Meisen Wood, Germany - October 21st - Large Blue

108m nets

Sound: Redwing, Goldcrest/Chiffchaff

Weather: cloudy becoming wet and windy.

Ringers:  CS and EB

Species	Ringed	Re - traps	Totals
Blue Tit	9	6	15
Dunnock	1		1
Goldcrest	13		13
Great Tit	7	11	18
Marsh Tit	1	4	5
Redwing	8		8
Robin	2		2
Song Thrush	1		1
Treecreeper	1		1
Wren		1	1
Total	43	22	65

Well we got that wrong!  The weather radar showed storm Brian spewing numerous windy showers across the north German Plain that would arrive here on Saturday from 1300hrs onwards; and Sunday would be a complete washout.  So we switched to ringing on Saturday morning; aware that the session could be cut short.

Initially it went well: the first two net rounds yielding 31 and 21 birds respectively.  Then when processing the second rounds’ birds the light became reminiscent of a dreary December day and it started raining; so we finished early.  But then, some ringing is better than no ringing, and the total of 65 birds was pleasing.

Among the 22 re-traps was a large, male Blue Tit with a wing length of 73mm; double checked by both of us.  It was originally ringed in October 2015 with a wing length of 71mm. On Saturday its other measurements were: weight 12.5g, and fat score 3. Curiously in late autumn/early winter we catch several Blue Tits with wing lengths of 70 and 71mm.  We speculate that these birds have more northerly origins, much like northern blackbirds have longer wings to power their migratory flights.  Oh to get some controls.

We catch good numbers of birds that many people are surprised to learn are migrants, or partial migrants, such as: Blue Tit, Wren, Robin, Dunnock and Great Tit.  On Saturday we caught some heavy individuals of Robin (23.5g), Dunnock (22.7g) and a Great Tit (21.1g), all with fat scores of five.  This temporary obesity is an adaptation for fuelling their migration.  If they were permanently at those weights, according to the scientific literature, their manoeuvrability would be compromised so increasing their probability of being predated.

Finally, sadly, on a disappointing note the Goldcrest numbers are worryingly low!  Normally by mid- October we’ve ringed about 400 but so far this Autumn our total is 59, are they still to come or have they had a catastrophic breeding season?  Time will tell!  Thumbs pressed.

Wilstone 15th October 2017

Nets 340’

Warm and breezy

JT, JSJ and JD

Another breezy morning, more so than lately, so only two nets put up at rides 1 and 8.

Tried redwing tape for the first time this autumn, not too successful first thing but managed four by the end of the morning. Three of which were large, heavy-set birds with long wings of 124mm and 126mm. Streaks were bold underneath and eye stripe bolder, so maybe subspecies Corburnii ? 

Ten more chiffchaff and more goldcrests caught including adults. Only two blackcaps one of which however was previously ringed with a ring issued by one of the German schemes: Radolsfell, the Max Planckt Institute, which is exciting and I can't wait to see where it was ringed.

We also retrapped one of our juvenile marsh tits which was nice and the cetti's warbler was singing off and on throughout the morning which is also nice.

The mechanical digger comes on Monday to start on the new pond to be dug between net ride 5 and end of net ride 4 and also to make improvements to the pond at net ride 2. So it will be interesting to monitor the effects this will have on the reed bed.

Johne

 

Blackcap ringed abroad

Marsh Tit

Meisen Wood, Germany - 15th October 2017 - In the nets, in the sky.

Nets: 120m

Sound: Redwing, Chiff/Goldcrest, Robin.

Weather: damp becoming bright with a moderate wind.

Ringers:  CS and EB

Species	Ringed	Re - trap	Total
Blackbird		1	1
Blue Tit	5	9	14
Coal Tit		1	1
Dunnock		1	1
Firecrest	2		2
Goldcrest	9	1	10
Great Tit	3	6	9
Löng tailed Tit		1	1
Marsh Tit	1	4	5
Redwing	9		9
Robin	2	1	3
Treecreeper	1		1
Wren		1	1
Totals	32	26	58

Sometimes bird ringing occurs on a perfect day: good numbers with a reasonable variety of species to process; and the time to appreciate the environment where one is ringing.  Today was such a day.

Despite many robins calling only three responded to the tape.  Meanwhile the “Latvian love song” pulled: nine redwings in the net, our best ever single day capture.  Interestingly none of the redwings were carrying fat but all had muscle scores of 2 or 3 thus, presumably, re – fuelling before continuing their migration.

