Wraysbury GP - 28 September 2013

This morning we joined others from the group to monitor Wraysbury GP. The wind speed started off much lower than may have been expected from some of the available forecasts and despite the session being increasingly wind affected as the morning went on, a total of 100 birds were processed.
There were several warblers carrying substantial fat supplies and a retrapped Garden Warbler was on the latest date ever recorded by the group. The majority of the catch were Blackcap and Chiffchaff.
There are no images from the session but the following story was unfolding just a short distance away. We saw the smoke well before emergency services were on the scene and heard all the sirens and both explosions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-24315661

Totals: 90 (10)

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1

Wren - 1

Dunnock - 1 (2)

Robin - 1 (2)

Blackbird - 0 (1)

Lesser Whitethroat - 1

Garden Warbler - 0 (1)

Blackcap - 59  (2)    

Chiffchaff - 24 (1)

Goldcrest - 0 (1)

Bluti- 1

Greenfinch - 1

Stanwell Moor - 27 September 2013

The wind was forecast at 6mph, similar to that on Tuesday when more than 70 birds were caught - but it was clear even before the mipit nets were fully up, that this was not the case. Added to this, there were fewer birds about and those that were attracted were more interested in practicing their balancing prowess on the top shelf string and guy ropes than foraging on the ground.

We had a brief moment of excitement when a Sparrowhawk was flushed from right next to the audio lure, but it made good its escape, flying right along the line of the billowing 60ft net.

So we accepted that this was one of those 'some you lose' days and not being in the mood for more plane spotting than bird  watching, began closing at 10am for an early finish.

Total 5:

Meadow Pipit - 5

Stanwell Moor - 24 September 2013

C arranged another try for Meadow Pipits, this time with EP. The mist was slow to clear and this delayed catching until well after 9am. The aircraft continued to take off in the general direction of the catching area but by moving a couple of 100 metres in the direction of Staines Moor it was found that the noise had less effect and audio lures were not drowned out by the roar of jet engines every 90 seconds.

A total of 71 Meadow Pipits were caught, bringing the monthly figure to 150 so far. Interestingly, we have yet to capture a single ringed Meadow Pipit this month, just an indication of the sheer numbers of birds circulating in the area or maybe suggesting that they can steer clear of the nets after being caught. A double panel net also bought a few Linnet to the total.

Total: 74

Meadow Pipit - 71
Linnet - 3

Stanwell Moor - 23 September 2013

Conditions on the soil mound were absolutely perfect and we set a Meadow Pipit box with a run of three nets directly behind to catch any birds that went up from behind the box as we had observed this to happen quite often. As well as the configuration for Meadow Pipits we also put up a double double with a tape for Linnet, and another double totalling 100ft close to the lake for anything that might be circulating with the tit flock. We had just taken out the first captured Meadow Pipits and gone to the bottom of the bank to collect the ringing box when C noticed a falcon flying swiftly in the direction of the nets, then the nets jink as though the bird had hit it. I ran up the bank and closed on the bird, thinking all the time that it certainly wasn't a Sparrowhawk or Kestrel. The bird was a completely brown, extremely aggressive falcon and as I returned to C (with the talons firmly controlled) I was very pleased that it hadn't escaped - and even more pleased when C said that he was happy for me to do it, since neither of us had done Merlin before.

The bird was larger than I had expected, having a wing of 231mm and weighing 178g. This places the individual well in the biometric range for the Icelandic race (F. c. subaesalon) being in excess of 223mm but as being longer-winged is the only indication, we won't be making any claims in this regard.

 3F Merlin Falco columbarius

 

Heavily fringed rufous on upper parts and broad light bands on tail (just about visible in this photo.)

 
The Meadow Pipits responded well to the audio lure until the airport changed the runway and flight path being used (and we had aircraft passing overhead, every 90 seconds) after take off. We closed and were packed up by 1pm.

Total:  54

Merlin - 1
Meadow Pipit - 52
Blue Tit - 1

Chobham Common - 22 September 2013

After Thursday's success on the Meadow Pipit front C & D revisited an area of the common that is regenerating after the area was burnt last year. It started slowly with fewer Meadow Pipits about. We had a double in some trees but somehow the tit flock managed to completely avoid it. There was also a double double panel that works well for Dartfords but no luck today.

After 3 hours we had barely made it into double figures, the bulk being Meadow Pipits.

 Meadow Pipit median coverts juvenile above and adult below. Also note difference on greater coverts.

 

We had just reached the stage of saying how Chobham can be such a disappointment when it promisies so much when small groups of hirundines started to pass through overhead, heading south. Being ever the optmist where birds are concerned, C changed the mipit tape to House Martin. We spent quite a long time watching them skim above the nets but as the cloud closed in briefly the first few went in and before we knew it they were alighting on the top line and in the skeletal conifers that surrounded the nets.

