Reedbed Ringing

Today's ringing trip was a visit to a new site for me, Poolsbrook Marsh, an area of open water and reedbed  near Stavely in North East Derbyshire. It was the first visit of the year for the ringing group as well, the main aim of which was to open up the ringing lanes in time for the Reed, Grasshopper and Sedge Warblers' arrival in a few weeks time.

Poolsbrook Marsh

The first job of the day was to relocate the net lanes from last year and clear the reeds which had grown up there. After that we put up the nets before moving on to the scrubby areas of the site.

Net lane through the reeds

The ringing was quite slow with just 6 birds of 3 species caught (3 Bullfinches including a retrap, 2 Long-tailed Tits and 1 Blue Tit).

Other birds recorded today included three Year ticks; the first is a Schedule 1 breeding bird which I won't mention just in case anyone dodgy i.e. egg collectors, is reading! (2 singing), calling Water Rail and a fly-over Sand Martin, as well as several singing Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Blackbird and Song Thrush. A Common Buzzard flew over and a pair of Gadwall were present on the water with "trilling" Little Grebe and a Mute Swan.

Year List:

106 : Schedule 1 breeding bird

107: Water Rail

108: Sand Martin

Collared Dove and Starling nests update- 25th March 2012

Here's a photo of last week's Collared Dove nest that I took yesterday. It shows the nest complete with 2 lovely eggs.

Collared Dove nest

The Starlings have continued to bring materials in to the nestbox and the base of the nest is beginning to take form.

Starling nest

Remember, if you find a nest you can record it for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme or, if you have a nestbox in your garden, you can record any breeding activity for the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.

Linacre - 25th March 2012

A quick hour and a half visit this morning in what turned out to be glorious weather of bright sunshine and 12 degrees heat- very nice.

Calm conditions on the top reservoir

First up were 4 singing Chiffchaffs along with drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker, a pair of Bullfinch (my first sighting this year) and a pair of Carrion Crows carrying nesting material into a tree ( a first record of nesting behaviour).

Out on the water it was quite quiet, but there were 2 Canada Geese ( 1 plus the hybrid), 3 Grey Wagtails that were chasing each other about and the pair of Great-crested Grebes with their nest on the middle reservoir. A Little Grebe was heard trilling again but not seen.

A few Bluebells had come through in the woods below the bottom car park.

Bluebells

New site and 2 new ringing ticks.

I went out with my ringing trainer and two other ringers from the Sorby Breck Ringing Group this morning and visited a new site for me, Baslow Water Treatment Works (yes, that is  a posh name for a sewage works!)

The weather was very grey and misty and, despite a good 3 hour stint, we only managed to catch and ring 4 birds of 2 species! Luckily for me, the two species caught (Grey and Pied Wagtail) were "ringing ticks" and the others in the group very kindly let me ring 2 of the 4 birds caught. Thank you very much!!

Pied Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Starlings' nest.

Throughout the winter we've had two Starlings roosting in the "Starling box" that I put up on the side of the house a few years ago.

Starling box complete with Great Tit in 2010

I've been keeping everything crossed and this evening my patience seems to have paid off as I spotted an adult bird with a beak full of nesting material sitting on the rooftop. I didn't see the bird go in, but I'll definately be keeping my eye on him (it would have been the male as they build the nest and the female lines it) over the next week or two.

Here are two pictures of the Great Tits that were raised in this box 2 years ago. The first was taken on 18th May 2010 and the second was taken just 18 days later. Amazing.

Great Tit chicks

The same brood, 18 days later!

Hopefully I'll be able to bring you some similar photos of the Starling chicks this year and also complete a card for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

First summer migrants and 2 nests!

Wow, what a morning. I've just returned from Linacre where, in a couple of hours, I've recorded my first Chiffchaff of the year, a pair of nest building and mating Mistle Thrush, my second ever Linacre Curlew, a Great-crested Grebe, also sat on a nest, and a queen Red-tailed Bumblebee. phew!

The Mistle Thrush record is particularly good because this is my first actual record of breeding behaviour at Linacre except for singing and being in the correct habitat at the right time of year. As well as this it's also the first time I've found their nest. The nest itself is about 15m up in the fork of a sycamore tree, so I won't be able to see in which is a pity because I'd really like to record its outcome for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. I should, however, be able to watch it with my 'scope and so I may be able to record some of the comings and goings. Here's a picture of the nest, well hidden behind the ivy.

Mistle Thrush nest

Curlew is a very uncommon species for Linacre and one that has never been recorded on the ground. My first record was in August 2011, when one was calling and flying over. Today's record was very similar with the bird being heard but not seen. I presume both records will have been local birds flying over "on passage" to their breeding grounds in the surrounding moorlands.

The Chiffchaff record was my first of the year and came 5 days later than in 2011 (12th March, which is my earliest ever record and could have referred to an over wintering individual as it wasn't singing.)

Great-crested Grebes have been present every year since the group's recording began in 2006 and has nested on the reservoirs in 2009 and 2010. This year's nest is the earliest ever and my first in March. The eggs are normally incubated by both adults for about 29 days, so it should mid April before the chicks are seen. Let's see how it develops. Here's one of the adult birds sitting tight.

Great-crested Grebe

Other birds spotted today were: Mallard (32), Moorhen (7), Coot (15), Tufted Duck (6), Mandarin (2), Common Buzzard (calling), Great-spotted Woodpecker (drumming), Tawny Owl ( a pair "twitt twooing"), Pied Wagtail (singing male) and Cormorant (1).

The Year List moved on 2 more species this week:

103: Stock Dove
104: Chiffchaff

Great Grey Shrike!!

After a couple of failed attempts earlier in the year I managed to catch up with the Great Grey Shrike at Wragg's Quarry on Beeley Moor this afternoon.

At first it was quite distant, but then it flew to within 10m and perched nicely on the top of a Birch tree.

Great Grey Shrike

As well as the Shrike I was also very lucky to see some evidence of its hunting technique. This lizard had been caught, killed and impaled on a Hawthorn bush by the "butcher bird". Amazing!

Common Lizard

The Year List moved on 1 more species:

105: Great Grey Shrike