Linacre Ringing - 5th November 2022

 Just two of us managed to get to Linacre for this week's ringing session with Sorby Breck Ringing Group, but we had a fantastic few hours with 46 birds, of 8 species, ringed.

As always, the majority of the birds were Blue and Great Tits, with 18 (15 new and 3 re-traps) of the former and 9 (8 new birds and 1 re-trap) of the latter caught. 2 Coal Tits (both new) were also caught, along with 11 Long-tailed Tits (all new), 1 Blackbird (new), 1 Chaffinch (new), 3 Goldcrests (2 new and 1 re-trap) and, best of all, a young Sparrowhawk - the first to be ringed at Linacre!!

Sparrowhawk!!

As well as the ringing, we also managed to see a flock of c.30 Redwings, c.20 Fieldfares and we also heard Tawny Owls calling.

Lesser Whitethroat "blythi" - 3rd February 2019

Back in February (3rd), I had my first garden ringing session on 2019. I had the 20ft net up by the feeding station and caught just 8 birds including 2 Blackbirds, 2 Goldfinches, 1 Bullfinch and 2 Long-tailed Tits (first for the garden).

The highlight of the morning, however, was the very last bird, which turned out to be a LESSER WHITETHROAT!! I've only ringed 1 previously, so I was very excited to see this species in the net, but, given the time of year, I was even more surprised to see it, and my first thoughts were.... is this an "eastern" type bird?

Lesser Whitethroat "blythi"

The first thing I noticed once in the hand was the small size, and the 2 prominent outer tail feathers. The tail feathers, in particular, looked interesting, so I quickly "processed" the bird (put a ring on, aged it as a 5, based on 1 retained greater covert, and a tail with 2 generations of feathers, and measured the wing, 63mm), before phoning a more experienced ringer to get some advice. Numerous photos were also taken showing the wing, tail and body.

Lesser Whitethroat tail

I was advised to retain any feathers lost during ringing, for DNA analysis. These feathers were subsequently sent to Aberdeen University, where said DNA analysis was carried out, confirming the bird as an "eastern" Lesser Whitethroat, subspecies blythi!!!!!!!!!

This is the first confirmed record of this subspecies in Derbyshire. There have been 2 previous "possibles" 1 in 1998 (a bird seen at feeders in November and December), and a bird seen in a garden in Eggington from December 2013 to March 2014.

Linacre Ringing - an update

I've been out ringing with Sorby Breck Ringing Group a couple of times recently. Both sessions were quite quiet with the following birds ringed:

18th November 2018 13 birds: Wren 1/0, Robin 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 3/1, Coal Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 1/1, Great Tit 4/0.

16th December 2018 25 birds: Dunnock 1/0, Robin 0/1, Blue Tit 1/8, Great Tit 8/5, Jay 1/0.

The highlight was, obviously, today's Jay, a first year bird, and the first ringed at Linacre this year.

Linacre Ringing - 22nd September 2018

This morning I was down at Linacre with 4 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group. We had 4 hours on site and caught 38 birds (new/retrap): Robin 2/0, Chiffchaff 7/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 8/0, Blue Tit 11/1, Great Tit 6/0 and Treecreeper 1/0.

Treecreeper

Whilst there, we set a net for Meadow Pipits, and, although they came down, none found their way into the nets.

Also seen during the ringing session were: House Martin (c.30 overhead), Green Woodpecker (1 heard), Kestrel (1), Sparrowhawk (1), Bullfinch (1) and Great-spotted Woodpecker (1).

Linacre Ringing - 7th July 2018

Back at the start of the month I was down at Linacre with Sorby Breck Ringing Group for the first mist netting session since April. We had an early start, arriving on site at 4.45am, and caught a very respectable 74 birds of 13 species.

Birds ringed (new/retrap):  Dunnock 1/0, Robin 7/0, Blackbird 1/0, Blackcap 9/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 2/0, Blue Tit 24/4, Great Tit 13/3, Nuthatch 1/0, Chaffinch 1/1, Goldfinch 3/0 and Bullfinch 1/0.

