level.

First year Spotted Flycatcher

First year male Redstart

Recent recoveries included a first year Willow Warbler ringed at Billinge on 6th August that was controlled 8 days later on the south coast at Durlston Country Park in Dorset. This site in Dorset saw some large arrivals of Willow Warblers in early August with the largest fall being on the 5th when 210 were ringed. Details of the ringing totals for Durlston Country Park can be found on the Trektellen website (link here).

JTA193         Willow Warbler
Ringed          06/08/16   Billinge Hill, Merseyside
Controlled    14/08/16   Durlston Country Park, Dorset. 329 km S, duration 8 days.

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Details were also received of a Siskin that was ringed in the garden in February and caught by a ringer in Drummond, Inverness, Highland in July.

S144547        Siskin
Ringed          25/02/16   near Orrell, Greater Manchester
Controlled    03/07/16   Drummond, Inverness, Highland. 448 km NW, duration 129 days.

Rapid recovery report and an early juv Starling

I received a recovery report for a Lesser Redpoll this afternoon, which is not that surprising given how many I ringed last autumn, but what was surprising is that it was controlled at 06:55 this morning and the details were emailed to me just over six hours later, now that is a rapid turnaround for a recovery report. Hats off to the ringer who controlled it and to the BTO for the quick work.

Another more interesting point is that it is still so far south given the date. This bird was migrating south when caught at Billinge last autumn so is likely to head back this way at some point and it may have been on passage when controlled in Devon this morning. Coincidentally I was out at Billinge this morning and did have 3 Lesser Redpolls going north. I only caught one of them but it was a fat bird and weighed 14.4g so is likely to be heading up to Scotland to breed. There hasn't been a particular good passage of Redpolls at Billinge this spring which is a bit of a surprise given how many went south last autumn. Perhaps there are quite a few that have still to make their way back north?

Z854373      Lesser Redpoll
Ringed        23/09/2015  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled   04/05/2016  Buttercombe Barton, Devon. 280 km SSW. Duration: 224 days




Another bit of news from today is that I saw my first juvenile Starling in the garden this evening. I knew they were breeding earlier compared with last year but I have never seen a fledged juvenile so early in May before. It will be interesting to see how many young each pair have once more start to follow their parents into the garden.

It took me by surprise and didn't stay long and that is my excuse for only getting a rubbish photo.

Siskin and Chiffchaff recoveries and a Starling update.

Recent recoveries included the one and only Siskin controlled in the garden and it had been ringed near Loch Lomond last summer. It was aged as a first year bird when ringed so may have been reared in that part of Scotland.

Y281983 Siskin
Ringed        19/06/2015  Cnoc, Argyll & Bute.
Controlled   09/04/2016  near Orrell, Greater Manchester, 324 km south, duration 295 days.




I did manage to catch a few more Siskins in the garden on the 19th (7 new and 2 retrap) and they included the heaviest I have ever caught, weighing in at whopping 18.1g. There were at least 3 visiting the feeders yesterday but none were seen today so it looks like they have all finally headed back to the breeding grounds.


I also received details of a Chiffchaff that had been ringed on Billinge Hill last autumn and was controlled at the new bird observatory on Alderney, Channel Islands earlier this spring (link here).

JDH878  Chiffchaff
Ringed         03/10/2015  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled    30/03/2016  Essex farm, Alderney, Channel Islands, 423 km south, duration 179 days.




My suspicions about the local Starlings were correct and quite a few pairs are feeding young now. More than 24 different adults have been recorded collecting food in the garden in the past couple of days so it is not just a case of the odd advanced pair. Last spring was quite cold and it was the beginning of May before this level of activity had been reached so this year's milder conditions have brought the breeding season forward by a good 10 days compared to last year. It will be interesting to see if Starlings have got off to a similar early start in other parts of the country.

More recoveries and a Waxwing update

Notification came through of some additional recoveries and the following are some of the more interesting (to me at least). I should say all recoveries are of value and provide useful information but it is always good to share details of long distance movements or birds that have lived to a good age.

