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.

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!

Harrold-Odell Country Park today - low in numbers, high in quality

I had planned to do the 2nd visit for the BTO's Breeding Bird Survey that I do each year at Thurleigh, but as it was cool and not at all summer-like, I decided to go ringing instead. The last-minute choice was Harrold-Odell Country Park, which we visited on Monday 30th May in the drizzle. Today started off better, but lo and behold the rain drops started and there was a light drizzle for most of the morning. Under the trees it was still suitable for ringing.

8 birds caught, the highlights being a control Reed Warbler and a Kingfisher.






Photos from the top are:
1) Ringing in the Bird Hide by the lake
2) With the Kingfisher
3) Kingfisher again...
4) Garden Warbler
5) The control Reed Warbler

The full list of birds caught was:

• Kingfisher - 1 ringed


• Reed Warbler - 2 ringed + 1 control


• Garden Warbler - 2 ringed


• Blackcap - 1 ringed


• Bullfinch - 1 ringed

The carrot and coriander soup in the cafe after ringing was most welcome.

Thank you to Richard and Alan for their help (and to Richard for taking the photos).

Open Day at Harrold-Odell Country Park

Ivel Ringing Group gave a demonstration of bird ringing at the Harrold-Odell Country Park on Monday 30th May. The country park is one of the wildlife hot spots of the north of Bedfordshire and is a popular place for birdwatchers, dog walkers and other local residents. The cafe serves delicious meals, snacks and cakes.

Part of the Country Park is designated as a Nature Reserve. Despite the damp conditions, Ivel Ringing Group managed to ring 12 birds during the day and show some of these birds to visitors to the park.

The following birds were ringed:

• Blackcap -1


• Blackbird -1


• Blue Tit - 2


• Bullfinch – 2


• Garden Warbler – 3


• Reed Warbler – 2 (see photo of a Reed Warbler above)


• Whitethroat – 1

A male Cuckoo was calling nearby for much of the day, while the lake was a hive of activity with Canada and Greylag Geese, various ducks, Common Terns, Herons, an Oystercatcher. Swifts, House Martins and Swallows were feeding low over the water.