North Wilts Group

1st July 2014 - Marlborough Downs

02 July 2014

The calm, overcast evening meant that conditions were perfect for mist netting and after seeing a group of Yellow Wagtails along one of my favourite tracks last week it seemed worth a punt. This sort of catching involves using two-shelf nets set along flight lines of where we expect the birds to congregate, so in such a vast open landscape it is easy to set a net and not have a bird go anywhere near it. We normally expect less than one bird per net. The farmers wife is a big supporter of our work and she joined us as we went round the six nets and with luck like this she is welcome back anytime. We ringed a phenomenal 15 Yellow Wagtails including this stunning adult male.

We also retrapped the juvenile that we ringed last week which has moved about 2 miles which is something we didn’t know they did. A few Whitethroats and a Meadow Pipit were nice but we eclipsed by the two Corn Buntings that we ringed. These are the first Corn Buntings that we have ever ringed in the breeding season and interestingly the farmers wife has been feeding barley right where we set the net so that has to be a plan that we need to roll out at other sites. Last action of the evening was a juvenile Kestrel. MP, JN

Yellow Wagtail 15 (1), Whitethroat 3, Corn Bunting 2 , Meadow Pipit 1, Kestrel 1

30th June 2014 - Moulden Hill, Swindon

01 July 2014

Tonight was the night that I fulfilled a long held ambition to ring a Cuckoo chick. I have been monitoring the reed beds in the redundant Wilts and Berks canal so that the council can understand what uses it. Last year I undertook a breeding bird survey and did some ringing but this year I have further increased the intensity of the monitoring and I have been recording and ringing the Reed Warbler nests. A few weeks ago I found a Cuckoo egg in a Reed Warbler nest and I have been monitoring it closely ever since and tonight I ringed it and also took a few photos of the Reed Warblers feeding it.

I then checked two more nests that I found last week when I was pretty ill and one of them has turned out to be yet another Cuckoo chick – how amazing is that!!!

It is a real shame that this reedbed will be destroyed this autumn with the aim of opening the canal up. As a result of my work a plan is being put into place to create a new reedbed nearby but will it be in time for the reeds to take off and will it be as good as the existing reed bed which is obviously brilliant. MP

29th June 2014 - Salisbury Plain (east)

29 June 2014

We chose not to mist net yesterday so instead Paul A and I did some box checking and ringed 22 Tree Sparrows, 6 Pied Wagtails, 3 Swallows, 3 Barn Owls and a Kestrel. Today Paul A and I were joined by Jack at another horribly early time. Sadly, today there were no Quail calling so we had to ‘settle’ for normal mist netting. We had a very steady morning dominated by juvenile Blackcaps and Whitethroats and 3 Treecreepers were a real surprise. This steady morning allowed Jack a bit of time to find another Whitethroat nest, he really has zoned in on these. We are seeing more butterflies than any other year I can remember and we were treated to a lovely display by some pristine Silver Washed Fritillaries.

Paul gave me a very nice surprise in the form of a lovely male Redstart but he had to leave just before we checked the last nets and he missed retrapping a male Redstart that he had ringed on 16th July 2013, this bird is interesting as it still had a cloacal protuberence and so had only just finished breeding, obviously nearby. This is our first year to year recovery of a Redstart.

With all nets down, Jack and I then decided to carry on our nesting work and within an hour of patient observation and careful searching we found an incredibly well concealed Stonechat nest with a single nestling in. We were then distracted by a female Marsh Harrier that flew through which is still a rare bird in Wiltshire. MP, PA, JN

Whitethroat 15 (4), Blackcap 15, Redstart 1 (1), Chiffchaff 1, Goldcrest 5, Treecreeper 3, Robin 5, Wren 3, Dunnock 3 (2), Long Tailed Tit 4, Great Tit 5, Blue Tit 6, Coal Tit 2, Linnet 4, Yellowhammer 0 (2), Stonechat 1 pulli

28th June 2014 - Salisbury Plain (centre)

28 June 2014

With the weather forcast predicting heavy showers anytime from about 0800 onwards making the decision to go ringing marginal we decided to give it a go anyway and hope we could stay out of the rain long enough to get a few hours netting done.