Magpie ET04848 was ringed as a first year bird at Pennington Flash, near Leigh on 28/09/2002 and was found dead in Leigh on 18/01/2015. It was reported as being a road casualty which is quite unusual for an adult of this species. Magpies are clever birds and take advantage of road kill as food but experienced birds don't usually get hit by cars themselves. It will have been around twelve and a half years old when it died which is not a bad age for a Magpie and it must have dodged plenty of cars during its life.

Chiffchaff CDJ970 was ringed as a first year bird at Longshaw, near Orrell on 02/10/2011 and was controlled at Etang-de-Moisan, Messanges, Landes, France on 14/10/2014 some 1084km south. At just over 3 years old it is doing quite well for a Chiffchaff and it would be fantastic if it turns up in a net again in the spring. A map of this recovery can be viewed here.

Lesser Redpoll Z019197 was ringed as a 1Y male at Sctotmans Flash, near Wigan on 24/04/2014 and was controlled at Edgehills, Gloucestershire on 28/12/2014; a distance of 188km south. There wasn't much southward passage of Redpolls last autumn but this one bucked that trend. A map of this recovery can be viewed here.

Black-headed Gull ES50278 was ringed as a chick at Pennington Flash, near Leigh on 04/06/2000 and was found dead in Ballyforan, Roscommon, Ireland on 22/02/2015; a distance of 379 km W. At around fourteen and half it had also lived to a good age.

Black-headed Gull ST252229 was ringed a a chick at Rovaniemi, Lappi, Lappi, Finland on 17/06/2013 and was controlled (ring read and photographed in the field) at Orrell Water Park, near Orrell on 05/01/2014 12/01/2014 and 20/01/2014. A map showing both Black-headed Gull movements can be viewed here.

Blackcap 7085090 was ringed as a first year female at Dunes du Fort Vert, Marck, Pas-de-Calais, France on 03/10/2013 and was controlled (ring number read from photographs by Andy Makin) in a garden at Hindley Green, near Wigan on 29/12/2014; a movement of 420km NW. This was the bird that I failed to catch and mentioned in a post at the time. It had been seen in the garden for several days prior to the ring number being read but didn't stay into the new year. A map of this recovery can be viewed here.

As for the Waxwing it is still following its daily routine and feeds on the apples in the garden for much of the day. If you don't already know I have created a page for it that can be accessed via the 'Waxwing 2015' tab just under the header near the top of this page. The aim is to update the Waxwing page daily with a few pictures or some video taken that day.

Waxwing 27/02/2015

A fine end to the month.

The baited site at Longshaw is still attracting up to a dozen Bramblings so I decided to try an early morning ringing session this morning. I was joined by Wayne and we had a couple of nets up just before sunrise. As we waited for the Bramblings to arrive I picked out a few short bursts of Willow Warbler song in the dawn chorus; this was the first of the year for both of us and my earliest record for this site. It went into full song as the morning warmed up but unfortunately it didn't find its way into a net.

The first Bramblings arrived a little later than expected and a group of 7 circled overhead before dropping in. One or two others may have joined them but it was hard to say as there was quite a bit of coming and going over the course of the morning. We caught 4 of them, 2 males and 2 females, which isn't many but it was still a good result as there weren't many to try for. It is getting quite late for Bramblings and these birds could head off for their breeding grounds any day now so this may have been our last chance to ring some this spring and was a fine way to end the month.

We packed up at 10am having ringed 4 Bramblings, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Chiffchaff and retrapping 1 Blue Tit and 1 Robin.

The garden feeders are still attracting quite a few Siskins although there appears to have been a drop off in numbers today. I have ringed another 38 in the week since my last post taking the total ringed to 173 in the past 6 weeks and there still hasn't been 1 control among them. This is quite unusual as a lot of Siskins are ringed each year and they have quite a good recovery rate for such a small bird as a result.

Speaking of ringing recoveries we recently received details from the BTO of a few birds that we have controlled. A Goldfinch I controlled in the garden on 10/02/14 had been ringed near Heysham Harbour on 20/11/11.


