2012 Ringing and Year List Totals

Following on from this morning's Linacre roundup I thought I should spend some time looking at my ringing and "year listing" attempts.

First the ringing. As mentioned in my previous posting I spent as much time as possible going out with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group this year. In total I managed 45 trips out, handling a total of 447 birds of 38 different species. It's very difficult to pick put any highlights as far as species are concerned, as I'm still very excited to handle any bird, but I must say the Swallow roost at the Avenue back in August was very exciting as were the first pulli (5 Robins) at Linacre.

Robin pullus

 

As is to be expected in a land-locked county such as Derbyshire all the species I handled this year were passerines, with no sign of any waders or seabirds. In 2013 I need to continue with the "bread and butter" species such as Blue, Great Tit and the common finches and then gain some experience with some new species such as ducks, waders, seabirds etc... Keep reading to see what happens.

The other area I wanted to write about tonight was my attempt at "year listing", where I record all the species seen in a calendar year. At the start of the year I said I wouldn't go twitching for birds and so my total of 162 birds is quite respectable. The first bird of the year was Feral Pigeon, seen at 00.01 on 1st January in Trafalgar Square. My final bird, Waxwing, was seen back in November in Sheffield.

Waxwing

 

Next year, we're heading off to Menorca for a holiday, so there should be a few different birds in next year's list. Again, keep reading to find out what they will be.

My final words of 2012 are words of thanks. First and foremost to my gorgeous wife and daughter, who have not only accompanied me of several trips around the country, but, perhaps more importantly, have waited patiently for me whilst I've been out ringing and ticking. Thanks go also the Ray, my ringing trainer, and the other members of the group (you know who you are!) who have explained the intricacies of different birds' plumages to me over and over again and who have waited patiently for me to remember them. Thanks alot and here's to a happy, successful and enjoyable 2013 to everyone!

Return of the Waxwings

Some years Britain sees a big influx of  Waxwings from Northern Europe, usually when the berry crop has been poor. This winter seems to be a "Waxwing winter", with many hundreds, if not thousands, being reported across the country. See here for the many sightings on the Birdguides website.

I decided to pop across to Cemetery Avenue in Sheffield to catch up with these superb birds and I'm so glad I did as there were at least 100 and possibly up to 200 there this afternoon. Amazing!!!!! I managed to get some decent pictures too.

Waxwing

 

 

Also present in the area were half a dozen Fieldfares, Blackbirds and Magpies.

Waxwing and Fieldfare

 

The Year List moves on one more bird:

 

162 : Waxwing

Barns Ness again

Our last day in Scotland saw me heading off to Barns Ness again to look for the Water Pipit. Again, no luck!!!!!! I did, however, have a very nice walk and added two new species to the year list; Twite and Merlin.

First sightings this morning were a few Rock and Meadow Pipits. A pair of Stonechats were in the dunes as was a flock of approximately 20 Linnets. The Twite, again a flock of about 20 birds, were feeding in the same area. The Merlin was spotted flying fast and low over the beach before landing briefly on a rock. Unfortunately, it flew off again within seconds after being mobbed by a Crow.

On the waters edge there were several Curlew, Oystercatcher, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls, as well as two new species for this site: Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwit.

Year List:
160 - Twite
161 - Merlin

VELVET SCOTERS!!!!!

I spent two hours at Musselburgh Lagoons on the outskirts of Edinburgh this afternoon, where I had the most amazing views of both male and female Velvet Scoters.

Although I've seen them before flying along the coast, this was the first time I've managed to get them in the 'scope and watch them swimming and fishing. At one point the birds were about 20m away from the seawall - amazing!! Here's a photo and my first You Tibe video.

Velvet Scoter (male)

 

Male and female Velvet Scoter

As well as the scoters I also managed to see another 2 adult male Long-tailed Ducks (that's 4 in one day!!), a pair of Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Slavonian Grebes, Eider Duck  and another Red-throated Diver.

On the lagoons themselves there were 200+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 40+ Grey Plover, 30+ Golden Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallards and my first Goldeneye of the winter.

Bar-tailed Godwits and Golden Plover

Year List addition:

159 - Velvet Scoter

Aberlady Bay and Gullane Bay

I've made a couple of visits to Aberlady Bay over the last few days to look at the flock of approximately 20,000 roosting Pink-footed Geese that gather here every winter.

Bridge at Aberlady Bay

This morning I arrived at 06.30am and waited for it to become light. I could hear the geese out on the mudflats and, after scanning the area with the scope, I began to pick up the birds. I not great at estimating large flocks of birds, but there were "many thousands" present. Quite a sight!

