Weekend Ringing

Hello,

Four Ringing Sessions took place at four different sites over the weekend. Three of these sites were ringed at on Saturday, these were Stortons Gravel Pits, Pitsford Reservoir and Harrington Airfield. On  Sunday we ringed at Brixworth Sewage Works.

Stortons Gravel Pits is rung by John Woollett and his team of ringers, they caught one hundred-forty birds and over one hundred of which were Warblers! These were fifty-seven Blackcaps, six Garden Warblers, twenty Reed Warblers, six Whitethroats, three Cetti's Warblers, three Willow Warblers and seven Chiffchaff. They also caught two highlights which were a re-trap Kingfisher and two Sparrowhawks.

Pitsford Reservoir is owned by Anglian Water but also managed by The Wildlife Trust. However Dave Francis completes most of the ringing on this site and completes the Constant Effort Site every year. Saturday was the last CES visit for the season, he caught seventy-nine birds of which twenty-three species. He caught a control Kingfisher (ringed elsewhere and at least 5km's away) and other birds were ten Blackcaps, three Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Reed Warbler, four Tree Sparrows, a Yellowhammer, a Willow Tit, a Marsh Tit, a Green Woodpecker, three Mallard, three Pied Wagtails and four Treecreepers.

Harrington Airfield is a disused Airfield from the Second World War and The Cold War. Since then it has been used for farming again and has decided to scrub up with Blackthorn, Hawthorn etc. On Saturday we caught fifty-seven birds. The most common bird being Chaffinch as mid-morning a flock passed through, we caught fifteen Chaffinches which seemed to be attracted to the Tree Pipit tape. Other birds caught were seven Linnets, a Goldfinch, five Whitethroats, a Blackcap, a Willow Warbler, seven Yellowhammers, four Reed Buntings and a new Green Woodpecker. The ringing highlights included a Tree Pipit and two Redstarts. Other birds of note were a Hobby, a juvenile Whinchat, an additional Tree Pipit, a couple of Siskins and birds of prey using the freshly cut fields were Common Buzzards, Red Kites and Kestrels.

Redstarts

The Ringing Session at Brixworth Sewage Works caught forty-three birds including seven Pied Wagtail, ten Swallows, ten Blackcaps, a Whitethroat, six Chiffchaffs, two Willow Warblers and a Magpie.

Regards,

Jacob

Wryneck

Hello,

Harrington Airfield is a a disused Airfield which was first created in the Second World War and was again used in the Cold War to store War Heads. Afterwards the airfield has been disused and has scrubbed up but is still an open area with fields and concrete tracks.

Birds on show there today was a Wryneck in-between the chipping compound and the bunkers but the Wryneck is the first one to be seen there in fourteen years and also there was two Redstarts.

However tomorrow the private area is closed off due to a Ringing Session.

Regards,

Jacob

Sorry for the blurry Wryneck pictures

Pitsford Birding

Hello,

This morning was spent down at Pitsford Reservoir in the Scaldwell Bay producing some quality birds including some Little Egrets, a Great White Egret, three Red Crested Pochards, three Redshank, possibly four Ruff, two Green Sandpiper, four Common Sandpiper, a Yellow Legged Gull and a Spotted Flycatcher. Perhaps the best being a juvenile Pied Flycatcher in the bushes to the left of the Bird Club Hide.

Regards,

Jacob

Yesterdays ringing

Hello, 

Yesterday a ringing session took place at Pitsford Reservoir in the Scaldwell Bay catching sixty one birds. Birds caught were eleven Wren, six Blackcap, five Blue Tit, five Great Tit, five Robin, three Bullfinch, three Treecreeper, three Dunnock, three Willow Warbler, two Chiffchaff, two Chaffinch, two Blackbird, two Marsh Tit, two Willow Tit, two Reed Warbler, two Whitethroat, one Reed Bunting, one Garden Warbler and a Song Thrush. 

However two birds were caught in the duck trap which were a Mallard in eclipse moult and a juvenile Moorhen. 

Regards, 

Jacob

Morning at Pitsford

Hello,

This morning was spent at Pitsford Reservoir in the Scaldwell Bay. Birds seen there were the pair of Ruddy Shelduck, two Green Sandpiper, two Common Sandpiper, two Ruff and a Yellow Legged Gull.

A newly emerged Southern Hawker Dragonfly was perched on some dried bramble near the Bird Club Hide (please see images below).

On a walk in-between Pitsford Reservoir and the village of Scaldwell a small flock of Gulls containing fifty-one Black Headed Gull, four Common Gull, a Lesser Black Back Gull, another Yellow Legged Gull and a fine looking adult Mediterranean Gull. Other Birds were my first fledgling Skylark of the year, a Tree Sparrow and two Yellow Wagtail.

