North Wilts Group

North Wilts Group

17th May 2014 - Salisbury Plain (centre) & Swindon STW CES session 2

SALISBURY PLAIN (CENTRE)

After misisng a few weekends due to the weather and a big military exercise this was our first visit to the site since the Easter bank holiday. 

The Nightingale's were all singing when we arrived with 5 now present. The fact that they continued singing throughout the morning was not a good sign as it means there probably aren't any females around.

The full range of warbler species are now all on site in numbers since the last visit and we caught good numbers of new and retrap Whitethroat's and Garden Warbler's and even manged 5 new Lesser Whitethroat's. Some Grasshopper Warbler's were singing in new locations so are either late arrivals or birds displaced by the army's artillery bombardment of their usual nesting area. These were quickly caught and we even got our second previous year retrap in the form of a male we caught a good few times last year that had two successfull broods. Hopefully as this bird did not appear to be one of those singing ir is already paired and breding again.

Mike from the West Wilts RG joinded us for the morning and was able to get his hands on a few nice birds including the Green Woodpecker pictured below.

On the way out we found one of the local pairs of Swallow's had a full clutch of eggs which means we will need to do a full check of all the artillery bunkers next time. We also managed a few broods of Tree Sparrow on the way home and a brood of Jackdaw's. GD/PD/OF/MH

Green Woodpecker 1, Wren 1, Dunnock 4(8), Robin 3, Nightingale (3), Blackbird 2(5), Song Thrush (1), Grasshopper Warbler 2(1), Lesser Whitethroat 5, Whitethroat 23(10), Garden Warbler 9(11), Blackcap 12(11), Chiffchaff 3(16), Willow Warbler 6(5), Blue Tit 2(4), Great Tit 1(1), Jackdaw 5 pulli, Tree Sparrow 7 pulli, Chaffinch 1, Bullfinch 3(2), Goldfinch 3, Linnet 3, Yellowhammer 5(1)

Green Woodpecker SPTA 17.05.2014 d

 

SWINDON STW  – CES Visit 2
 
Today was a superb sunny morning with bright blue sky and so CES visit 2 went without hitch. We were joined by 13 year old Alex for his first taster session and for one so young his bird identification in the hand was very good. The CES has given the group a new purpose and we are enjoying gathering the data and it is particularly interesting seeing what birds are caught where.
 
The male Grasshopper Warbler was still reeling near net 6 and we were really pleased to get one in the net only to realise that it was a female with a brood patch. A bit later on we then caught the male as well; there cannot be many CES’s where a breeding pair of ‘groppers’ are ringed. There can’t be many people whose first bird ringed is Grasshopper Warbler but young Alex had that privilege this morning.
 
 IMG 8018a
 
IMG 8036a
 
We feel that our monitoring of the wildfowl on site has been pretty poor over the years and a couple of months ago I met up with someone from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust who encouraged me to think more about increasing the number of wildfowl ringed. We have a few plans and traps are in place but not working. A change in method is always worth a try and towards the end of the morning we whoosh netted a drake Mallard giving Anna a bit of practice and adding 1 to our wildfowl totals.
 
We then ringed two broods of Blue tits to finish off.
 
29 new and 29 retraps in CES nets is quiet for us but good conservation data. MP,SW, AF, AM
 
Reed Warbler 5 (3), Sedge Warbler 2 (6 ), Grasshopper Warbler 2, Blackcap 3, Whitethroat 5, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Blue Tit 0 (2) + 14 pulli, Wren 0 (2), Robin 0 (2), Dunnock 0 (4), Song Thrush 1 (5), Blackbird 2 (3), Greenfinch 3 (2), Linnet 1, Bullfinch 3, Reed Bunting 1, Mallard 1

 

10th May 2014 - Marlborough Downs

We are now in full flow with the Tree Sparrow nest box monitoring and as a group we are up to 128 active pairs and we have ringed 93 nestlings already. The number of eggs being laid is impressive so let’s hope that enough make it to fledging.
 