We arrived to clear skys mixed with thick fog banks passing through and put up a conservative fifteen 60's. While doing so we noted that there was a lot of croaking alarm calls coming from one of the Nightingale territories and we were able to pick out at least 4 birds which means that there are at least 2 fledged young on the site, the first breeding confirmed since 2011.

One of the first birds caught was another new male Nightingale which can't possibly be one of the territory holders on our site as we have already caught them all and so must be a failed breeder from elsewhere. We also caught a good few juvenile warblers including our first Garden Warbler young of the year but catching was rather slow.

By 0900 it had clouded over and started spitting with rain and a look across the landscape to the south-west showed sme heavier rain in patches. These thankfully missed us so we were able to take the nets down without getting wet. We then drove to one of our other subsites to see if there were any singing Grasshopper Warbler's to lure into a net but none could be encouraged to respond. There was however a Stonechat family flitting around in the gorse and a quick net set resulted in one very young juvenile being caught.

Driving north off of The Plain all the roads were flooded and within a few minutes heavy rain started and stayed with us all the way home so we felt pretty lucky that it hadn't affected our mornings ringing. 47 new, 24 retrap GD/PD

Wren 1, Dunnock 3(2), Robin 4(1), Nightingale 1, Stonechat 1, Blackbird (1), Song Thrush (2), Lesser Whitethroat (1), Whitethroat 5(5), Garden Warbler 5(3), Blackcap 14(3), Chiffchaff 4(2), Willow Warbler 7(2), Blue Tit 2, Great Tit (1), Bullfinch (1)

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28th June - C Permits, Reed & Grasshopper Warbler nest finding

28 June 2014

After frustrating administrative delays Paul and I have recently gained our C permits. This is a significant step up for us as individuals and for the team. In fact this almost left the team with no trainees at all. This has now been ably remedied with the recent addition of young Alex 'Biff' Mackintosh to the gang. I went for a Pulli endorsement so I could really get stuck into the Reed Warblers this year. They are a staple bird of our reed beds on the works, and for site fidelity and longevity are a good species to monitor. Out of 10 nests in the main reed bed 3 failed at egg stage, 5 broods ringed already with 2 more on eggs. We could reach 28 young ringed there in the first wave of nesting. The Pylon Lagoon has been slow to start with only 1 brood ringed there so far, but with males singing again and buzzing around I expect second wavers to start soon. Cuckoos have been active on site for the last 7 weeks,but as yet I,ve found no surprises in any of the nests. Matt has been ringing as many nests as he can at Moulden Canal and struck lucky(not for the Warblers!) with a Cuckoo egg in one. We are approaching almost 60 Reed Warbler Pulli ringed, and with sometimes 3 nesting attempts per season can we make 100? I ringed my first brood independently last week, and the second on Thursday which is a good confidence boost as an individual. Testimony to the excellent training we've received from Matt in the last 3 years.

I took a break from hours spent in the reed bed(which with the mozzie numbers mounting, i may have to rename 'Rorke's Drift'!) and decided to try and find the nest of an altogether notoriously difficult species. I had been watching a pair of Grasshopper Warblers on site and had narrowed down a likely nest area. Within 10 minutes of clambering out of the reeds i'd tapped off the female revealing a nest of 6 eggs! She ran from the nest a good 10 metres before breaking cover and flying into bramble nearby. They really are like mice with wings! We ringed the brood on 14th June and they'd fledged by my next visit on the 23rd. There are only around half a dozen nest records for this species submitted nationally every year, and this may have been the first nest record from Wiltshire for some years. They can produce two broods in Southern England but it might be pushing it to find a second! Here's hoping!

I missed the last CES session at Swindon STW due to a dodgy tummy(had i been strapped to the back of a tractor i could have muck spreaded for Britain!). Matt(who had a nasty virus) and Paul soldiered through. Rest assured I'll be back in the reed beds next week. The photos are of the first brood of Reed Warblers i ringed as a C permit holder. Onwards and upwards. SW

22nd June 2014 - Swindon STW CES session 6

24 June 2014

Today was dominated by tiredness and a very heavy, streaming cold. I am a morning person but today I fell asleep immediately after I turned the alarm off but thankfully my wife ensured that I got up. Simon had called off ill but thankfully Paul joined me though he was exhausted from nest boxing for 9 hours in the heat of Saturday. This morning was all about getting the visit done so we kept to the CES nets alone. I was really struggling by 8am and we were both extremely relieved when 10:30 arrived so we could take nets down.