The best thing about the birds caught was that the majority were young birds, possibly indicating a good breeding season? We also had 3 of the re-trapped Blue Tits and one of the re-trapped Great Tits were young birds ringed by Sara from the Group in the nest boxes at Linacre a month earlier.

Three species, however, that were missing from the ringing totals were Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat. All 3 species have been recorded singing in the area this year, so hopefully, we'll be able to confirm breeding next time we're down ringing.

Kestrel - new species at Linacre

I was down at Linacre this morning for the second ringing session of the year. We started off well with a great catch of 14 Long-tailed Tits ( 8 new and 6 retraps), but then things got quite quiet, until the last net round when we found a new species in the net - a Kestrel!! We often see a Kestrel flying and hunting around the site whilst we are ringing, so today's catch was a very nice surprise.

Kestrel

Other birds ringed today were (new/retrap): Robin 3/0, Blue Tit 6/3, Great Tit 1/3, Nuthatch 2/0, Chaffinch 1/0 and Bullfinch 1/0.

Other birds seen around the ringing site were: Sparrowhawk (1 female), Common Buzzard (1), Great-spotted Woodpecker (4), Green Woodpecker (1 seen and heard), Mistle Thrush (4; 2 pairs, including 1 singing bird), Siskin (1 over), Cormorant (1 over) and Tawny Owl (1 heard calling at 6:45am).

Linacre Ringing - 15th October 2017

It wasn't a great morning weather wise today, but we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group) managed to get out to Linacre for a few hours ringing.

It was quiet from the outset, but we still managed to ring 35 birds of 8 species, as follows: Dunnock 2/0, Robin 1/0, Goldcrest 15/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/2, Coal Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 5/1, Great Tit 4/1, Nuthatch 0/1.

Long-tailed Tit

Other birds seen/heard during the morning included Tawny Owl (heard on arrival), Jay, Redwing (c.30 over), Grey Heron (1 heard) and Mistle Thrush (1 over). A flyby Red Admiral butterfly was also seen briefly.

Linacre Ringing - 23rd September 2017

I was out ringing at Linacre yesterday with Sorby Breck Ringing Group. This was our first session since the start of August, and we were on site from 06.30 to 10.30, catching a very nice 76 birds, including 2 warbler species and a species that we've only ringed twice at Linacre, once in 2012 and again in 2014. Can you guess what it was??
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Totals for the morning were new/retrap: Blue Tit 12/4, Great Tit 10/5, Coal Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 4/0, Blackbird 1/0, Blackcap 1/0, Chiffchaff 9/0, Goldcrest 15/1, Meadow Pipit 1/0, Nuthatch 1/0 and Goldfinch 8/0.

As you can see, the two warbler species were Chiffchaff and Blackcap. All birds were aged as 3s (born this year). The other highlight was the single Meadow Pipit, also a bird born this year. This species is heard most years passing over the site, and we have managed to entice a few birds down in 2012 and 2014, so to catch one this weekend was very nice.

Other species seen between net rounds included a very impressive flock of c.50 House Martins (the biggest count of the year by a very long way), that were feeding over the ringing site, 5 Swallows, 1 Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk.

Ringing Success

After a couple of months break, we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group) were back down at Linacre this morning for a ringing session. As the title suggests, we had a very successful morning, with 72 birds of 10 species caught and ringed. All the birds, bar two, were juvenile birds.

The most numerous species caught was Blue Tit, comprising 42 birds (38 new and 4 retraps). All birds were born this year, and the retraps were birds that had been ringed this year in the boxes throughout Linacre, which is always good to see. We also caught 4 juvenile Great Tits (3 new birds and 1 retrap that had also been ringed in a Linacre box this year), 2 Coal Tits (1 adult and 1 juvenile), 2 Long-tailed Tits (both juveniles), 1 Wren (juvenile), 1 Song Thrush (juvenile) and 1 Goldfinch (juvenile).

To supplement the resident birds, we also caught 3 species of summer migrant; Blackcap (3 juveniles), Chiffchaff (6 juveniles) and Willow Warbler (9 juveniles and 1 adult). All in all, an excellent morning's ringing.

