Tree Pipits get going.

I was joined by Kieran Foster of MRG (Merseyside Ringing Group) at Billinge yesterday morning with the conditions looking good for a movement of Tree Pipits. After a slow start we were not disappointed and 9 Tree Pipits were caught from an estimated 15 going south during a four hour period. Kieran had only ringed one Tree Pipit previously but he won't be saying that any more.

The number of Tree Pipits moving over the site had been in low single figures up to yesterday so this marked the first day of strong passage for the species this autumn. The next week should see the peak movements in this part of the country so, fingers crossed, there should be more good days to report. Obviously the weather can always throw a spanner in the works but the forecast is looking favourable over the coming days and hopefully the birds will think so too.

One of yesterday's Tree Pipits.

Other birds were in fairly short supply and there seemed to have been a general clear-out of warblers but the usual flock of about 80 Goldfinch remained. Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for 13/08/2015 were: Tree Pipit 9; Robin 1; Song Thrush (1); Blackcap 2 (2); Chiffchaff (2); Willow Warbler 5; Chaffinch 2; Goldfinch 1; Linnet 1; Reed Bunting 2.

Willow Warbler recovery

I recently received the recovery report for the control Willow Warbler that I caught on Billinge Hill on 7th August and it had been ringed at Leighton Moss 29 days earlier. Not a particularly long or fast movement but interesting nevertheless. Willow Warblers migrate through the Billinge site in good numbers and 157 have been ringed so far this autumn. There has been a fairly constant turnover of birds since mid-July and this recovery is the first to indicate the origin of some of those birds.



Willow Warbler migration across the country is peaking just about now and this first year bird may have already moved on and reached the south coast or be even be further south in France. Not bad for a bird that may only be about ten weeks old, yes little more than ten weeks old and on its way to sub-Saharan Africa.

While on the subject of Willow Warblers the following image shows the tail of a young bird that must have had a severe fault bar that caused the tip of the tail to break off. The two complete tail feathers are replacement feathers and show how much of the other feathers has snapped off. Fault bars are caused by periods of poor nutrition when the feathers are growing and are testament to the grotty summer we have had.

IY Willow Warbler tail. The juvenile tail feathers have sheared off along the line of a fault bar. The 2 complete feathers are newer replacements and are easily recognised by being darker and more glossy.

Adult Willow Warblers have or are just about to complete their moult now and can often be recognised by having whiter bellies than first year birds. It is not a totally infallible criteria, as a few intermediates do occur, but is true in most cases. The condition and shape of the tail feathers is usually the clincher where there is any doubt.

Willow Warblers: First year left and freshly moulted adult right.

TREPI time

August started off fairly quiet with unsettled weather holding up many migrants but a welcome change in the weather to clear conditions overnight and this morning was just what was needed to get passerine migration going again. The sharp drop in temperature overnight resulted in pockets of mist and a heavy dew this morning and it was like walking through a car wash as I made my way through the saturated bushes to the net rides at Billinge.

I soon had three nets up and a couple of Sedge Warblers in the first net round made for a good start and indicated that some new migrants had dropped in. Catching was fairly steady and mainly involved the usual species but an adult Garden Warbler was also notable, being a scarce passage migrant at the site, and only the second to be ringed this autumn. Also of interest was a Willow Warbler that was wearing a ring from elsewhere and is the first of this species to be controlled at the site.

Sedge Warblers don't breed at the site and only a few turn up on passage. It is always interesting to catch migrants like this in bushes on a dry hillside rather than in their usual lowland wetland habitat. 

Adult Garden Warbler

Control Willow Warbler. If you are using rings starting with the letters HLA then the details of its capture today will be coming to you very soon.

Now it was around this time last year that I started to catch Tree Pipits at the site and I soon discovered that it was an exceptional location for the species with a total of 57 ringed and over 133 recorded during autumn 2014. As I hadn't ringed at the site previously I didn't know if it was going to be a regular occurrence or if 2014 was a 'one off' due to exceptional circumstances including the particularly productive breeding season of 2014. I caught the first Tree Pipit of last year on August 4th and today has provided the first really good conditions for the species to be on the move this autumn so it was a delight when 2 turned up pretty much on cue and both were caught. Now I don't want to count my Tree Pipits too early but it certainly is a promising start.

The first Tree Pipit of autumn 2015 and hopefully the first of many

One interesting aspect of the Tree Pipit passage at Billinge last autumn was that it started and peaked earlier than at many of the well watched coastal and inland 'vis mig' sites. It will be interesting to see if the same happens this year.

