Dear Readers,

Unfortunately, on 31/12/2016, Ivel Ringing Group closed. We will leave this blog as it is for the record. Group reports will continue to be available on the right hand side of the page (including the final group report when published).

Group members continue to ring on their sites on their own ring allocations.

Please be aware that links to other pages etc. will not be maintained in the future so may not work.

Thanks to everyone for their support of Ivel Ringing Group.

April news

The year to date, ringing wise, has been reasonably productive. A good breeding season last summer and a mild winter (the second in a row) has helped survival of our resident and overwintering species.

 

This has been reflected at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR) where a large number of Reed Buntings interspersed with good numbers of Yellowhammer have been seen in large mixed flocks around the hedgerows and near my netting area.

So far this year I have ringed 34 new Reed Buntings at SSNR (previous year high total was 10 last year and only 20 in total for the site). 9 Yellowhammers have also been ringed this year with 8 caught between September and December last year. None had been ringed on site prior to these. There were far more birds around than I ringed.

 

 

 

Above: A male Reed Bunting. Hopefully these birds will disperse and get reported elsewhere!

 

News came through recently that a Jay ringed on 06/09/14 was found dead at Freeby Wood, in Leicestershire 73 days later. A movement of 89km, in a NNW direction. This is only the second recorded movement of Jay for the Ivel Ringing Group (IRG). The only other record is of one found dead at Tempsford, 2 km away from the original ringing site in 1991.

 

There are resident Jays at SSNR, but whether this bird was resident or one that was already on migration will not be known. It does show though that Jays can be mobile during the Autumn/Winter in search of food and suitable wintering grounds. Not many Jays are normally ringed, so last years total of 8 at SSNR was exceptional.

 



 

Above: A Jay was retrapped 

 

This Jay was first ringed on 28/06/13 and retrapped approximately 1 year 9 months later - a new IRG longevity record. This was also the first Jay ringed on site. On the same day as this Jay was retrapped, I ringed a new Magpie (6th for SSNR) and 2 smelly Jackdaws!

 

Above: A Jackdaw

 

Below: A male Great Spotted Woodpecker

 

 

As I seem to be covering longevity records, the Great Spotted Woodpecker above, also became a site and IRG longevity record during April at 4 years and 1 month. This same bird was the previous record holder! Interestingly, it is only trapped during the breeding season. Perhaps it uses SSNR to breed and goes elsewhere for Autumn and Winter - or else it only needs a supplementary food source (nuts) whilst breeding. New site longevity records for Great Tit and Robin were also set this year. I expect a few more to tumble as the year progresses.

 

143 new birds of 24 species have so far been ringed at SSNR this year. When you add 'new for year' retraps to the total, 237 individual birds have been handled.

 

I have been less active at Priory Country Park so far this year, though 2 sessions - including the pre CES visit - were conducted recently. The pick of the birds was this one:

 

Above: A control (ringed elsewhere) female Blackcap 

The start of the Constant Effort season is only days away (it starts on Sunday) so I will be busy with 2 sites for the summer. Only time will tell what sort of weather will come our way and whether it will be a good breeding season or not. My fingers are definitely crossed in hope!

In other news, last year saw the Ivel Ringing Group database reach over 100,000 records! This is a major achievement for the group. Since 1990, a lot of dedicated volunteer ringers (and other helpers) have helped over the years, to monitor and increase our knowledge of birds on a local and national level. Thank you and well done to everyone.

IRG Bird Ringing Report 2010 - 2013

Happy New Year to all our readers. We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year.

 

The IRG Bird Ringing Report 2010 - 2013 is now completed. You can view it by clicking here or by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this page.

 

We hope 2015 will be a bird filled year for you all!

New for Year totals and a few recoveries

I have, quite rightly, been chided for not updating this blog in a quite a while - sorry for that. By way of an update on my ringing sites (Priory Country Park and Sandy Smith Nature Reserve) I feel it would be best to give you New for Year totals (for those unfamiliar with this phrase it gives a proven population total filtering out same year retraps).

