A calm morning with frost saw us return to the orchard. It was a frustrating time as some 300 Fieldfare were feeding, but now where our nets were set. We only got singles of Fieldfare and Redwing of the main targets for capture amongst the catch of 12 birds.
Total: 9 (3)
Blackbird - 6 (1)
Fieldfare - 1
Greenfinch - 1
Great Tit - 0 (1)
Redwing - 1
Wren - 0 (1)
A session at the orchard to try for winter thrushes. There were plenty of windfalls but not as many birds feeding as we had expected given the weather conditions. The number of Blackbirds seen was a possible indicator of a recent arrival of birds from Scandinavia.
There were very few tits or finches about, although Brambling was heard briefly. No Starlings visited during the duration of our visit. Woodcock flushed during setting up with Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and two Buzzards seen.
Ringing team - CL, DKL, CJH
Total: 28
Blackbird - 14
Dunnock - 1
Fieldfare - 6
Goldfinch - 1
Great Tit - 1
Redwing - 5
Every year we get a large (for us) team together to monitor Mute Swans. This is part of the continuing project lead by Mike Reed to assess swan movements and longevity. We make capture of birds in their hatch year a priority as they are of a definite known age and they also provide an insight into productivity for that year.
The team for today was MR, CL, DKL, PWL, DMD, CVG, PAM, EPL, CJH and EGB.
Swans were captured by hand, ringed and fitted with individually identifiable darvic leg markers at Whitlingham Country Park, Hoveton bridge, Wroxham Broad and Potter Heigham. The individually coded rings allow further observations without the need to capture the birds. We also recorded a further 20 birds that had been ringed and marked under this project previously.
For many of the team this was a new experience, completely different to mist netting and ringing passerines that makes up so much of the training to ring. Our group did exceptionally well, working together in a real team effort to achieve a good day of monitoring.
It was particularly pleasing to capture a small family group at Potter Heigham. This group of cob, pen and a single cygnet were the only swans at this location. The pen was captured first and fishing line with a hook embedded in her foot was successfully removed before she was fitted with a metal ring, darvic coded 4GTW and released.
Looking at the number of cygnets ringed to adult birds, this catch seems to be down compared to our last two winters. In early 2022 we did two days at the same sites and got 23 birds hatched in 2021 and 54 adults. Adult numbers were high due to an absence of monitoring during 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. The catch in 2023 was in early December and at that time of the 32 birds marked it was an even split 16/16. This session, we only got 7 cygnets and 18 adults. Mute Swans are long lived birds and a breeding season may be abandoned by some pairs if conditions are too problematic. It's not straight forward to interpret how this might reflect on this years breeding season as it was very wet at the start of the year and some first attempts may have been unsuccessful. This is not just a case of possibility of flooding. We know of a case where the nest was built at the edge of the water and by the time the flooding subsided there was too much dry ground between the nest and the water. This attempt failed and the birds did not try again at that site.
This autumn has been unseasonably warm. We only saw one obvious family party and they were not with other swans. There may still be family parties where the young remain with the parents out on the broads and in general, there may still be birds that have not yet needed to move to areas such as Hoveton Bridge, where there is a designated feeding platform and the public regularly feed birds. In the winter this tends to inflate the numbers of swans present at this site. It was noted that some cygnets, either independent of parents or where parents are 'encouraging' them to leave were kept away from food or did not join the feeding flock, remaining distant from a few, more mature, aggressive individual birds. These factors play into the numbers present and captured in addition to other possible factors such as the potential effect of weather conditions and Avian Influenza over the past few years.
Many thanks to the Broads authority and trustees of Whitlingham Country Park for permission to monitor at these sites. All ringing activities undertaken under the appropriate British Trust for Ornithology licence and relevant endorsements.
