Kingfisher saves the day

I was out ringing yesterday morning with Sorby Breck RG  at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Avenue Washlands in Chesterfield. We arrived at 05.15 and set up the usual nets with high expectations of  juvenile birds, especially warblers. Unfortunately, the forecast good weather didn't appear, and neither did the birds, with just 13 individuals caught.

Imagine our surprise, then, when, on one of the final net rounds, we spotted an electric blue rump sticking out of the nets! We all ran towards it shouting, "It's a Kingfisher!!!" - a first for the group at this locality, and a new bird for Stewart. The bird was duly extracted, ringed, aged and sexed (a 3J male, one born this year), and released.

Kingfisher

 

 

Bumper Nest box Year

This time last year I was writing about a very successful year for the Blue and Great Tits in the nest boxes at Linacre (see here). I'm very pleased, therefore, to be writing a very similar report again this year.

The first sign of activity in the tit boxes this year came on 15th April, when 2 eggs were found in one of the boxes. This was much earlier than last year, due to the mild conditions. We (Sorby Breck Ringing Group), continued to monitor the boxes over the next few weeks, and by the end of the season, we had recorded and ringed a new highest ever total of 232 pulli.

As last year, all the nesting attempts came from just 2 species; Blue and Great Tits. Great Tits managed to raise 11 broods, and a total of 72 pulli, while Blue Tits raised 19 broods of 160 pulli.

Again, like last year, all the nesting attempts, including a few failures at egg and young stage, will be reported to the BTO as part of their Nest Record Scheme.

RSPB Nightjar Walk

On Friday I spent 4 hours in Clumber Park with several members of the Chesterfield RSPB Group, on our annual trip to see the Woodcocks and Nightjars that breed there.

We met at 7.30pm, and spent the first couple of hours looking round the main lake and grasslands by the Chapel. Despite super weather conditions, warm and sunny, we didn't see too many birds, just the expected water birds (Mute Swan, Canada and Greylag Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Great-crested Grebe), and a few summer visitors (Swallow, Swift and House Martin).

We moved over to the regular area to see the Nightjars at about 9.15pm, and, within half an hour, we spotted the first birds. We were lucky enough to see 3 Nightjars over the next hour, along with about half a dozen Woodcocks, and a calling Cuckoo.

Here's a photo of one of the male Nightjars taken by a fellow RSPB member and friend, Norman Crowson.

Nightjar

Year List update:
151 - Woodcock
152 - Nightjar

Empty Nest

Regular readers will know that I've been lucky enough to have  a pair of Starlings nesting in the nest box on the side of my house this year (see here). I've blogged a few times about their progress, including when I ringed the 4 chicks earlier in the month (see here and here).

I checked the nest on 17th June and this is what I found:

Starlings!

 On 20th June it was all quiet in the box, so I checked again, and this is what I found:

Empty nest

 

An empty nest box is the best possible outcome, so I was very pleased to see that all 4 birds had fledged. The results were added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge scheme (see here). So far I haven't seen any of the birds in the garden, despite having 19 juveniles feeding on the meal worms this morning, but I'll post any information I get, if they're re-sighted anywhere.

 

Linacre June WeBS and new insects

This month's WeBS count was carried out today by Mandy from the Chesterfield RSPB Group (thanks Mandy). Wildfowl numbers were good, and a confirmed breeding record for Tufted Duck was also a really good record.

Counts this month were: Mallard 57; 51 adults and 6 juveniles, Coot 25;13 adults and 12 juveniles, Moorhen 7; 1adult and 6 juveniles, Great-crested Grebe 2; 1adult and 1 juvenile, Tufted Duck 10; 5 adults and 5 juveniles, Mandarin 23; 14 adults and 9 juveniles, Canada Goose 1, Grey Wagtail at least 4; 2 adults and 2 juveniles.

Whilst Mandy was doing the WeBS count , I spent some time looking at some insects! 5 species of butterfly were seen; Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood , Ringlet (my first of the year), Large Skipper (also a first for the year, and a new species for the site, as far as I am aware), and a Red Admiral (seen by Mandy).

Large Skipper

I also spotted one species of damselfly; a pair of Common Blues "in cop" i.e. mating, and most excitingly, another brand new species for Linacre; Broad-bodied Chaser! Not only did I see 2, a male and  a female, but I also got a photo of both sexes.

Broad-bodied Chaser (male)

Broad-bodied Chaser (female)

 

Final note on the insects goes to two hoverfly species that were seen. The first, Great Pied Hoverfly, is one I first recorded last year.

Great Pied Hoverfly

 

At least 2 individual were seen, along with a couple of another species, Volucella bombylans, a stunning bee mimic (see last post for a photo).

Linacre Ringing and Mothing- 14th June 2014

Yesterday morning I was up early and got to Linacre for 5am. The primary reason was for a ringing session, but I also managed to get a bit of "mothing" done when drizzle and a dearth of birds put an end to the ringing.

First bird on site this morning was a Little Owl, that I saw on the drive in. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find the nest this year, so no ringing. I've had to make do with sightings instead. Arriving in the ringing area, we soon had the usual nets up, and started to ring the first of several juvenile Great Tits (3Js). These were quickly followed by a juvenile Bullfinch (the first of 4 Bullfinches ringed today), a juvenile Chiffchaff, Blackcap (2 from the 5 Blackcaps ringed today) and a Robin.  By 9am the drizzle set in, and as we'd ringed 21 birds of 5 species, we decided to call it a day.

When the other members of the group left, I decided to stay on for a while. Luckily the rain stopped, so I spent another hour and  a half walking around the ringing site checking for day-flying moths and butterflies. I saw 2 species of butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell and my first Meadow Brown of the year. In addition I spotted 12 species of moth, 7 of which were new for me at Linacre, and a couple of hoverfly species, 1 of which was new for me at Linacre (Volucella bombylans, in case you want to know!)

Volucella bombylans

I managed to photograph a few of the moths. Here are a couple of the new species:

Yellow Shell

 

Straw Dot

 

More information about the moths of the UK can be found here.

Starlings ringed

Since my last post about the nesting Starlings (see here and here), things have moved on, and today I was able to ring 2 of the 4 young birds (Stewart from The Group, ringed the other 2).

When I checked the box on 6th June this is what I found:

 

As you can see, the chicks have grown and are big enough to be ringed. Note also a dead chick in the top of the photo. This bird is also a juvenile bird, but not one from this brood. My only idea is that this bird came into the box to roost, and was possibly killed by the adult birds? The dead bird is obviously a health risk to the chicks, so I removed it when I ringed the chicks.

 

I contacted my trainer, and got hold of the "C" rings that a Starling takes and ringed the chicks today.

Starling pullus

 

I think the chicks will be in the nest for about another week, after which I hope they will fledge successfully, and then start feeding in the garden... and beyond!