Sunday is a father and son day so we had to cover the nest boxes on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Saturday was forecast for showers and so we knew we would be dodging in and out as the weather allowed and so we had a big team of me, Paul, Niamh and Simon enabling us to cover sites pretty quickly. The day didn’t start well with me smashing my head into the edge of a corrugated metal wall making a pretty impressive cut and nearly knocking myself out. A bit of first aid later and we were off top check some old boxes that I didn’t know existed. Second box at the new site got me a bee sting on the end of my index finger from a tree bee which didn’t help my throbbing head much. Not long after I nearly fell off the ladder when a mouse sprang from a box and we think that this may have been a yellow necked mouse as it was huge and leapt a long way. We had 8 boxes in use at the new site which is fantastic and we will put up more in this area.
 
Back onto the usual route and last weeks Linnet nest had failed but we found new nests of Blackbird, Pied Wagtail and Chaffinch and we ringed a Collared Dove nest as a billy bonus. MP, PA, SW, NM

5th May 2014 - Nest Boxes

 

I enjoyed a lovely late start today and met Niamh just before 10am and we made very good progress through the rest of the Tree Sparrow boxes. Niamh wanted to get home early today and at the end of the day we were only 20 minutes late which really is excellent by my standards. We do so much on these days it is impossible to keep to time. This weeks delays included ringing this brood of Pied Wagtails in a hay stack
 
pwag nest.
 
Niamh seemed quite impressed with the Collared Dove which is the first she had ringed but it fell some way short of the Turtle Dove that she ringed with her trainer Simon Lane earlier in the day; I can only dream of ever ringing a Turtle Dove. During the day we monitored 66 active Tree Sparrow nests. Highlight of the day was finding a Buzzard nest in a perfectly climbable tree, this was a very special nest but more of that in a couple of weeks...
 
Back home by 17:15, spot of tea and then Louise joined me to check the last Tree Sparrow site and a few tit boxes in Savernake forest. It was a largely uneventful evening but we did have another Little Owl in a nest box and she was on 4 eggs.

4th May 2014 - Thames Valley

Without access to the Salisbury Plain we were a bit short of ideas for a site on Sunday so Paul and I opted for a site in the Thames valley so that we could finish early and I could check the nest boxes. This site has a mixture of new woodlands and dense hedges and we do hear warblers during the summer so though we knew we wouldn’t catch much we were keen to know exactly how many warblers there were.

 
We set nets in three different locations, one in between hedgerows, one in a thick copse and the others in the new woodlands and the catch just about all came from the new woodlands. 10 warblers in a morning is okay but the star of the show was the superb adult Stock Dove, I am rather keen on these as I consider that they are the forgotten farmland bird.
 
26 new and 28 retraps just about kept us occupied. Retraps always provide a bit of interest and though not earth shattering, a Tree Sparrow from 2km away this winter was okay. Recently I have been speaking to quite a few folks who ring or watch Yellowhammers in the winter across the country and think that they may migrate but we get so many year to year retraps and intensive work we did with RSPB in 2005 showed that ours are sedentary and today supported this with one from 2013, 2 from 2012 and another from 2011. MP,PA
 
Stock Dove 1, Willow Warbler 5, Chiffchaff 2, Blackcap 2, Whitethroat 1, Goldfinch 1 (1), Chaffinch 2, Bullfinch 1 (1), House Sparrow 5 (6), Tree Sparrow 0 (1), Greenfinch 1, Dunnock 1 (7), Robin 1 (1), Song Thrush 1 (1), Blackbird 1, Yellowhammer 1 (5), Blue Tit 0 (3), Great Tit 0 (2), Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (1)
 
stodo
 
I popped home for a quick lunch and then my lovely wife joined me for a 6 hour nesting safari during which we monitored 24 active Tree Sparrow nests and 12 tit nests. A brooding Little Owl was Louise’s treat of the day. We did a good nest search but could only muster two Blackbird nests.
 
IMG 7939

 

3rd May 3013 - Group Totals

 

Group totals are below up to the end of April.

