First quarter summary

I've had a very quiet first three months of the year on the ringing front, due to other work taking precedence. Hopefully things will be getting back to normal from now on.

My ringing totals for the year so far are listed below, with retraps shown in brackets:

Wren 1
Dunnock (+1)
Robin 1
Blackbird 2
Song Thrush 1
Cetti's Warbler 1
Long-tailed Tit 1 (+1)
Marsh Tit (+1)
Coal Tit 4 (+1)
Blue Tit 20 (+16)
Great Tit 8 (+3)
Nuthatch (+1)
Chaffinch 1
Reed Bunting 9
Total 49 (+24), Grand Total 73

Of the 73 birds processed, 35 were caught at Bromham Mill, 16 at Marston Vale Millennium Country Park and 22 at Bedfordshire Golf Club, Stagsden.

2011 - a good year, let's hope for even better things in 2012

On Saturday 31st December, I paid a short visit to Marston Vale Millennium Country Park. Only two birds caught - a retrap Blue Tit (ringed on 19/11/11) and an unringed male Bearded Tit. There were some nice birds around: a female Sparrowhawk flew across the reed bed, a Cetti's Warbler sang briefly, 36 Fieldfare flew west, a Grey Wagtail flew over on many occasions (not sure if there was just one particularly active bird or several birds). Over 100 Lapwings were on the Pillinge, together with a few Little Grebes and some Tufted Ducks.

My December ringing totals were low, a combination of wind, rain and Christmas (retraps are shown in brackets):

• Wren 1 (+1)


• Dunnock 1


• Robin 4 (+1)


• Bearded Tit 1


• Marsh Tit 2


• Blue Tit 18 (+8)


• Great Tit 1


• Chaffinch 1 (+1)


• Goldfinch 1


• Bullfinch 2


• Reed Bunting 3


• Total: 35 ringed + 11 retraps.

Of the 35 birds ringed, 20 were ringed at Bromham Mill, 9 at Marston Vale and 6 at Bedfordshire Golf Club, Stagsden.

Overall I've had a very interesting year, ringing-wise. Highlights were: ringing of Swallow pulli at farms and stables in the Bedford area; being given permission to ring at Marston Vale Millennium Country Park and also at Harrold-Odell Country Park; first nestbox ringing at Bedfordshire Golf Club. At Marston this led to ringing Swallows, Sand Martins and Yellow Wagtails on summer evenings, along with good numbers of Sedge and Reed Warblers during the day; in the autumn the focus changed to ringing Reed Buntings as they went to roost, plus ringing 4 Cetti's Warblers and 2 Bearded Tits.

My top ten species for the year were as follows:

• Swallow 145 fledged + 133 pulli = 278 ringed


• Blue Tit 183 fledged + 44 pulli = 227 ringed (+ 43 retraps)


• Great Tit 92 fledged + 42 pulli = 134 ringed (+ 22 retraps)


• Reed Warbler 45 ringed (+1 retrap + 1 control caught twice)


• Dunnock 16 ringed (+ 15 retraps)


• Reed Bunting 27 ringed


• Long-tailed Tit 21 ringed (+6 retraps)


• Wren 22 ringed (+3 retraps)


• Sedge Warbler 23 ringed (+1 retrap)


• Robin 18 ringed (+5 retraps)

Other species processed (ringed and/or retrapped) in 2011 were: Mute Swan, Sparrowhawk, Lapwing, Wood Pigeon, Tawny Owl, Swift, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Sand Martin, Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redwing, Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch and Yellowhammer.

The total numbers of fledged birds ringed was 751, plus 224 pulli ringed, 116 retraps/controls. Grand total of 1091 birds of 44 species.

November round-up

November has been interesting, but also challenging. Strong winds have either prevented ringing on some occasions, or restricted what had been planned. With the leaves fast coming off the trees, some sites are becoming more exposed to the wind and less attractive to birds. The numbers of birds ringed and the variety of species handled hides several sessions that resulted in no birds processed or just a few.

During this month, I've ringed at Bromham Mill, Bedfordshire Golf Club at Stagsden, Harrold-Odell Country Park and Marston Vale Millennium Country Park. The total numbers of birds ringed during these sessions are listed below, with retraps shown in brackets.