Distant Pink-footed Geese

 

As it became light, small skeins started to fly out of the roost and I managed to get a few shots of these birds.

 

Pink-footed Geese

 

Other birds seen yesterday evening and today were: Shelduck (200+), Wigeon, Teal, Eider Duck, Mute Swan (2, including a colour ringed individual), Redshank, Curlew, Great-crested Grebe, Goosander, Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Linnets, Wren and a Redpoll sp, which could have been a Mealy Redpoll, as it looked larger than a Lesser and was very pale on the breast. Unfortunately I didn't get very good views before it flew off!!

 

Next stop was Gullane Bay, a few miles nearer North Berwick. I made my way down through the sand dunes out onto the bay.

 

Gullane Bay/Bents

 

On arrival I scanned the water's edge and found a few Oystercatchers, Black-headed Gulls and one Great Black-backed Gull. Shags were flying out on the water and, after about half an hour's searching I spotted a lone male Common Scoter. A Red-throated Diver was fishing just behind the scoter and then a male Long-tailed Duck flew past. Another male Long-tailed Duck was soon found feeding nearby and a winter plumaged Slavonian Grebe was also spotted in the same area!! A very productive time!!!

 

Year List additions:

 

156- Common Scoter

157 -  Long-tailed Duck

158 - Slavonian Grebe

 

Barns Ness

This morning's walk saw me heading down the coast to a beach south of Dunbar called Barns Ness. I was hoping to catch up with a Water Pipit that had been reported yesterday, but the tide was out and I couldn't find it anywhere!

Barns Ness lighthouse and beach

First bird of the morning was a Common Buzzard that flew up from a tree as I drove down to the beach. Next up were Meadow Pipits, followed by several Rock Pipits and at least a dozen Pied Wagtails that were feeding on the seaweed on the beach. Redshanks, Turnstones, Oystercatchers and Curlews were all feeding along the edge of the sea. A couple of Stonechats (1 male and 1 female) were seen in the sand dunes and Linnet and Goldfinch flew overhead.

Out on the sea there were several Eider Ducks, 1 Red-throated Diver, Great Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed and Common Gulls along with 2 new species for the trip: Gannets and Red-breasted Merganser (also a Year Tick).

Just behind Barns Ness there is a large, active quarry with a large lake. I had a quick look at it on the way back and added Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Lapwing and Shoveler to the morning's list.

Back in North Berwick a short walk along the beach produced the same birds as yesterday, plus a late Swallow that flew south overhead.

Year List:

155 - Red-breasted Merganser

North Berwick birding

I'm away in North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland, for a few days and had my first bird watching walk this morning. I was out for a couple of hours from 7.30am and managed a fair few birds including my first "year tick" for quite a while, in the form of 3 winter plumaged Red-throated Divers.

North Berwick beach (with Bass Rock in the background)

My walk this morning started off in the harbour area where the first birds recorded were Starlings, Herring and Black-headed Gulls. A couple of Pied Wagtails were flying around and the first of at least a dozen Shags were fishing in the sea. Two Grey Herons flew up from the rocks below and a party of about 8 Eider Ducks were spotted out on the water. There were a couple of winter plumaged Guillemot out on the sea, along with the Red-throated Divers.

Back on the beach there were several waders: Turnstone (c30), Purple Sandpiper (at least 6), Oystercatcher (c10) and 1 Redshank. Several Rock Pipits were also around on the beach, along with more Starlings and House Sparrows. A great start.

154 - Red-throated Diver

Meadow pipt extravaganza

Following on from my first ever Meadow Pipits at Linacre last week I spent 5 hours out ringing this morning with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group high up on the moors above Sheffield.

We arrived on site for a 5.30am start and after setting up several nets around a disused quarry we settled back for a morning of ringing. Despite a stiff breeze, the birds began arriving soon after the nets had been set and there was a steady stream throughout the morning, ending with a total of 69 birds (all Meadow Pipits).

Happy ringers

The identification of Meadow Pipits was relatively straight forward after the first few (thanks for all the pointers Michael!) but I must admit it took me quite a while to get my head around aging them. Hopefully I'll get some more practice before the end of the passage season!

There were only a few other birds around today; Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Red Grouse, but, amazingly, the Red Grouse was a Year Tick, so the Year List has increased by 1.

153 - Red Grouse

Swallow roost and Year Tick

Following on from last week's successful ringing session at the swallow roost at The Avenue Washlands in Chesterfield, we returned again on Thursday night for another go.