Willow Warbler (juvenile)

Other bird species seen during the morning included 12 House Martins, 1 Swallow and 2 Kestrels, which could have been an adult and a juvenile. A Painted Lady butterfly was also seen, the first site record since 2013 (see here), along with 1 Peacock,  1 Red Admiral and dozens of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars.

Linacre Ringing and a 2 new Species

I was out ringing with 3 members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group at Linacre yesterday. We had 3 and a half hours on site, but only caught 9 birds, most of which were retrap Tits (Blue, Great and a single new Long-tailed). We also had singles of Dunnock and Bullfinch (a 5 male). Unfortunately, no warblers were caught, although Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap were all heard singing.

Whilst there, the sun came out for a while, and a Peacock butterfly was seen, along with a moth. I grabbed a quick photo, and was very pleased to identify it later as a Water Carpet - a new species for me and for Linacre (as far as I'm aware).

Water Carpet

Apparently, this species is quite common in Derbyshire, so is presumably quite common here, but has, so far, been overlooked. A nice addition.

The other "new" species was , I think, a Short-tailed or Field Vole. The individual was found underneath an old manhole cover that was on the grass by the ringing site. I lifted it up, and spotted this.

Field Vole

As you can (hopefully) see, its the back end of a Vole, and appears to have a very short tail. According to The Wildlife Trust's website (see here),  a Field Vole's tail is approximately 30% of its body length, so I quite happy that the id is correct. We did, also, see its face, but I didn't manage a photo of that end!! Now I know what the Kestrel that we saw, was after.

How old??

How long do birds live? is a question we are often asked by members of the public at ringing demonstrations. I was asked this exact question whilst out ringing yesterday with Sorby Breck Ringing Group at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Avenue Washlands reserve. The bird in question was a Blue Tit that we'd just extracted from one of the nets and was found to be wearing a ring already.

David checked the ring number when he got home, and emailed the following details. The bird had originally been ringed at The Avenue on 28th March 2010 and aged as a 5M i.e. it had been born in 2009. It had only been re trapped once before today, on 27th February 2011, also at The Avenue. This means that this bird is now 7 years old (in its 8th calendar year), which is a pretty impressive age for such a small bird. A quick check of the BTO's Longevity Records , shows that the oldest Blue Tit on record was 10 years, 3 months and 10 days old when it was last recorded, so "our" bird still has a few years to go!

Other birds caught during yesterday's session were (new/retrap): Wren 0/1, Dunnock 2/1, Robin 3/0, Blackbird 5/0, Song Thrush 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 0/4, Great Tit 3/1, Chaffinch 2/0, Goldfinch 1/0, Bullfinch 4/3, Yellowhammer 1/0, Reed Bunting 11/1.

New Year Ringing, Waxwings and Year Ticks

I know its not quite the new year now, but today was the first opportunity I had to get out ringing in 2017, hence the title of today's post.

This morning I was out with 4 other members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group visiting the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Avenue Washlands Reserve in Chesterfield. We had a 3 and a half hour session, catching a super 104 birds of 15 species. Birds caught were (new/retrap): Wren 1/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 3/0, Blackbird 1/0, Goldcrest 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/7, Willow Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 8/6, Great Tit 4/9, Chaffinch 4/4, Greenfinch 3/0, Goldfinch 36/1, Bullfinch 9/2, Yellowhammer 1/1 and Reed Bunting 3/0.

As you can see, we had  a very good selection of bird species today. The most notable were the excellent number of Goldfinch, followed closely by the new Willow Tit ( a species which seems to be declining quite quickly), the Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Bullfinch (all "year ticks" as well).

After ringing Jayne and I had a drive to Chesterfield to see a group of 18 Waxwings on Whittington Moor. We then had a drive out to Bakewell, where we had a spot of lunch and a walk by the river, adding Canada Goose to the "year list". Whilst here, we also spotted the Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid duck, that is back on the river for the winter. Details of this bird can be found here.