Priory Country Park

Woodpigeon 2
Green Woodpecker 4
Great Spotted Woodpecker 2
Wren 26
Dunnock 41
Robin 25
Blackbird 31
Song Thrush 11
Reed Warbler 13
Whitethroat 19
Garden Warbler 29
Blackcap 148
Chiffchaff 41
Willow Warbler 2
Goldcrest 10
Long Tailed Tit 13
Blue Tit 85
Great Tit 60
Treecreeper 4
Magpie 2
Chaffinch 16
Goldfinch 8
Bullfinch 7

This comprises of 599 individual birds of 23 species. CES results are included in the totals - but so are non-CES results. All 12 CES visits were completed for the 4th year running. CES results this year were much improved on the previous two years, though not spectacular. The highlight being 4 Green Woodpeckers - normally we are lucky to catch 1 per year at this site - and a Blackbird first ringed in 2005 (a new IRG longevity record at an elderly 8 years, 312 days). Also of note were 10 Goldcrests caught before the arrival those of continental origins. An exceptional breeding year for the park.

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve

Mute Swan 1
Kingfisher 4
Green Woodpecker 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker 11
Meadow Pipit 1
Yellow Wagtail 1
Pied Wagtail 1
Wren 42
Dunnock 41
Robin 14
Stonechat 2
Blackbird 8
Song Thrush 5
Sedge Warbler 12
Reed Warbler 5
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Whitethroat 35
Garden Warbler 8
Blackcap 98
Chiffchaff 31
Willow Warbler 8
Goldcrest 6
Spotted Flycatcher 1
Long Tailed Tit 26
Marsh Tit 1
Coal Tit 7
Blue Tit 138
Great Tit 151
Nuthatch 4
Treecreeper 4
Jay 8
Magpie 4
Jackdaw 1
Chaffinch 20
Greenfinch 1
Goldfinch 4
Yellowhammer 1
Reed Bunting 5

This comprises of 713 individual birds of 38 species. All species new for the site this year are in bold (53 species have now been ringed on site & one - Mute Swan - with colour rings read). Of note - it was an extremely good year for catching Jays - at 8 new birds this is more than were caught in the entire county last year. Whitethroats had good numbers of adults around but didn't have a successful breeding season. The end of August & beginning of September were extremely good for high catch totals (150 being the highest of 3 sessions that went over 100).

Best bird status has to go to Stonechat. A juvenile male and female were ringed yesterday (16/11/14). The first in 20 years for the group - with just 3 previous records.

Above: Male and Female Stonechat.

 

More photographs of the Stonechats and a Pied Wagtail can be found on my blog here as well as other highlights of the year.

 

News of a few recoveries have filtered through as follows:

 

Blue Tit - V670579 - Ringed 28/05/12 at John O'Gaunt Golf Club. Recaptured 21/04/14 in Potton. A movement of 2 km, 693 days later.

 

Kestrel - EL36089 - Ringed 07/02/13 at Carlton. Road Casualy 21/09/14 in Chellington. A movement of 3 km, 591 days later.

 

Blue Tit - L302621 - Ringed 05/03/12 at Preston, Hertfordshire. Recaptured 12/04/14 Maydencroft Manor, Hertfordshire. A movement of 4 km, 768 days later.

 

Swallow - D044249  - Ringed 26/06/13 at Cardington. Ring read in field - 01/08/14 at Southill. A movement of 9 km, 401 days later.

 



CES Update

Going by the overall numbers caught on each CES session at Priory Country Park this year, totals are up on 2012 and 2013 (which were 2 of the worst years in over 20 years of CES survey work here).

CES 1 - 04/05/14 - 15 (11) = 26 of 9 species
CES 2 - 18/05/14 - 8 (5) = 13 of 9 species
CES 3 - 31/05/14 - 19 (10) = 29 of 9 species
CES 4 - 08/06/14 - 19 (4) = 23 of 6 species
CES 5 - 19/06/14 - 15 (7) = 22 of 8 species
CES 6 - 30/06/14 - 20 (7) = 27 of 11 species
CES 7 - 06/07/14 - 25 (4) = 29 of 13 species
CES 8 - 20/07/14 - 40 (4) = 44 of 12 species
CES 9 - 27/07/14 - 42 (4) = 46 of 14 species

That adds up to 142 new birds and 56 recaptures = 198 handlings of 21 species.