 

  Full Grown Pulli Retraps Total
Grey Heron 0 4 0 4
Mute Swan 1 0 0 1
Eurasian Teal 2 0 0 2
Mallard 1 0 0 1
Sparrowhawk 3 0 1 4
Grey Partridge 1 0 0 1
Moorhen 1 0 0 1
Jack Snipe 1 0 0 1
Snipe 3 0 0 3
Stock Dove 0 7 0 7
Woodpigeon 5 0 3 8
Collared Dove 5 0 0 5
Barn Owl 5 0 0 5
Little Owl 2 0 0 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker 13 0 33 46
Skylark 5 0 0 5
Swallow 2 0 0 2
Grey Wagtail 2 0 0 2
Pied/White Wagtail 3 0 0 3
Wren 38 0 22 60
Dunnock 95 0 81 176
Robin 43 0 29 72
Nightingale 0 0 5 5
Redstart 3 0 0 3
Blackbird 57 0 24 81
Fieldfare 1 0 0 1
Song Thrush 9 3 5 17
Redwing 35 0 1 36
Mistle Thrush 2 0 0 2
Grasshopper Warbler 4 0 1 5
Sedge Warbler 9 0 1 10
Lesser Whitethroat 1 0 0 1
Whitethroat 5 0 1 6
Garden Warbler 3 0 2 5
Blackcap 218 0 25 243
Chiffchaff 41 0 19 60
Willow Warbler 32 0 6 38
Goldcrest 16 0 2 18
Long-tailed Tit 12 0 31 43
Marsh Tit 2 0 8 10
Coal Tit 46 0 39 85
Blue Tit 220 0 373 593
Great Tit 148 0 203 351
Nuthatch 2 0 12 14
Treecreeper 1 0 5 6
Jay 6 0 0 6
Magpie 1 0 0 1
Jackdaw 1 0 0 1
Rook 1 35 0 36
Carrion Crow 1 0 0 1
Starling 6 0 0 6
House Sparrow 54 0 6 60
Tree Sparrow 139 0 109 248
Chaffinch 474 4 70 548
Brambling 4 0 0 4
Greenfinch 243 0 70 313
Goldfinch 129 0 108 237
Linnet 53 0 1 54
Lesser Redpoll 48 0 22 70
Bullfinch 43 0 39 82
Yellowhammer 508 0 56 564
Reed Bunting 95 0 44 139
Corn Bunting 13 0 1 14
Total: 2917 53 1458 4428

 

3rd May 2014 - Nightingale Wood & Swindon STW CES session 1

NIGHTINGALE WOOD

Sadly the area of Salisbury Plain we ring at is currently the scene of a major army exercise and being right on the edge of the live fire artillery range meant that we were unable to get there this weekend.

Plan B involved a trip to our more local site of Nightingale Wood and putting up as many nets as possible to make up for the expected low numbers. We did however have a Cuckoo action plan in place with one of our large 30mm mesh nets in place well before daylight after we had 3 whizzing around the net, but not coming low enough a week ago. This meant that our trusty Cuckoo decoy 'Bob' had a few hours of fresh air and as he always does, he pulled off a blinder. Olly came back from the nets with a bagged Cuckoo but said it was ringed. This had me thinking this was the bird we caught in the same net last year but it was better than that as it had a Brussels ring on it (7T65520). This site has now given us 4 species with Brussels rings as we're also had Chiffchaff, Blackcap and a Redwing from earlier this year.

The rest of the morning was a bit of an anti-climax. A Lesser Whitethroat flew over the top of a net so many times that I lost count and we caught too many retrap Dunnock's for my liking. The best ringed bird was a Garden Warbler and we did manage a nice collection of new Willow Warbler's in one of the willow planations we don't ring in that often.

In the end we caught 32 new and 21 retraps. A bit naff for the time of year but the Cuckoo can't be argued with in terms of quality. GD/PD/OF

Cuckoo (1), Wren 4(1), Dunnock 1(5), Robin 2, Blackbird 2(3), Whitethroat 1(1), Garden Warbler 1, Blackcap 7(1), Chiffchaff (2), Willow Warbler 8, Long Tailed Tit (2), Bullfinch 5(2), Reed Bunting 1(2)

DSCF2395

cuckoo ring-001

SWINDON STW - CES session 1

 

Today was the first day of the site becoming a ringing Constant Effort Site (CES). In CES, the same nets are put up in the same places for the same length of time during pre set time periods throughout the breeding season. This standardised method means that we can measure productivity and survival on site and also contribute to the national datasets. This means that our ringing at this site is of the highest conservation value and gives a real sense of purpose to our work.
 
