Hilfield Park Res - 28 December 2011

Today we joined the Maple Cross team at Hilfield Park Res, mainly to touch base with a few people, which was fortunate that was the main reason for visiting, as only four new birds were caught along with 18 re-traps. Not an overly busy morning with a team of ten, just about keeping the trainees busy!

Totals:

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 0 (1)
Goldcrest -1
Blue Tit - 2 (5)
Coal Tit - 0 (1)
Great Tit - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 0 (11)
Lesser Redpoll - 1

Black Park - 27 December 2011

With the current unpredictable wind conditions we were unsure whether we would get out today or not as we were going to a fairly exposed area, but despite a night of poor sleep, we still struggled out of bed to check that there was little wind, and managed to motivate ourselves out for some welcome fresh air and exercise post Christmas food. We set up at our usual spot on the heath area and had a number of Redpoll and Siskin flying over, plus about 20 odd Crossbill flying around. Initially we did not set up next to a small pond nearby as on our last visit it had not drawn any birds down to drink, but seeing a mixed Redpoll/Siskin flocking come down, we put a 30 across an area of open water and added some cut branches to act as an area for them to use. The pool is often used by finches to bath and drink, though there are a number of wet ditches that ruin of it that also get used, so it can be a bit hit and miss. Some years ago, I had seen Crossbills using the pool, but they are not regular every year in the park, though I have found breeding birds some years ago, and some winters they can be completely absent. We had caught a few Lesser Redpolls, when we had about 10 Crossbills in the top of a high Silver Birch over the pool. After about five minutes they started to work their way down into a mixed Redpoll/Siskin flock that had come down to bath, and eventually through bins I was able to see we had a female caught, then a male and another. We decided we ought to chance our luck and leave it, so we went to extract, as we did we saw a male and female make their way out of the net and off, but we were fortunate enough to have one male and three females still retained in the net. We also caught our first two Siskin at the site. Later we managed another two Siskin, and despite having only caught four at the site, we managed one control, X281176. The day finished with 32 birds in total.

Lesser Redpoll - 3 female

Lesser Redpoll - 3 male

Male Siskin

Siskin 4 female (control X281176)

 Crossbill - 3 female

 Crossbill - 3 female

 

Crossbill - 3 female

 Crossbill - 3 female

 Crossbill - 3 female

Crossbill - 3 female

Crossbill - 3 male

Crossbill - 3 male

Crossbill - 3 male

Crossbill - 3 female 

Crossbill - 3 female 

Totals:

Robin - 2 (1)

Goldcrest -2

Blue Tit - 10

Siskin - 4 (1 - control)

Lesser Redpoll - 8

Crossbill - 4

Staines Reservoir 23 December 2011

A quick visit before disappearing into Sainsburys with the rest of the joyess Christmas shoppers, before the weather closed in produced the Great Northern Diver, Shag, immature male Scaup and three Water Pipits. I was unable to locate the two Black-necked Grebes that were probably there, but it did seem worth while spending too long hunting for them as breakfast called!

Home Cottage Farm, Iver Heath - 18 December 2011

As it was below freezing Friday/Saturday night and in the hope of a heavy frost again today we headed off to the orchard. This time we set more nets in the top orchard containing all the fallen apples. As we set up odd Redwings were flying over and about 20 odd Fieldfare we in the nearby hedgerow and a number dropped into the orchard. We had a steady, but quietish morning, but we did succeed in catching one target bird, with a 3F Fieldfare being caught. The last bird of the day turned out to be a 3M Pied Wagtail caught in a 40 foot net in a small copse. The day finished with 18 birds being processed.

Green Woodpecker - 3 female

Goldfinch - 3 male

Fieldfare 3 female

Pied Wagtail - 3 male

Totals:

Green Woodpecker - 0 (2)
Pied Wagtail - 1
Dunnock - 0 (1)
Robin - 1 (1)
Fieldfare - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Blue Tit - 2 (4)
Chaffinch - 1
Goldfinch - 3

Stanwell Moor ringing site - 17 December 2011

We originally planned to go to Black Park today, but for various reasons decided not to. I did drop in briefly to top up a feeder we had left last week, and hardly any use of it had been made, with it being still more or less full, so the decision not to go might not have been such a bad one in the end. In the afternoon, just out of curiosity and to get out of the house, we made a late visit to Stanwell, setting just two nets in the Willow/reed area to see what was coming into roost. In fact as we found out, very little with just two birds being caught, though a flock of about 15 Fieldfare flew across, fast just above net height. A Peregrine was hunting over the site for a while disturbing the Lapwings.

Totals:

Wren -1
Reed Bunting -1

Home Cottage Farm, Iver Heath - 11 December 2011

We decided to try and squeeze in a visit into the apple farm before the forecasted wind and rain came in around midday. The visit did not produce any of the hoped for Thrushes, though a few Fieldfare and Redwing were present in the area. The one thing the visit did show was that time spent in the field birding will provide a bonus for ringing visits, as it will provide an indication of what areas birds are favouring and where the good feeding areas are. This being the first visit to the site for a while, we had no idea where the birds were feeding or what food was available. After setting up we had a walk around to find that the amount of left over apples this year was probably the best in three years and there were a number of rows that were worth setting nets along, further away from the adjacent houses that we set up alongside at the start of the session. The session was very much dominated by Tits and in all we had 36 birds, of which six were re-traps.

Jay - 3 

Chaffinch - 3 male

Totals:
Wren -1
Dunnock -1 
Robin - 2
Blackbird -1
Goldcrest -1
Blue Tit - 15 (4)
Great Tit - 6 (2)
Jay -1
Chaffinch -1
Goldfinch - 1

A brief session in the garden at home later in the day resulted in the Goldfinch rung earlier at the orchard being re-trapped coming into the garden feeders.

Black Park - 10 December 2011

We had our first run out ringing for a while, on what was for once a still morning, albeit a cold one. Things started off looking promising. Lots of Redpolls coming in, a few parties of Siskins and a number of groups of Crossbills, with one flock totalling about 30, about, but they were only prominent early on and very few birds were enticed down. The catch was therefore quite low with only 13 birds being caught, eight being Lesser Redpolls, one of which was a re-trap from 12 November. mid morning a Woodcock was flushed, but it's escape route was away from the nets. It or another was flushed again about an hour later, but it also headed off in the wrong direction.

Lesser Redpoll - 3 female

Totals:

Wren -1

Blue Tit - 1

Goldcrest - 3

Lesser Redpoll - 7 (1)

Suffolk - 4 December 2011

A visit yesterday to see a Great Grey Shrike at Slough SF had been unsuccessful mid pm, but today heading along the A14 at 70mph near Bury St Edmunds, a bird flys from the adjacent field/heath (Barham Bottom TL771662), across in front of us, lands in the central reservation on a bush in clear view, and despite passing at 70, with the bird 5 feet or less from the car, we both said at the same time, Great Grey Shrike! So next time you get a report from  a passing train - it might just be true - it does happen! Probably one of the closest views with the naked eye we have ever had, sadly so brief.