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

Starling success!

The three Starling eggs that were in the nestbox on the side of my house have now hatched and these three "beautiful" chicks have appeared!

Starling chicks

I've let my ringing trainer know bout them, so hopefully we'll be able to ring them in a few days time. The adult birds are busy feeding them, and have taken advantage of the meal worms I put out in the garden.

Adult Starling

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

95 pulli ringed

Last night I spent 3 hours at Linacre with my ringing trainer checking the nestboxes and ringing the chicks. In total we managed to ring 95 young, all either Blue or Great Tits. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera, so no photos. Of the 95 I managed to ring 51; 40 Blue Tits and 11 Great Tits. Box 11, the box on my header, had a brood of 5 Great Tits which were big enough to ring. Well done Box 11!

There were still about half a dozen boxes with either young too small to ring or eggs so we'll be back again next week.

Farm Walk number 2 and a sunbathing Mr White!

Got up early again today and went off to a farm near Worksop to carry out the second of this year's survey walks for the RSPB's Voluteer and Farmer Alliance scheme. The sun was shining and, after a coolish start, it warmed up to produce a lovely walk with 32 species counted, including 5 species.

Skylarks and Yellowhammers were well represented, but the best bird of the day for me was the Tree Sparrows that were present around the farm buildings and in the hedgerows. I took this picture of a wonderful Ash tree and hedgerow just to give you an idea of what the farm looks like.

Ash tree and Hawthorn hedge

I didn't see any Grey Partridge on the farm today, but I did spot this confused looking bird feeding by the road side on the drive across. Very unusual sighting!

Grey Partridge

When I got home I spent the day in the garden and managed to get this shot of "Mr White" subathing on the lawn. Good to see he's still going strong. Also spotted a Tree Bumblebee in the garden today, a first!

Mr White

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

Starlings return.

Following a false start in early April and the subsequent failure of the nest I've been really pleased to see the return of the Starling pair to the nestbox on the side of the house this week. The male bird has been singing, wing flapping on the roof and bringing in lots more nesting material to the box. I had a quick peep in today and grabbed this photo.

Starling

Sorry about the quality of the picture, but I didn't want to disturb her. Hopefully with the weather set to improve this week she may continue to brood and raise a healthy brood. Good luck! The news has been entered into the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.