Ringing totals (retraps/controls in brackets) were: Tree Pipit 2; Sedge Warbler 2; Whitethroat 1; Garden Warbler 1; Blackcap 7 (3); Chiffchaff 5; Willow Warbler 8 (2); Goldcrest 1; Blue Tit 2; Great Tit 2; Treecreeper 1; Chaffinch 7; Goldfinch 2. Total 46 comprised of 41 new birds, 4 retraps and 1 control.

Whilst walking between the nets I noticed that a group of caterpillars had defoliated one of the small willows.

Spot the caterpillars

The culprits were these Buff-tip (moth) caterpillars. 

Crossbill !!

Highlight of a ringing session at Billinge this morning was a juvenile Common Crossbill. I have seen singles and small parties fly over the site on 3 occasions already this month, including a group of 3 going south yesterday, so today's bird wasn't totally unexpected. However, it was a delight to catch one rather than just getting the usual fleeting view of a calling bird or birds flying over. I have ringed Crossbills before but not for a good many years; however, it is the first I have caught locally and hopefully won't be the last.

Juvenile Common Crossbill

Now that is a bill.

It may not be a showy red male but it is still a cracking bird.

Fault barring was present in the wing and tail and can even be seen in the tips of the upper tail coverts. Fault bars are caused by food shortages when the bird is growing feathers and leads to bands of discolouration. A shortage of food will also be the cause of the movements of the Crossbills I have seen recently and I am sure there will be many more to come this autumn.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) for the morning were: Blackcap 11; Willow Warbler 6 (1); Robin 1; Blue Tit (2); Great Tit 1; Goldfinch 3; Chaffinch 1; Crossbill 1. 

Billinge 22/07/15

The days may be getting shorter but dawn is still a bit too early for my liking. However, I managed to drag myself out of bed at 05:30, after snoozing the alarm a few times, and made my way up to Billinge. There wasn't a breath of wind and it was nice and overcast so I was able to put up 3 nets in the willows on the higher part of the site. This area can be really good for warblers at this time of year and is also favoured by flocks of Goldfinches now the Knapweed is going to seed.

The first couple of hours were really busy and as soon as I had ringed the birds from one net round it was time to go and check the nets again. Willow Warblers featured with 12 ringed and this brings the total ringed at the site over the past ten days to 30. Some of the Willow Warblers have completed their post juvenile moult and could be on their way south. Other signs of juvenile dispersal/early migration also came in the form of a Sedge Warbler and a Garden Warbler, neither of which breed at the site.

This Willow Warbler may reach the south coast by the end of the month.

Sedge Warblers are another early migrant.

If looks could kill. The Garden Warbler didn't want to pose for a nice photograph and just gave me dirty looks.

Goldfinches were ever present and a flock of up to 50 fed in the vicinity of the nets with other smaller parties and family groups coming and going. The morning turned out to be a bit of a finch-fest with 32 Goldfinches being caught along with a supporting cast of 9 Linnets and singles of Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Bullfinch.

26 of the Goldfinches caught were juveniles like this one. Goldfinches seem to have had a fairly good breeding season and this species clearly benefits from the proliferation of garden feeding.

There seem to be fewer Linnets about compared with the same time last year which is probably a result of increased failures among the early broods.

The lack of roving tit flocks continues and only one group of 6 Long-tailed Tits and 2 Blue Tits were seen all morning. Large and noisy tit flocks are usually a feature at this time of year but their low numbers or complete absence shows what a terrible breeding season they have had in this area.

Ringing totals (retraps in brackets) were: Willow Warbler 12; Chiffchaff 5; Blackcap 8; Whitethroat 1; Sedge Warbler 1; Garden Warbler 1; Robin 1; Long-tailed Tit 1; Goldcrest 1; Goldfinch 31 (1); Linnet 9; Greenfinch 1; Chaffinch 1; Bullfinch 1; Yellowhammer 1; Reed Bunting 1. Total 75 (1).

Unusual retrap

I have been neglecting the blog a bit recently but hopefully there will be regular updates now that autumn migration is gathering pace. I have been out and about whenever time and the weather have allowed and have caught 127 new birds and 18 retraps of 22 species since my last post. It is not a big total but its not bad considering the way the weather has been up here. The top five species ringed over the period (14th - 20th July) with retraps in brackets were: Swallow 24; Willow Warbler 18 (1); Chiffchaff; 18 (2); Goldfinch 11 (2); Tree Sparrow 9 (1).

