Acros at dawn

Up in the dark, down to the river in twilight, up with two nets at dawn - although you wouldn't have thought so, after the welcome, overnight rain. The sun appeared briefly before 7 o'clock but didn't really get going until half-7. Off back home soon after 8am.

The 'crescent' reed bed is a mere one third of an acre (0.13 hectare) and one net was erected on each of two sides, facing Fingers Lake. Alot of movement also takes place across the main path to the narrow reed strip that grows along the edge of the (steep-sided) main lake but catching is difficult to organise safely.

This 2CY, female Reed Bunt was a right wriggler and this is the best of 10 button pushes!


Today's tally was 7 new and 7 re-captures as follows:
Blue Tit (1)
Reed Warbler 4 (6)
Blackbird 1, Chaffinch 1
Reed Bunting 1

Yesterday, I caught the first 3JJ (recently fledged) House Sparrows in the garden.
This shows the vivid yellow gape of a young bird ...

... and the poorly feathered underwing and loose body feathering.

No stamina, some folk!

Well. I woke up early. Got going early. Arrived early. Walked around a bit (minus 4C). Opened the gate. Shut the gate. Waited the best part of half an hour but no takers. Got in the car and went home. Pointless knackering oneself, lugging all that gear across a wet meadow just on the off-chance of some birds.

Put up a 40' in the garden and waited. Too much sun. Wind got up, as well. Temperature didn't (plus 4C). Never mind; bound to catch something. Need 16 birds, any sort will do, to fill the page in my ringing book.

Jo! Klokka hal' åtta. En stillitz - endog to!

Well, they came slowly, two at a time (could be a norsk pun there). Next half eight, then half ten, half eleven, half twelve, half two, and a late rush about four. Happily, I had other things I could do to fill the time. Alot of this ringing is a waiting game. Arnold Zwetsloot 'phoned for a chat and mentioned that they had shut the trap until next winter. They had also run out of 'F' rings on the last session and had to let 30 ducks go. Naturally, the rings turned up soon after!

Anyway, back to today. Ended up two short, but ten new birds - as follows:
Wren (1) - regular 2CY female
Dunnock (1) - one of several that feeds under the shrubbery
Blackbird 3 - a 6F, a 6M & a 5M
Goldfinch 5 (2) - a bit of return movement; 4 males, 2 females
Greenfinch 1 - yesterday there were half a dozen or so, today just two

Hoping to get another Norfolk morning in this week (two weeks on the trot), as I have to attend Jenny's mum's funeral.
Priorities, my boy!
See my other blog here

I don't believe it!

Yes, Victor, in and out three times!

I have a couple of Potter traps set in the garden. They catch the odd greedy Starling but not much else.

I watched open-mouthed this morning as the resident alpha male Blackbird calmly walked into the trap, hopped over the trigger plate, grabbed a square of bread and hopped straight out again. It didn't do this only the once, it had the cheek to repeat the manoevre twice more!

Seems as if I'll have to revert to the old favourite - the drop trap. The first bird I ever caught was a Robin in a drop-trap in a neighbour's (NJW) garden some 50+ years ago. Now off to find some wood for the frame/door.

Monday, Monday!

A day of mamas and papas?

Another catch was taken at the Blunham trap overnight, this time of 182 birds as follows:
Mallard 6 (11)
Gadwall 8 (43)
Tufted 47 (54)
Pochard 1 (1)
Wigeon 3 (7)
Greylag 1
I haven't had a chance to speak to Chris yet (I couldn't go, as you will see) but the last seven weeks have seen a goodly number of birds ringed and retrapped here.

My efforts remained within the garden. I couldn't "disappear" (even with a mobile) as I was expecting some important 'phone calls. So I erected a couple of nets early on this cold and damp day. Object - Goldfinches.

It started off with a 6 male Blackbird, one that I have not seen at all before. The resident pair and the neighbouring pair are keeping the garden clear of interlopers - but none of them were around today, probably too busy nest building and standing guard in other peoples' gardens. Or hiding somewhere warm and dry!

I did eventually catch 10 Goldies, two of which were retraps, both ringed as post juveniles in previous years. There were 4 females and 6 males, none of them carrying any fat worth talking about. The first bird of the day was the heaviest (a male at 17.3g), though the rest were not 'underweight', and only two birds scored 2 on breast muscle.

At lunch time, five Long-tailed Tits managed not to avoid the nets, and some others called anxiously from the neighbouring gardens as their companions were extracted. One female was beginning to get a decent brood patch and one of the males was real feisty; perhaps the alpha pair. Their cousins down at the park have already started splitting up into pairs, with or without helpers.

The only other birds to not dodge the nets were a new Dunnock and a new 6 female Blue Tit that was acquiring a brood patch. It looks as though we were just in time erecting the last 10 boxes (to make 30 in all) at the park last weekend. One box was even being investigated by a pair of Blue Tits within 24 hours. My garden tit box remains untenanted meanwhile.

