March of the ....Swallows

The film 'March of the Penguins' showed the amazing journey undertaken by Emperor Penguins as they walk to their breeding grounds in the Antarctic. I admit that Swallows are quite different from Penguins - not least the fact that they can fly, but they are black(ish) and white(ish) and they both face many dangers as they try to find a way of surviving in a harsh world. The halcyon days of summer are over, our summer visitors are faced with tough choices about how long to remain in the UK before setting of on the long route south to Africa. If they leave it too late before beginning their migration, there is increased risk of bad weather while food supplies may become more limited.

At Marston Vale Millennium Country Park there are still good numbers of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins feeding over the lakes and reed beds. The reed beds also still hold some Reed Warblers and Sedge Warblers.

Last night Mike and I had another session attempting to ring Swallows as they went in to roost. The weather forecast wasn't promising but it was a really pleasant evening (though a touch cool) with a great sunset.

Totals ringed were:

• 2 Reed Warbler


• 2 Sedge Warbler


• 5 Sand Martin (including 2 adults)


• 11 Swallow(all juveniles)
  Total 20

A group of 10-12 Yellow Wagtails also roosted in the reed beds overnight.

The Sedge and Reed Warblers seem to have a different migration strategy. The Sedge Warblers are getting very heavy, as they are building up fat reserves to give them the energy for lengthy flights. The Reed Warblers haven't put on much extra weight, so the assumption is that they will make shorter 'hops' in their southward migration.

Ringing at Marston Vale Millennium Country Park

Today we ringed at the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park, Marston Moretaine, for the first time. The Country Park has been created on the site of former clay workings and has an area of approximately 250 hectares (617 acres) and is run by the Marston Vale Trust. The Park consists of areas of water (Stewartby Lake,The Pillinge and some smaller pools as well as a network of ditches and Elstow Brook which runs through the site), reedbeds and areas of established and more recently planted woodland. The Forest Centre includes the Lakeside Bar and Cafe, a gift shop, displays of information, a play area, cycle hire and toilets.

The aim of our work at the Country Park will be to find out more about the bird life of the area. This will be achieved by the recording what is ringed plus details of any wildlife and plants seen.

The weather was better that the forecast, but was not very favourable for ringing today - blustery wind with occasional showers, but the total of 3 Reed Warblers (see photo top left) and 2 Sedge Warblers (see photo lower rights) was a good start. Other sightings included a Sparrowhawk overhead carrying food, a family party of Long-tailed Tits, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Lapwings, Reed Buntings still singing, along with Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood butterflies. We had packed up just before the heavy rain shower came through!

Thank you to Roger and Sue for your help today.

CES 8 at Priory

A good day - despite the weather. Sunny intervals but increasing cloud and gusty winds.
A total of 38 birds of 11 species and just 8 retraps.

1J Wren with bright gape and dull eye

Blue Tit 1 juv
Long-tailed Tit (1) - this individual was ringed as a 3 in August 2007
Chiffchaff 3 (1) - all juvs
Garden Warbler 2 (1) - the male retrap is from early 2008
Blackcap 10 (1) - today's surprise package!
Whitethroat (3) - all moulting adults
Sedge Warbler 1 - another juv (2 days running!)
Reed Warbler 2 juvs
Wren 3 (1) - includes a 1J
Blackbird 7 - 6 juvs and a 2cy, all males
Dunnock 1 juv - no adults today, our staple diet here

We were chatting to Dave Kramer about records sent in by birders and how different things (especially colours) can be perceived and described by different people. As an example, see the Chiffchaff below ....
The same Chiffchaff photographed from two different angles.
One 'brown' while the other is 'green'.

There were plenty of butties on the wing today, including quite a few newly emerged Gatekeepers ...
several Commas ...
... and Red Admirals, too. The Creeping Thistles also had several species of bumblebee feeding on them, together with a soldier bettle sp.

The Whitethroats were in heavy moult, a sign that they had finished breeding for this year.
Primaries 1 & 2 completing, primary 3 sprouting & primary 4 still pushing through. Moult score = 11 (4421000000)

Four more CES sessions left; they should produce many more young birds and maybe some "old friends".

An early tickle

An early start at the crescent before the winds got up. Not very many dog walkers around this morning. However, there has been a blue-green algal bloom in the main lake for a week or so. These winds will shift it by creating turbulence and chilling the water temperature.

First up was my first moulting Blackcap of the year, a male with two primaries dropped on both wings. The main thrust here is always the Reed Warblers. We can't get into this small reedbed as the sub-strate is very unstable (an old silt trap) if you continually walk on it. Therefore we suffice with ringing the perimeter paths. Today it was 15 birds in total, with 7 retrap adult Reed Warblers and 3 juveniles.

With the absence of dogs, some of the 100 or so swans came to the beach, (bottom right corner of main lake - see map), to haul out and do a bit of 'toiletry' and 'have a natter'.

"Here we come"
"Now for a good scratch"


Abraded plumage of an adult Reed Warbler
Fresh plumaged juvenile Reed Warbler.
Juvenile Blackcap showing soft body feathers.

The end tally was 15 birds including 8 recaptures:
Great Tit 1 juv
Garden Warbler 1 juv
Black cap 1 juv (1)
Sedge Warbler 1 juv
Reed Warbler 3 (7)
One of the male Reed Warblers was ringed as a 6M (hatched 2 years earlier or before) in 2006, making it at least 6 years old and another one was a 6Female when caught in 2007. This year to date, I have caught 17 males, 10 females, 5 unsexed (poss females as they were caught early on) and 3 juveniles at this tiny reed bed.

Today's surprise extraction ...
... only the second this year over the whole site.

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve

No Grasshopper Warblers this time despite making a specific evening visit yesterday for this species. We did catch:

Sedge Warbler 4 (all new) - 3 male, 1 female (all adults)
Whitethroat 5 (2 retrap and 3 new) - 2 male, 3 female (all adults) with 2 in egg.



Above: A sedge warbler.

For more photographs and what else we saw/heard this visit, see my blog: http://greenwoodringer.blogspot.com/