View V900497 Goldfinch in a larger map

A Lesser Redpoll controlled at Longshaw on 3rd May last year had been ringed on 28th April in Herefordshire. A movement of 152km in only 5 days. This bird probably wintered much further south than the ringing site and probably went on to breed much further north of Longshaw.


View D045900 Lesser Redpoll in a larger map

A ringed Black-headed Gull that I photographed at Three Sisters, Ashton-in-Makerfield in January this year had been ringed as a chick at Rye Meads in Hertfordshire on 24/06/12.


View EY07864 Black-headed Gull in a larger map

A Sedge Warbler controlled at Scotman's Flash on 02/05/13 had been ringed 69 km further north on South Walney on 28/04/13, only 4 days previously. This is an example of a bird overshooting its intended destination and making a corrective movement.


View Y863746 Sedge Warbler in a larger map

Another Sedge Warbler controlled at Scotman's Flash on 22/05/13 had been ringed on 26/07/12 at Icklesham in East Sussex on its southward migration. Sedge Warblers start their southward migration quite early in autumn and a large proportion leave the country in late July and early August. Sedge Warblers haven't arrived here yet this spring but many will be leaving again in as little as 4 months time as this recovery shows.


View Y911130 Sedge Warbler in a larger map

Latest recoveries include another Waxwing

The latest batch of recoveries has just been received from the BTO. The three I have chosen to post were all found in similar circumstances by members of the public. It is always worth checking any dead wild bird to see if it is ringed. For more information on how to report finding a ringed bird visit the BTO website by clicking here.

The first recovery is of a Waxwing ringed in the garden that was reported from Huddersfield. Unfortunately it was found dead having hit a window; a not uncommon fate amongst Waxwings that are found dead by members of the public. Whilst it hadn't gone far it still adds to the information on the timing of return migration. 

Waxwing     BV05885   5M   (map)
02/03/2013    Orrell, Wigan, Greater Manchester
02/05/2013    Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Finding circumstances: Freshly dead, hit window
Duration: 62 days    Distance: 60 km    Direction: 78deg (ENE)


View BV05885 Waxwing in a larger map


The furthest recovery in this particular batch was of a Siskin to the Highland region. This is the second recovery of a Siskin in northern Scotland from the birds ringed in the garden in early spring. This bird was also found dead and was thought to be a window casualty by the finder.

Siskin     D277767   6F   (map)
30/03/2013    Orrell, Wigan, Greater Manchester
23/05/2013    Tain, Highland
Finding circumstances: Freshly dead, probably hit window
Duration: 54 days    Distance: 385 km    Direction: 348deg (NNW)


View D277767 Siskin in a larger map


Another window related recovery was of a Greenfinch found in Leyland. This bird was more fortunate than the previous two birds and was only stunned; it was subsequently released by the finder. This recovery hasn't been mapped as Google Maps started to play up on me.

Greenfinch    TJ67509   3F
20/09/2011    Longshaw, near Orrell, Greater Manchester
16/05/2013    Leyland, Lancashire
Finding circumstances: Hit window, stunned then released
Duration: 594 days    Distance: 21 km    Direction: 357deg (N)

Recent recoveries

We recently received a batch of recoveries from the BTO. Highlight for me was a Greenfinch from Dumfries & Galloway that was controlled at Longshaw. It would be interesting to know if this bird made a sea crossing, possibly via the Isle of Man, or took the longer route around the coast. It is a while since we had such a long distance movement from a Greenfinch.

Other recoveries mapped are a Brambling from north east England, a Swallow to Spain and a Reed Warbler to Kent. The movement of a Coot has been included because of the birds age rather than the distance travelled. This Coot was ringed as an adult at Pennington Flash on 13/10/03 and found in poor condition at Chester Zoo on 24/11/12 making this bird at least 10 years old given its age at the time of ringing.


View Autumn 2013 finch movements in a larger map



View X924508 Swallow in a larger map



View X927797 Reed Warbler in a larger map



View GH49661 Coot in a larger map