Wilstone - March and April ringing

A resume of the month of March and the first two sessions of April at Wilstone.

The first Chiffchaffs of the Spring: On the 25th March we caught four Chiffchaffs, three were new and one was previously ringed as a juvenile at Wilstone during 2017. As of the 7th of April we now have six retraps and eight newly ringed birds.The two over-wintering individuals caught in the New Year have not yet reappeared after the intervening cold snap, hopefully they have survived somehow. Several of the spring Chiffchaffs show signs of feeding on fruit trees in recent weeks, see Jenny's photo. 

Chiffchaff with sticky residue on feathers above bill.

Over these last few visits we have also handled 19 Reed Buntings, two of which sported colour rings from Marsworth.

How will the clearances made last winter and the creation of the new ponds affect the results of our efforts this coming year? The ponds have already proved popular with Teal and Snipe, not to mention certain mammalian species. Reeds should spread into the area between net rides 4 and 5, as they have between rides 2 and 3, so improving conditions for warblers at the expense of tits.

MARCH	New	Retrap	Total
Blackbird	1		1
Chiffchaff	3	1	4
Dunnock		1	1
Great Tit	1	1	2
Long Tailed Tit	5	7	12
Marsh Tit	1		1
Reed Bunting	8	6	14
Robin		1	1
Song Thrush	1		1
Treecreeper		1	1
Wren	3	5	8
Total	23	23	46

1st to 10th APRIL	New	Retrap	Total
Blackbird	1		1
Blackcap	2		2
Chaffinch	1		1
Chiffchaff	5	5	10
Great Tit		2	2
Long Tailed Tit		4	4
Reed Bunting	2	7	9
Wren	2	1	3
Total	13	19	32

Johne

Meisen Wood: A Good Friday

Date: 30-04-18

Nets: 48m

Sound: Redpoll and Hawfinch

Weather: full cloud clearing to sunny blue skies.  3°C at start warming to 16°C at end

Ringers: CS and EB

Species	Ringed	Re-trapped	Control	Totals
Blue Tit	1			1
Brambling	1	1		2
Bullfinch	2	1		3
Chaffinch	11	1		12
Chiffchaff	2			2
Coal Tit	5			5
Dunnock	1			1
Firecrest	2			2
Great spotted Woodpecker		1		1
Great Tit	1	3		4
Hawfinch	1			1
Marsh Tit		1		1
Nuthatch		1		1
Robin	1	1		2
Siskin	178	27	2	207
Totals	206	37	2	245

Returning yesterday from a short holiday to the German North Sea Coast we were surprised, pleasantly, to hear that the Siskin symphony had not diminished.  Actually, if anything, their chattering was even louder.  Thus we set the nets expecting to catch a few more Siskin; but not that...!

One hundred and seventy eight new ringed Siskin was far above our expectations.  Such a large number of Siskin combined with the other species kept us very busy.  In this situation CS extracts and EB processes the birds.  Today, because of the exceptional numbers, the Siskin were simply ringed, aged and sexed.     

Normally we finish between 1200 and 1300 hours but given the Siskin numbers and knowing they will not be here for much longer we decided to extend the session – a good decision as we controlled two more Siskin, both ringed in Belgium.  These Belgian birds brought our controlled Siskin for this winter/spring to seven.  Interestingly today’s low re-trap numbers indicated the large number of Siskin in the area and a major movement of the species through the area.

As we had heard Redpoll and Hawfinch we played their calls.  The Redpolls were not fooled and stayed out of the nets.  And technically the Hawfinch we caught was not fooled either as this splendid finch was caught in the net the greatest distance from the sound system.  Hawfinch with their formidably large and powerful bills is one of those species which fit the epithet, “they bite, they hurt, but whatever you do, don’t let it go!”  We normally see and hear these gorgeous finches most springs in the surrounding woodland, and ring a couple too.

Today’s captures included several other species of note: the eleven Chaffinches, two Firecrests and two Chiffchaffs; plus a thoroughly weird Great-spotted Woodpecker.  The Firecests and Chiffchaffs, returning summer migrants, provided a pleasing seasonal juxtaposition with the wintering Siskin, a nice illustration of the flow of the seasons. The woodpecker was a real mess of feather features used in aging and sexing the species.  It would seem that its moult had gone awry.

Thus it was a GOOD FRIDAY: tiring but enjoyable and rewarding; and with the high volume of chattering Siskin we decided that we would ring on Monday too; so seizing the opportunity to ring more Siskin before their invariable departure.   

Monday Supplement: the Siskin were loud and even more net obliging today, with a staggering 262 new birds; bringing our total for this winter/spring to1462 Siskin ringed. We controlled an additional Siskin too – ringed in Britain; bringing the total controlled Siskin to eight: three German, two Belgian, one British, one Dutch and one Estonian – and to this later country, and its neighbours, the Siskin must surely soon be winging. When taking the nets down we felt that this must surely be near the end of this phenomenal passage period we have been experiencing with these chirpy colourful finches.

Amongst the Siskin was a yellow mutant; approaching the net we actually thought we’d caught someone’s escaped Canary.  Naturally we are curious if this mutant will survive and mate but that is a life story to which we will never know the conclusion.  Two more Hawfinch and several more Chaffinches made for a fine conclusion to our Easter ringing.

Species	Ringed	Re-trapped	Controlled	Total
Blue Tit		2		2
Brambling	1			1
Bullfinch	3	1		4
Chaffinch	7	1		8
Great Tit	1	2		3
Greenfinch	2			2
Hawfinch	2			2
Nuthatch		1		1
Redpoll	1			1
Robin		1		1
Siskin	262	15	1	278
Wren		1		1
Total	279	24	1	304

Chris

Marsworth 25th March 2018 - First Chiffchaffs

Weather cold, calm, damp.
Ringers LL, GK, EJB
Nets 400'

	New birds	Retraps	Total
Blue Tit	1		1
Chiffchaff	1	3	4
Goldcrest		2	2
Reed Bunting	1		1
Total	3	5	8

Finally managed to get out for some ringing at Marsworth. Everywhere is very damp with few signs of spring and it took a while to get the nets up because in most cases we had to unearth poles and guys. Catching was very slow, even by the seed hopper it was only in the last round that we caught a reed bunting. We did see birds in the area but by this time of year I think they have learnt where the nets are. There were also a few sad little piles of reed bunting feathers indicating the sparrowhawk has been busy. We were pleased to catch a few Chiffchaffs though and three of them were retraps - one bird was ringed in 2016 as a 3J and retrapped last year on 23rd April, and the other two were both ringed as 3Js last year - one in June and one from a late brood on 3rd September. All four Chiffchaffs were probably male, based on their wing length, but none showed any sign of breeding yet - unsurprising given the wintry conditions.

We spent some time putting the nets back in position ready for the CES season which is only a few weeks away. There was a massive wasp's nest in the Tawny Owl (Stock Dove) box, after some debate we decided that there would not be any wasps in it now and nominated Gabor to pull it out while the rest of us tried not to look like we were getting ready to run.