Including an additional, pre CES session in April, the new for year totals so far are:

Green Woodpecker 3 (including a retrap adult from 2011& a juvenile)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (a juvenile)
Wren 24 (including one from 2012)
Dunnock 23 (including 2 from 2011)
Robin 19 (including 1 from 2011)
Blackbird 18 (including retraps from 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Song Thrush 4 (all new)
Reed Warbler 7 (all new)
Whitethroat 15 (including 2 from 2011)
Garden Warbler 21 (including 1 from 2010)
Blackcap 63 (including 1 from 2012)
Chiffchaff 17 (including 1 from 2011 - a new IRG longevity record - and a British ringed control)
Goldcrest 2 (2 juveniles)
Long Tailed Tit 3 (including 1 from 2011)
Blue Tit 15 (including 1 from 2011)
Great Tit 16 (including 1 from 2010 and 2 from 2011)
Treecreeper 1 (all new)
Magpie 2 (2 juveniles)
Chaffinch 3 (including 1 from 2011)
Goldfinch 1 (all new)
Bullfinch 5 (including 1 from 2013)

A successful ringing demonstration was given to the guided bird walk on CES 9. They saw a wide range of species from Reed Warbler and Blackcap, to Blue Tit and Blackbird. The best though, was a juvenile Green Woodpecker.

I've just about managed to get each session in (it was nip and tuck for a couple due to other commitments & the weather) and I'm hoping to make each of the next 3, which will make 4 consecutive years of complete visits. Hopefully the increase in numbers will continue and the weather will hold good.

May Update

May has been a busy month for the birds whether they've been constructing nests, incubating eggs or feeding young (or all 3!). With the mild winter and good weather through April into May, there were signs aplenty that young would be fledging from the nest early this year. But has it proved to be that way?

Ringing results so far this year at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve:

(species that I can expect to catch juveniles)

Great Spotted Woodpecker = 8 adults, 0 juveniles

Wren = 8 adults, 0 juveniles

Dunnock = 5 adults, 2 juveniles (28/05/14 - earliest site record, previous 12/06/11)

Robin = 1 adult, 0 juveniles

Blackbird = 5 adults, 0 juveniles

Sedge Warbler = 10 adults, 0 juveniles

Whitethroat = 16 adults, 0 juveniles

Garden Warbler = 6 adults, 0 juveniles

Blackcap = 15 adults, 0 juveniles

Chiffchaff = 7 adults, 0 juveniles

Goldcrest = 0 adults, 1 juvenile (29/05/14 - earliest site record, previous 21/09/13)

Long Tailed Tit = 6 adults, 2 juveniles (29/05/14 - earliest site record, previous 28/06/13)

Blue Tit = 10 adults, 0 juveniles

Great Tit = 10 adults, 6 juveniles (29/05/14 - earliest site record, previous 30/05/11)

Chaffinch = 7 adults, 0 juveniles

The highlight amongst the above was the juvenile Goldcrest which was only the 2nd local juvenile ringed here after one last year. All the other Goldcrests are probable migrants caught much later in the year.

Above: Juvenile Goldcrest

Above: Another highlight was this adult Jay (2nd ringed at SSNR).

Below: As well as this Kingfisher



Ringing results so far this year at Priory Country Park:

(species that I can expect to catch juveniles - CES visits only)

Green Woodpecker = 1 adult, 0 juveniles

Wren = 9 adults, 0 juveniles

Dunnock = 6 adults, 2 juveniles (31/05/14 - earliest = 11/05/09)

Robin = 1 adult, 4 juveniles (18/05/14 - earliest = 04/05/09)

Blackbird = 5 adults, 0 juveniles

Song Thrush = 2 adults, 0 juveniles

Whitethroat = 4 adults, 0 juveniles

Garden Warbler = 8 adults, 0 juveniles

Blackcap = 18 adults, 3 juveniles (31/05/14 - earliest = 25/05/07)

Chiffchaff = 7 adults, 0 juveniles

Long Tailed Tit = 2 adults, 0 juveniles

Blue Tit = 5 adults, 4 juveniles (31/05/14 - earliest = 22/05/11)

Great Tit = 4 adults, 0 juveniles

Bullfinch = 2 adults, 0 juveniles

There have been other highlights of the CES ringing sessions. A male blackbird, first ringed on 15/10/2005 was recaptured on 18/05/2014, 8 years and 215 days later. This sets a new longevity record for the site and for Ivel Ringing Group.