The most unusual capture was an adult male Kestrel that was caught in a mist net at Crawford. I don't catch Kestrels very often and I have often gone years without catching one but this was even more unusual because it was a retrap. It was a bird that had been ringed at the same site a few weeks earlier, on 21/04/15. This year has been very poor for voles, their main food, so I can only assume this particular Kestrel has taken to feeding on small birds coming to the feeders at Crawford or the population of small mammals is doing better in the vicinity of the feeders because of the constant supply of seeds. Perhaps it is a combination of the two factors but it certainly is an unusual recapture.

Adult male Kestrel recaptured 20/07/15

This and that

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post so I thought I should cobble something together by way of a catch up. There hasn't been one stand out thing to write about but there have been some bits and bobs worth mentioning. On the birding front I have had Common Crossbills flying over Billinge and Crawford on a total of 4 occasions with most heading west. There have also been some unusually early flocks of Siskins moving south which are likely to be the forerunners or foreflyers of a large scale irruption this autumn. 

Sitka Spruce produced a bumper crop of seeds last year which meant few Crossbills, Siskins and Redpolls migrated in search of food and led to an almost complete absence of Siskins on garden feeders this spring. A bumper crop generally results in better survival and a good breeding season but is often followed by below average seed production and so provides the circumstances that can lead to large scale irruptions of the associated species.

It really looks like we are heading for one of those autumns/winters where the irruptive species come to the fore and steal the birding headlines. I don't think these irruptions will be confined to a few seed eating species either as I also think the conditions are developing for a good arrival of Waxwings. It may not be quite on the scale of the 2012/13 irruption but I certainly think it could be a good one. Why do I think it could be a Waxwing winter and the simple answer is the cold spring and its impact on pollinators and berry production across much of northern Europe. If the Rowan and Hawthorn in this area are anything to go by the berry crop could be down by at least 50% on last year if not more.

So there are some predictions or perhaps I should say educated guesses based on recent observations. Make of them what you will but right or wrong I will refer back to them later in the year when we know what has actually happened. I certainly think it is a year where some big irruptions are on the cards. One thing we don't have to wait for is to know that it has been an abysmal breeding season for many insectivorous species. I have never known so many warblers singing so late in the season such has been the level of nest failure so far and the woods and scrub near me are what you could call almost titless. 

So what have I been ringing? Well I am still catching Redpolls and Goldfinches coming to the feeders at Crawford although Tree Sparrows have dropped off now that winter cereals are starting to ripen. My last visit to Billinge on the evening of the 9th produced a few Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Linnets along with a fairly good catch of 21 Swallows that came to roost in the willows. As for the garden my local Starlings seem to have gone on their summer holidays and have largely vacated the area despite the constant supply of food. However I have caught a few Woodpigeons in the garden including two that needed fishing line removing from their feet. One of these Woodpigeons also happened to be an unusually dark individual.

Adult male Lesser Redpoll

A duskier than normal Woodpigeon and it does stand out as looking dark in the field.

This Woodpigeon was lucky to be caught and have the fishing line removed before any permanent damage was done.

Moth catches have remained below par to say the least and are a fraction of what they should be at this time of year. The only species that seem to be present in near normal numbers are Buff Ermine and perhaps Ghost Moth. Not much else I can say about the moths or lack of them other than it was nice to catch two Garden Tigers today. Garden Tiger is a declining species that is less than annual in the garden despite its name. However, Poplar, Elephant and Eyed Hawk moths are regular in the garden although they have generally emerged later and in smaller numbers this year.

Garden Tiger 12/07/15

Garden Tiger 12/07/15

Poplar Hawk Moth

Poplar Hawk Moth

Elephant Hawk Moths

Eyed Hawk Moth

Finally, an odd looking Blackbird appeared in the garden earlier today. It looked like it was carrying something until I realised it had a huge growth in its bill. It turned out it was a bird that had been ringed in the garden on 9th May when it showed some signs of a problem with the upper mandible but nothing on the scale of its appearance today. I was surprised to see that it was still able to feed with such a large mass growing from the roof of the upper mandible but it managed to pick up some food from the bird table. However, the growth is clearly taking its toll on the bird's ability to preen and clearly limits its forward vision. It is a surprise it has managed to survive thus far and shows how resilient some birds can be.

No it isn't carrying anything it is a growth on the underside of the upper mandible.

The same bird when it it was ringed on 9th May