Goldfinch results

Go to Phil Slade's blog here for a joint discourse on the annual variations within the British population.

A fuller version will appear in the next group's report (2008-09) due out in the spring.

Saturday, Norse Road.

Too cold to handle a metal ladder, putting up and checking nest boxes down at Priory.
Instead, stayed at home - with a modicum of success.

See here.

Crunch

The outside temperature this morning started at minus 3.5C. Because it was so cold, I didn't open the nets until 09:30. However, these weren't the nets down the park but the ones in my garden. Trouble was, I didn't surface until 08:30 - SAD.

However, we made up for it during daylight and finished up catching 21 birds of 7 species.
Collared Dove 1, Dunnock (1), LTT (2), Goldcrest 1, Starling 1, Greenfinch 4, Goldfinch 8 (3).

The COLDO was the second this autumn and the third one caught this year, all here. When they do hit the net, they usually manage to wiggle their way out again. The real turn up was the adult male Goldcrest; I've not had one in the garden for 4 years - and that was also an adult. The ones caught at the park or in the wood are, more often than not, 1CY birds (or 2's). Do the adults know there's better pickings in garden shrubberies, I wonder?

The numbers of new Goldfinches caught during autumn in the garden is unpredictable. For instance, here are the last three years 'new birds' by month ('07, '08, '09)
September - 44, 30, nil,
October - 53, 55, 25,
November - 29, 55, 29,
December - 34, 10, ??
At the park, we caught steadily in August and September mainly juveniles. I think that they had a spectacular breeding season but not one visited the garden. November has been a wash-out for ringing (or blow-out), but very large numbers of Goldfinches have been seen exiting the country, especially in Dorset, very recently.

Well, no more ringing for me for at least a week, what with the weather forecast and Swanwick coming up. I expect the others will manage to get out to the sewage works and relieve their withdrawal symptoms over the weekend.

Blues away

Withdrawal symptoms now departed. Six days is a long time in a ringer's life if he/she has not handled a bird!


The wind had dropped a little overnight, so I was up in the dark, dressed and had the garden nets unfurled before 7am. I was determined to 'fondle' a few Goldfinches today! Quick! Shovel down some breakfast (and a catalogue of pills) - it's parky outside today.

My dreams were answered - 30 "Stillits" (wonderful Norwegian name) including 5 retraps. The average weight of the 17 males was 15.73 grams and the 13 females 14.17 g. The age classes were split 50:50. Half a dozen birds were still wanting to come in while I furled the nets as the wind speed was picking up and I wanted the captured birds to get back on the feeders asap.

I don't bother to check them for fat/muscle as they stay down at their "fight or flight" weights; if the weight is >0.20 of the wing length then they are likely to be >F1 and probably on the move at this time of year. [At >0.22 they certainly are]. The "residents" know where the food supplies are and tend to keep on the 'lean side'. In midwinter, however, all those that are likely to survive a cold spell fulfil the criteria of 'wt(g) => 0.2 wl(mm)"

Also in the bag - 3F Blue Tit r/t, 3F Greenfinch and a 4M Collared Dove, the first for the year. Often there are 9 COLDOs hogging the feeders later in the day.

Goldfinch

Early this morning (06:50 BST) I retrapped this female Goldfinch. It was originally ringed as a 3 in November '07 and then retrapped in breeding condition in late May '08. Today, it was minus its left foot; this has "disappeared" since the last capture. It seems to be surviving well (weight 17.0 gms, fat 2 and BP2) and does not have any difficulty using the feeders.

This fledgling Robin from the nest next door was next; it was a reasonably strong flier - even with a wing of 66mm. Our first for the year.

Snow cover

2 inches of the powdery stuff on Sunday 1st, then 4 inches more on Thursday 5th followed by 3 inches of 'wet' snow on the Friday. Possibly some more forecast for next week?


Woke up today to see 4 Fieldfare in the garden - so I put some apples out and one stayed to take advantage. Not a good photo of the first occurence of this species actually 'on the deck' in the garden (in 13 years). Put a net up at middayday, when the main feeding activity had diminished.


Did manage to catch a fresh 5M Goldfinch (one has been knocking around on the feeders with all the other, ringed ones - was this it?), a new 6F Starling (is it the 7th of the 7 regulars?) and 2 new Song Thrushes, one a 5(F) and this one, which I am sure is a 6 but one that has not moulted as normal. Perhaps it lost some primary feathers (and regrew them) before the main moult and didn't bother to replace them then. Last bird was a new 5F Greenfinch.

All weights were within the expected range for each species for this time of year.

Ed has been out and about and found 2 of our c-r Mute Swans, before he got to Willington, where he had to check Mark's traps, etc.