From the outset it was obvious that there were much fewer birds around. but by the end of the night we had ringed another 33 Swallows. Added to this we also caught 4 Pied Wagtails, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Blackbird.


Friday saw me head down the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water with my nephew. We spent a few hours looking around the stalls and then went off to the Lyndon Reserve to see the nesting Ospreys. A pair have nested in Manton Bay again this year raising 2 chicks. All 4 birds, the adults and their chicks, were seen around the nest site. Lovely!

Year List:

152: Osprey

RSPB Old Moor- 13th August 2012

I had a trip over to RSPB Old Moor on Monday with my nephew and niece. We managed to see a good range of birds and insects and I added 2 new species to my Year List; Greenshank and Green Sandpiper.

Greenshank

The first hide we went into was Wath Ings at the far end of the reserve. At this time of year the water levels are dropped and there is a large area of mud, perfect for the many passage waders that are passing through. It was here that we spotted a total of 9 Green Sandpipers and a couple of Greenshanks as well as dozens of Lapwings,  up to 8 Grey Herons, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Canada Geese and the first Teal and Wigeon of the winter!

Next stop was the Wader Scrape hide, where a large flock of Goldfinch and Linnet were feeding, and 5 Common Terns, including a juvenile bird, were flying about.

Linnet

Walking back to the centre we spotted a few dragonflies including Common and Ruddy Darter.

Common Darter

Before going home we decided to have a go at pond dipping and look at the birds on the feeding station. We spotted a juvenile Great- spotted Woodpecker on the peanuts and managed to catch a Diving Beetle and some type of dragonfly larvae, posssibly a hawker species.

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Diving Beetle

Dragonfly larvae

Year List:

150 – Greenshank

151 – Green Sandpiper



Return to the reeds- ringing tick.

Way back in March I blogged about a ringing trip to Poolsbrook Marsh near Chesterfield (see here).  Unfortunately, until Sunday we've been unable to get back to this site to do any ringing, due to the terrible weather we've been having.

Sunday's trip was a very early start of 5.30am and, once we'd reloacted the ringing rides, cut back the reeds and put the nets up, we waited to see how the reedbed breeders had fared. The first net round seemed okay when 2 Reed Warblers (1 adult and 1 juvenile) found their way into the nets. Unfortunately, the following rounds were very disappointing with just 1 more Reed Warbler ( a retrap, possibly from last year) being caught and absolutely no Sedge or Grasshopper Warblers at all!

Reed Warbler (my first!)

Luckily, we had also put up a couple of nets in the scrub around the reedbeds and we did get a good catch of mixed tits and warblers (Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff) in them bringing the day's total to 21 birds.

Other birds seen on site were: Swift (2), Swallow, Mute Swan, Grey Heron and Kingfisher.

The Reed Warbler was a year tick:

149 - Reed Warbler

Cornwall news

Hi there. Just got back from a lovely two weeks in sunny Cornwall, so here's a short post about some of the things I've seen.

First news is that whilst away I managed to add a few more species to the "Year List".

143 – Little Egret

144 – Common Sandpiper
145 – Whimbrel
146 – Mediterranean Gull
147 – Manx Shearwater
148 – Sandwich Tern

Most of the new additions were from the RSPB's  Hayle Estuary reserve. Little Egret were seen on all visits, usually around about 5 birds, 2 Common Sandpipers were seen on most visits and around 4 Whimbrel were feeding with 70+ Curlew.

Whimbrel

There were at least 3 Mediterranean Gulls (2 moulting adults and 1 juvenile bird), usually seen in the high tide roost.

Mediterranean Gull

Away from the reserve the Manx Shearwaters were seen daily flying past "The Island" in St Ives  with hundreds of Gannets and the Sandwich Terns were seen fishing around the causeway at St Michael's Mount in Penzance.

In addition to the birds I also managed a couple of new butterflies and moths; Garden Tiger Moth and Dark Green Fritillary.

Nightjars and Woodcocks

Friday evening saw me and 5 others spending  a few hours in Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire on the Chesterfield RSPB's annual visit to see Nightjars and Woodcocks.

We'd had alot of rain this week, so we weren't expecting too much, but as we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out! The first part of the walk took place around the main lake, We saw a good number of waterbirds including Gadwall, Mallard, Mute Swan, Great-crested Grebe and a single male Mandarin Duck.

After an hour or so we headed over to the grassland area where we found a singing Yellowhammer, two Stock Doves and a single Tree Pipit.

Tree Pipit

The final part of the evening started at about 9.30pm, when we moved over to the Nightjar area. Within minutes of our arrival we'd seen a"roding" Woodcock and over the next hour we saw several more. A Cuckoo was heard calling and at about 9.45pm the Nightjars began to "churr" and we managed to see two birds flying around.