Redwing

Nine new goldcrests were a good number given their scarcity of late; but is still worryingly low.  The re-trap goldcrest was an old lady, originally ringed in late September 2015 and re-caught on nearly the same date in 2016.  Curiously a blue tit originally ringed on the same date as the above goldcrest was re-trapped today for the first time; where has it been?

Net rounds were also fungal forays. The Boletus fungi were impressive though all had been nibbled by mice or snails (if snails nibble).  There were large numbers of foraging hornets too, and after extracting eleven on one net round in one net ride we decided to close those nets.

From our processing table we look along the wooded slopes of the Teutonberg Hills where today, between net rounds and processing, we watched a good number of migrants using the updrafts and thermals the hills create: 51 buzzards, 2 red kite, 2 sparrowhawks and a goshawk soared effortlessly over us.  A flock of approximately 400 wood pigeons temporarily formed a moving shadow. Additionally there was a constant passage of small chaffinch, siskin and redwing flocks; plus crossbills and the autumn’s first brambling were heard.

A most enjoyable morning’s ringing.

Boletus fungus

Meisen Wood, Germany - October 8th - Meagre Offerings

104m nets

Sound: Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Robin and Dunnock

Weather: initial rain clearing and becoming a fine, warm sunny morning.

Ringers: CS and EB

Species	New	Re - trap	Totals
Blue Tit	4	1	5
Chaffinch	1		1
Crested Tit	1		1
Goldcrest	3	1	4
Great Tit	3	3	6
Marsh Tit	1		1
Totals	13	5	18

A rain delayed start allowed us to have a more leisurely and fulsome breakfast.  The disappointing totals can only be partially explained by a weather shortened session.  The comparable dates have an average catch of 56 birds, which were chiefly composed of Goldcrests.  To date there have been no indications of Goldcrest migration which is unsurprising given the stormy, windy weather we have been having. 

Despite this, the day’s meagre tally contained some interesting data.  Three each of the Blue and Great Tits had fat scores of 2 or 3; so are they passage migrants?  Fat score is not an absolute indicator of migratory behaviour but it is strongly suggestive.  Future re-trapping encounters will potentially provide an answer.  A re-trap Great Tit was ringed as a pullus in May.  We don’t recapture many of the pulli we ring, presumably because many of them rapidly become fodder for local predators.  The 12^th new Marsh Tit of the year was a fine addition to the day’s figures.

A Crested Tit is always most welcome, these diminutively handsome birds are present locally in low abundance.  In the Heligoland Ringing Area about one hundred are ringed annually.  Typically we ring about 10 per annum and re-trap several individuals from this and previous years.  Differentiating adults and juveniles is fairly straight forward until late winter/early spring thus we obtain a crude indication of how the local population is faring; part of the value of ringing.

One advantage of the continuous wet, warm weather is the abundance of fungi in the woods; the Earthstars are particularly impressive.

Marsworth - 12th October 2017 - First Redwing and HMWT Work Party

06:00 - 10:00
Nets: 240' Tapes: Goldcrest/Chiffchaff mix, Redwing, Redpoll, Pied Wagtail
Ringers LL, CMS
Slightly breezy

A work party was planned for today starting at 10am so Claire and thought we might get a bit of ringing in first. Given the problem with hornets last Sunday we stayed away from that side of the site and tried the new net under the trees. The tape of male Tawny Owls illicited a response from two males either side of the net line but they didn't come close.  We switched to female calls but this did not have the desired effect either and by now it was getting light. We tried Redwing tape and this did have the desired effect with our first Redwing of the autumn - a clear adult with a small amount of fat. We also caught a number of Goldcrests and their weights were much lower than last week, three were less than 5g.
The Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT) warden and volunteers arrived while we were packing up and we were able to show them a few birds before we got on with the hard work of cutting reed as part of HMWT's ongoing conservation work at Marsworth.

Species	Row total	New Bird	Retrap
Blackcap	1	1
Blue Tit	1	1
Goldcrest	10	9	1
Great Tit	2	2
Redwing	1	1
Robin	2	1	1
Wren	9	6	3
Totals	26	21	5

The reed bed at Marsworth is becoming increasingly dry as the fallen reed builds up over the years. To help the reed bed remain vigorous we cut an area of fallen reed with brush-cutters and raked up the cuttings and as much of the dead reed bed as possible. We also cut some channels into the reed from the water's edge which will will become wet as the water level rises over winter. This is to improve the habitat for Bitterns that over-winter at Marsworth and also gives better views for bird-watchers.

Large area of dry fallen reed cut and cleared

Reed cleared to encourage growth next year

Channel cut into the reed bed to improve the habitat for bitterns

HMWT Warden, Josh