Trickling in

The summer migrants are certainly trickling in now. A brief session this morning at the water treatment plant (as someone suggested might sound more salubrious compared to sewerage works) there were Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Whitetheoat and Blackcap (3 of the latter ringed). Also Swallow, House Martin and Yellow Wagtail on show.
It was however a bit chilly and I would on reflection have been better employed catching hirundines in the compound than the handful of passerines in the scrub. If the weather is dull tomorrow I may go for the former.

First bird of 2014

Our group secretary Chris sent us an email last night to request final data for 2013, to give an update on the totals for the year (just over 2,500 birds) and to ask "what will be the first bird for the new year I wonder ? Blue tit..again! First bird for 2013 was a Blue tit on 1st Jan at Grace Dieu".

Well, always one for a challenge I blew the cobwebs off this morning and headed for the sewerage works where I knew I could find a sheltered spot out of the wind. Just after 9:30 to my delight and to buck the trend the first bird ringed was .... Chiffchaff. This was followed quickly by a couple of Long-tailed Tits. Just as I was warming up the heavens opened and that was that. It rained and blew a gale for the rest of the day. Up and running though.

Dawn to Dusk

Phew what a day!
Normally at our woodland site we have nets up for the evening roost of thrushes, hoping for Redwings, which this year we have seen few in the nets even though there are lots coming into the area to roost. So yesterday we decided to start before dawn in the hope of getting them as they leave the roost.
A crisp frosty site greeted us Brrrrrr.
Once the nets were up the kettle went on and we waited for dawn to break, from our advantage point we soon began seeing birds leaving the bushes and feeding on the Yew berries. Time to check the nets.
With a little help from an mp3 player by 9am we'd had 20 birds. Brilliant. The tape went off.
We then put the feeder nets up and and enjoyed a steady stream of birds all day including 2 new Nuthatch to add to our total of 10 for the site this year.
 A brief lull late afternoon and a cuppa in hand is always a chance to take note of birds coming and going, Buzzard, Raven, Jackdaws, Wood Pigeon, Crossbill. Six Crossbill alighted  in a Silver Birch tree for about 2 minutes before flying off, they are occasionally seen and heard around the site, and I live in hope of catching one, well today was the day. Checking the net nearest to some water I couldn't believe my eyes, not 1 but 4 birds in the net, 2 green and 2 red, I found it hard to contain my excitement and Nigel was speechless when I showed him what we had. After doing all the necessities they flew back into the birch tree breifly, before going on their way. The evening roost produced 10 more Redwing plus others.
What a great day. We ended with 56 new birds.
Wren 1 (1), Blue Tit 5 (4), Blackbird 2 (1), Bullfinch 1, Goldcrest 2 (1), Great Tit 3 (2), Nuthatch 2 (1), Robin 1 (1), Treecreeper 1, Coal Tit (2), Chaffinch 4, Redwing 30, Crossbill 4.



phone pic of 1cy male

 

shaky picture of adult male Crossbill







"What a Cracker" - an early Christmas present.

Nice day ringing at The Lodge today with the usual suspects from the feeders.

We also had a couple of nets up to catch any thurshes coming to feed on the Yew berries. When the Yew have been stripped of berries around Christmas the wood seems devoid of wintering thrushes.

Today, the Redwing numbers seemed to drop off around mid afternoon. Coming back from a round at about 14:30, Chris was positively brimming - three more Redwings. Except that one was very different. It was from the Icelandic/Faroes race T. iliacus coburni. I've posted photos below.

Redwings Charnwood 21.11.2013, Icelandic race on left. Photo Stuart Moffat

Icelandic race Redwing showing darker under-wing coverts 21.11.2013 Photo Stuart Moffat

Overall a more bulky bird with darker back and rump (biometrics were still in the overlap with nominate T. i. iliacus). The streaks on the breast and flanks were noticably darker, heavier and joined on the breast to make to smudge. Under wing coverts were also much darker that the nominate race.

The Icelandic race normally winters further west than the nominate race. Wintering in Scotland, Ireland and Western France. Presumably the strong northerly winds over the six weeks has taken it further off course.

Here are the new/retraps for the day.

Blue Tit 10/6, Great Tit 9/8, Coal Tit 1/9, Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Nuthatch 1/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Blackbird 4/0, Song Thrush 1/0 Redwing 11/0, Chaffinch 4/0.

More from the roost

The weather cleared this afternoon but there was a decided chill in the air.
The long line of nets in the rhododendron tunnel were set early and we had others around the feeder and the raspberry bushes.
The air was full of bird sound and there was much activity so we were hopeful.

The roost materialized on cue. Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Brambling. Even a Nuthatch got in on the act.
This welcome list of birds was on top of the regulars from the other nets Treecreepers, Goldcrests, Robin, Tits in general but especially a number of Coal Tits which seems to have had a good breeding season at the Lodge.
A great afternoon topped off with calling Tawny Owls and Jays and Ravens coming in to roost late on in the big trees.

Ladybird catches the eye!

 A successful roost session at Charnwood Lodge resulted in a total of 55 birds, this first winter male Brambling being the highlight.

Another highlight was this Pine Ladybird,(Exochomus 4-pustulatus) that was found enjoying the October sunshine. They are black with 2-4 red dots and a rim around the edge of the wing case. I could not help wondering that who ever polishes them does a great job!

PhD Research.

A Sand Martin flea, not to scale!

 The host.

 Hannah Wickenden of Oxford Brookes University is in the second year of her PhD. She is sampling Sand Martin fleas from colonies across the country. This sampling is carried out after the birds have finished breeding. There are two different Sand Martin fleas, one in the south and one in the north. There are also hybrids and Hannah is trying to find out if these species are populating new regions, perhaps as a response to climate change.

 Hi tech equipment used for taking nesting material and hopefully finding some fleas.

 Graham digging down to get to some of the nest chambers.

The adult Sand Martins excavate a surprisingly long tunnel.
Once we have finished the sampling the sand is replaced and the wall recapped in readiness for next year.
The two walls at Church Farm were well used this year. We managed to catch a total of 64 birds. This included 19 males and 17 females. One adult was unsexed. We also caught 27 juveniles, which demonstrates how successful the walls have been. We also caught one returning bird that we rung in July 2011.
Our thanks go to Hannah for sharing her knowledge with us and most of all to Graham for his boundless enthusiasm for nature conservation.
Mind you I was pleased to get home and have a shower!