The highlight of the morning was not ornithological but more entomological as we saw three Emerald Damselflies which are the first on site for many years, they used to be fairly common but then disappeared so welcome back! Other odonata present were Emperor, Black Tailed Skimmer, Blue Tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Azure Damselfly.

The male Cuckoo was still present and teasing us as he passed close to our nets on several occasions. The oldest bird of the morning was a Reed Warbler ringed as a juvenile in August 2010. MP/PA

Chiffchaff 18 (2), Blackcap 14 (5), Whitethroat 7 (3), Reed Warbler 3 (6 ), Sedge Warbler 1 (1), Blue Tit 5 (1), Great Tit 3, Long Tailed Tit 2, Dunnock 6 (3), Robin 5 (3), Wren 10 (1), Blackbird 1 (2), Song Thrush 1 (1), Greenfinch 1

21st June 2014 - Marlborough Downs & Salisbury Plain (centre)

21 June 2014

MARLBOROUGH DOWNS

Last night Paul and I tried a speculative effort at Skylarks with a creative set of two shelf nets. We only caught three birds but we will happily accept two Yellow Wagtails including this superb adult male.

This morning we were joined by Biff and Paul fresh back from 3 months in Uzbekistan working on Great Bustards. Whilst we toured the Marlborough Downs, Niamh and her other half Chris have toured the sites on the Pewsey Downs so as a 6 person team we covered the whole project in one amazing day. Today saw the achievement of a pretty unique milestone with me ringing my 10,000th Tree Sparrow.

It was great to see Biff and Paul improving their skills ringing plenty of Tree Sparrows and recording lots of Swallow nests. Sometimes we take our trips on the downs for granted so to see the others so enthusiastic is brilliant. Touring the downs on 21st June is an interesting business as we get to see the ‘great unwashed’ as they come to celebrate Summer Solstice and from what I saw today part of that celebration appears to be spreading as much litter as you can across as wide an area as possible. This also means that some of our access tracks are blocked by police or by farm machinery but with a four wheel drive we can normally use another option and we only failed to get to 2 boxes today. We also ringed a brood of Kestrels, 3 broods of Swallows and a Stock Dove and found another Linnet nest and sussed out our next evening mist netting site... MP, PA, AM, PW

Tree Sparrow 58, Swallow 13, Kestrel 5, Stock Dove 1

SALISBURY PLAIN (centre)

Driving to the site this morning was an interesting experience. Normally during the 50 minute journey we see one or two cars on the roads away from Swindon and Devizes but this morning there were hundreds. With it being the summer solstice, Avebury was heaving with stone huggers freshly arrived with their guitars and dogs on strings for the sunrise. Along with the several hundred 'revellers' at 0330 in the morning were just as many police who's dogs weren't on strings and didn't look like they had had their breakfast yet.

On our ringing site we worshipped the mystical Redstart that appeared in our net as the first rays of sunlight shone brightly on the net poles along with the many 3J's that enriched us spiritually throughout the morning.

It felt like is was a rather slow morning with no real rush of birds on any particular net round but the number of Wren's, Robin's, Dunnock's and tit's kept boosting the day total.

By the end on the morning we had managed to ring 81 new birds with 37 retraps with another Redstart to finish with. GD/PD/OF

Swallow 4 pulli, Wren 8(2), Dunnock 4(9), Robin 13(1), Nightingale (1), Redstart 2, Blackbird 1, Song Thrush 2(1), Whitethroat 10(5), Garden Warbler (4), Blackcap 6(3), Chiffchaff 6(4), Willow Warbler 8(2), Long Tailed Tit (1), Blue Tit 9(1), Great Tit 7, Bullfinch 1(2)

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14th June 2014 - Salisbury Plain (centre) & Swindon STW CES session 5

14 June 2014

SALISBURY PLAIN (CENTRE)

After raining all night in Swindon right up to the point of getting up it was a pleasant suprise to find there had been no rain on our main ringing site.