Above: This Chiffchaff is a British ringed control caught on 18 & 31/05/14.

First ringing details not yet known.

Above: A juvenile Robin

Despite the recent heavy rains, I'm optomistic that this will still turn out to be a good breeding year. It's still early in the year and there's a lot more juveniles to catch up with on both these sites.

Migrants & Breeding

With migrating birds still coming in (or yet to arrive in some species cases), some of those that have arrived are already getting down to business building nests and breeding. Resident species are also doing the same.

A pre-CES session on Wednesday at Priory Country Park, Bedford produced the following:

Green Woodpecker 0 (1) - 2 years, 315 days (from 2011)

Wren 3 (2) - including one from 2012
Dunnock 0 (4) - including one from 2011
Robin 1 (0)
Blackbird 1 (0)
Song Thrush 2 (0)
Blackcap 6 (1) - including a control
Chiffchaff 1 (1) - retrap from 2011
Long Tailed Tit 1 (1) - retrap from 2011
Blue Tit 3 (1) - retrap from 2011
Great Tit 1 (1)
Chaffinch 2 (0)
Bullfinch 1 (0)

I was struck by the number of females already well advanced with brood patches and in egg. Already in egg were: Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock Brood patches were present in: Song Thrush, Blackcap, Blackbird, Chaffinch.

If the weather stays good, we could be in for a good breeding season.

A return to action

The start of 2014 was a bit windy and a wash out, meaning not many ringers were able to put any mist nets up. I've also been busy elsewhere but I've managed to find a bit of free time coinciding with ringable weather so a couple of early morning starts at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve have produced the following (retraps in brackets).

Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 (3) - 4 different birds (including an IRG & site longevity record at 3 years and 15 days)

Wren 0 (2)

Dunnock 0 (5) - including a site longevity record at 3 years, 25 days

Blackbird 1 (0) - a breeding female with a advanced brood patch (code 3)

Song Thrush 1 (0)

Chiffchaff 1 (0) - the first of the spring migrants

Long Tailed Tit 1 (1) - see photographs below

Blue Tit 1 (3)

Great Tit 1 (4)

Chaffinch 2 (1)

10 new birds and 19 retraps (29 handlings, 26 different birds).

There was one bird that went away unringed - that's because we are forbidden to ring this game species:



Above: A Red-Legged Partridge

Red-Legged Partridges, if they do stray into mist nets, would be more likely to leave a hole than to stay in. This one, after having a photo taken, was released and left to go on its merry way.

A much more regularly caught bird, the Long Tailed Tit, threw up another surprise as you can see:

Above & Below: Long Tailed Tit

This bird still retained some pigmentation, but was remarkably pale all over. It was caught along with a regularly coloured bird (presumably a pair) and had a better weight, though the colour of the bird does not effect it's ability to feed. It may provide it with more camouflage during the snowy times though!

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.

Eager to learn

By Martin A:

I gave a talk to the Eversholt Beaver pack on Monday 3rd June.

Twenty Beavers, all 6 and 7 years old, came to my ringing station which happens to be in my back garden. Unfortunately, due to the strengthening breeze, I only managed to catch them two Greenfinch but they were an adult male and female so I was able to show them the differences.

The Beavers showed just how eager they were to learn and asked some great questions!

I also showed them a Coal Tit nest and pictures of the eggs and the adult bird. We talked about putting up bird boxes and what to feed the birds.



 Above & below: Martin (dark blue top) shows the Eversholt Beaver pack a Greenfinch.

After half an hour the Beavers had to go. I hope a good time was had by all.

Marston Vale Millennium Country Park - Saturday 1st June

A late morning session at the Millennium Country Park in Marston Moretaine produced some quality results.

