Back to blogging

It has taken a while, and much longer than I would have liked, but I have finally got round to posting on the blog again. I am not one for mentioning much about my personal life but the ups and downs of life, with all their twists and turns, have taken up a lot of my time over the last few months and pushed the blog to the bottom of the things to do list. Principal amongst the lows was the failing health of my 97 year old mother and the difficulty of trying to meet her wish of staying in her own home. Eventually, caring for her there became impractical and we had to move her in with us until old age and age related heart failure finally got the better of her. That is more detail than I would normally give on such matters and was only one of the factors involved but I thought such a long absence from the blog merited some explanation.

So enough about that stuff, this blog is about birds and other wildlife and I have managed to fit in some ringing despite all the other things that have been going on. Back in late May I completed my Starling RAS project for this year and it was another successful season with a total of 168 different adults encountered (31 new birds and 137 colour-ringed birds re-sighted). Starlings appear to have had a good breeding season and I have ringed more juvenile Starlings in the garden than in any previous year with the total currently standing at 489 (it increased by 3 whilst writing this post). I don't usually catch many juvenile Starlings after the middle of June and, initially, that was the case again this year but numbers visiting the feeders started to pick up again in late July and small numbers have been making regular raids on the fat feeders since then. This has resulted in 85 being ringed since late July compared to only 25 over the same period last year.

Visits to other sites have been less frequent than in other years but I started to rectify that once we got into August. A visit to the site at Billinge on 30th August was the most productive of the recent sessions and is worthy of specific mention. I had been joined by Mark, who was over from America to visit family, and we set 3 nets in the top willows. Conditions were ideal for mist netting, being calm and largely overcast, and while ideal netting conditions don't always coincide with good numbers of migrants this was one day when they did. Blackcaps were the most numerous species and the total of 20 ringed was a new day record for the site. Twenty isn't a big catch by the standards of some sites but it is for the Billinge site which isn't blessed with much in the way of berries. The most unusual captures were a male Redstart, which Mark was especially pleased to see in the hand, and 2 Spotted Flycatchers which were caught just after he had to leave, well you can't win them all. A catch of 9 Willow Warblers was also a decent number for late August. A total of 60 birds were ringed which broke down as follows: Blue Tit 10; Great Tit 5; Chiffchaff 9; Willow Warbler 9; Blackcap 20; Robin 2; Spotted Flycatcher 2; Redstart 1; Goldfinch 1; Yellowhammer 1.

1cy male Redstart

1cy Spotted Flycatcher

I can't promise when the next post will be but hopefully there won't be anything like a gap of 3 months before the next one comes along. In fact it should be fairly soon as I hope to get out on Wednesday and failing that there are some interesting recoveries that I want to share.

2nd is better than 1st

The ringing session at Billinge on the 1st was good but the 2nd's proved to be even better. It was similar in many respects but had the added bonus of some infrequently caught species in the form of 2 Redstarts and a Spotted Flycatcher. Both are scarce passage migrants in the area these days and I consider myself lucky if I catch one or two of each over the autumn. The 2 Redstarts brought this autumn's total to 5 which is exceptional as I have never caught more than 2 in previous years and the Spotted Flycatcher was the second of the autumn. Interestingly, the Spotted Flycatcher was caught in the same part of the same net as the previous one and while no more than a coincidence such 'deja vu' type occurrences always stand out and stick in one's mind.

Both Redstarts were 1cy females.

1cy Spotted Flycatcher. Only the 6th to be ringed at the site in the last 4 years.

Once again Goldcrests dominated proceedings with most of the 23 new birds and single retrap being caught in the first couple of hours. The retrap wasn't from the previous day as some might expect and was originally ringed on 13th August when part way through its post-juvenile moult. At this time of year there are frequent movement of Goldcrests through the site and it is rare for any to hang about for more than a day once they start moving.

Chiffchaff was the second most numerous species with 14 new birds and 1 retrap being caught and while numbers were down on those of the 1st it is still a good total for that species. Once again the retrap hadn't been ringed recently and had been ringed as a scruffy juvenile on 9th July this year which gives an indication of how long it takes them to complete their protracted post-juvenile moult.

There were more Robins about than there have been recently and the 5 ringed is a sign they were on the move. The first half of September usually sees quite a few Robins pass through site, more so following a good breeding season, and is largely made up of displaced birds that are looking for somewhere to carve out a winter territory but may also include some genuine migrants.

The weather is looking pretty ropey for the next week so opportunities to get out ringing could be very limited to say the least. Is this going to be a year we don't get an Indian summer ? 

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 02/09/17 were: Goldcrest 23(1); Blue Tit 2(1); Great Tit 6; Chiffchaff 14(1); Willow Warbler 4; Blackcap 4; Spotted Flycatcher 1; Robin 5; Redstart 2; Tree Pipit 1; Chaffinch 4; Goldfinch 4; Reed Bunting 1. A total of 71 new birds and 3 retraps.