Regards,

Jacob

Harrington Airfield ringing

Hello,

Today a ringing session at Harrington Airfield caught around forty birds. The main caught bird of the day was Linnets with 14 caught. Other birds caught were Willow Warblers, Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers, Green Woodpeckers and Dunnocks. A Hobby was seen hunting Swallows and then plucking them on the wing and Turtle Doves were at the end of the concrete track.

After Harrington I went down to Pitsford Res and in the Scaldwell Bay there was a Ruff, a Common Sandpiper, two Green Sandpiper, a few Little Egrets, two Yellow Legged Gulls and the two Ruddy Shelduck.

After that I walked around Scaldwell finding a female Redstart eating Elderberries halfway in-between Scaldwell and Pitsford Res at 16:45.

Regards,

Jacob

Brixworth Sewage Works Ringing

Hello,

Today a ringing session at Brixworth Sewage Farm produced 85 birds, probably the most interesting bird of the day was a Hobby which was quickly ringed (please see images below). Once we caught our first Hobby a second was seen briefly chasing a small passerine. Other birds caught were a Blackbird, two Robins, a couple of Dunnocks, three Green Finches, a Chaffinch, a Bullfinch, five Goldfinches, four Chiffchaff, five Great Tits, one Blue Tit, two Great Spotted Woodpecker, three Magpie, five Swallows, a Sedge Warbler, a Whitethroat, a Blackcap, eleven Starling, plenty of Wagtails were caught with nineteen new Pied Wagtails, and a handful of Grey and Yellow Wagtail.

Regards,

Jacob

Rain?

Hello,

Today was forecast to be a wet day. However it wasn't till late afternoon when the rain set in. During the morning I spent time with Neil McMahon attempting to catch some waders which were situated opposite the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir, no waders were caught but a single young Pied Wagtail was.

Waders seen included singles of Green and Common Sandpiper, eight Ringed Plover and eight Dunlin. Other birds seen were two Grey Wagtail.

Regards,

Jacob

Ruddy Shelducks

Hello,

Over the last year or so, on and off a pair of Ruddy Shelducks have been loitering at Pitsford Reservoir. There has also been records of three at Stanwick Lakes recently too. Today the Ruddy Shelducks were still present at Pitsford Reservoir in the Scaldwell Bay fighting the local Canada Geese and almost drowning them.

There was also at least one Yellow Wagtail on the dam this morning, two Green Sandpiper and a Yellow-Legged Gull. There was around twenty Lesser Black Back Gulls most being juveniles begging for food from parents which are now starting lose their smartness.

Regards, 

Jacob

Ruddy Shelduck

Green Sandpiper

Skokholm 29.07-02.08

Hello,

We made it onto Skokholm on the 29th July which is two days later than we should of due to the strong westerly winds and the large swell around the dock. We then came off a day early too, on the 2nd August again because of the horrible foretold weather for the upcoming days.

The Wednesday night we went out to attempt to catch a small number of Manx Shearwaters which we did concluding to catch 10 birds. However Skokholm is the largest Manx Shearwater colony in the world so we hardly touched the surface on the number of birds on the island. In the morning some of us woke after only having a couple of hours sleep to catch the roosting Jackdaws in one of their Heligoland traps.

The Thursday was our first full day on the island with the 16 strong members of the ringing group which I am apart of, the Northants Ringing Group with helpers and friends along with us of which most were starting to catch and ring wild birds on the island. The weather helped as we woke to a lovely sunny day as the slowly started to stop.

We caught birds using a variety of ways including Mist Nets, Spring Traps and Heligoland traps. Birds caught included many Willow Warbler but also Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Pied Wagtail, Meadow and Rock Pipit and Wheatear.

Waders on show were a Green Sandpiper, Redshank, Ruff and Whimbrel. Island birds were Peregrine, Chough, Raven and common sea birds.

During the Afternoon some of us elected to go on a fast RIB boat, which took us on a tour around the Gannet island of Grassholm. Here we took advantage of the excellent views of the thousands of Gannets going around the boat to take large amount of pictures. The waders including three Purple Sandpipers and some Turnstones.

Gannets leaving Grassholm to feed on fish in the surrounding area

A flock of Gannets flying towards Grassholm probably from a large distance 

During Thursday's night and Fridays early hours we caught around 180 Storm Petrels. Our catch was probably reduced as a full moon and no cloud made our nets more visible. However we worked until 11pm and 4am. When we stopped we decided to attempt a catch some Jackdaws leading to just the one bird caught.

On Friday, during the day we went out to catch some small passerines which we did leading to a large catch of migrant Willow Warblers. We also caught the other migrants and some breeders on the island including Wheatears. During the Friday night we caught a small number of Manx Shearwaters.

On Saturday the weather was more cloudy and some sunny parts. In this we caught Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Willow Warbler and Wheatear. During Saturday night we caught another large catch of Stormies and a dozen Manxies.

Regards,

Jacob

The group from Northants who went to Skokholm

A Grey Seal at South Haven, Skokholm.

Shag

Oystercatcher