• Great Spotted Woodpecker 1


• Wren 8 (+2)


• Dunnock (+1)


• Robin 1 (+1)


• Blackbird 1


• Cetti's Warbler 4 (+1)


• Blackcap 1


• Bearded Tit 1


• Long-tailed Tit 7


• Coal Tit (+2)


• Blue Tit 47 (+7)


• Great Tit 14 (+3)


• Nuthatch 2


• Chaffinch 1


• Goldfinch 3


• Reed Bunting 10


• Total 101 (+17), Grand Total of 118 birds of 16 species

Most of the retraps were birds ringed this summer or autumn; the two exceptions to this were:

• A Great Tit ringed at Bromham Mill on 7/12/10 and retrapped for the first time since then on 12/11/11.


• A Great Tit ringed at Bedfordshire Golf Club, Stagsden, on 26/10/10 and retrapped there on 20/11/11.

Thank you to the other ringers and helpers for their assistance during November. Let's hope the weather allows us to get out and about during December.

Strong winds curtail ringing activities

Having planned ahead for this weekend, the strong winds had a major impact on the ringing this weekend.

On Friday 25th November, a ringing session at Harrold-Odell Country Park resulted in no birds being ringed. Now that most of the leaves in the bushes have fallen, the area that in summer was home to a wide variety of birds, was very quiet. Redwings were eating the berries in the bushes along the edge of the lake. A group of Fieldfares was in the tops of the taller trees. Out on the lake a large group of Wigeon was very active; it was nice to watch a Goldeneye also. But our ringing area was deserted.

By Saturday 26th, the wind had really picked up in strength. Santa was in his grotto upstairs at Bromham Mill, but outside the wind made mist-netting difficult. A group of children sang Christmas carols, much to the delight of an appreciative crowd. Just two birds were caught - with one Blue Tit ringed and one retrapped (originally ringed on 25/6/11).

The forecast for Sunday 27th was for strong winds in the morning, then becoming calmer during the afternoon. As a result a planned morning ringing session at Marston Vale Millennium Country Park was postponed to the afternoon. The wind was still fairly strong at 2pm, but by 3pm it was a really pleasant, sunny, afternoon. Once again there were some dragonflies taking advantage of the warm weather; several kept on landing on both Mike and me.















Several Cetti's Warblers were heard, a Chinese Water Deer was seen and a Water Rail was flushed from the grass near the Pillinge. The Geese are still absent. The aim had been to ring Reed Buntings before they went to roost, but only one was ringed and there was no obvious gathering of others in the area. Totals for the day were as follows (with retraps shown in brackets):

• Reed Bunting 1


• Cetti's Warbler 0 (+1 retrap - first ringed on 13/11/11)


• Robin 1


• Wren 1 (+1 retrap - first ringed on 29/8/11)


• Total: 3 (+2 retraps)

This is the fourth week running that we have ringed/caught Cetti's Warblers at Marston.

Cetti's at Marston and a new bird for Ivel Ringing Group

A session at Bromham Mill on Saturday 12th November resulted in 19 birds caught. Totals ringed are shown below, with those retrapped (birds that have been ringed previously and caught again) shown in brackets:

• Great Spotted Woodpecker 1


• Blue Tit 4 (+ 4 retraps)


• Great Tit 4 (+ 1 retrap)


• Coal Tit (1 retrap)


• Dunnock (1 retrap)


• Goldfinch 2


• Wren 1


• Total 12 (+ 7 retraps)

The Great Spotted Woodpecker, a female, was the first that I've ringed at Bromham Mill. The retrap Great Tit was ringed on 7/12/2010 - this was the first time she had been caught again since then; where has she been in the mean time? All the other retraps were ringed earlier this year.

Then on Sunday 13th November, I went to Marston Vale Millennium Country Park. The numbers of birds caught were low, but the quality was really high! Totals ringed were:

• Wren 3


• Cetti's Warbler 2


• Bearded Tit 1



• Total 6

Though there have been Bearded Tits present in the Country Park, we have not previously seen any in the area while we've been ringing. At least two were present, but just one caught and ringed. It was a definitely a male, possibly a young bird but we were not certain. This was the first Bearded Tit ringed by Ivel Ringing Group. See photo to the left and below to the right.

Other birds seen at Marston included: Teal, Little Grebe, Peregrine Falcon, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels, large flock of Lapwing, Yellowhammer, Reed Buntings, Redwings, good numbers of Skylarks overhead. A Red-breasted Merganser was also on the pool. A Dragonfly (spot the dragonfly on the reed stalk below; sorry - not sure of the species) was an unexpected sighting. Thank you Neil, David and Phil for your help today.

4 assorted views of a Cetti's Warbler.

Unknown 'Dragonfly'

Wren (back view)

Photos of Wren and Cetti's Warbler by Phil Candlish http://www.philcandlishphotography.co.uk

Heavenly singing, flashing lights - what was going on?