Billinge 13th & 16th August: mixed weather and mixed results.

Decent weather has been at a premium this August so it has been a case of trying to get out ringing whenever conditions and circumstances allow. The 13th provided one of those opportunities and produced a catch of 50 new birds with Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs making up half the total. Willow Warblers topped the totals with 18 ringed, their highest total of the month, but the juvenile:adult ratio remained quite low at 2.6:1 (13 juveniles to 5 adults). At the other end of the scale only 1 Tree Pipit was ringed which was very disappointing as we are approaching peak passage for that species and only 4 were seen all morning, on the other hand the capture of a Spotted Flycatcher was a very nice surprise as they are a very scarce passage migrant these days and it's even rarer for one to find its way into a net.

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher 13/08/17 - the only record of the autumn so far.

Ringing totals for 13/08/17 were: Goldcrest 2; Blue Tit 5; Great Tit 2; Coal Tit 1; Chiffchaff 7; Willow Warbler 18; Blackcap 3; Whitethroat 1; Blackbird 1; Spotted Flycatcher 1; Robin 1; Tree Pipit 1; Chaffinch 3; Bullfinch 3; Lesser Redpoll 1.

The 16th turned out to be a fairly quiet day with many birds having departed since my previous visit and precious little coming through to replace them. Only 25 birds were ringed which is below the average for mid-August. There was a bit of movement overhead with a party of 5 Snipe flying high to the north (the first record of the autumn) and a total of 9 Tree Pipits flying south (the second highest total recorded this autumn) being the best of what little there was. Warblers were in short supply and only 5 Willow Warblers were ringed which suggests they have passed their peak. The proportion of juvenile Willow Warblers continues to be unusually low with just 3 of the 5 ringed being youngsters. Two of the Chiffchaffs ringed were interesting in that they had completed their post juvenile moult and this should signal an increase in the numbers migrating through the site from now on.

Chiffchaffs can start migrating in earnest once they have completed their pj moult.

Ringing totals for 16/08/17 were: Goldcrest 2; Blue Tit 2; Chiffchaff 5; Willow Warbler 5; Blackcap 2; Whitethroat 2; Tree Pipit 4; Chaffinch 2; Linnet 1.

Tree Pipit - one of four ringed on the 16th.

Billinge: 11th September 2016

The forecast was for clear blue skies and a light south to southeasterly breeze and given we are approaching mid September a fair amount of visible migration was expected. While the weather forecast was spot on the visible migration failed to materialise. There was no southerly passage of Meadow Pipits, just a bit of random movement of a few birds (all presumably locals), and there was a complete absence of Grey Wagtails heading south or otherwise. It has been a relatively poor autumn for visible migration at the site so far, both in terms of numbers and variety, but the brakes should come off fairly soon.

Fortunately there was a bit more activity in the bushes and the 3 nets produced the best catch of Chiffchaffs this autumn with 20 ringed. At the other end of the scale less expected captures were a Spotted Flycatcher (3rd of the autumn and only the 4th in the last 3 years) and a Nuthatch (also 3rd of the autumn but 4th of this year).

One of today's 20 Chiffchaffs

Spotted Flycatcher 11/09/16

Spotted Flycatcher 11/09/16

The 6 Blackcaps caught included one that was still in scruffy juvenile plumage and must have fledged fairly recently. The relatively poor summer weather appears to have caused more late breeding than is usual in some species of warbler and I have seen more examples of birds in juvenile plumage this September than I have noted before.

Recently fledged juvenile Blackcap.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 11/09/16 were: Goldcrest 3; Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 6; Coal Tit (1); Chiffchaff 20; Blackcap 6; Nuthatch 1; Spotted Flycatcher 1; Robin 1; Chaffinch 1; Greenfinch 1; Yellowhammer 3. Total 44 new birds and 1 retrap.

While I haven't posted anything on the blog since the 3rd I did manage to fit in quite a few sessions at Billinge in the meantime. Catches were much as expected with highlights being 4 Grey Wagtails (6th) and another 3 (7th) and single Tree Pipits (5th & 6th), although they were far from unusual for the time of year.

Grey Wagtail 06/09/16

Tree Pipit 06/09/16

This Tree Pipit had sheep's wool wrapped around the top of the foot. The wool was cut very carefully to prevent any further constriction and loss of circulation.

Combined ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for the period 4th to 10th September were: Jay 1; Goldcrest 25 (1); Blue Tit 2; Great Tit 3; Coal Tit 3; Long-tailed Tit 1 (4); Chiffchaff 31 (3); Willow Warbler 5; Blackcap 28 (1); Whitethroat 1; Blackbird 1; Robin 1; Dunnock 4; Grey Wagtail 7; Tree Pipit 2; Chaffinch 6; Bullfinch 5; Yellowhammer 5; Reed Bunting 5 (2). Total 136 new birds and 11 retraps.

Chiffchaff 05/09/16. Now and again a bird has a minute before flying off although most don't wait for the camera.

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.