North Wilts Group

2013 Review & Group Totals

02 January 2014

A total of 13721 birds were ringed of 88 species were ringed by the group in 2013.

Group projects continue develop and we have now coloured ringed 330 Willow Tit's and 445 Corn Bunting's since projects began. The Wiltshire Tree Sparrow recovery project continues to try to provide nesting habitat and breeding range and 13893 have now been ringed in the last 13 years. We also study a breeding colony of Nightingale's on Salisbury Plain that now has 11 years worth of recapture data and 2014 will see the start of a new CES starting up at Swindon STW.

Group species totals are detailed below but the obvious highlights were the groups first Marsh Warbler caught at Swindon STW during the national spring influx, the groups sixth Wryneck and the fourth in two years on Salisbury Plain and the groups first Great Reed Warbler, also on Salisbury Plain.

Other highlights saw an increase in the number of warblers caught compared to 2012 with 2144 Blackcap's and 1145 Chiffchaff ringed. These are easy species to catch and a real sucker for a playback lure. We also managed a massive 501 Redwing by using the new Latvian lure, well above the 200 we would have caught previously.

With the weather set to be dreadful for the next week our 2014 ringing is going to have to wait a while to get started especially since most of the group are off on the latest BTO expedition to The Gambia next week.

Marsh Warbler

Wryneck

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Great Reed Warbler

Species	Full Grown	Pulli	Retrap	Total	Species	Full Grown	Pulli	Retrap	Total
Manx Shearwater	1	0	0	1	Redwing	501	0	3	504
Eurasian Teal	5	0	0	5	Mistle Thrush	1	0	0	1
Sparrowhawk	11	0	2	13	Cetti's Warbler	1	0	0	1
Buzzard	1	0	0	1	Grasshopper Warbler	54	0	7	61
Kestrel	1	0	0	1	Sedge Warbler	209	0	29	238
Water Rail	3	0	0	3	Marsh Warbler	1	0	0	1
Moorhen	3	0	0	3	Reed Warbler	213	24	96	333
Lapwing	0	3	0	3	Great Reed Warbler	1	0	0	1
Jack Snipe	7	0	1	8	Lesser Whitethroat	43	0	8	51
Snipe	28	0	1	29	Whitethroat	606	0	112	718
Woodcock	1	0	0	1	Garden Warbler	109	0	34	143
Green Sandpiper	2	0	1	3	Blackcap	2140	4	155	2299
Black-headed Gull	21	0	2	23	Chiffchaff	1145	0	66	1211
Stock Dove	3	19	0	22	Willow Warbler	303	0	41	344
Woodpigeon	27	6	6	39	Goldcrest	188	0	15	203
Collared Dove	4	2	0	6	Firecrest	3	0	0	3
Cuckoo	2	0	0	2	Spotted Flycatcher	5	5	0	10
Little Owl	3	8	0	11	Long-tailed Tit	205	0	96	301
Tawny Owl	3	0	2	5	Marsh Tit	9	19	16	44
Nightjar	3	0	0	3	Willow Tit	5	8	12	25
Kingfisher	6	0	4	10	Coal Tit	165	0	224	389
Wryneck	1	0	0	1	Blue Tit	800	203	716	1719
Green Woodpecker	10	0	2	12	Great Tit	449	93	448	990
Great Spotted Woodpecker	30	0	64	94	Nuthatch	9	0	23	32
Skylark	8	0	0	8	Treecreeper	23	0	12	35
Sand Martin	1	0	0	1	Jay	10	0	1	11
Swallow	189	94	1	284	Magpie	2	0	0	2
House Martin	23	0	0	23	Jackdaw	5	8	0	13
Tree Pipit	20	0	0	20	Rook	0	16	0	16
Meadow Pipit	343	0	17	360	Carrion Crow	2	4	0	6
Yellow Wagtail	3	0	0	3	Starling	25	0	3	28
Grey Wagtail	6	0	1	7	House Sparrow	149	1	14	164
Pied Wagtail	58	0	4	62	Tree Sparrow	87	980	55	1122
Wren	254	0	66	320	Chaffinch	657	0	121	778
Dunnock	323	0	197	520	Brambling	11	0	2	13
Robin	275	5	150	430	Greenfinch	410	0	60	470
Nightingale	1	0	7	8	Goldfinch	321	0	97	418
Redstart	35	0	2	37	Siskin	32	0	7	39
Whinchat	48	0	1	49	Linnet	261	8	2	271
Stonechat	6	0	0	6	Lesser Redpoll	166	0	41	207
Wheatear	1	0	0	1	Bullfinch	150	0	50	200
Blackbird	238	5	123	366	Yellowhammer	436	0	48	484
Fieldfare	20	0	0	20	Reed Bunting	160	0	73	233
Song Thrush	88	0	26	114	Corn Bunting	18	0	1	19

