Cobbler's Pit - 29th November 2017

Ringers: Lynne, Pete, Adam, Claire

Nets: 280'

Tape lures: Goldcrest/chiffchaff mix, Redwing, Treecreeper, Redpoll, Chaffinch, Marsh Tit, Long-tailed Tit

Cobbler's Pit is a small wood that is managed by the Chiltern Society. It has a large number of old Box trees as well as Yew, Ash, Elder and some Corsican Pines. Tring Ringing Group were invited to do some ringing at the site and we hope to provide the Chiltern Society with information about the birds there. We did a ringing session at the wood in December 2016, one in the Spring and we made another visit today.

The weather was very cold and the wind was in the north-east, but the site was sheltered. We used the same net rides as in 2016 for nets A,B and D. Net C we split into 2 x 30' at the woodland edge where we had a 40' last autumn and since net E has caught zero so far we moved it to a new location. (There was a debate over whether this now should be called net F but I have made an executive decision and kept the new net location as E!)

By 9am when the warden arrived to watch the proceedings we had only caught 4 birds, 2 Goldcrest, a Blue Tit and a Great Tit. But we continued to catch 3-4 birds per round and our final tally was 25. This is exactly the same as last year but with a different species mix.

The tit numbers were higher which is probably as a result of a better breeding season for tits locally. We monitored the tit boxes in the wood this summer and 37 Blue Tits fledged, I was hoping that we might retrap some of these but surprisingly none of the juvenile tits we caught were from the local broods.

The net down the middle of the wood that runs through some of the Box produced most of the Goldcrests (as it did last year) and the new position for net E gave us 4 birds including the Chaffinch and our first retrap, a Robin.

We failed to catch any Redwings although the tape lure did attract a flock of 20-30 birds that sat in the trees above the nets.

Nuthatch, Marsh Tit and Jays were heard in the wood and Raven overhead. 

Visit date 29/11/2017
Species	Total	unaged	Juvenile	Adult
Blackbird	1			1
Blue Tit	5		4	1
Chaffinch	1		1
Goldcrest	9	3	5	1
Great Tit	3		1	2
Long-tailed Tit	3	3
Robin	2		1	1
Song Thrush	1			1
Total	25	6	12	7

Visit date 04/12/2016 for comparison
Species	Total	unaged	Juvenile	Adult
Blackbird	3			3
Blue Tit	2			2
Goldcrest	10	2	7	1
Great Tit	1		1
Redwing	6		6
Robin	2			2
Wren	1		1
Total	25	2	15	8

Lynne

Marsworth: November 2017 Ringing Summary

Ringers: Lynne, Claire, Chris, Emily, Gabor, Jenny, Katy and Ed in a variety of combinations

Species	New	Retraps	Colour Ring sightings	Totals
Blackbird	7	1		8
Blackcap	1			1
Blue Tit	6	7		13
Bullfinch	1			1
Cetti's Warbler		1		1
Chaffinch	1			1
Chiffchaff	1	2		3
Goldcrest	11	14		25
Great Spotted Woodpecker		1		1
Great Tit	4	4		8
Lesser Redpoll	4			4
Long-tailed Tit		1		1
Marsh Tit	1			1
Redwing	5			5
Reed Bunting	31	11	32	74
Robin	1	5		6
Song Thrush	4			4
Treecreeper	1			1
Wren		3		3
Totals	79	50	32	161

We have had four ringing sessions during November.

On the 5^th we had a good catch of 57 birds including 21 Reed Buntings and 4 Lesser Redpolls and our first Marsh Tit since Jan 2016. The bird was heard calling as we put the net up by the stream and it came to a tape lure.  We also caught 3 Song Thrush, all juveniles.

A few days later on the 9th, as it was a nice calm day, I tried a short session in the afternoon and caught another 17 Reed Buntings plus 5 Goldcrests that all appeared to be heading in the same direction, they were processed quickly and released as I thought they were probably heading for a roost site.

Many of the Goldcrest retraps are birds that were caught for the first time in October and have remained on site.

We retrapped 2 Reed Buntings that were originally ringed in 2012 and another from 2013. A male Reed Bunting, originally ringed in March 2014 and colour-ringed in April 2017, has been observed in every month since but never retrapped – this bird obviously knows how to avoid the nets. There were 32 colour-ring observations of 19 individuals during November.  