On Saturday 5th November, I went ringing at Bromham Mill again. There was a misty and cold start to the day, then conditions gradually improved. After a slow start, the numbers of birds caught increased. Most of the Blue Tits (see right) caught were looking really smart and seem to be in good shape.

Part way through the morning, I could hear singing coming from nearby. It was unusual, but not unpleasant. Not much later two police 'panda' cars parked at the entrance to the mill. Two others also turned up as well as an ambulance, all with their lights flashing. It turns out that an African religious group have been meeting for evening services by the river bank, combined with baptising (or maybe washing away sins/spiritual cleansing) in the River Ouse. Now the clocks have gone back, they had decided to meet on the Saturday morning instead. Someone saw this and misinterpreted what was going on. Hence the arrival of the emergency services!

Totals ringed for the day were (with retraps in brackets):

• Blue Tit 30 (2)


• Great Tit 7 (1)


• Chaffinch 1


• Nuthatch 1


• Blackcap 1


• Coal Tit (1)


• Total 40 (4)

3 of the retraps were ringed on Apple Day, 16th October; 1 Blue Tit had been ringed on 28th August. The Nuthatch (above left)was the 2nd I've ringed at the Mill this year. The female Blackcap (2nd from top, on the right) was the first I've ever ringed at Bromham Mill.

Other photos: Coal Tit (3rd from top, on the right), Chaffinch (lower right).

Thank you to Adrian Fett for the photos of the Chaffinch and Blackcap.

On Sunday 6th November I went back to Marston Vale Millennium Country Park, to see (in particular) what might be coming in to roost. With a northerly breeze, the temperate was low. The numbers of birds ringed was much less than on Saturday, but the ringing of the Cetti's Warbler, one of the 'star birds' of the site, more than made up for this. Totals ringed were as shown below (no birds were retrapped):

• Blue Tit 1


• Cetti's Warbler 1


• Wren 1


• Total: 3

October round-up

October has been a really interesting month, hampered by strong winds that made mist-netting difficult on several occasions. During this month, I've ringed at Bromham Mill, Cardington, Harrold-Odell Country Park and Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.

Total numbers of birds ringed during these sessions are listed below, with retraps shown in brackets.

• Tawny Owl 1


• Meadow Pipit 1 (photo below - ringed at Marston C.P. on 29/10/11)


• Wren 5


• Dunnock 3 (4)


• Robin 4


• Blackbird 2


• Song Thrush 1


• Redwing 1


• Blackcap 1


• Goldcrest 2


• Long-tailed Tit 11


• Marsh Tit 1


• Coal Tit 1


• Blue Tit 43 (15)


• Great Tit 15 (9)


• Chaffinch 3


• Greenfinch 1


• Goldfinch 4


• Bullfinch 2 (1)


• Reed Bunting 9



• TOTAL: 113 of 20 species (plus 29 retraps of 4 species)

Totals ringed for the year are 839 birds of 41 species (plus 88 retraps of 15 species). Swallow is still the top species with 278 ringed, but now being chased by Blue Tit with 162 ringed - will Blue Tit be top by end of the year?

Most of the retraps were birds ringed in the summer or early autumn. The sole retrap ringed before this year was the Bullfinch retrapped at Cardington, originally ringed there on 27/12/2010.

Thank you to the other ringers and helpers for your assistance during the month. Here's hoping for a great November!

Bedfordshire Clangers, Blue Tits and more at Apple Day

Sunday 16th October was the annual Apple Day event at Bromham Mill. The sky was blue and the weather mild, so not surprisingly the crowds turned out in big numbers.

The East of England Apple and Orchards Project had a great display of many of the varities of apples to be found in Bedfordshire and many people brought along apples to find out what varieties they were. Apples, apple juice and cider was on sale, with the Harrold Calvados society demonstrating the art of cider making.

Amongst the many other attractions on offer was some great food, including one of Bedfordshire's contributions to British cuisine: the Bedfordshire Clanger. Demand was so great that Gunn's Bakery had to rush additional supplies of Clangers to Bromham Mill.

The RSPB and Friends of Marston Vale had stalls.

Ivel Ringing Group gave a demonstration of bird ringing, giving passers-by both young and old the chance to see some birds very close up. Totals ringed were as follows (plus retraps in brackets):

• Blackbird 2


• Blue Tit 29 (7)


• Chaffinch 3


• Coal Tit 3


• Dunnock 2 (2)


• Goldcrest 2


• Goldfinch 3


• Greenfinch 1


• Great Tit 8 (4)


• Long-tailed Tit 9


• Marsh Tit 1


• Robin 1



• Total 64 (13)

Photos below are: Goldfinch, Long-tailed Tit, 'Scoreboard' of birds ringed and seen, Ringing base (ringers may have been busy eating Bedfordshire Clangers), Goldcrest.

