Whoosh net Christened!

First winter Black Headed Gull. Rung as a pullus at Lommel in Belgium in May 2010.

Happy ringer having been successful with his Christmas present.

The trapping site.

Most people get socks or a new jumper for Christmas, I got a Whoosh net. I was at last able to try it out at the weekend and my first and only capture was the colour ringed Black Headed gull that has been frequenting Thornton and my garden since November. I had already contacted the Belgium ringers responsible for ringing this gull and they were very grateful for the data. I am however new to ringing gulls and I failed to measure the length of the bill and head, which would have enabled me to possibly sex it. With ringing there is always more to learn!

Lots of Chaffinch

It was good to get back to our roost site this weekend, as Dec 12th was the last time we were there due to the bad weather. The afternoon session with 5 nets produced 40 birds, 24 new and 16 retraps. Unusually we didn't catch any Blackbird or thrush but there were lots of Chaffinch moving about and 21 were caught. We would have had a few more titmice but the feeders had only been replenished a couple of days before and only a few had returned to them. The only Goldcrest of the session was an adult male first ringed in August 2009 and was in good condition, as was most of the birds we caught. Totals as follows retraps in ( )
Chaffinch 17 (5)
Nuthatch 1 (1)
Great Tit 1 (6)
Blue Tit 2
Coal Tit 1 (2)
Dunnock (1)
Goldcrest (1)
Wren 2

Silent assassin.

It was a real privilege to catch this male Sparrowhawk at Charnwood Lodge this weekend. I took the opportunity to take some photos and then started playing with the cropping. I think the eye photos demonstrate just how well this raptor can keep both his eyes firmly targeted on his victim. The odd brown secondary and bright yellow eye confirm this as a second winter male.

Brrrrrrr it's Cold

With only a sprinkling of snow compared to other parts of the country we braved the cold to continue with our roost ringing. With 8 nets up we were kept busy all afternoon, not even having time to make a cuppa to warm ourselves up. We ended with 48 new birds and 30 retraps. Of the few tits we checked for fat some were carrying large amounts, up to 50ESP in some cases. Interestingly most of the Chaffinch caught were males with only 2 females among them.
Totals. Retraps in ( )

Chaffinch 20
Great Tit 11 (13)
Blue Tit 1 (7)
Long-tailed Tit (1)
Wren 4 (1)
Coal Tit 1 (4) with one from 2007
Robin (1)
Blackbird 3 (3) with one from 2007
Redwing 4
Song Thrush 1
Nuthatch 2

Male Cetti's.

The Watermead reed bed was a dank and misty place on Saturday morning as I set five nets, hoping perhaps to catch a Bearded Tit. Thinking positively was not having much affect as all I was catching were Blue and Long Tailed tits. Still, at least I was discovering what was in the reed bed and that Reedlings were not here yet. I live in hope. Then I was rewarded with this fine male Cetti's. I was able to sex it on size, it weighed 15.2 gms, females only reach 12.5 gms. Also the wing was 61 mm, which is at the extreme upper limit for a female. The female that I caught back in September had a wing of 58 and only weighed 12 gms. Having been ringing at Watermead for 12 years and never having caught a Cetti's, these captures are good evidence that they are increasing. All thanks to great management by Dale and his team.

More Lesser Redpolls.

Another 12 Lesser Redpoll were caught at Thornton at the weekend. This brings the autumn total to 35. Two adults were identified by their more rounded tail feathers. There was also a smart adult male with more extensive red on the breast feathers. Redpolls migrate to the south east at this time of year and there are many recoveries from Belgium. I have also recently had a control of a male Blackcap that I rung as an adult on the 22nd May 2004 at Thornton. It was retrapped in September at Dairsie, Fife, by the Tay Ringing group. It was an adult when I trapped it so it is at least 7 years old.

Lesser Redpolls?

Over the last few days I have managed to catch 16 Lesser Redpolls at Thornton. Most have been young birds, with well worn and pointed tail feathers. One was an adult female and the tail feathers were more rounded and less worn. All the wing lengths have been in the range 67 to 72, apart from one first winter male that had a wing length of 76. This puts it in the range of Common Redpoll or flammea. I regret not taking more photos of this bird, although it did not appear very different to the other Redpolls.