Recent recoveries

Here is a list of recent recoveries that Ivel Ringing Group has received: LESSER REDPOLL, ringed Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (Bedfordshire) 24/11/12, controlled Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire 05/05/13. 275 km, 162 days, NNW. SISKIN, ringed Sandy Smith Nature Reserve 08/12/12, controlled Callander, Stirling 530 km, 154 days, NNW. SISKIN, ringed Wibrin, Luxembourg, BELGIUM 24/02/12, controlled Sandy Smith Nature Reserve 08/08/12. 474km, 288 days, WNW. REED BUNTING, ringed Sandy Smith Nature Reserve 26/05/12, field observation Southill, (Bedfordshire) 12/04/13. 6 km, 321 days, NE. MAGPIE, ringed Chalton STW (Bedfordshire) 29/09/12, road casualty, Haynes (Bedfordshire) 10/03/13. 14 km, 162 days, NNE. CHAFFINCH, ringed Everton (Bedfordshire) 07/08/11, found dead, Little Paxton 10/03/13. 12 km, 581 days, N. BLUE TIT, ringed Carlton (Bedfordshire) 22/10/12, controlled Olney, Milton Keynes 19/05/13. 8 km, 209 days. SWALLOW, ringed Marston Moretaine (Bedfordshire) 02/09/12, controlled Rainworth, Nottinghamshire 14/05/13. 125 km, 254 days.

Recent Highlights

The weather is still interfering with operations and as the rain stopped play today, I've taken the chance to update my records and go through photographs.



Above: A male Siskin, one of 3 caught this autumn at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR). The rest of the flock (50 +) is proving as ellusive as always!

Above: A male Lesser Redpoll ringed at SSNR.

This autumn, I have more than doubled the number Lesser Redpoll ringed at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (11 previous + 19 new = 30) AND at Priory Country Park (10 previous + 18 new = 28). One of the Lesser Redpoll's caught at Priory already had a ring on it from elsewhere (I won't find out where for a while yet).

Above: A Goldcrest, a new species for the ringing list at SSNR. Why this species hasn't been ringed here before is a puzzle. Perhaps it's just down to luck.



Above: An October sunset at SSNR from where I park my ringing station!

So far this year (last year in brackets), of 896 (1411) handlings at Priory Country Park, 711 (1016) have been new for the year and of those 585 (868) have been new birds. Effort this year so far = 30 sessions (26 last year).

So far this year (last year in brackets), of 710 (999) handlings at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve, 462 (738) have been new for year and of those 386 (693) have been new birds. Effort this year so far = 32 sessions (36 last year).

I'm not going to worry last years totals, but there's still a good few weekends left between now and the new year (though having my bird feeders at Priory stolen isn't going to help the birds or my totals).

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve 28/02/12

Numbers wise today, it started off slowly and picked up a bit mid morning.



Above: A Siskin (on the right) and a Lesser Redpoll (on the left).

For the third time in 3 days, I caught a new species for the site...



Above: A Common (Mealy) Redpoll. All the previous redpoll's I've caught have been of the Lesser variety. This bird and a Great Tit formed a small and impromtu ringing demonstration to two delighted passers by who took an interest in what I was doing.

After the Common Redpoll, another new species for the site (and for me) was the next bird out of the net and it was a rarity. There are only a handful of birds of this species in the county and are nationally scarce. I have never seen one before and it is a rare day indeed that one is ringed. I am told only 6 have been ringed in Bedfordshire since 1980, the last of which was ringed in 1992 - 20 years ago!

I should find out how many the Ivel Ringing Group have ever ringed.



Above: A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.


A number of Jays were seen. 2 Woodcock were flushed in Upper Alders (wet woodland), lots of fieldfare about, skylarks were singing, 2 buzzards and 2 Little Owls were seen. One that missed the nets (thankfully) was a Pheasant. One that got away was Sparrowhawk - would have been a site first but it extracted itself about two seconds
after I realised something large was in the net!

For more photographs, visit my blog here.

