Coursers Lane GP/Fields - 26 November 2013

Today's outing whilst D was at work was with the Maple X team, PD, MRB and MBR, to ring an area with the emphasis on Tree Sparrows, with the addition of Buntings and Finches using an area set with wild bird friendly crop. Two of the target species were re-trapped and both had lost their pit tags and had new ones fitted. The pit tags are now embedded within the colour ring where previously they were glued onto it, and these did not always remain fixed to the colour ring. Whilst ringing, Ken Smith turned up to replace the battery on the pit tag reader fixed to the feeding station. It logs the presence of a bird every 15 seconds and is resulting in very detailed records of the Tree Sparrows at the site. There have been a couple of movements to and from the site, and use of pit tags has shown that one of these birds has remained at the site to bred, something conventional ringing may have not picked up, especially considering Tree Sparrows are not easy to re-trap.

3 male Yellowhammer

Tree Sapprow - the pit tag is part of the grey colour ring

3 female Stonechat

Total: 28 (15):

Dunnock - 2 (5)
Robin - 1
Stonechat - 1
Blackbird - 2 (1)
Blue Tit - 1 (4)
Great Tit - 0 (3)
Chaffinch - 2
Tree Sparrow - 0 (2)
House Sparrow - 2
Reed Bunting - 15
Yellowhammer - 2

Chobham Common - 25 November 2013

Another 6.45am meet, this time with RMA and ESA, to try for Redpolls on the common. We tried a different area this time but there was still no sign of any large finch flocks. The Fieldfares and Redwings continue to shuttle back and forth overhead between golf courses on either side of the common but do not drop in to allow any chance of capture.

 Chobham under a cloudy sky

We managed to attract a Dartford Warbler along with a couple of Wrens and Goldcrests.

Dartford Warbler male

There were a few visits from single and small groups of Redpoll but most just sat above the audiolures looking on before departing. Three were caught during the process of taking nets down.

3M Lesser Redpoll

Totals: 8

Wren - 2

Dartford Warbler - 1

Goldcrest - 2

Lesser Redpoll - 3

Black Park - 24 November 2013

We were joined by EW to work an alternative area of the heathland area and quickly had 3 singles and a run of four nets up. We tried tapes for Redpoll, Goldcrest and Long-tailed Tits but the day started very slowly and we spent some time checking out a range of spectacular examples of fungi.

 Sulphur Tuft - I think

Fly Agaric

Another stab in the dark - Black Trumpet

I certainly wouldn't eat anything on the basis of my flaky fungus ID skills.

There were a few Redpoll but the catching was slow and the total was only made respectable by a late encounter with a tit flock that pushed up the total.

Lesser Redpoll

Total - 26 (1)

Wren - 1

Goldcrest -  2 (1)

Long-tailed Tit -7

Coal Tit - 3

Blue Tit -9

Lesser Redpoll - 4

Home Cottage Farm - 23 November 2013

The visit to Home Cottage Farm was planned to allow us to reacquaint ourselves with the site and the way that birds are using it. There were no visits last winter as the crop was poor and little was left for the birds after visitors went to 'pick their own' and the sheep had polished off the fallen windfalls. It was a very different situation this year with a bumper crop reflective of the optimal conditions that caused a mast year in the natural food supply.

Every row of trees showed the same story - excess windfalls

There were windfalls below every tree posing the problem of where precisely to place nets. There were a few thrushes around and Fieldfare and Mistle Thrushes were in the orchard but with the option of feeding in the adjacent fields, they soon moved away due to our disturbance. We need some really low temperatures, cold enough to harden the earth, to improve our catching chances.

The catch was still very respectible with a total of 42 birds. Most were tits but there was a bit of variety including some Blackbirds, Goldcrests and a juvenile Sparrowhawk.

 

3M Sparrowhawk

Ten of the birds were retrapped with two having been processed at the site on 20 November 2012.

 

Adult Coal Tit Y599947

The other eight retraps had been done, since September 2012, in our back garden just a kilometre away.   Coal Tit Y599267 being the earliest date 08/09/2012,  Goldcrest EBX489 was done on 23/09/2013 and the most recent, Blue Tit D710087 on 18/10/2013. 

Totals: 32 (10)

Sparrowhawk - 1

Dunnock - 1

Robin - 1

Blackbird - 3

Goldcrest - 3 (1)

Long Tailed-Tit - 5 (2)

Coal Tit - 0 (2)

Blue Tit - 13 (5)

Great Tit - 1

Chaffinch - 3

Goldfinch - 1

Chobham Common - 18 November 2013

The rain originally forecast for today did not materialise and the wind speed was very low so we returned to the Common in the hope of  catching some Redpoll. We moved to a slightly different site (to that where only two birds were caught on the previous day) and only used three doubles. There was a little more success with 5 Lesser Redpolls and 10 Long-tailed Tits. No too bad considering the last start and early finish.

Lesser Redpoll Aged 3

Totals: 15

Long-tailed Tit - 10
Lesser Redpoll - 5

Chobham Common - 17 November 2013

We were joined by TA and JHH and arrived at the ringing site in semi-darkness due to heavy cloud cover. We erected three doubles and began playing for Redpoll before adding a final double panel for Dartford Warbler.

It turned out to be one of those sessions that remains in the memory for all the wrong reasons. There were no large numbers of Redpoll and the odd ones and twos that came to investigate the audiolure would not be tempted down to the nets.

There were good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing passing overhead throughout the morning but this didn't boost the capture total. We finished early with just two birds on the record sheet.

3M Coal Tit

Totals - 2

Wren - 1
Coal Tit - 1

Stanwell Moor - 16 November 2013

We were joined by EP for a 6.30am start. We put nets in the vicinity of the reed bed with a configuration for Meadow Pipits on the raised grassy area.

We started off with a retrap Reed Bunting, from our colour ringing project. We colour ringed Reed Buntings over two years but ceased doing so when the numbers of bird using the roost dropped off, coupled with the fact that there was only ever one sighting throughout that time. It just goes to show that birds are still about although birdwatchers (probably knowing the birds by call) don't take much notice of them.

 

Reed Bunting 4M, L606564,colour ringed 6/6/2011when 4M  

This bird was captured along with 4 other new Reed Buntings. Other birds from the reed bed included a couple of Goldcrest, two Chiffchaff and a new Cetti's Warbler.

Catching Meadow Pipits often doesn't happen until the birds go up as you walk towards the nets, so we weren't expecting too much as efforts were split over two areas. However we still managed to bag 22 with the bonus of a Skylark.

 TR64520 Skylark

Totals: 40 (3)

Skylark - 1

Meadow Pipit - 18

Dunnock - 1

Robin- 1 (1)

Cetti's Warbler - 1

Chiffchaff - 2

Goldcrest - 2

Blue Tit - 0 (1)

Reed Bunting - 4 (1)