Hybrid Duck

Year List update:
47 – Canada Goose
48 – Willow Tit
49 – Bullfinch
50 – Yellowhammer
51 – Reed Bunting

Crest Fest - Part 2

Back in October 2014 I wrote a post entitled Crest Fest (see here), after a session where we'd ringed 5 Goldcrests in 1 session. Well, this Autumn we've had an excellent run with this species, so I thought I'd return to the title for a second time. So far, at Linacre, we've caught the following numbers: 12 in September (11 new and a retrap), 13 at the start of October (12 new and  a retrap) and another 20 (!) yesterday (18 new birds and 2 retraps). As always, these birds could be locally born or they could be birds that have migrated into the country and are now filtering inland. Only time, and a few retraps will tell.

Along with the Goldcrests, we also caught the following birds (new/retrap): Robin 3/0, Blue Tit 5/4, Great Tit 7/1, Coal Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/1, Nuthatch 0/2 and Goldfinch 4/0.

Apart from the ringing, we also saw a hunting Kestrel, 2 flocks of Fieldfares (20 and 9), calling Tawny Owls and a few Redwings flying over.

1 last sighting of note was a Bank Vole, seen by David. This is the first sighting of this species at Linacre, although I'm sure it, and many other species are regularly found here. More surveying required!

Linacre Ringing - 15th October 2016

Weather conditions for ringing were perfect this morning, and with good numbers of Redwing being ringed by members of The Group last weekend, we decided to head down to Linacre this morning to try our luck. We arrived in the dark, at 6:30am, and got the nets up and sound systems on to begin attracting the Redwings down.  The first net round produced 5 birds, and by the end of the session at 11.30am we'd caught and ringed a very respectable 15 birds. Its hard to estimate how many birds were attracted into the area, but there must have been 100+ throughout the morning.

Redwing

Other birds ringed this morning were (new/retrap): Goldcrest (12/1), Wren (0/1), Robin (6/0), Blackbird (1/0), Long-tailed Tit (11/0), Blue Tit (23/5), Great Tit (11/1), Coal Tit (4/0) Goldfinch (4/0) and Treecreeper (1/0), bring the morning's total to 96 birds.

Here's a photo of this mornings' Treecreeper, a juvenile, just before it flew off. Love the beak and those amazing claws!!

Treecreeper

Other birds seen or heard this morning included Tawny Owl (heard first thing), Skylark (1 over, the first since June), Nuthatch and Woodpigeon.

Finches and Redpolls

More often than not, when we're ringing in a garden setting, the commonest birds we catch are tits. Yesterday's session at our regular site in Wingerworth, Chesterfield, however, didn't follow this pattern, with the majority of birds ringed being, as the title suggests, finches and redpolls (32 from 57). The finch species caught were (new/retrap): Siskin 13/0, Lesser Redpoll 9/3, Chaffinch 1/0, Goldfinch 2/0 and Bullfinch 4/0. As well as these species, we also caught: Blue Tit 4/1, Great Tit 2/6, Coal Tit 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 0/1, Nuthatch 0/2, Great-spotted Woodpecker 1/0, Wren 1/0, Blackbird 2/0 and Robin 1/2. Here's one of the Lesser Redpolls, a super male bird.

Lesser Redpoll (male)

Linacre Ringing - 19th March 2016

I wasn't available for this morning's ringing session at Linacre, but 3 other members of The Group were able to get down and, in a three hour session, they ringed  a total of 19 birds of 8 species.

Tits predominated, as is usual at this time of year, with 3 new Great Tits being caught, along with 2 new Blue Tits, 2 new Coal Tits and 3 re-trapped Long-tailed Tits., one of which turned out to be a "control", i.e. a bird ringed elsewhere (more on that later). Other species caught today were (new/retrap); Chaffinch (1/0), Robin (2/1), Dunnock (2/2) and Great-spotted Woodpecker (1/0). 

The Long-tailed Tit "control" was a bird that had travelled 11km after being ringed, by our group,  at Renishaw Hall in Eckington, on 13th November 2010, making it at least 6 years old. The oldest known Long-tailed Tit is, according to the BTO's longevity records, (see here), 8 years and 11 months old, so a few more years to go yet for our bird to beat the record. The movement of 11 km is also interesting for a species that is normally regarded as being pretty sedentary.