Totals for the day in order of appearance: New (retrap)

Long Tailed Tit 2 (1)
Blue Tit 0 (4)
Robin 0 (1)
Coal Tit 1 (1)
Goldfinch 3 (0)
Great Tit 2 (1)
Wren 1 (0)
Lesser Redpoll 2 (0)
Siskin 1 (0)
Common Redpoll 1 (0)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 1 (0)
Chaffinch 2 (0)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (1)

25 birds of 13 species - a good variety.

Persistance Pays out, Super Siskins in!

Check out what Ed has been doing this weekend here

High water at Bromham Mill

The water level in the River Great Ouse at Bromham was very high today. The volume going over the Bromham Weir and through the old bridge at Bromham was formidable. Likewise through the Mill. The rain and cloud has given milder weather, with the ground very soft.














Photos: Water boiling out of Bromham Mill (top left); Great Tit (top right); Flooding through Bromham Bridge (bpttom right)

A flock of 30+ Siskins were actively feeding in the Alders, at times breaking off to fly round in a tight-knit group calling to each other. A few dropped to drink from puddles. A Heron was by the river. Goldcrests were calling on site.

Despite all the above activity, only 2 birds were ringed today (1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit), while 1 Great Tit was retrapped. Birds are canny creatures and they will exploit food sources, but when exhausted rapidly move on to other sites. I had filled the seed feeder on Monday, but by today it was empty - hence so few birds ringed.

Siskins

Target species aquired! Feeders up for a second week, tape lure at the ready. 14 new birds ringed!



Above & Below: Siskin no.1.





Above & Below: The tail shape (pointed) in the photograph above is indicative of a juvenile bird (born this year) whereas the rounded tail shape in the photograph below is that of an adult (born last year or before).



Many of the 14 Siskin caught were males and many of them juveniles. None had rings on, though I am hopeful that I will get some interesting recoveries as there is a good chance of this with Siskins.

Interestingly, the biometrics (wing length & weight) were remarkably similar amongst all the birds (wing length 73 or 74mm and weight around 12.3 or 12.4grams).

See http://greenwoodringer.blogspot.com/ for more info/photographs.

See http://priorycountrypark.blogspot.com/ for info/photographs of Saturday's session at Priory Country Park.

Cardington, 28th November 2010

Sunday morning was very cold. The pond at Bedford Park was mostly frozen, as was Longholme Lake. The River Ouse by the Embankment also had ice. At Cardington, the temperature was initially about -7.5 degree Centigrade. The ground was frozen hard, but we had escaped the snow. The good news was that there was no wind. I kept a very close eye on the nets; the aim was to remove birds quickly from the nets and process them as soon as possible. In order to do this more quickly, fewer measurements were taken than normal.


Totals for the day were 28 new birds ringed and 14 retraps (retrap totals shown in brackets):

Blackbird 1
Blue Tit 4 (7)
Chaffinch 2 (1)
Dunnock 1 (4)
Goldfinch 7
Great Spotted Woodpecker (1)
Great Tit 2
Greenfinch 5
Magpie 1
Robin 2 (1)
Siskin 1
Song Thrush 1
Wren 1

The Great Spotted Woodpecker retrapped was one of the young male birds I ringed at the same site on 30th October 2010.



The Magpie and Siskin (see right for a photo of the female Siskin) was the first bird of either species that I have ringed at the site.


The male Greenfinches were looking amazing, really bright yellow/green and very smart.





The total of 14 retraps suggests that many of the birds previously ringed are resident locally. Perhaps of particular interest are the 4 retrap Dunnocks:

Ring No. Date ringed Retrap history
P546608 21/06/09 05/07/09, 23/05/10, 30/10/10, 28/11/10
P546635 27/06/09 28/11/10
P546665 31/01/10 06/11/10, 28/11/10
P546687 26/09/10 30/10/10, 28/11/10

The fact that 608 has been caught 5 times now suggests it lives on the site most of the time. But what about 635? It was ringed a week later than 608 but today was the first time it has been retrapped. Where has it been in the mean time?

I am also getting a good number of Blue Tit retraps, but so far no Greenfinch or Goldfinch retraps - this could suggest that either the population is big and so the chances of getting a retrap are small, or the birds are moving through the area and not staying put. Time will tell.

Apart from the birds ringed, about 10 Lapwings drifted over and were in one of the fields near the village later on. There was one Goldcrest on site. A small flock of Fieldfares were in the hedgerow down the road as I left.