Reed Warbler - 1st of two controls caught

Totals ringed/retrapped/controlled were:

Dunnock                - / 1 / -
Sedge Warbler      3 / - / -
Reed Warbler        4 / - / 2
Lesser Whitethroat 1 / - / -
Whitethroat             - / 2 / -
Long-tailed Tit        1 / 1 / -
Blue Tit                   - / 1 / -
TOTAL                   9 / 5 / 2

Lesser Whitethroat - adult female

Both of the Reed Warbler controls had BTO rings; it will be interesting to see where they were ringed.

Aside from the ringing, there was a lot of noise from Water Rails in the reed bed - it sounded like several young birds were calling; there were also many Swifts hunting very low over the reeds; groups of young Starlings were dashing around calling loudly.

CES 2 and other sessions

On Saturday, CES session 2 was run at Priory Country Park as follows:

Wren 1 (1)
Dunnock 1 (4) - two of the retraps from 2010
Reed Warbler 2 (0)
Whitethroat 1 (1)
Garden Warbler 1 (0)
Blackcap 0 (2) - one of the retraps was from 2011
Long Tailed Tit 1 (0)
Blue Tit 1 (0)

7 new & 9 retraps = 16 birds of 8 species.

Averages for CES 2 are 15 new and 6 retraps. Thus, CES 2 this year (as CES 1) is showing fewer new birds than average but more retraps than average. I am told there are fewer Chiffchaffs around than normal and none have yet been ringed on CES.

On Friday and Sunday, I did a couple of sessions at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve which proved worthwhile.

Above: A control Common Whitethroat

Friday brought the following birds:

Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (1)
Dunnock 0 (1)
Blackbird 0 (1)
Whitethroat 2 (3) including a control
Garden Warbler 1 (1)
Blue Tit 0 (3)
Chaffinch 3 (0)
Greenfinch 1 (0)
Goldfinch 1 (0)

Sunday brought a few more birds:

Dunnock 0 (1)
Sedge Warbler 0 (1)
Whitethroat 2 (2)
Garden Warbler 0 (2)
Blackcap 3 (0)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (2)
Coal Tit 0 (1)
Blue Tit 0 (1)
Great Tit 0 (2)
Chaffinch 0 (2)
Greenfinch 1 (0)
Lesser Redpoll 1 (0)

Above: An unseasonal and suprise Lesser Redpoll. Perhaps there is still some movement of this species going on, perhaps it's staying around.

A few of the birds also added to the longevity records for the site (including Whitethroat, Blue Tit & Great Tit). I don't normally catch Greenfinch here so 4 new ones recently is good.



Also seen at SSNR were a flock of 7 Linnets. I managed this rather poor photograph (above) before they departed.

Wind free for once!

As a nice change of pace, Sunday and Monday (last weekend) were largely wind free! This allowed me to get out ringing and catch some of those summer migrants that come to breed in the UK and begin another year of Constant Effort ringing at Priory Country Park (PCP).


On Sunday, I ran CES Visit 1 at PCP. Totals, including extra nets, were as follows (retraps in brackets):


Wren 2 (1)
Dunnock 1 (3)
Blackbird 1 (2)
Whitethroat 3 (3)
Garden Warbler 1 (0)
Blackcap 3 (1)
Willow Warbler 2 (0)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (1)
Great Tit 1 (0)
Chaffinch 1 (0)
Bullfinch 1 (1)

That makes a total of 16 new and 12 retraps - 28 overall. Average for CES visit 1 (including extra nets) is 30, of which 21 are normally 'new' and 9 are normally 'retraps'. Whilst the 2013 total is just short of average, the ratio of new to retrap is more in favour of the returning adults rather than recruitment of new adults. This could be a result of a poor breeding season last year. Delayed breeding and migration from the cold weather in early spring may also have a bearing here. But this is just a small sample and I'm far from being an expert!

Whitethroats were the most numerous on this visit and could be seen feeding well around the area. One of the retraps was first ringed on 1st May 2011, whilst the other 2 retraps were both ringed on 13th May last year.

2 of the 3 Dunnock retraps were from 2010 and the other from last year. One of the Blackbirds was ringed in 2010. The Blackcap retrap was ringed as a juvenile in July 2011. All the other retraps were from birds ringed in 2012.

