Fair Isle.

 The Obs. A great place to stay.

 I had never seen Heligoland traps worked before. This one is located in a Geo.

 Inside the heligoland, like fern gully! A good place for tired birds to find shelter.

 The Plantation where a Yellow browed Warbler was caught.

 Twite were common.

 A Red Backed Shrike frequented the garden, no doubt feasting on tired migrants.

 One of the many YB Warblers, easily the most common warbler seen.

 The Garden, probably the largest area of scrub on the island. Viewable from the obs, a great place to sit and watch as many rarities turn up here. Two days after we left a Whites thrush was on the hill. No, I am not bitter, just don't mention it!!

Demo day at Charnwood Lodge

We had a great day at Charnwood Lodge on Saturday 21st September 2013. Although we have done them elsewhere this was our first ever ringing demonstration at the site. 'The Lodge' is not the easiest place to find so we were delighted to welcome a number of interested ones who made their way to our bunker in the woods. With the kind permission of the Wildlife Trust we have a dedicated ringing room in one of the old outbuildings. The main house was demolished many years ago but several buildings remain and that was the center of activities for the day.

With just four nets we caught around 100 birds ringing 88 new. A wide range from Goldcrests to Blackbirds and everything in between, Quite a few late Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were ringed along with the resident species. The day included several Bullfinch, Coal Tits, Treecreepers, Nuthatches and Long-tailed Tits supplementing the ubiquitous Great and Blue Tits.

Thanks to all who came also for your generous support.

Rarity

I should have gone ringing early Saturday morning but I went birding instead because conditions looked right for a good bird or two (mizzle, low cloud and falls of migrants all down the east coast). There were some decent birds around the county (skuas etc) but the best I could manage was a Hobby. Today it didn't feel anything like as 'rare' (warm, dry, only slightly overcast) but that didn't stop me catching one.

Rarity is of course a relative concept but sadly that label now fits the poor old Willow Tit. Poecile montanus has taken a hammering in the last few years and I haven't seen or heard one round these parts for ages, until this morning that is when I first of all heard that once familiar buzzing call and then found this little beauty in the bramble net ride.

Welcome appearance of juveniles

A few CES (constant effort site) reports have flagged up low levels of juvenile birds in the last sessions at a time when historically they should represent a high proportion of birds caught. It was quite encouraging therefore to get a nice range of juveniles earlier this week at the sewerage works. This is something of a Whitethroat stronghold and the catch included several recently fledged individuals like this one in very fresh plumage.

Early Moult?

 While ringing at Watermead  I was surprised to trap this adult male Willow warbler that was undergoing active moult. This seems early to me!

It is always nice to trap Lesser Whitethroat, possibly my favourite bird.

In the hand I thought it had a white crescent in the upper eye, although I am less certain when I look at this photo. It had very abraded PP and TF. The 5th TF had no white tip although it was abraded. It was a female with a BP of 2. Aged as a 4 , but I suspect it is a 5.

Terns and Sand Martins doing well.

 We managed to ring 24  Common Tern chicks at Watermead Country Park today. Using a bucket to keep the birds in prior to ringing was a great idea. Well done Chris!

 There is always one that is just too small. Hard to imagine that this petite package will  make its way to over winter off the west coast of Africa.

Another success was ringing 32 Sand Martins at Church Farm. 24 of these were newly fledged young.

And then it cleared

I was away in Norfolk when a huge movement of Swifts occurred at the sewerage works. There are just a few times each year when sometimes thousands of birds congregate around the filter beds and even then only very occasionally when this coincides with safe access and calm drizzly conditions is it possible to make a catch. This past week afforded a couple of chances but only for a brief time. We manged to ring 29 House Martins 5 Swallows and 2 Swifts. All were healthy weights and apart for multiple flat flies on most individuals they all looked in good health too. As soon as the drizzle clears the birds fly higher and that's it.