When those that had not been caught began to gain height we went in to extract and were stunned that from being on the verge of packing up, we were suddenly close to running out of bags.

 Juvenile House Martins

All of the House Martins were juveniles in various stages of post juvenile moult.

Thanks to the unexpected bonus we finished on a very respectable total of 57.

Totals: 57

House Martin - 43
Meadow Pipit - 11
Chiffchaff - 3

Stanwell Moor - 21 September 2013

The promise of 6mph wind never quite materialised, but we still gave it our best shot with nets in the reedbad extending out into the lake, a double on the bramble lined spit and a triangle for Meadow Pipits on the soil mound.

There were a great deal of Meadow Pipits about and we consistently had much more in the catching area than was actually netted. It wasn't long before the wind began to billow out the mound nets with unwelcome attention from  a Kestrel causing the birds to behave nervously and frequently scatter farther afield. The nets were very visible and it soon became clear that the birds were favourling an area just to the left of where we had set. All the same we managed a respectible number and this made up the majority of our catch.

Meadow Pipit aged 3 showing diagnostic longer tooth marking on median coverts and diffuse greater coverts.

We were interested to note that we appeared to have birds from two separate populations. Apart from some birds being longer winged and heavier, these had all without exception completed their moult while the birds that were of a slighter build were still in the process of moulting.

There was very little from the bramble double so this was taken down by 10am. We would have relocated it close to th-e Mipit triangle, but there was too much wind so we settled for more frequent trips onto the mound as we no longer had the double to check.

The Reed bed gave us a few Sedge and a Reed Warbler. At least two Cetti's Warblers had been heard and one male was enticed into the net with the assistance of a recording. 

 

3M Cetti's Warbler

Apart from a couple of Blackcap and the odd Chiffchaff, that was about it. We saw some small groups of Swallow heading south and tried to draw them into the vicinity of the nets over the lake but they were travelling with purpose and showed not the faintest interest in taking a break.

Total : 54

Meadow Pipit - 39

Song Thrush - 1

Blackbird -1

Cetti's Warbler - 1

Sedge Warbler - 4

Reed Warbler - 2

Blackcap - 2

Chiffchaff - 1

Blue Tit - 1

Great Tit - 2

Broadwater GP - 20 September 2013

Another trip to Broadwater with very low wind and temperatures creeping up again as we near the end of the third week in September, and things had changed quite a bit since our last visit some 10 days ago. Warblers were right down with fewer Chiffchaff, hardly any Blackcap and absolutely no sign of Willow Warblers. The tits on the other hand were much more in evidence, as Chris said "It's becoming rather too tittified." This can be demonstrated numerically by looking at the ratios of warbler to tit. On 15/09 the ratio of tits to warblers was 1:7 ( both original numbers being divisible by 4), however today's catch came in at 7:8 ( after halving the actual numbers caught). There were a few other species including a couple of Chaffinch and the third Treecreeper for the month.

 

Treecreeper aged 3

Ageing criteria - drop shaped pale trip on 3rd outer primary covert

We also made a quick dash to the net to secure this young Sparrowhawk.

Sparrowhawk. Wing of 194mm indicated the youngster as male.

 

 Gender confirmed by emergent grey feathering.

The House Martins were tantalisingly close but remained just too high for any realistic chance of capture and the Cetti's Warbler still fails to comply with all the literature that states just how readily they will come to the audio lure. All the same we managed over 30 birds - not bad considering we didn't start until after 9am.

Total: 32 (5)

Sparrowhawk - 1

Dunnock - 1

Robin - 1

Blackbird - 0 (1)

Blackcap - 1

Chiffchaff - 12 (3)

Chaffinch - 2

Blue Tit - 9 (1)

Great Tit- 4

Treecreeper - 1

Chobham Common - 19 September 2013

This visit with TA was an exploratory one to see if the site was used by Meadow Pipits in any numbers on autumn migration. It has not been rung specifically for Pipits in the past, so whilst optimistic, the likely result was not really known. The main push was that one of our regular Meadow Pipit sites has now been taken over by a heard of around 50 ponies and is no longer not suitable for ringing. We set a couple of double panels for Dartfords, a box for Pipits and a single double in the trees. The tape had been only playing for a short while and the Pipits started arriving, and arriving. We eventually ended up with around 100 in the area at one stage, and in the end we rang 55, with no same day re-traps, showing the site is certainly used by Meadow Pipits on migration.

Totals: 76

Meadow Pipit - 55
Wren - 1
Dartford Warbler -1
Chiff-chaff - 14
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Great Tit - 3
Coal Tit - 1

Farlington Marshes - 16 September 2013

A 4.30am alarm call was set in order that we could be on the road by 5am and at the meeting place for 6.30am. The weather was less windy than we'd expected and the threat of rain thankfully remained no more than that as clouds passed through, throughout the session.