The Year List has moved on 4 species:

139 -Tree Pipit
140 - Woodcock
141 - Nightjar
142 - Cuckoo

Tyneside Kittiwakes

I spent a few days up in Newcastle over the bank holiday and took the opportunity to visit the Kittiwakes that nest on the Tyne Bridge. There must be around 50/60 pairs nesting on and around the bridge. Some, such as these on the photos nest just over the fence and are very easy to see. As you can see there are a few chicks. I wonder who rings them?

Kittiwakes

A view from underneath the bridge

Gorgeous birds!

We had a drive up to St Mary's Island whilst up there, but the tide was out and so we didn't see much at all, just a few House Sparows, 2 Sand Martins, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Herring Gull and a few Starlings (including juveniles).

The Year List moved on 1 species with a Red Kite spotted on the journey up.

138 - Red Kite

First Linacre Mist Netting Session

Yesterday saw the first mist netting visit to Linacre for members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group. 3 nets were set up and a total of 15 birds, all new, were caught and ringed.

This being the first trip since we set up this new site we didn't really know what to expect and the first bird ringed from the mist nets was a Coal Tit, followed closely by another 3!

Coal Tit

The next few rounds continued to produce some good birds: Dunnock, Blackbird, Long-tailed, Blue and Great Tit, but by far the most exciting were two male Garden Warblers. These were not only a ringing tick for me, but were the first site record for the year and also were the first time that I've recorded more than 1. Not the most exciting bird to look at, but an excellent record and I'm really looking forward to ringing the chicks later in the year.

Garden Warbler

As summer migrants, the two warblers were weighed and fat and muscle scores were taken.

Garden Warbler being weighed

Another new development for me today was my first experience of "primary moult" in some of the resident birds. This Great Tit is a good example with two of the primary feathers having been dropped, and new ones just coming through.

Great Tit

This happens in all birds at different times of the year when the old feathers have become worn and need replacing. Learning when it happens and how many times is all part of the fun of ringing!

Other birds seen on site today included 4 over flying Oystercatchers, which is a new record for the site, a singing Chiffchaff (hope to see you in the nets soon!) and this unfortunate male Chaffinch, which was caught in the nets, but wasn't ringed, due to the growths on its legs. See here for details about this condition.

Chaffinch

The Year List moved on 1 today:

137 - Garden Warbler

2 Year ticks, 3 pulli ringed and 3 new eggs.

I woke up early this morning, so I decided to pop up to Linacre to refill the feeders in the new ringing site. They were all completely empty, so we know that they're being used by something at least. On the way back home I stopped by the main entrance to see if I could find the Little Owl that's been reported a couple of time recently. As I walked along the drive I spotted one fly into one of the Oak trees. I walked along a bit further, but I couldn't spot it again. Anyway, it was good to see it and add it to the Year List.

After Linacre I popped out with Sorby Breck ringers again to our site in Sheffield, where we ringed a brood of Great Tits. We also popped into a new site for me, Burrs Woods near Barlow in Derbyshire, where we ringed another brood of Great Tits. One of the boxes contained a Nuthatch nest, but the bird was still on eggs so no "ringing tick" today. Whilst walking around the woods we did however, spot a Spotted Flycatcher, which was my second year tick of the day. Very nice.

Last, but definitely by no means least, I'm really happy to say that the Starlings in the box on the side of my house now have 3 new eggs, so I'm keeping everything crossed that they continue to thrive. I've added the new arrivals to the Nestbox Challenge website.

Starling eggs

Year List moves on by 2 new species:
135 - Little Owl
136 - Spotted Flycatcher

Ringing at the Avenue

This morning's ringing session at The Avenue produced a toatl of 11 birds, which included 3 "ringing ticks"; Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, along with several "year ticks"; Swift, Little Ringed Plover, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge and Grasshopper Warbler!

Whitethroat

Other birds ringed were: Blackbird, Dunnock, Yellowhammer, Blackcap (a male and a female) and a male Bullfinch.

Male and female Blackcaps

After the ringing I popped down to the reedbed to see the LRP, a male Wheatear, several Sedge Warblers and the Grasshopper Warbler that was "reeling away". Listen here to hear what one sounds like.

This afternoon I went for a walk around Padley Gorge were Jayne found me another 2 year ticks; a Dipper and a Stonechat.