Please report any sightings to Mike Reed - mike.reed2017@outlook.com
Totals: 27 new, 1 recapture, 20 re-sighted
Mute Swan - 25 (1) [20]
Mallard - 2
Reports this afternoon of a Water Pipit marked on 26/11/2020 being observed at Strumpshaw Fen. The bird was ringed at Cantley beet factory, Norfolk by Stephen Vickers of UEA RG and the observation is a new longevity record, in the UK, for this species. Two other birds have exceeded the current record published up to 2023 as shown below from the British Trust for Ornithology website. However, the sight records of birds at Lytchett Bay, Dorset and Lakenheath, Suffolk from the start of 2024 have been superseded by 1N at Strumpshaw.
| Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta | 3 years 1 month 25 days | ||
| H607471 | First-year | 07-11-1993 | Rye Meads: c. 51°46'N 0°0'E (Hertfordshire) |
| Caught by ringer | 01-01-1997 | Rye Meads: c. 51°46'N 0°0'E (Hertfordshire) 0km 3y 1m 25d | |
A first run out to the orchard to see whether it's likely to be good for thrushes this winter. There is a lot of fruit both on the ground and on the trees, so should be productive in cold weather, as long as the frosts and snow do not arrive with strong winds.
For today there were hundreds of thrushes passing through, although most only stopped briefly and did not feed before moving on. Nice to get a Blackbird from 2 years ago.
9th November
A visit to the reedbed with CJH hoping for more Redwings and Reed Buntings produced more tits than anything else in the mix of 8 species. A try at the north fields revealed a single Jack Snipe that evaded capture.
Total: 25 (2)
Blackbird - 1
Blue Tit - 11 (2)
Goldcrest - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Redwing - 2
Reed Bunting - 2
Robin - 1
Wren - 4
10th November 2024
A first full morning session, targeting Meadow Pipit, Redwing and Reed Bunting at the north fields. The first two nets failed to perform but the low net in the reeds and a single net by the gate did rather well, bringing more birds that the previous day's session on the reserve. Leading species was still Blue Tit, despite not a feeder in sight, with Reed Bunting totalling 9 birds and surprisingly Stonechat in third place with 3 individuals.
Total: 31 (4)
Blackbird - 1
Blue Tit - 11 (3)
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Great Tit - 1
House Sparrow - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Reed Bunting - 8 (1)
Robin - 1
Stonechat - 3
Wren - 2
Another successful attempt at daylight thermalling for Jack Snipe resulted in the capture of an adult and juvenile. This allowed for some nice comparison photos.
A first winter session at the site. Forty birds captured including a Grey Wagtail, a couple of Redwing. The other birds would have been completely at home at a feeding station in any back garden. The catch did include an unusually high proportion of adult Blue Tits including 3 retraps from previous years.
Total: 35 (5)
Blackbird - 3
Blue Tit - 15 (3)
Chaffinch - 2
Dunnock - 2 (1)
Great Tit - 6 (1)
Grey Wagtail - 1
Redwing - 2
Robin - 2
Wren - 2
CL has now started thermalling some evening while I try for owls if the weather is suitable. Photos are not usually good as we will not use flash photography. Nice to get a daytime Jack Snipe this afternoon.
Total: 1
Jack Snipe - 1
A last try at the marsh fields with few pipits or thrushes. There weren't a great deal of birds but a female Stonechat and a couple of Redwings were very nice captures.
We also caught a Goldcrest that had been ringed in March 2022.
The promise of thrushes and finches arriving from the continent failed to materialise at Morston today. The wind was low and despite having nets up for a variety of species only 17 birds of 4 species were caught, many of those being a tit flock that, at 11:40am, saved the time spent resulting in only 5 birds with 4 being Dunnocks.
Marsh Harriers, Buzzard, Red Kite and Kestrel were seen.
Total: 17
Blue Tit - 5
Dunnock - 4
Long-tailed Tit - 7
Robin - 1
Very pleasing to have Redwing as the leading species, counting new birds only, Reed Bunting was second.
Ringing team of CL, PWL, DKL, EGB & GN.
Total: 41 (5)
Blackbird - 1
Blue Tit - 5 (2)
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Dunnock - 1
Goldcrest - 0 (1)
Great Tit - 2 (1)
Long-tailed Tit - 4 (1)
Redwing - 20
Reed Bunting - 6
Wren - 1