					Total:	12206	1515	3368	17089

29th December 2013 - Marlborough Downs & Nightingale Wood

29 December 2013

MARLBOROUGH DOWNS

As ever with this winter, the forecast was all over the place but we knew it would be calmer than previous days. We drove to the site on the Marlborough Downs with a woodland site as a back up plan if it was too windy for the downland site. We arrived to find a frosty morning without a breath of wind so we stayed on the downs and what a top decision that proved to be. This is an extremely exposed site and the birds concentrate in on a couple of spots where we set our nets. First bird of the day was the smallest male Sparrowhawk I have ever seen and number 7 of the year making 2013 our best year for this species. This is one of the few locations where we target Corn Buntings and we managed 2 out of the 40 present but numbers are very low for the time of year. Our world did however fill with Yellowhammers and they totally dominated the catch with a magnificent 98 ringed and the 4 retrapped included 3 from last winter and 1 from 2 winters ago, mind you there were c600 present. This is a very good site for Chaffinches and we ringed 47 with 11 retraps including 8 from last winter, 1 from 2 years ago and 2 from 4 years ago. A Red Kite gave us a magnificent display and then we were treated to a beautiful flock of 500 Golden Plover flying overhead. All in all this was a brilliant mornings ringing with 174 new and 15 retrap. My day didn’t end there as I then met a landowner on site to advise them how to improve their reed bed for birds. MP, PA

Yellowhammer 98 (4), Corn Bunting 2, Chaffinch 47 (11), Greenfinch 6, Goldfinch 3, Dunnock 4, House Sparrow 1, Blue Tit 3, Great Tit 1, Wren 1, Blackbird 2, Song Thrush 1, Starling 3, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Sparrowhawk 1

NIGHTINGALE WOOD

With the flood water of a few days ago having gone down by about 4 feet we were able to leave the ringing submarine at home as I was able to get down my reedbed rides without the water going over the top of my waders. The cold frosty morning meant that there were al lot of thrushes around and we flushed many roosting birds from the hedges around the feeding stations as we put the nets up.

The first net round was thrush city with a lot of Redwing's in the nets coming to the Latvia lure which we added to in ones and twos over the next couple of hours. We also caught a few of the many Blackbird's that were around and also one Fieldfare. Small flocks of Fieldfare's were going over all morning and Blackbird's were alarm calling from all the famr hedges so there must have been a substantial cold weather movement of thrushes going on.

Unfortunately the support cast of finches never really showed up so our catch numbers ended up being padded out by a lot of new Tit's that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.We even got to put a B ring on a Dunnock (the first since the ring size change) which I can see is something that is going to prove to be an expensive venture for zero return in the future. 68 new and 7 retraps was reasonable. GD/PD

Dunnock 1(1), Blackbird 7(2), Fieldfare 1, Song Thrush 1, Redwing 31, Blue Tit 9, Great Tit 3(3), Chaffinch 8, Greenfinch 4, Goldfinch 1, Bullfinch 2(1)

28th December 2013 - Thames Valley

28 December 2013

After a very frustrating Christmas period we finally managed to get out today. With a breezy day forecast we chose a private farmland site that is quite sheltered but as it transpired we had a pretty calm and beautifully sunny day. I was joined by Olly and we don’t normally expect anything unusual at this time of year but we did record a vagrant that hasn’t been seen in the county since August in the form of Jack. The Redwing lure once again worked its wonders with 18 caught, we would normally expect c5 at this time of year. Species of the day was Bullfinch with a very impressive 13 ringed and 3 retrapped so 16 for the day. An unusual feature of this site is that we ring many Blue Tit pulli during the summer and we retrap quite a few of them during the winter and today was no exception with 5 pulli retrapped. The total of 118 new and 54 retrap is in line with what we would expect at this time of year. MP, OF, JN