First week of Dec.

Not many birds about, too much rain and wind, therefore few birds caught.
16 birds of 4 spp. at Elms Farm, namely - Bluti 1/1, Starl 2/1, Grefi 2/1, Goldf 2/6.

Norfolk garden on Sat am yielded 50 in 3 hours incl. 20 Lotti (5 r/t) & 11 Coati (4 r/t incl 1 from Dec05) 9 Greti, 8 Bluti, & 2 Chaff. Net taken in ahead of expected hard frost tomorrow am.

This week

Just a catch-up on what's been caught during the last week.

EN was in Norfolk last weekend; he caught 38 new birds & 30 retraps at the feeding station in the garden, which backs onto wet woodland. The new birds were - Goldc 5, Lotti 5, Coati 7, Bluti 12, Greti 7, Chaff 1 & Grefi 1.

On Thurs. a short session with DTH at the F/S at Priory saw just 16 birds in the bag(s). New/retrapped totals - Wren 1/1, Dunno 0/3, Bluti 1/4, Greti 0/2, Chaff 1/0 (a whopping male), & Grefi 2/1. It might have been better if the feeders had been refilled earlier (probably empty for 2 days prior to Weds).

A photo of some of the "Nest-box Abuse" that is going on around the Park. This one overlooks a net ride.

At Elms Farm, 3 morning sessions produced 49 new birds and 6 retraps; that's better!
Again, new/retraps - Woopi 1/0 (right fat b*st*rd), Wren 1/1, Dunno 0/1, Lotti 9/0, Coati 1/0 (an uncommon bird, hereabouts), Bluti 1/0, Housp 2/0, Starl 4/1, Chaff 2/0, Grefi 19/2 & Goldf 9/2.

These pictures show the difference between male and female upper tail coverts and adult and 'juvenile' tail feathers. The distinguishing points are the width of the feather edges and/or the diffuseness of the edge pattern.


One for the pot?

More garden! - 14th Nov

"Allo, me ole cock Sparra!"

Didn't intend to do any today, but succumbed at 08:00 after the early birds (mainly ringed Goldf) had fed.
Retrapped a young Dunno with an undershot bill. Surprise bird was a 3F Coati in the net with three unringed 3F Bluti about 10 o'clock; this was a FIRST for the garden.

Another "goodie" was a very large and heavy 3F Goldf. Its wing was 81.5/82 and its weight 17.6 - despite the fact that it only had 0.5 fat and pec 1. This is BIG for a C.c.britannica or nominate carduelis. It had obviously moved some distance recently as you could see the thin layer of fat lining the cavity. I suspect, after looking things up, that it was of the sub-species C.c.volganensis from the southern Ukraine or SE Russia supposedly on its migration south (to the Med./Italy).

A young Goldfinch still undergoing PJ moult - or has it stopped?

Todays total was 23 of 6 spp. comprising 14 Goldf (12 new), 2 Grefi, 4 Bluti, 1 Dunno, 1 Coati, 1 Chaff.

Garden ringing - 13th Nov

A couple of hours with a 30' before the rain!
29 birds all told, 22 new and 17 GOLDF made up of 6 new ads 8 new imms and 3 r/t.
Also caught r/t ad Dunno, new 4F Robin, r/t Lotti (from this time last year), 2 young Bluti r/t's, a new Greti male (the first Greti in the garden for quite some time), a fem Housp, 3 young Starl and 2x 3M Grefi that had lost quite a bit of fat recently and were probably "foreigners" (up north or continental)

Grefi - 3M, wing 93, wt 29.0, fat 1.

It's started.

At last. This morning [7th October] saw a few more Goldfinches than previous.
In August, it was mainly juveniles that came to the feeders in my garden.
Then, in September, it was the PJs (24) and adults (6) in moult that came, most at the beginning of the month, but only on wet, windy or cold mornings.
Today saw 7 imms and 3 adults (finishing moult) trapped plus a few that 'got away' ("net happy"?)
Two of the adults were carrying fat (F10/15), which is unusual at any other time, and they must have been migrants.
So far this year, I have ringed 93 in the garden (+ 25 r/t's); another 68 (26 at PCP, 25 at Broom) have been ringed by us this year (+ 4 r/t's)

Sat 6th Sept

Weather inclement; decided to ring at NOR.

First bird out of the net was ...

... a 3F Wilwa; nice surprise!!

Then a few more of the regulars -

2M Housp

5F Grefi in heavy moult

3JJ Goldf

3JM Chaff

Some gardens are lucky enough to attract one or more of these!!

3J Marti (at Lynn)

Tally was - Wilwa 0/1/0, Bluti 1/0/0, Housp 7, Chaff 0/2/0, Grefi 1/4/0, Goldf 0/14/0.