The weather during the month was characterised by strong north westerly wind which is not a good direction for our site but we have been able to put up nets in the most sheltered rides. Our session on the 12th started late due to early morning rain, nonetheless we caught 24 birds including an adult Chiffchaff and took the opportunity to set up a new net ride near the peanut feeder on the edge of the woodland.

Ringing mid-month was interrupted by a weekend at the Wash ringing waders

Today (26th) was probably our last visit in November. We caught 5 Blackbirds (a fifth of our annual total to date) and 3 more Redwings. Our Redwing catch so far this autumn has been poor. Despite using the same Latvian song that drew the birds in last year we have only caught 5 Redwing during November. A couple of times we have seen a small flock sitting in the treetops apparently interested, but not interested enough to come any closer.

The Great SpottedWoodpecker with the prominent fault bar has found the peanuts, caught in the new net. We also caught a female Cetti’s Warbler that had been at Marsworth during the breeding season in 2016 but had not been retrapped since Dec 2016. 

Only 25 birds, 4 ringers and freezing cold temperatures today – it was the perfect day to start some annual winter vegetation maintenance! We tackled some of the willow growing between two of the CES net rides (2 and 3) and made good progress if the size of the stack pile is anything to go by. A Constant Effort Site needs to be managed to keep the vegetation as unchanged as possible and when we took on the site in 2008 I took a series of photographs with Colin standing in each net ride so we had a reference picture. This is what we are aiming for!

Net ride 3 in January 2008

Lynne 

Meisen Wood: November 4th, 2017, Restaurants Open

Nets: 96m

Sound: Redwing,  Chiff/Goldcrest – winter, Dunnock – winter.

Weather: rain overnight giving early mist that cleared to a bright and sunny day.

Ringers: CS and EB

Species	Ringed	Re-trap	Totals
Blue Tit	15	9	24
Bullfinch	1		1
Chaffinch	3		3
Coal Tit	4	4	8
Dunnock	2	1	3
Firecrest	2		2
Goldcrest	16		16
Great Tit	7	19	26
Greenfinch	1		1
Marsh Tit	3	9	12
Redwing	9		9
Robin	1	1	2
Totals	64	43	107

A glorious autumnal day: warm and bright, the conifers scenting the air and the larch trees are now a resplendent flaming yellow; a good day to be outside.

Food, glorious food, there is nothing quite like it for attracting birds into gardens and ringing sites.  At Meisen Wood we operate three feeders during the winter, two of which were re-installed this week.  And the restaurant menu of sunflower seeds (shelled and unshelled), niger, various grains and mealworms imbedded in a sumptuous fat successfully pulled in the clients: old and new.

An immediate increase in birds on site was noted in the days prior to this weekend’s ringing particularly, unsurprisingly, the number of various tits.  Though in contrast to previous years the feeders were being frequented by more Marsh and Coal Tits, normally these are bullied off by the more aggressive Great and Blue Tits.  Processing twenty of these smaller tits was very pleasing particularly as the majority were juveniles therefore potentially indicating a reasonable breeding season, locally, for these two species.

For a second consecutive week the session’s final figures were 107 birds caught, what are the probabilities of that occurring?  Sixty-five percent of Saturday’s total were tits and 41%   were re-trap tits.  With such figures being consistent throughout the winter this provides interesting data in both the short and long term.

For instance the nine re-trap Marsh Tits have been re-trapped an average of three times each; but such an average does not reveal some of the more interesting details.  Several of this year’s juveniles have been the most frequently caught individuals – have they not learnt the net locations yet?  Three older Marsh Tits initially ringed inearly winter 2015/16 have subsequently only been re-trapped between late October and late Juanuary in both the original and subsequent winters; is this to be repeated this winter?  Thus do these individuals come here for the feeding station then disperse in late January?

We find such date and the potential patterns this data reveals intriguing!

Marsh Tit

Not Quite Meisen Wood - October 27th to 29th

Nets: Yes and various spring and drop traps

Sound: multiple melodies.

Ringers: numerous from various parts of Germany

For historical and political reasons Germany has three independent ringing schemes: Helgoland, Hiddensee and Radolfzell.  Each scheme issues its own ringing permits and rings.

And then there is a fourth organisation: Pro-ring. This wonderful organisation, with members from all three ringing schemes, sells ringing equipment at sensible prices and organises courses (called Praxis-seminars) in various parts of Germany so making them accessible to all ringers.  The course topics are frequently in response to ringers’ requests.

