Ringing near Gifford, winter 10/11 (1 Viewer)

24/10/10 Ringing at site 2. Many thanks to all concerned.

This is the start of our winter ringing. We have moved location at site 2. We are still ringing beside (a different plot of) wild bird cover. We hope this plot will give better catching.

Blackbird new 1
retrap 1
Chaffinch new 1
retrap
Dunnock new 1
retrap
Robin new 1
retrap
Wren new 1
retrap
Yellowhammer new 1
retrap 1
TOTAL new 6
retrap 2


Also seen / heard at site 2 :
180 + Pink footed geese, flock contained at least one greylag (heard)
Buzzard
Tawny owl
17 Fieldfare
Greater spotted woodpecker
Skylark
Jay
Goldcrest
Brambling
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Siskin
Redpoll
Reed bunting

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

31/10/10 Ringing at site 1. Many thanks to all concerned.

Mist netting at feeding station

Blackbird new 4
retrap
Blue tit new 1
retrap
Chaffinch new 3
retrap 1
Dunnock new 1
retrap
Goldcrest new 1
retrap
House sparrow new 1
retrap
Reed bunting new 1
retrap
Treecreeper new 1
retrap
Tree sparrow new 21
retrap
Wren new 2
retrap
Yellowhammer new 1
retrap
TOTAL new 37
retrap 1



Also seen / heard near mist netting site
Pink footed geese
Grey partridge
Skylark

Flocks of linnet and goldfinch are using a wildflower meadow, feeding on fat hen. Up to c.250 linnet have been seen at one time (Monday morning. This area is also being hunted by kestrel and buzzard. A solitary fieldfare was having a stushie with a mistle thrush on Sunday, 6 fieldfare were seen on Monday.

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

6/11/10 Ringing. Many thanks to all concerned.

Mist net catches at site 3 :

Blackbird new 3
retrap 1
Blue tit new 5
retrap
Coal tit new
retrap 1
Dunnock new
retrap 1
Goldcrest new 2
retrap
Great tit new 1
retrap
Greenfinch new 1
retrap
House sparrow new 6
retrap
Tree sparrow new 22
retrap 1
Wren new 1
retrap
TOTALS new 41
retrap 4



Also seen / heard at site 3
Pink footed geese
Buzzard
Golden plover
9 Fieldfare
Mistle thrush
Skylark
Grey wagtail
Starling
Jay
Redpoll
20 & 10 Siskin
2 Bullfinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Reed bunting
Yellowhammer

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

20/11/10 Ringing at site 2. Many thanks to all concerned.

Blackbird new
retrap 1
Blue tit new 4
retrap
Dunnock new 2
retrap
Great tit new 1
retrap
Long tailed tit new 7
retrap
Reed bunting new 5
retrap 1
Robin new 2
retrap
Yellowhammer new 3
retrap
TOTAL new 24
retrap 2



Also seen / heard at site 2 :
1 greylag
Woodcock
Buzzard
20-30 Fieldfare
Mistle thrush (singing)
Greater spotted woodpecker
Skylark
Jay
Chaffinch
Bullfinch
Siskin
80-100 Redpoll

and a stoat; and fox barking.

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

27/11/10 Ringing at site 1. Many thanks to all concerned.

Mist netting at feeding station

Blackbird new 10
retrap
Blue tit new 1
retrap
Brambling new 1
retrap
Chaffinch new 25
retrap 3
Dunnock new 3
retrap 6
Fieldfare new 1
retrap
Greenfinch new 1
retrap
Linnet new 1
retrap
Redwing new 1
retrap
Robin new 3
retrap 4
Tree sparrow new 6
retrap 1
Wren new 1
retrap
Yellowhammer new 9
retrap 4
TOTAL new 63
retrap 18


Also seen / heard near mist netting site
c.40&c.50Pink footed geese
7 unid geese (silent !)
6 Grey partridge
37 Skylark

The wild bird cover where we have been whoosh netting linnet has c.200 linnet; 20-30 skylark; some yellowhammer and reed bunting.

Another piece of wild bird cover near the ringing site has mixed flock including chaffinch, linnet, reed bunting and yellowhammer.

I have another mixed flock in my garden notbaly including both house sparrow and tree sparrow.

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Many thanks to all concerned. Sessions have been kept short with limited numbers of nets.

Mist netting in my garden by feed. This is about 400 metres from our regular site 1 feeding station.

Blackbird new 1
retrap
Blue tit new 2
retrap
Brambling new 13
retrap
Chaffinch new 9
retrap
Dunnock new 7
retrap
Great tit new 1
retrap
House sparrow new 4
retrap 5
Reed bunting new 1
retrap
Robin new
retrap 2
Skylark new 1
retrap
Tree sparrow new 2
retrap
Yellowhammer new 15
retrap 1
TOTAL new 56
retrap 8

We have also had jay on the peanut feeder. One or two greenfinch have been seen.

Ringing at site 3 on 6th Dec. Stopped due to snow. Amazingly these are the first brambling we have caught away from site 1.

