A marked improvement in numbers.

Another day and another session in the top willows at Billinge but unlike yesterday there was a brisk pace to proceedings and there was a bit more in the way of variety too, although nothing unusual. Tits accounted for the bulk of the increase in numbers and made up almost half the final total of 63 birds but there were a few more warblers and crests too.

The highlight was the capture of the first Lesser Redpolls of the autumn with 7 ringed. This wasn't totally unexpected as I had seen 2 fly south yesterday which were the first recorded at the site this autumn. The only other captures of note were a Willow Tit and a Treecreeper and sightings included a Golden Plover south and 2 small skeins of Pink-footed Geese.

Lesser Redpoll 24/09/2018. All 7 ringed today were first-year birds.

I don't catch many Treecreepers as they don't venture into the scrubby habitat of the ringing site very often. This is a first-year bird that had recently completed its post juvenile moult so was particularly clean and bright.

Ringing totals for 24/09/2018 were: Coal Tit 2; Willow Tit 1; Blue Tit 10, Great Tit 8; Long-tailed Tit 8; Chiffchaff 9; Blackcap 5; Goldcrest 9; Treecreeper 1; Robin 1; Chaffinch 1; Bullfinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 7. Total 63

12th July 2017 - A bunch of Blackcaps

I only managed a 06:30 start at in the top willows at Billinge but I don't think I missed much as a result, at least I hope not. I set three 18m nets under clear blue skies and with only a light breeze blowing from the NE. The catching rate was better than expected for this early in the month and suggests it has been a fairly productive breeding season, especially when compared with the last couple of years. I packed up at 11:00 as the sun was shining on all the nets by then, making them much more visible, and before it got too hot.

The final total of 44 new birds and 2 retraps was mainly comprised of juveniles and included 32 warblers, 17 of which were Blackcaps. The two retraps were an adult male Blackcap that was originally ringed as a juvenile in July 2015 and a juvenile Blackcap that was ringed just over a week ago. The Blackcaps were mainly feeding on raspberries that grow wild near one of the net rides and most of them were caught in that particular net. This raspberry patch usually attracts and holds a good number of locally bred juveniles in July although 17 is more than I usually catch in one session.

Juvenile Blackcap

Juvenile Willow Tit.
Late June and July is the peak period for juvenile dispersal in this species and this is the 3rd to be ringed at the site in the last week.

Juvenile Treecreeper
July is also a time when the young of woodland species disperse and can be encountered well away from their usual habitat. 

There was some interest overhead with the highlight being a Crossbill that called loudly as it flew SW. A Siskin was also heard but not seen and a few Swallows seemed to be heading south. I wasn't in the best place to observe the Swallow movement but small groups appeared to motoring south from time to time; they certainly weren't the feeding flights of the local breeders.

Ringing totals for 12/07/17 (retraps in brackets) were: Blue Tit 2; Great Tit 2; Willow Tit 1; Goldcrest 1; Chiffchaff 5; Willow Warbler 10; Blackcap 15 (2); Treecreeper 1; Wren 1; Goldfinch 6.

Billinge 30/09/15

The last ringing session of the month was a modest affair and it was no surprise that Goldcrests and Lesser Redpolls made up the majority of the 29 birds ringed. As usual the Lesser Redpolls showed some variation in the ground colour of their plumage as shown below. Quite a few of the birds caught this month have been like the paler bird on the left so it is not a particularly unusual individual by any means.

These birds show some of the variation in ground colour of the birds caught today. Ideally they would have been photographed side by side but I don't have enough hands for that.

Although there have been a lot more Redpolls than usual this month the number moving through the site is likely to increase further during October. 

Visible migration was fairly low key with few birds on the move and no highlights, unlike yesterday when 7 Crossbills went east and the first 2 Redwings of the autumn were recorded. However, there were more Sparrowhawks around with a minimum of 3 females and 1 male seen and some of these are likely to have have been on the move.

Ringing totals for 30/09/15 were: Sparrowhawk 1; Blackcap 3; Chiffchaff 3; Goldcrest 12, Great Tit 1; Treecreeper 2; Lesser Redpoll 7. Total 29 new birds.

I don't catch Treecreepers very often but 4 have been caught in the last 2 days.

So September is over, well it will be in a few hours, and a total of 934 birds of 36 species were ringed at Billinge and I have shed a few pounds in the process. The top 5 species ringed during the month were:

Goldcrest            258
Lesser Redpoll   158
Chiffchaff           125
Goldfinch             60
Blackcap             56

..........................and it all starts again tomorrow.

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)