The Year list moved on:

127 – Swift

128 – Whitethroat

129 – Lesser Whitethroat

130 - Little Ringed Plover

131 – Grasshopper Warbler

132 – Sedge Warbler

133 - Stonechat

134 - Dipper

22 active nests and ducklings

I managed to get down to Linacre yesterday to check the nestboxes and was very pleased to see that 21 had eggs in them. In addition, the unknown nest I found a few weeks ago (see here), was still active and had 5 eggs instead of 3! Looking in my nest book I'm quite happy to say that it is a Robin's nest, so fingers crossed it continues to do well.

Robin nest?

The 21 nests in the nestboxes all appeared to be Blue or Great Tits as expected, but, with the exception of one box, none of the clutches were being actively incubated. The only bird found in a box was a Blue Tit. She was sitting tight, so I left her to it.

Blue Tit incubating

The bird will incubate for about 2 weeks, so all being well, by mid May we'll have some young in the nests.

As well as all the nests I was also lucky to see 50+ Swallows over the top reservoirs, 20+ House Martins (Year tick), the hybrid Canada Goose, 1 male Mandarin and 3 "redhead" Goosanders. The Goosanders were particularly interesting as they were my first ever May record. 3 Mallard ducklings were seen on the top reservoir and were the first of the year.

Year List moves on:

126 - House Martin

Birthday Birding

It being my birthday today I managed to get a lot of birding in. Many thanks Jayne!

First stop was Linacre where, in 2 hours, I recorded my first Greylag Geese for this site this year, with 2 on the top reservoir. They normally appear for a week or two in April, but so far, they've never stayed and bred. Perhaps this year?

Greylag Goose

4 Blackcaps were singing, as were 5 Chiffchaffs and just 1 Willow Warbler. Unfortunately, there was no sign of any Pied Flycatchers today. They do appear to be late this year. Finally, the Mistle Thrushes were feeding 3 big young in their nest. I managed to get some video footage through my 'scope, so I'll try and upload it to the site.

Next stop was RSPB Old Moor, where hundreds of Black-headed Gulls have begun nesting.

Black-headed Gulls at Old Moor

Other birds seen here included: Gadwall, Shoveler (1 male), Mallard, Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Avocet (1), Lapwing, Redshank, Cormorant, Tree Sparrow, Blue Tit, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff.

The final site of the day was Burbage Moor, where I hoped to find a Ring Ouzel.

Burbage Moor

Unfortunately my luck had run out, but I did manage to see a couple of female Wheatear, Meadow Pipits, at least 4 singing Willow Warblers and an over-flying Raven. Very nice!

The Year List has moved on by 3 species today:

123 – Shoveler

124 - Avocet

125 - Wheatear

Thrybergh CP - Ringing and 2 Year Ticks

Today started very well with a great ringing session at Thrybergh Country Park in Rotherham. As well as the best catch for a while (17 birds) I also got two year ticks with my first Willow Warber and Common Terns of the year.

Common Tern (note the black tip to the bill)

The ringing began at 7.30am, a nice time to start, and within a few minutes we had our first birds in the net. The birds continued throughout the morning and by the time we packed up I had rung my first Tree Sparrow of the year, my second Yellowhammer, my third Chaffinch and had a retrapped Dunnock.

In between net rounds we spent some time looking at the birds on the lake which included 40 odd Sand Martins, several Swallows, 1 House Martin ( which I didn't see, so I'll wait to add it to my Year List), Cormorants, Mute Swans, Mallards, Canada and Greylag Geese, at least 1 pair of Gadwall (my first record here), Coots, Moorhens and singing Skylarks (over the fields, not on the lake!).

One bird that had us scratching our heads was a possible "White Wagtail" that was seen feeding on the edge of the water. Although not yet a species in its own right, it's the european version of our Pied Wagtail, it's a regular passage bird in Britain and is very nice to see. As regards the identification, it's back was very grey, but what worried us was the lack of  a clear division between this and the black head. I consulted "Collins" (the best field guide ever, buy a copy if you haven't already got one) when I got home and apparently a female White Wagtail shows a "diffuse transition black to grey" i.e. the neck of the female bird is greyer and blends into the grey of its back! If only I'd taken my camera with me!!!! The jury's still out on this bird, but here's a picture of a male White Wagtail seen on Stones Island, at Carsington Water, Derbyshire, last year.

White Wagtail

The Year List moves on 2 species:

121 - Willow Warbler

122 - Common Tern

UPDATE: After a little emailing and a lot of help from a David from the ringing group (thanks David), I think I'm pretty happy to i.d. this morning's bird as a female White Wagtail. If you're interested, follow this link to read a very intersting paper explaining why.