Blackbird new 1
retrap
Blue tit new
retrap 1
Brambling new 3
retrap
Chaffinch new 3
retrap
Dunnock new 3
retrap 1
Reed bunting new 5
retrap
Robin new 3
retrap 1
Tree sparrow new 2
retrap 3
Woodpigeon new 1
retrap
Yellowhammer new 14
retrap 1
TOTALS new 35
retrap 7

Also seen / heard near mist netting site
Grey partridge
Bullfinch
Tawny owl (adult male) found dead on the road near my house.

Numbers of grey partridge have been building up at the feeding stations on the farm, at least 20 now - 20 were found on the autumn count.

The wild bird cover which normally hosts a large number of linnet and recently held large numbers of skylark has been buried to the extent that it has been effectively deserted. I have been feeding beside this too, but this has failed to hold the birds.

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Netting and ringing birds is so cool!

I'm curious how much time you invest in it? It must be a lot of hours or you have several hands, based on your lists.

Do find that certain species learn to avoid your nets more readily?

YourBirdOasis said:

I'm curious how much time you invest in it? It must be a lot of hours or you have several hands, based on your lists.

Click to expand...

It's a lot of hours, and quite a lot of folk help to varying degrees. This morning (list not up yet as it's not checked into the computer) we caught over 100 birds, five people were there to cope with the early rush and we were there, in total for about 5 hours.

YourBirdOasis said:

Do find that certain species learn to avoid your nets more readily?

Click to expand...

Yep. Dunnocks and robins are often caught several times in one session. Other species such as greenfinch and tree sparrow are difficult to retrap. Others again are quite difficult to catch at all, but maybe we don't know what they are because we haven't caught them to know they are there Seriously, we catch similar (low) numbers of redwing and fieldfare, but far more fieldfare, probably 10 times as many, visit this area than redwing.

Mike.

12/12/10 Ringing at site 1. Many thanks to all concerned.

Mist netting at feeding station. Much better conditions, generous feed availability and plenty handlers allowed us to conduct a full session.

Blackbird new 5
retrap
Blue tit new 2
retrap
Brambling new 4
retrap
Chaffinch new 19
retrap
Dunnock new 1
retrap 3
Goldcrest new 1
retrap
Greenfinch new 2
retrap
Redwing new 1
retrap
Reed bunting new 2
retrap 1
Robin new 2
retrap 4
Tree sparrow new 5
retrap
Yellowhammer new 42
retrap 6
TOTAL new 86
retrap 14


Also seen / heard near mist netting site
At different times, 9, 7 and 4 grey partridge
Skylark
Grey wagtail

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Ringing at site 3 on 18th Dec.

Blackbird new 1
retrap 4
Blue tit new 1
retrap
Brambling new 3
retrap
Chaffinch new 4
retrap 2
Dunnock new 8
retrap 3
Great tit new 2
retrap
Reed bunting new 1
retrap 1
Robin new 1
retrap 5
Tree sparrow new 11
retrap 7
Yellowhammer new 20
retrap 4
TOTALS new 52
retrap 26


Also seen / heard near mist netting site
Buzzard
Tawny owl

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Nice numbers of Tree Sparrows,

Dave

DMKSlater said:

Nice numbers of Tree Sparrows,

Dave

Click to expand...

Yes, thanks Dave.

This a species which has built up steadily at one site where we caught a few from the outset. It has spread to another site and, again, built up nicely. At our third site it has been an intermittent visitor.

I (would like to) think numbers are building because of the food supplied, and also hope this is a real increase in population rather than a change in colony location. However, tree sparrow are flighty things ...

Interestingly at the original site our catch last winter was not as big as expected. I was not discouraged, as it was clear the population was still there, had merely concentrated one or two hundred metres away in a farm steading with cattle.

Even more encouragement comes from the number of yellowhammer ringed this "autumn", c.100 already across the three farms. It is not normal for us to catch many at this time of year - we mainly catch these in late winter. These catches must be partly driven by the weather, but even so it is gratifying to see numbers like this after a near collapse just two winters ago when we only caught about forty at my farm, less than a handful at another (where a few years ago we caught 100 in one session) and none at all at another farm.

On the downside, once again we are hardly catching any greenfinch. Sincerely hope we will see a recovery soon - suspect that will require evolution of "resistance" to a suite of diseases.

Mike.

once again

citrinella said:

24/10/10 Ringing at site 2. Many thanks to all concerned.

This is the start of our winter ringing. We have moved location at site 2. We are still ringing beside (a different plot of) wild bird cover. We hope this plot will give better catching.

Blackbird new 1
retrap 1
Chaffinch new 1
retrap
Dunnock new 1
retrap
Robin new 1
retrap
Wren new 1
retrap
Yellowhammer new 1
retrap 1
TOTAL new 6
retrap 2


Also seen / heard at site 2 :
180 + Pink footed geese, flock contained at least one greylag (heard)
Buzzard
Tawny owl
17 Fieldfare
Greater spotted woodpecker
Skylark
Jay
Goldcrest
Brambling
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Siskin
Redpoll
Reed bunting

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Click to expand...