Chaffinch 18 (2), Goldfinch 15 (1), Greenfinch 14 (6), Bullfinch 13 (3), Lesser Redpoll 1, House Sparrow 8 (1), Tree Sparrow 5 (1), Blue Tit 17 (22), Great Tit 5 (9), Robin 1 (2), Dunnock 1 (4), Wren 1, Blackbird 1 (1), Redwing 18, Song Thrush 0 (1), Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 (1)

14th December 2013 - Thames Valley

15 December 2013

This weeks forecast has put us through the wringer so to speak with wind speeds forecast for anything between 6mph and 20mph. At one stage we thought we were booked in for a mammoth Swindon STW session but we needed a calm day for that. By Thursday the forecast remained consistent at 8mph until 10am and then building and so we picked a sheltered spot at a truly amazing site. Five nets up by a feeding station in a small copse kept us busy all morning with nothing spectacular except that with 37 this was our biggest Greenfinch catch since December 2006. Incidentally, our record Greenfinch catch was 61 at a nearby site in March 2002 in the good old days when we caught about 5 times more Greenfinches than we do nowadays.

There is a self sowing game cover on this farm but contractors are working nearby so that in conjunction with the forecast wind and the fact that the feeders were emptying so quickly made the decision not to set nets around the game cover a no brainer. Our total of 114 new was good but upon seeing the massive flock of over 400 Linnets joined by Chaffinches and a couple of hundred Yellowhammers we now can’t wait to return.

Paul and I then went to Swindon STW and in less than two hours whilst doing jobs we saw 5 Little Egrets, Water Rail, 2 Jack Snipe, 6 Snipe and plenty of Reed Buntings – just how good is this site? We then repaired the two duck traps so hopefully in a few weeks we will start catching a few more duck. MP, PA, AF

Greenfinch 37, Chaffinch 18 (1), Goldfinch 5 (1), Bullfinch 2 (1), Yellowhammer 9, House Sparrow 4, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Wren 2, Robin 1 (1), Dunnock 6 (1), Great Tit 11, Blue Tit 17 (1), Goldcrest 1, Blackbird 0 (1)

8th December 2013 - Kennet Valley

14 December 2013

Malcolm quite likes his fishing so I treated him to a day on the Kennet – not fishing but ringing. This is a little private site with feeders and though fairly quiet we had a lovely morning with Paul W. Considering how good this site normally is we did pretty poorly but the location was stunning. MP, MW, PW

Redwing 2, Blackbird 1, Goldcrest 5, Robin 4 (4), Great Tit 5 (3), Blue Tit 9 (11), Coal Tit 1 (2), Marsh Tit 0 (1), Long Tailed Tit 13 (3), Dunnock 3 (2), Chaffinch 4, Bullfinch 1, Lesser Redpoll 1

In the afternoon Malcolm and I went to another site to target Willow Tits and we retrapped 1 from 2010 and also ringed a new one so another added to our colour ringing project. MP, MW

Willow Tit 1 (1), Great Tit 5, Blue Tit 3, Coal Tit 7 (15), Robin 2 (1), Goldcrest 1, Chaffinch 1 (1)

7th December 2013 - Marlborough STW

14 December 2013

Today we were joined by my mate Malcolm over from South Africa who ringed with us on his last visit 3 years ago. It was calm but a touch on the mild site for this site which is better when everywhere else is freezing. Malcolm found the dress code of hi viz jacket and hard hat a bit different to home. We started the day with a juvenile Sparrowhawk which was our sixth of the year. A flurry of Pied Wagtails was a welcome start and then the bird of the day and one of our highlights of the year in the form of a second year Buzzard caught in a two-shelf net which is only about a metre high. Malcolm rings hundreds of birds of prey across Africa and it was a pleasure to give such a raptor expert his first ever Common Buzzard to ring. 4 Chiffchaffs in the morning were notable particularly as there were none from a few weeks ago showing that there is still an element of passage happening.

