A day on the reserve

Today a couple of us went to a local ringing site for the first ringing session of the year on the reserve. After a chilly start at first light the sun came through for a very pleasant morning. Catches are low this time of year before the juveniles are around, so 29 birds of 13 species was good.

Female Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla

 

 

 

 

Four species of migrant warbler were caught including Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and a retrap Garden Warbler originally ringed in 2013. The final bird of the day was a male Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major

Tawny Owls

Yesterday afternoon a couple of us were out at the local Nature Reserve checking nest boxes. We have a small number of large boxes for Tawny Owls. This years appears to be a good year for Owls, with three nests. Two other boxes have Stock Dove nests and the last box is empty. One of the boxes usually contain a Mandarin nest. Although several pairs are in the wood, none are using the boxes.

Tawny Owl, (library image) © David T Hill

It is always wise to ring adult Owls in the daytime as they are usually more docile and easier to handle. At night they can be very protective of the nest site. Indeed, one famous bird photographer lost on eye when trying to photograph Tawny Owls at the nest.

Common Terns - heading home

The first returning Common Terns were reported in southern England today. 

We have been colour ringing chicks at Watermead Country Park Leicestershire since 2014 and the first of these birds are likely to be heading home this spring. 

Colour rings are Lime/ Pale Green with a black code and on the birds left leg. The codes UO1 to U37 were fitted on birds in 2014 and will hopefully be the ones returning this summer. The 2015 birds have codes U38 to U66 and these should start returning in 2017.

Please report any sightings through European colour-ring Birding http://www.cr-birding.org/node/2640

Ringing demonstration

On Saturday 20th February Chris and I ran a ringing demonstration at Charnwood Lodge as part of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife - Wildlife Watch Family Event - Wildlife Experience - Up Close with...Birds.

A number of families pre-booked and came along. The kids were great; very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

The Wildlife Trust web site has a great video taken by one of the parents when a Coal Tit was released. It just about sums up the joy of birds.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1076809102340095&id=118523798168635

Siberian Chiffchaff

The last net round of the day at the sewerage works produced three 'Chiffchaffs' . These were the second, third and fourth of the afternoon and although the first two were typical olive/yellow and dull nominate collybita, the third was so pale and silvery it looked like a totally different species. A bit like the last few holes at The Open when the light is failing and the commentators say 'you can't tell from the TV but it's almost dark'; well, by the time I came to the pale Chiff it was, so forgive this underwhelming image taken without flash, to avoid false bleaching, but it doesn't capture just how dark it had got.

First outing of the year

With a window of opportunity for us to finally get out for our first session of 2016, Sunday was the day. Starting mid-afternoon with cold, dry conditions and a moderate breeze we ventured into the wood for some roost ringing. The feeders had been replenished a few days earlier, the usual tit species keeping us busy while we waited for darkness to fall.
Our last but one net round produced a nice Jay for our trainee Chris; but disappointingly the last round of the day didn't contain  the expected Blackbirds or Redwing, just 4 Chaffinch ended the day. Where had they all gone for the night?
Totals:-  14 new and 21 retraps, Blue Tit 6 (5),  Great Tit 2 (7), Coal Tit (6), Robin (1) Goldcrest 1 (1), Jay 1, Nuthatch (1), Chaffinch 4.

'stockamsel' Blackbird - the Naumann link

Dark nights and slow birding days, so time to scratch around for something mildly interesting. I ringed an apparent continental Blackbird this morning and the word 'stockamsel' came to mind (see below).

Not only is it a bit of nostalgia but from Clare College, Cambridge some light on the subject. Evidently the expression 'stockamsel' was first coined by Johann Andreas Naumann he of (naumanni) Lesser Kestrel and Dusky Thrush fame. It relates to young males resembling well marked females. This is a dark billed first year male with white fringed flank feathers creating a clearly visible 'scaly' effect.

It was quite a good morning. Lots of birds around and with a single 60' net 24 new birds including 8 blackbirds, 5 Goldcrest and a Redwing with very dark, heavily streaked upper breast (possible Icelandic race?).