To say how much I appreciate this
Tina

Christina said:

To say how much I appreciate this
Tina

Click to expand...

Happy New Year Tina,

Glad you appreciate these posts.

We've been putting out rape for linnet and, after being away during the recent snow, they are back. They are not very settled, perhaps due to irregular appearances from a merlin ! The last couple of days we have had 80-100 on the wires, just been scoping them from the window

Have you seen linnet yet ?

Take care, Mike.

Over the holiday period we had a few short sessions to assess bird condition. Since the weather has been better for some days, we have also had one full session. Many thanks to all concerned.

At site 1 :

Blackbird new 2
retrap 2
Chaffinch new 4
retrap 1
Fieldfare new 3
retrap
Robin new
retrap 1
Tree sparrow new 4
retrap
Yellowhammer new 5
retrap 1
TOTAL new 18
retrap 5

Also seen/heard :
7+ Grey partridge
Treecreeper
Brambling
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Lesser redpoll

There was also the remains of a woodcock kill.

On the same occasion we checked the whoosh net site and found
Buzzard
13 linnet

and 4 curlew flew over.

Ringing in my garden on feed. This is about 400 metres from our regular site 1 feeding station. We had two sessions.

Blackbird new 3
retrap
Blue tit new 2
retrap 1
Chaffinch new 9
retrap 1
Dunnock new 1
retrap 1
House sparrow new 1
retrap
Reed bunting new 3
retrap
Robin new 2
retrap 1
Wren new 1
retrap
Yellowhammer new 2
retrap 2
TOTAL new 24
retrap 6

Numbers visiting have become very erratic, especially since the snow more or less disappeared. We did have at least 30 brambling on one afternoon with a good flock.

Ringing at site 3.

Blackbird new 3
retrap 3
Blue tit new 5
retrap 1
Chaffinch new 2
retrap
Dunnock new 1
retrap 5
House sparrow new 1
retrap
Redwing new 1
retrap
Robin new 3
retrap 4
Tree sparrow new 12
retrap 6
Yellowhammer new 3
retrap 2
TOTALS new 31
retrap 21


Also seen / heard near mist netting site
Tawny owl
Stock dove
Fieldfare
Greater spotted woodpecker
Brambling
Bullfinch
Siskin
Crossbill
Reed bunting

We also had an attempt to whoosh net linnets at our usual place on site 1. About 80 linnet appeared, twite calls were also heard. As the birds just started to settle on the feed a merlin appeared, chased a bird some distance without, apparently, catching it, and dispersed the flock. Two buzzards and a kestrel were also around.

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

09/01/11 Ringing at site 2. Many thanks to all concerned.

This is a perfect example of the havoc snow causes to wild bird cover, even though the snow is almost completely gone. We will not be returning here

this winter.

Reed bunting new 1
retrap
Yellowhammer new 1
retrap
TOTAL new 2
retrap 0


Also seen / heard at site 2 :
Buzzard
Kestrel
Tawny owl
Greater spotted woodpecker
Blackbird
Robin
Jay
Chaffinch
30+ linnet
Redpoll

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Whoosh netting at site 4, 16/1/11. Many thanks to all concerned.

Chaffinch new
retrap 1
Linnet new 8
retrap 1

TOTAL new 8
retrap 2

A tawny owl was seen just outside Gifford, and a barn owl near site 1.

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

22/1/11 Ringing at site 1. Many thanks to all concerned.

Mist netting at feeding station

Blackbird new
retrap 1
Blue tit new
retrap 1
Brambling new 4
retrap
Chaffinch new 11
retrap 2
Dunnock new 1
retrap 2
Reed bunting new 1
retrap
Robin new
retrap 1
Tree sparrow new 3
retrap 1
Yellowhammer new 5
retrap 3
TOTAL new 25
retrap 11

Also seen / heard near feeding station
Grey partridge
Tawny owl
Barn owl, almost certainly more than 1, unlikely more than 2
Skylark

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Mike.

Thanks for the Reports Mike. Well done, keep it up!

Thanks Alan, will try.

29/1/11 Ringing. Many thanks to all concerned.

Mist net catches at site 3 :

Blackbird new 4
retrap 4
Blue tit new 4
retrap
Chaffinch new 2
retrap
Coal tit new 1
retrap
Dunnock new 2
retrap 3
Great tit new 2
retrap
Robin new
retrap 1
Tree sparrow new 3
retrap 1
Yellowhammer new 5
retrap 1
TOTALS new 23
retrap 10

Also seen / heard at site 3
Buzzard
Tawny owl
Mistle thrush singing
3 Greater spotted woodpecker, 1+ drumming
Starling
Raven
Jay
Redpoll
Siskin
Greenfinch
Crossbill singing

Mainly forgetting corvids, game birds, gulls, pigeons and tits.

Seeing the best numbers of birds at the feed station on site 1 for many years. Hope this is because we have had some better breeding success. It must partly be due to the establishment of the tree sparrow colony - typically see about 50. I wonder also if other farmers are finding environmental stewardship less attractive, so the birds have fewer options locally.

Mike.