The day dawned cold and bright with a slight frost but Blackbirds and Song Thrushes still moved early and as the day warmed to become a beautiful warm sunny day the warblers started moving.
 
We had to concentrate to ensure that we logged every bird to the net that it came from so that we can compare nets over the years. One of the strengths of the sewage works is the diversity of habitats that the site has including reed, sallow, ponds and dry scrub. Today we ringed a total of 39 birds and processed 46 retraps of 19 species but the CES catch dominated with a perfectly reasonable 32 new and 37 retraps.
 
Highlights of the day were the 3 male Lesser Whitethroats ringed and a control Sedge Warbler. We retrapped a Kingfisher that we originally ringed in the disused canal at Mouldon Hill whilst undertaking monitoring work for the council.
 
Last action of the day came when a Mute Swan decided to launch itself towards one of our nets and I had to get in the way to protect the net and once again I surprised Simon when I appeared round the corner carrying something unusual. MP, SW, PA
 
Mute Swan 1, Sedge Warbler 10 (2), Reed Warbler 4 (2), Chiffchaff 1 (1), Willow Warbler 2, Blackcap 0 (3), Lesser Whitethroat 3, Whitethroat 3 (1), Robin 1 (2), Dunnock 0 (9), Blackbird 2 (8), Song Thrush 3 (1), Long Tailed Tit 0 (3), Great Tit 1, Treecreeper 1, Bullfinch 0 (3), Greenfinch 3, Linnet 1, Reed Bunting 2 (3), Kingfisher 0 (1)
 
Reebu sstw 3May
 
Matt with swan

 

2nd May 2014 - Moulden Hill

 

We are continuing our monitoring of the disused canal and the adjoining areas at Moulden Hill in Swindon. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the fantastic buzzing of four Grasshopper Warblers, we caught one but failed dismally on the others that need to be specifically targeted to catch them. Grasshopper Warblers still persist in the Ray parkway despite all of the development all around but for how long? Missing last week meant that we had to wait until May to ring our first Reed Warblers of the year, there is a lot of talk about an early spring but I have not personally seen this and this is the latest date that I have ever ringed my first Reed Warbler of the year.
 
The hawthorn scrub was full of warblers and my hands were full of hawthorns. We also had 3 nets set in the reeds across the canal and exhausted myself as I slipped up and down the steep banks. This is one of the most public sites that we ring at and I met several dog walkers and did a few impromptu ringing demos. This area is a bit out of the way and tends to get educated dog walkers and not just those who want to walk 100 metres and empty their dog and they all seemed fascinated by what we are doing and the birds we are studying.
 
The total of 62 new is very good for this time of year but we only had 3 retraps all from last summer. MP/PA
 
Grasshopper Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 5, Reed Warbler 3 (1), Chiffchaff 6 (1), Willow Warbler 5, Blackcap 7, Wren 2, Robin 5, Dunnock 7, Blackbird 3, Bullfinch 6 (1), Blue Tit 3, Great Tit 3, Long Tailed Tit 3, Jay 3
 
gropper

 

30th April 2014 - Record Breaking Corn Bunting

 

Congratulations to Paul for finding Britains oldest ever recorded Corn Bunting.
 
I had fed some barley out on the ground as part of the Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement Area feeding plan with the aim of allowing us to read some Corn Bunting colour rings as we have been colour ringing Corn Buntings since 2004. I always felt that the previous longevity record was too young for a bunting of this size and so it proved.
 
The previous record was 7 years 4 months 17 days but our bird was 8 years 1 month 22 days, having been originally ringed by me at the same site on 4th March 2006. MP/PA
 
This isn’t the bird in question but we don’t need many excuses to post a Corn Bunting photo.
 
cb1

 

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