We didn't have to wait too long before both nets were fired on a mixed group of Redshank, Greenshank and Teal. The first net was lifted from the pool along with the waders over a stretch of mud and onto a grassy area where the birds were extracted, placed in boxes and then transferred into holding pens. A second team dealt with the other net that had captured the ducks.

The Teal were swiftly processed and released before our attention turned to the Greenshank. There was one retrap and 16 new birds, all of which were ringed and fitted with colour rings.

 Greenshanks sporting newly fitted legwear.

 Examples of Greenshanks in primary moult.

The bulk of the catch were Redshank. It was noted that the number of juvenile birds was lower than expected, perhaps a significant factor in explaining why numbers have been dropping over the last few years.

 

Redshank in wing moult.

 Retrapped birds had metal rings moved to the correct position in line with the colour ring configurations and colour rings were added. All in all it was a most successful and enjoyable session.

Total:  73 (16)

Teal - 12

Greenshank - 16 (1)

Redshank -  45  (15)

Lagoa de St Andre, Portugal - 2 to 12 September 2013

The 2^nd saw the start of a 10 day ringing session at Lagoa de St Andre on the Atlantic coast of Portugal about 140km south of Lisbon. Ringing sessions have been undertaken in the area for over 20 years and most years a group of UK ringers associated with the Maple Cross ringing group have assisted during part of the autumn migration. As Denise is still working she remained alas back in the UK.

 

No ringing was done on the first day, just some additional net erection, with ringing beginning in earnest on the Wednesday, together with some more net erection.

A couple of sections of nets were erected for waders, but the lagoon is not tidal, although  spring high tides allow a little seepage in at high water but no more than the odd inch or so of water, so there are no high tide wader movements and catches are just reliant to random catch of birds moving around to feed or where disturbed by raptors or the local farmer/cattle.

The second day was the busiest with 114 birds, but after this the passage dropped and the remaining days were moderate in respect of the days totals, especially if you extract the Swallow or Yellow Wagtail roost totals. Also on the 11^th the bulk of the wader totals was due to the fact one of the group spent the night out with the nets, on the first night after they were erected on the 7^th, where as most day they were only dropped around 4.30am

Evening roosts remained low, with the only catch of any reasonable numbers were 36 Swallows on night of the 4^th and 17 Yellow Wagtails on the night of 4^th and 9^th, all processed the next day.

There was an absence of Tree Sparrows the usually roost in the reed bed and boats catch numbers.  Reed Warblers dominated most daily catches, with Willow Warbler numbers building up on the last 3 days.

 

Savi's Warbler

Redstart

  Nightingale 

  Wryneck

 Red Advant 

  Melodious Warbler 

 

Short-toed Treecreeper 

 

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

 

Scarce Swallowtail

Totals (new birds only, excluded re-traps) for the period were:

	3/9	4/9	5/9	6/9	7/9	8/9	9/9	10/9	11/9
Ringed Plover						1
Dunlin						11	2	2	1
Little Stint						1
Redshank						2
Green Sandpiper						1
Common Sandpiper						3	6		1
Barn Owl							1
Nightjar		1							1
Kingfisher		1							1
Hoopoe			1
Wryneck		1				1
Great Spotted Woodpecker								1
Swallow		3	36	6		1		7
Tree Pipit			2	1	2		3
Yellow Wagtail			17	5	9	6	2	17
Fan-tailed Warbler
Wren		2
Robin				1		1
Bluethroat		1					1
Nightingale	1	1		1		2	2		1
Redstart	1
Whinchat	1	1	1	1
Stonechat	1		1	2	1
Blackbird		2	2	5	1	1		1	1
Cetti’s Warbler	11	6	5	4	3	2	3	1
Fan-tailed Warbler		1	1		1				2
Savi’s Warbler	2	3		1	1	1		1
Grasshopper Warbler	1	3	1	2	1		4	1	3
Sedge Warbler	2	2	2	3	3	3	1		3
Reed Warbler	25	35	9	15	15	12	15	21	22
Melodious Warbler	1	1		2	3	2	1	1
Sardinian Warbler	1	5	1		3	1	1	1
Whitethroat	2	2		1	1		3	3	3
Garden Warbler	6	1	4	9	6		2	3	3
Blackcap	2	9	1	6	4	2	3	1	1
Chiff-chaff		5		3	2	1	3	3	2
Willow Warbler	14	15	9	4	11	11	23	25	27
Pied Flycatcher	2	4	1	1	2	2	3	1
Spotted Flycatcher							2	1
Blue Tit		4	2	3	1	1		5	2
Great Tit		1	1			2	1
Jay					1
Southern Grey Shrike						1
Greenfinch
Hoopoe
Short-toed Treecreeper								1	1
House Sparrow			2			4		1
Greenfinch	1	1	2	1	2	5	3
Goldfinch			1	1				3	2
Common Waxbill		2	1				2
Red Advant		1
Bluethroat
	74	114	103	78	73	81	87	97	72