The best birds were 2 new Willow Warblers. The numbers ringed at this site have steadily decreased over the last 20 years to the point where last year was the first year where none were ringed at all.

A ringing demo for The Wildlife Trust 'dawn chorus' walkers was well received.

On Bank Holiday Monday, a visit to Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR) produced a tally of 40 birds of 12 species as follows (retraps in brackets).

Green Woodpecker 1 (0)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (4)
Wren 2 (0)
Dunnock 1 (1)
Sedge Warbler 3 (1)
Whitethroat 2 (5)
Garden Warbler 1 (0)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (1)
Great Tit 1 (3)
Chaffinch 6 (3)
Greenfinch 2 (0)
Goldfinch 2 (0)

Above: A Whitethroat. 2 of the retraps were ringed at SSNR in 2011 whilst the other 3 were ringed last year (all as adults). L302789, ringed on 22/04/11 set a new longevity record for the site at 2 years and 14 days.

Chaffinches were, surprisingly, the most numerous species. I normally catch a couple per session but I think a small change in feeder & net set up may have proved to be useful. A new longevity record for the site was set by L302734 - 2 years and 62 days. Also, a bird ringed in a field at nearby Beadlow earlier this year was retrapped at SSNR. More pictures & info of this ringing session can be found here.

In terms of breeding evidence at both sites, the resident species (Dunnock, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Great Spotted Woodpeckers), in general, seem to be ahead of the migrant species. More residents are showing respective male/female apendages/brood patches whereas there is little or no evidence yet of this in the migrant species.

Lets hope 2013 is a good breeding year.

A slow and windy April

With a lot of wind ringing has not often been possible and when I have been out, totals have been low. However, I did manage to add Redwing to the Sandy Smith Nature Reserve list of species ringed. There was also a controlled Long Tailed Tit (March) and yesterday, this:



Above: An adult male Green Woodpecker.

The Siskin, Redpoll and Brambling invasion that has been reported by many other ringers and from garden feeding stations has completely passed me by in the last month or so.

Effort at Priory Country Park has yet to really begin. A pre CES session was cancelled today due to the wind and I'm going to be away in Sardinia unitl the CES season starts again. I hope the wind dies down by then!

A few recovery reports...

This week, the Ivel Ringing Group received a number of recovery reports from BTO. Here is a selection:

Cetti's Warbler ringed 26/08/12 at Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire. Controlled at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire on 11/11/12. Movement of 63 km, WSW in 77 days.

Mute Swan ringed 03/10/12 at Brandon Creek, Norfolk. Controlled at St. Neots, Cambridgeshire on 15/10/12. Movement of 54 km, SW in 12 days.

Lesser Redpoll ringed on 13/10/12 near Bestwood, Nottinghamshire. Controlled at Priory Country Park, Bedford on 28/10/12. Movement of 113 km, SSE in 15 days.

Swallow ringed 09/07/12 near Hawnby, North Yorks. Controlled at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire on 22/09/12. Movement of 258 km, S in 75 days.

Swallow ringed 13/07/12 near Hazleslack, Storth, Cumbria. Controlled at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire on 03/09/12. Movement of 283 km SSE in 52 days.

Sand Martin ringed at Icklesham, East Sussex on 19/08/12. Controlled at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire on 31/08/12. Movement of 154 km, NNW in 12 days. (This one is interesting - has it moved in the opposite direction to what would be expected? Perhaps it was prospecting for potential breeding sites for 2013!)

Goldfinch ringed at Links Wood, Newport, Fife on 10/08/12. Controlled at Eversholt, Bedfordshire on 15/11/12. Movement of 515 km, SSE in 97 days.

Chalton STW 17 February 2013

The first real session here of the year produced 21 birds of 8 species.
Ringed with retraps in brackets are as follows:

Blackbird 1(1), Dunnock 1(0), Great Tit 2(0), Kingfisher 1(0), Long-tailed Tit 8(1), Pied Wagtail 1(0), Reed Bunting 4(0), Wren 1(0).

Also on site was 11 cormorant first thing and 2 little Egret.