Thus last Friday we drove south for several hours into Germany’s industrial Rhineland to participate in a seminar concentrating on catching Skylarks, Ring-necked Parakeets, the use of various spring traps, and sound lures. The course was held on an old farm near Düsseldorf, the farmhouse was traditional: split into two sections - living quarters (our accommodation) and a stable/workshed area that was used for talks, meals, some bird processing and socialising – a key component of such seminars were ringing experience, experiences and concerns (and solutions) are shared.

The night was spent examining, extracting and processing Skylarks from three hoist nets set in a close configuration in one of the farm’s meadows.  In the centre of the three parallel ten panel nets was a sound system blaring out Skylark song!  In total fifteen Skylarks were lured into the nets.  Not a phenomenal number but that is irrelevant; the relevance was the discussion of alternative effective net configurations and why such loud song was used.  Such a loud song and an alternative net arrangement will be coming to a meadow near Meisen Wood soon!

After a short sleep – really a long nap – we had a short ringing session and caught just shy of two hundred birds.  This was followed by an interesting talk on the potential value of golf courses to nature conservation. 

We then adjourned to a Düsseldorf suburb to examine and see in action a selection of spring and drop traps.  Two traps were set to catch Ring-necked parakeets and shortly a parakeet was caught. The bird was ringed, with due care and finger protection from the bird’s formidable bill; aged and sexed. More fascinating was how these exotic birds suffer from frostbite, often with lethal results. In Köln, where the parakeet’s population exceeds 30,000, they are known as the “plague birds”, and many residents must be wishing for some severe winters

So we returned home having enjoyed chatting to fellow ringers; in the possession of four new spring traps; and most importantly some ideas to try out!

Skylark

Ring-necked Parakeet with hand protection

Marsworth 27th and 29th October - Faulty feathers

Two very different days ringing just two days apart.
Friday was beautiful weather, sunny and calm, so I took the opportunity to get out and tried a new net near the nyger seed feeder that I put out last week. Nothing seems to have found the feeder yet but it is still a nice position for a net at the edge of the trees in the low willow scrub. The Redwing tape brought in a few individuals and I also caught the first Redpolls of the year; we generally only catch Redpolls in October and November when they are passing through. The new net also caught a new Great Spotted Woodpecker with quite dramatic fault bars across his flight feathers. Fault bars are  caused by an interruption in nutrition while the feathers are growing and when the fault lines up across the feathers like this they indicate that the feathers all grew simultaneously. Fault bars are not unusual in juvenile birds.

Great Spotted Woodpecker with pale fault bars across unmoulted secondaries and primary coverts.

There were some interesting fault bars to be seen on other birds as well as the woodpecker. An adult Blue Tit had a fault bar across three of his tail feathers, it looked as though he had replaced his tail as part of the normal post-breeding moult and then had to replace three feathers from some accidental loss. Why the replaced feathers had a fault bar is curious - perhaps he had a near miss with a sparrowhawk and had been below par in his foraging for a few days? In any case it was a good example of how a fault bar can be present on adult type feathers.

4M Blue Tit with fault bar across three feathers

I also caught a new control Cetti's Warbler that was ringed at Rutland Water in June as a 3J. This bird had very poor feathers. The primaries were extremely tatty and the tail had some of the feather tips completely broken off apparently caused by a combination of fault bars and feather mites. Five of the feathers looked as though they had already been replaced and it will be interesting if we retrap this bird to see if she carries on replacing tail feathers as necessary.

Juvenile Cetti's Warbler from Rutland Water

Thankfully the hornets have largely disappeared now that there has been some colder weather, I spotted one later on in the morning when the temperature rose which hurried me into taking the nets down. I have had enough of cutting nets to release them!

After the pleasant day on Friday the weather on Sunday was very different. The forecast had been for breezy weather but when Gabor, Chris and I got there at 06:30 it was more like 25mph. We stood around for a while trying to decide whether to bother but the wind started to drop so we put a few nets up in the more sheltered areas. We managed to get five nets up in the end and caught Goldcrests, two more Redpolls and four Chiffchaff. We tried a hopeful tape lure of Hawfinch call following numerous sightings of Hawfinch passing over in the last week but no luck. A few Goldcrests, a Bullfinch and a Long-tail Tit flock of mainly retraps brought the total for the day up to 33.

Lynne