Blackcap returns.

I only caught one bird this morning at Thornton, but it was an old friend!

 At first I thought it might be a second summer bird returning from last year.  There was some brown in the head. Not obvious in this image , but certainly in the one below.

 The first and 6th tail feathers were not pointed although I thought they might be more rounded if it was an older bird.

 All the greater coverts seemed the same.

You can see some brown in this image.
In fact I had first rung this bird on 3rd April 2011 as a second summer, so it is returning for its sixth summer. I had also retrapped it on 9/7/13.

Ticks at Hicks!

 The long awaited Snipe ringing session at Hicks Lodge was a success. We positioned two lines of nets, one of four and one of three 18m nets. We then walked the field after dark.

 First out of the net was this Woodcock, a ringing tick for Gemma.

 Next was a Jack Snipe, an extraction tick for Chris, but a ringing tick for Andy.

 Two Snipe were also caught, a ringing tick for Chris, completing the hat trick of ticks!

 The white on the under wing coverts and the less rounded primaries helped us age this Snipe as a 5.

 

 The two Snipe sit calmly just after release. My only regret is that I did not take the opportunity to grab a photo of all three species sat together. It would have been good for comparison. Oh well, next time.

 

Winter Blackcap.

 My first ringing session of 2015 at Thornton today resulted in 15 birds caught of 10 species.

Top bird was this first winter male Blackcap. It had been feeding on Himalayan honeysuckle, which is an excellent shrub for attracting this species. Ringing recoveries have shown that many of our over wintering Blackcap come from central Europe and especially Southern Germany. I hope this bird is recaptured in the future so we can find out where it decides to breed.

October update

We've had some windy spells of late but despite that we've had a weekly outing to our Winter site during October. This site is used as a roost, primarily for Blackbird, Redwing , Chaffinch and sometimes Brambling as in previous years, there is also a feeding station that attracts the usual woodland species. Our total for the month of 300 birds (210 new) includes 10 Wren, 37 Goldcrest, 16 Coal Tit, 41 Blue Tit, 52 Great Tit, 19 Chaffinch, 8 Blackbird, 4 Song Thrush, 3 Redwing and another 4 Nuthatch which brings the site total to 27 our best total has been 32 during 2007. Our September totals reached 256 inc 11 Robins, 36 Blackcap, 28 Chiffchaff, 31 Goldcrest and a Marsh Tit.
A few recent recovery details received back from the BTO include a Willow Warbler ringed as a pullus on 5th June and retrapped 63 days later at Icklesham in Sussex 246km away on 7th August, a Goldfinch ringed on the 1st April found it's way to North Lincolnshire and was killed by a cat, distance of 107km (no jokes please!) and a Greenfinch which was ringed in August 2013 was found with an injury in June this year nr Atherstone in Warwickshire a distance of 24km.

Spotted Flycatchers.

 Two juvenile Spotted Flycatchers were caught at Thornton today.

 Fresh plumage and Greater Coverts tipped buff as are the tertials makes this a first year. An adult would have very worn plumage.

 

Summer sessions

Two late summer sessions at the water treatment site produced 13 Blackcap 7 Chiffchaff 9 Whitethroat and an assorted supporting cast including this young Lesser Whitethroat. The habitat gets better for post breeding foraging and there were still Whitethroat carrying food . Tantalizing glimpse of a probable Marsh Harrier flying through to the south and a calling Sandwich Tern overhead added to the excitement.

Woodpecker Day.

 Juvenile Green Woodpecker.

We also caught a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker. It was also great to catch 17 new Reed Warblers for the year, including 4 recently fledged, our first of the year.