Nightingale's and Grasshopper Warbler's were singing while we put the nets up and we soon caught 2 Nightingale's, one male we've had several times this season and a new female which brings hope that some breeding might actually be taking place.

The first few net rounds were rather busy with several tit flocks finding the nets and we managed to get well and truly Dunnocked and Robined.

In between net round we managed to expend a lot of energy strimming out a total of twenty-one 60 foot net rides which then set my hay fever going but a good team effort meant that the thigh high grass was gone from all the rides we use on this site.

The morning tailed off quickly after 0900 and with the wind picking up we took the nets down in order to go around the artillery bunkers to ring Swallow pulli. Hightlights of the morning were yet another new Green Woodpecker, the 4th in the last 4 visits, an out of season Reed Warbler and a rather nice male Redstart.

In all 103 new, 37 retraps. GD/PD/OF

Green Woodpecker 1, Swallow 26 pulli, Wren 2(2), Dunnock 10(3), Robin 8, Nightingale 1(1), Redstart 1, Blackbird (1), Reed Warbler 1, Lesser Whitethroat (1), Whitethroat 7(9), Garden Warbler 2(5), Blackcap 6(2), Chiffchaff 1(3), Willow Warbler 4(4), Long Tailed Tit 12(1), Blue Tit 5, Great Tit 14(1), Bullfinch (4), Tree Sparrow 2 pulli

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SWINDON STW CES SESSION 5

We met up at 04:15 with the vegetation saturated by the overnight thunder, lightning and torrential rain. We put up a few extra nets to cover a corner of the site away from the CES area and this was not bad at all with a family party of Lesser Whitethroats in it. We added Kingfisher to the CES totals today and it shows what a great day we had when Kingfisher doesn’t warrant a photo. It was nice to see plenty of young warblers and great to see all of the young Dunnocks because as a resident bird they will form a cornerstone of the CES data that we will produce in the long run.

Cuckoos were still very evident but we have yet to find a Cuckoo egg on a Reed Warbler nest on site. We ringed two broods of Reed Warblers. Since my email post about the nests that Simon hasn’t found he has spent most of the time skulking or is that sulking in the reed beds and bushes and last week he came up trumps by finding the holy grail of nests in the guise of a Grasshopper Warbler nest with 6 eggs, they hatched a few days ago and we ringed them today which was an absolute treat. We are delighted to have completed our monitoring of this family with both adults ringed in CES, a successful nest record and 6 nestlings ringed – all pretty amazing when you consider that there are normally 5-8 nest records of this species in the UK each year. Well done Simon!

Paul, Biff and I then went on a 6 hour nesting safari across the downs seeing all the farmland classics including Grey Partridge, Corn Bunting, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer and Linnet. We ringed a few broods of Tree Sparrows that completed first broods with 480 ringed to date. Second brood Tree Sparrows are well underway and we are monitoring 90 nests already. A few of the Barn Owls were not ready for ringing but we still ringed 7 Barn Owl nestlings at a fantastic farm where the farm staff are absolutely terrific, it was good fun being raised up to high boxes in the man basket of a JCB. The highlight of the afternoon was ringing the two Buzzards from a nest high on the downs, this was a new species nest record for us.

This was Biffs first nestling safari and he had an absolute blinder, what other 13 year olds get the chance to experience all of the above? But also, how many other 13 year olds could last the pace and still be wide eyed and interested at the end – good lad, and that is why I have agreed to take him on as an official trainee, welcome aboard young man. MP, PA, SW, AM

Reed Warbler 6 (9), Sedge Warbler 4 (1), Blackcap 14, Whitethroat 2 (1), Lesser Whitethroat 4 (1), Chiffchaff 3 (2), Dunnock 16 (2), Robin 3, Blackbird 3 (3), Wren 1 (1), Great Tit 3, Blue Tit 10 (2), Greenfinch 8 (1), Bullfinch 3 (3), Goldfinch 2 (1), Kingfisher 1, Song Thrush 0 (1)

Nestlings: Grasshopper Warbler 6, Tree Sparrow 22, Barn Owl 7, Buzzard 2, Reed Warbler 8

The totals of 83 mist netted plus 45 nestlings makes for a pretty impressive 128 ringed and 28 retrapped. CES total was an excellent 72 new and 19 retraps.