Dead Buzzard and Barn Owl on Bedford Bypass

I was told that a large bird of prey was lying in the central reservation of the Bedford Bypass (A421). So this evening I drove along the section from Bedford to the Black Cat roundabout with the A1 to look for the bird. In fact I found two.

The first was a freshly killed Barn Owl bird lying just west of the bridge carrying the road from Great Barford to Wilden. The second was a Buzzard (see photo), lying just west of the bridge carrying the Roxton to Chawston road.

Neither bird had been ringed. Sadly many birds of prey, but in particular many Barn Owls, are casualties on Britain's roads. If you do find any dead bird please check if it had been ringed and, if so, report it to the British Trust for Ornithology using this website.

Fatty & skinny

... went out today; that's the Blackcaps, not us!
First up - a 3F Blackcap, fat 4, wt.22.3g
Another session at Priory in the 'rough' from sun-up 'til late morning produced 23 birds, including 6 retraps.
Next up - 3M Blackcap, fat 1.5, wt. 19.2g
Retraps often mean winter is on its way and today we were also delighted to catch 4 tits. These in themselves seem to appear about now, reminding us that we ought really to get the feeders up. Instead, we just cut out the rack through the waist high nettles.

To clarify today's efforts, we have:
Blue Tit 3, still with small signs of their juv plum
One of today's 3F Blue Tits
Great Tit 1,
Blackcap 6 (1), weights from 19.2 - 22.7, except the retrap which we have handled on the last 3 visits without any appreciable weight gain over the 9 days.
Blackbird 1 (2), a couple of adults ending primary moult
Robin 2 (2), all except one were youngsters
Adult male Robin in fresh/winter plumage
Dunnock 1 (1), young males of the year
Greenfinch 1, 3J
Goldfinch 2, both 3J's but only just out of the nest, many primaries in sheath.
Underwing of 1J/3J Goldfinch, showing primary sheaths.
Other birds around included 4 Tufted, 4 c.Swift, 14 House Martin, a C.Buzzard, a Jay and a singleton Spotted Flycatcher.
One man (Ed) and my (new) dog (bitch), Cerise.

PS. New Blackcaps now only 4 short of last years total for the site.

CES Solo

Looked a lovely day in prospect when I woke up. How wrong can you be.

With no trainees or other helpers, it was down to me today. First bird at 6 am, second half an hour later, then a third at 7 o'clock. Well, by then the fog had come down and there was a slight breeze . Forty minutes later, a Blackbird. Then, a bit of a rush; three birds at 8, one at 8.30 and two more before the hour was out. Shortly after, 2 male Whitethroats had an arguement - to their detriment and my pleasure.

Was the fog thinning? Ah haa, 09.17 and there's hope of some sunshine. Hope accomplished and three birds in the nets with the final bird at 9.50. Well, not quite. I spooked the second Wood Pig of the day into the top shelf, shortly after, but that was it. Zilch until take down at 11.30.

The day's tally was 11 species, 13 new birds and 4 re-traps as follows:
Woodpigeon 2
Blue Tit (1) - we had lifted this bird off a nest 1 week ago
Blackcap 1
Garden Warbler 1 (1) - r/t female first ringed last May
Whitethroat 3
Reed Warbler 1
Wren 1
Blackbird 2
Dunnock (1)
Chaffinch 1 (1)
Goldfinch 1
Would have been good practice for the trainees - had they not had events on their social calendars.

The May blossom was a picture when the sun came out.

Characteristic "loose feathering" of a juvenile bird.

Back view of a male Chaffinch. Note the new versus old tertials.

... and, when the sun comes out, my all time favoutite ...

Just for good measure (500 gm worth) ...
The best bit today was listening to a Turtle Dove for half an hour before the fog closed in (c.6.30). Other delights were a persistent male Cuckoo, a low-flying Oystercatcher and a "dot in the sky" Buzzard.

For an overview of how we got on with our tit boxes, go HERE

Weekend continued

It is still only March, so we shouldn't hope for too much yet.
However, we (Ed and I) did get out to a new site (for us) at Randalls Farm Education Centre by the now defunct Stewartby brickworks. We got there late morning and set about erecting 4 nets around the southern part of the site. This area was a demonstration forestry plot for the Marston Vale and was planted in the 'seventies with a variety of trees to see which grew best and which failed on this heavy Oxford Clay.

The upshot was 13 birds, all of them new. Our current target species is Chiffchaff, as part of a project out of Sheffield University.


However, the object of the exercise was to have a few birds to show the 'Watch' group kids that meet here on the last Sunday of the month.

Chiffchaff 3 - a male & 2 females
Great Tit 2 - possibly a pair
Long-tailed Bushtit 3 - a pair & a helper male
Robin 3 - 2 males, 1 female
Bullfinch 2 - a pair


When pondering where to put one of the nets up, we spied a Buzzard hanging in a Hawthorn bush beside the railway and under a pole mounted transformer. We will never know the cause of death as it could have been (i) a train, (ii) electrocution, (iii) poisoning (unlikely) or (iv) completely natural.


It was long dead and home to a large, black (ground?) beetle and its larvae.

Home in time for tea; a satisfying jaunt in the sunshine.