Meadow Pipits show winter site fidelity at this site and we retrapped 1 from last winter and 2 from two winters ago. Pied Wagtails are difficult to catch let alone retrap so to retrap one from Dec 2010 was excellent. Today we only ringed 1 White Wagtail which shows that there must have been a passage of them last time we ringed. The best part of ringing at Marlborough STW is the extraordinary comfort compared with other sites and todays luxury was a sausage and bacon roll with lashings of fresh tea.

After ringing I took Malcolm to have a look at Swindon STW and I took advantage of a spare hour and strimmed some areas to encourage Snipe and Jack Snipe whilst Malcolm watched the Little Egret roost build to a site record 21; the number of birds increases every year but they don’t breed here and most of them don’t spend the day on site and yet we don’t see 21 Little Egrets around the streams of Swindon during the day – how interesting? MP/MW/PA/SW

Sparrowhawk 1, Buzzard 1, Meadow Pipit 18 (5), Pied Wagtail 15 (3), White Wagtail 1, Grey Wagtail 2, Blue Tit 14, Great Tit 1, Coal Tit 1, Marsh Tit 0 (1), Goldcrest 9 (2), Treecreeper 2, Wren 3, Goldfinch 2

1st December 2013 - Nightingale Wood

01 December 2013

What a difference a few days make. After catching 123 new birds last Tuesday on this site we only got 38 this morning, but interestingly we did catch 2 controls.

The early rounds produced more Redwing's along with a retrap from during the week but numbers died off quickley and we ended up with just 16 new birds. About mid-morning one further bird was in one of the nets that proved to be already ringed with a Belgium ring. Considering the number of Redwing's I've caught over the last few years this sucess is long overdue. All I need now is for someone to catch one of mine.

Shortly after the Redwing sucess we caught another control, this time a Reed Bunting. The ring number of this bird was from the same series as a conrtol Blackcap we caught on Salisbury plain back in October to it will be interesting to see where both birds come from.

Other than that the morning was rather quite with much fewer finches are around athough a Chiffchaff caught in the reed bed was a good Decomber catch. 38 new, 8 retrap. GD/PD

Great Spotted Woodpecker (1), Dunnock 1, Blackbird 3, Song Thrush 1, Redwing 16(2), Chiffchaff 1, Long Tailed Tit 2(1), Blue Tit 1, Great Tit (2), Chaffinch 4, Greenfinch 6, Reed Bunting 3(2)

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26th November 2013 - Nightingale Wood

26 November 2013

This morning was another chance to increase the Redwing numbers we've been catching using the new Latvian tape lure we aquired and in no time at all we reached 40 new birds. This was added to in ones and twos during the rest of the day. We decided to stay for a roost but only added a handful more at dusk but managed to take our day total to 59 birds. Totally absent from the days catch however were Fieldfare's. Normally we would expect a Redwing/Fieldfare ratio of 3:1 over the whole year but this year it is 17:1. This seems largely due to the lack of large Fieldfare flocks locally and even the BTO thrush survey doesn't seem to be picking up large numbers so maybe they have had a bad breeding season or just have'nt reached us yet.

We also caught a late Chiffchaff and two Blackcap's one of which was in the net very early on in the morning a good half an hour before daylight. It was also another good Greenfinch morning with 31 ringed. This was one of the largest catch of this species we've had for a good few years.

Two of the retraps turned out to be rather good. A Chaffinch originally caught in January 2007 (6yrs 307 days), and a Reed Bunting originally caught in October 2005 (8yrs 40 days).

An excellent morning with one of the largest catches we've had at this site in 13 years with 123 new, 21 retraps. GD/PD

Great Spotted Woodpecker (1), Robin (1), Blackbird 5(1), Redwing 59, Blackcap 2, Chiffchaff 1, Long Tailed Tit 1, Blue Tit 7(5), Great Tit 1(8), Chaffinch 9(3), Greenfinch 31, Goldfinch 5, Bullfinch 1, Reed Bunting 1(2)

A very old Reed Bunting

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