Long-tailed Tit (not today's bird)

Ringing News- 27th February 2016

I was out ringing yesterday morning with 4 members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group. We were at the private garden site in Sheffield, an in 3 hours, we managed to ring 33 birds of 9 species (Song Thrush, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Bullfinch, Treecreeper, Blue, Long-tailed and Great Tit).


My totals were (new/retrap): Robin 1/0, Dunnock 1/1, Great Tit 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 4/1 and Blue Tit 0/1.


On the drive to the site I was lucky enough to see a Barn Owl flying over the road in Jordanthorpe- very nice!

Linacre Ringing and February WeBS

I wasn't around on Saturday, but 4 other members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group spent  just over 2 hours on site, ringing around the feeding station. The session turned out to be very quiet with just 17 birds of 6 species caught, and , as you can see, the vast majority were retraps. Counts were as follows (new/retrap): Blue Tit 1/4, Great Tit 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/7, Goldcrest 0/1, Robin 0/1 and Nuthatch 0/1.

February's WeBS count took place on the 17th this month. Unfortunately, it was grey, overcast and drizzling, so it was generally quite quiet with the following birds reported: Mallard (56), Tufted Duck (23), Coot (7), Moorhen (10), Grey Wagtail (1), Black-headed Gull (24), Little Grebe (1), Great-crested Grebe (2), Cormorant (3) and Shag (1 juvenile).

A very busy morning!

A break in the wet and windy weather meant that I was able to get out ringing on Sunday with 3 other members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group. We met up at the private garden site in Wingerworth at 7.15am, and, in a non-stop session, we caught and ringed 115 birds of 13 species.

When we arrived, the homeowners told us that they'd had good numbers of both Siskin and Lesser Redpoll visiting the garden feeders during the week. The session started very well, and over the course of the morning, we caught and processed 11 Siskins (9 new and 2 retraps/controls), and 12 Lesser Redpolls (all new birds). One of the ringed Siskins was a bird that we'd caught at this site back in September 2015 for the first time (see post here). We're still waiting for details of the other ringed bird. Here's a picture of a male Siskin feeding in my garden from December.

Siskin

Other birds ringed on Sunday were (new/retrap): Goldfinch 5/0, Great Tit 12/6, Blue Tit 24/7, Long-tailed Tit 9/0, Coal Tit 3/1, Blackbird 4/0, Dunnock 0/3, Nuthatch 1/2, Goldcrest 1/0, Chaffinch 4/0, and Robin 7/3.

Linacre Ringing - 1st visit of 2016

After an enforced break of 6 weeks, due to wet and windy weekends, I managed to get out ringing this morning with my trainer and 1 other member of  Sorby Breck Ringing Group. The first visit of the year took us to Linacre Reservoirs, where we managed to ring 35 birds of 8 species.

The first bird out of the nets this year was...... a Blue Tit, followed closely by..... a Great Tit! After this, we continued to catch good numbers of these two species, but also added a nice flock of Long-tailed Tits (Lotties), Coal Tits, a Chaffinch, a Robin, two Nuthatches and a super 3 Lesser Redpolls.

Lesser Redpoll

Numbers were as follows (new/retrap): Blue Tit 11/3, Great Tit 4/2, Long-tailed Tit 1/5, Coal Tit 2/0, Chaffinch 1/0, Robin 0/1, Nuthatch 0/2 and Lesser Redpoll 3/0.

In between net rounds, we watched and listened for other birds using the site, and I was lucky enough to record 2 "year ticks" when a Raven flew over the ringing site, "cronking" away!. It, or another bird, flew over again about half an hour later. We also had a pair of Sparrowhawks in display over the woods, the first "drumming" Great-spotted Woodpecker, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls (2nd "year tick") flew over and a couple of Redwings were also in the area.

My nephew, Luke, came down with his friend, Izie, and they walked around the reservoirs. They spotted, amongst other things, the 3 Shags together on the bottom reservoir, 2 Grey Herons, a Grey Wagtail and a Kingfisher.

Year List update:
91 - Raven
92 - Lesser Black-backed Gull