Grey Wagtails at Bromham Mill

Grey Wagtails have a clear preference for fast running water. As Bedfordshire is a relatively flat county there aren't many places that meet their requirements. In the north of the county, the only two breeding sites I know of are at water mills. A pair has bred at Bromham Mill this year. On Friday we ringed the second brood of two pulli.

An interesting find were pieces of Signal Crayfish in the river - a likely sign of a recent visit by an Otter.

Thank you to Roger and Adrian for your help.

Coldplay live from Glastonbury or an early start on Sunday?

Much as I love birdwatching and bird ringing, one problem at this time of the year is the need to get up early. Birds are naturally most active shortly after dawn; as the day hots up they become much less active.

So while many ringers in the group were out early this morning for Constant Effort Scheme visits, I have to admit that I had a lie in after watching a great performance by Coldplay at Glastonbury last night. A short visit to Harrold-Odell Country Park resulted in a catch of just two birds:

• the control Reed Warbler, first caught on 12th June, was retrapped. From the state of the brood patch, this is obviously a female. Having been caught twice at the Country Park it can safely be taken to be breeding bird.



• the other bird caught was an adult Dunnock, which was duly ringed.

Reed Buntings, Reed Warblers and Chiffchaffs were singing in the area. There were still many Common Spotted Orchids and a fresh Southern Marsh Orchid. Large numbers of damselflies were on the wing, with many mating.

Later Roger and Sue joined me to ring 4 broods of Swallows in Thurleigh - a total of 15 pulli today, bringing the total of Swallow pulli ringed this year to 69.

Other recent ringing includes 18 tits (mix of Blue and Great, some juveniles and some adults) at Bromham Mill yesterday, plus one Chaffinch.

Earlier in the week a visit to The Emplins in Gamlingay resulted in two adult Swifts retrapped (both had been ringed in July 2008 as adults) and three new adults ringed. 35 Common Tern chicks were ringed on an island in a lake near Bedford on Monday evening. Two Lapwing chicks were ringed last weekend.

[The photo is of a Blue Tit ringed at Bromham Mill on Saturday 25th June]

Tits finished - now for the Swallows

Over the past couple of weeks I've ringed broods of Blue Tits and Great Tits at Parkwood Local Nature Reserve in Brickhill, Bedfordshire Golf Club at Stagsden and at Bromham Mill - totalling 42 pulli Great Tits and 45 pulli Blue Tits.

The photo on the left is of two Blue Tits from a brood of 9. I ringed 8 of them - the one on the left was typical of these; on the right is a much smaller individual, commonly called a 'runt' it is unlikely to survive as it is likely to lose out when competing for attention from its parents.

That is the last of the pullus Tits for this year, so now it is on to Swallows. Some of the first broods have hatched recently and will be ready for ringing within the week.

I've also ringed a pullus Jackdaw - the pair had filled up the bottom of a Kestrel nest box with large sticks, leaving a deep depression at the back for the young bird to sit in.

[Sorry for the poor quality of the photographs here - my new phone seems to have a much worse camera than the previous one]

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.

Early session at Bromham Mill

Short session first thing at Bromham Mill on 10th January. A nice sunny morning, the ground was crunchy (not fully frozen).



13 new birds ringed with no retraps:

• Blackbird 1
• Blue Tit 7
• Great Tit 4
• Robin 1

A photo of Blue Tit L302968 is shown here. A Heron was feeding by the River Ouse. Several Cormorants flew over. A few Siskins passed through. Two Marsh Tits came to the bird feeders. A small group of Redwings were in the trees as I left.

Incoming!

I popped into Bromham Mill first thing this morning. The plan was to put a net up for 30mins, just to sample birds using a small feeding station I've been running there for the past few months.

First bird was a Robin. While ringing the Robin, a Marsh Tit went into the net. I extracted the Marsh Tit and suddenly a flock of Blue Tits and Great Tits appeared, 14 birds went into the net in about 2 minutes. I ringed them, noting their age and sex, measured their wings and released as quickly as possible.

There was a small party of Long-tailed Tits on site also.

The trees around the Mill were looking fantastic this morning. Covered in hoar frost, it was a real Christmas card image.

Totals ringed today were:

• Robin 1
• Marsh Tit 1
• Blue Tit 8
• Great Tit 6