The beginning of the year has seen work started on the removal of typha and willow from the pond area. Hopefully, this will be a large improvement when complete.

Clearing the news backlog

There's a backlog of news that's built up since our last post to the IRG blog so I'll start with the most recent, and work my way backwards!

A ringing session yesterday at a field near Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. Totals: 70 birds of 11 species comprising of 66 new and 4 retraps (retraps in brackets below):

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (0)
Dunnock 6 (0)
Robin 1 (0)
Blackbird 1 (0)
Blue Tit 6 (1) - retrap ringed at SSNR 15/07/12, 209 days ago
Great Tit 1 (0)
Chaffinch 4 (1) - retrap ringed at SSNR 24/11/12, 77 days ago
Goldfinch 1 (0)
Lesser Redpoll 1 (0)
Reed Bunting 41 (2) - both retraps ringed at SSNR 11/03/12, 335 days ago
Yellowhammer 3 (0)

Above: Yellowhammer

For more photographs of this ringing session, see here. And no, it's not a typo, I did catch 43 Reed Buntings!

Last weekend, the Priory Country Park volunteers kindly agreed to help out with managing the vegetation within the CES site. They did a marvelous job. Thank you to Jane & the volunteers for all their effort.

Above: The net rides in the 'rough' have had their annual maintenance. It's looking good.

Looking back into January, the two main bits of news I have are that I ringed 13 Fieldfare (and retrapped one) outside my house. This was the first time I'd ringed them. I also caught a few Redwings and Blackbirds.

Above: A fieldfare.

Ringing did take place at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve but with low totals, there wasn't much worthy of news. At Priory Country Park however, a controlled Courn Bunting may well be the first ever movement of a Corn Bunting in/out/within Bedfordshire.

Above: A Corn Bunting

Now for December - there was a second foreign controlled bird a week after my last post in December (when I told you about a foreign ringed Blackcap). I also made 1000 handlings at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. And then there's the 2012 highlights which were as follows:
Priory Country Park:

• Lesser Redpoll control (awaiting details)
• Blackcap ringed in September 2011 controlled at Grafham Water Nature Reserve in May 2012
• Blackcap ringed in September 2011 controlled at Portland Bill, Dorset in April 2012
• 2nd Kestrel for site ringed
• 2nd Jay for site ringed
• All 12 CES visits were completed

2012 ringing totals and review for Priory Country Park can be found here.

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve:

• Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ringed (one of 11 new species ringed here)
• 1000 birds handled for the year
• Chiffchaff ringed in July caught at Letchworth in August
• Strasbourg ringed Blackcap caught in December (awaiting details)
• Brussels ringed Siskin caught in December (awaiting details)
• Chaffinch controled at SSNR in February originally ringed at South Lopham, near Thetford in May 2010

2012 ringing totals and review for Sandy Smith Nature Reserve can be found here.

A good start to December

Finally, a weekend without rain and it proved to be worthwhile getting out of bed!

Above: A female Blackcap. In all, I caught 4 Blackcaps (3 at Priory including the female above) and a female at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve (SSNR) that had a Strasbourg ring on its leg! More about the session at SSNR can be found here.

Above: An adult male Kestrel. Seen, unusually (perhaps because of floods and icy conditions), around the ringing area at Priory Country Park (PCP) all day. It got some bling & it then continued to spend the rest of the day in the area but keeping a respectful distance this time! Only the second to be ringed at this site (the other in 2003). More about this session can be found here.

More Lesser Redpolls were ringed at SSNR & PCP. 2 Song Thrushes were rare for SSNR and A good number of new Blackbirds were ringed at both sites.

Finally, a Chiffchaff ringed at SSNR on 15/07/12 was controlled in Letchworth on 27/08/12 - 43 days later. A movement of 11km in an ESE direction.

No corny jokes please!

A roost catch produced 29 birds this evening and included this beauty (a female on size):

Above & Below: A Corn Bunting.

Only one was caught (catching this species is notorioiusly difficult) but I learnt several things from this experiment (the net rides were not new but I'd not used them at dusk before). Thanks go to Mike for helping out on short notice.


This species is depicted on the Ivel Ringing Group logo so it's about time we started catching them again.

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).