Beardies, Buntings and Shorties

This morning I met Duncan at Farlington Marshes for a spot of ringing. The marsh was shrouded in fog, and it wasn't long before we were soaked, but at least that meant it wasn't windy. We set three nets in the eastern part of the reed bed, and almost immediately caught a Robin and a couple of Wrens. The next round produced a few Reed Buntings, followed by a few more and then a few more. Before we knew it we had ringed over 20 new Reed Buntings and retrapped one from a few years ago, and three Cetti's Warblers.

Reed Bunting (Male)

One of the reasons for going to the marsh was to try and catch some Bearded Tits. They have been very visible at the marsh in recent weeks, but have been showing at the top of the lake, and not where we were ringing. As it turned out we did not hear a single beardie, and were just about to give up when a pair suddenly appeared in the nets. Although we have been catching loads at the Haven, these are the first we have ringed at the marsh. There didn't seem to be any others around, but we well try again, when the weather conditions are right.

Bearded Tit (Male)

After ringing I headed home to dry out and warm up, before heading back to the marsh again. By now the fog had cleared  and the sun was occasionally breaking through. The main reason for going back was to try and catch up with some more Short-eared Owls. There have been reports of up to 4 birds and I was keen to get some photos. From the car park I worked my way through the bushes and towards the eastern track. I picked up a short-eared almost immediately flying over the main marsh, but decided to continue along the track to the sea wall. This turned out to be the right choice for me, as sitting in a meadow east of the track where 2 Short-eareds. They remained perched for about 10 minutes before starting to hunt and chase each other giving some cracking views.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

I spent a good 30 minutes watching the owls before they dropped down into the field and out of view. I continued around the sea wall heading back past the Deeps and was quickly onto two more owls. These were a bit more distant than the birds I had just been watching but were in view almost continuously, even when feeding on the ground. One bird (below) was much paler than the others and I am inclined to think that this bird is an adult, and probably a male. Apparently females have a distinctly deeper buff ground colour overall, and the dark markings are usually bolder in males.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

In the end I must of spent over an hour and a half with these owls, in light that was now just perfect. I continued around the seawall and stopped briefly to look over the lake. It was high tide now and there was a good variety of waders and ducks roosting. The most numerous wader species was Black-tailed Godwit, with Common Redshank and Grey Plover also present in good numbers. Other species included Avocet, Knot, Dunlin, Common Snipe and a lone Spotted Redshank. I could still see two Short-eareds hunting over the main marsh and another very distantly, that appeared to be hunting over the RSPB islands, could there really be five birds!

Black-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Common and Black-headed Gulls, Avocet, Shelduck and one Spotted Redshank

Black-tailed Godwits and Shelducks

Titchfield Haven - Late October update

Typically at this time of the year the frequency of suitable ringing days declines, as does the number of birds that we catch. This year hasn't quote worked like that, in that the weather has been generally set fair, and just as we thought the number of birds was declining, we suddenly have a good day. Since my last post we have ringed on seven occasions with the totals varying from 25 on 16th to 95 on 20th. 

In contrast to earlier in the year, Chiffchaff has become the commonest species, with Blackcap and Goldcrest making up the supporting cast. Blackcap numbers are now well and truly at a record level with 964 birds ringed, Chiffchaff numbers stand at 500. A catch of 27 Goldcrests on 20th October has taken the total to 76 for the year; a very respectable total for us but not unexpected given the numbers recorded on the east coast. 

Female Goldcrest

Again, not unexpectedly two Firecrests have also been trapped, a species that we never get bored with ringing.

Male Firecrest

We have not caught any more Sedge, Willow, Grasshopper or Garden Warblers, but have added the occasional Whitethroat and Reed Warbler. There is always a tinge of excitement when we find a Reed Warbler at this time of year, but as yet they have all been just reeds. A comparison of key species up to 26th October from 2010 - 2014 and up to 22nd October for 2015 is below.

With the key species now tailing off, others have started to increase. We have been regularly catching new Robins and our total now stands at 78, 17 Bearded Tits, 18 Lesser Redpolls, a record for the site, 14 Reed Buntings and seven Song Thrush. Ten Kingfishers is a very good total for the site.

To date the total number of new birds ringed since July stands at 3778 of 37 species.

Titchfield Haven Ringing Update - Early October 2015

Whilst I was galavanting around Fair Isle and Shetland, Barry and Duncan continued with the ringing sessions at the Haven, no doubt hoping to grip me off with a goody! They ringed on seven dates and had three days when they caught over 100 new birds, 116 on 17th September, 187 on 19th and 143 on 26th, otherwise the totals were below average. New species for the year included Lesser Redpoll, Firecrest and Spotted Flycatcher.  

My first session since, returning was 3rd October and we started with a haul of 202 birds, the next saw a total of 104, so still plenty of birds moving. As expected the Blackcap total continued to build and as of today it stands at a massive 885 new birds, beating the previous annual total by 79 birds, and well on the way to the 1000 target. On the flip side of that the Grasshopper Warbler total never recovered and now stands at a paltry 135 birds ringed. This is the lowest total for this species since 2003.

At one point we thought we were heading towards a record Reed Warbler total, but towards the end of September the numbers petered out and currently stands at 716. This is the highest total for the last six years and is only 62 birds short of the record; clearly a good year for this species. The Sedge Warbler total also remained low at 799, as did Garden Warbler at 44. The Willow Warbler total was good, although not as good as last year, and Whitethroat numbers have peaked at 112. Chiffchaff and Cetti's Warbler numbers remain quite high and assuming the weather holds we still have plenty of time to catch more.

The session of 2nd October as well as being very busy was also one of our public events. The visitors were very patient as we worked our way through the 106 Blackcaps and 64 Chiffs, and were rewarded with the capture of two Bearded Tits. Although Bearded Tits breed on the site, we rarely catch them in our ringing area since we outside of the main reed bed, these two birds were therefore greatly appreciated by all.

A Pair of Bearded Tits - Titchfield Haven

Visitors enjoying a Bearded Tit photoshoot (Photo Simon Ingram)

The last two sessions have also seen 25 new Goldcrests ringed bringing the total for the year so far to 36 and two new Robins bringing that total to 59. Having seen record numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers on Fair Isle it hopefully won't be too long before we catch another one down on the south coast.

In search of winter birds, Day 3 - Norfolk 2015

Day 3 began with yet another hearty breakfast, which was much needed given that we were going to spend most of the day in the field. Whilst loading the car we recorded another new species for the trip, a Goldcrest, and then we were ready to go.

Choseley Barns

Choseley Barns has been a regular stop for us over a number of years as it has been a guaranteed site for Corn Buntings, Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrows. One by one the species have declined and this year we recorded none. There were other species present, including four Blackbirds, a Chaffinch, a handful of Common Gulls and six Red-legged Partridges. It is so sad to see that despite various government schemes aimed at protecting farmland bird species, they continue to decline. Of course we do not know the reasons for the loss of farmland birds from Choseley Barns, but can make an educated guess.

A149 at Brancaster

We were feeling a little depressed after our visit to Choseley Barns but our spirits were heightened as we approached Brancaster. There was a large flock of around 6,000 Pink-footed Geese feeding in a field close to the road. We quickly took up some well-placed locations along the road and began to work our way through them. There have been some Bean Geese in with the Pink-foots but we did not find them. In fact we didn't have the time to finish our search as a couple of dog walkers flushed them, so we moved on.

Pink-footed Geese - Brancaster

Pink-footed Geese - Brancaster

Wells Harbour

Our next stop was Wells Harbour in search of the long-staying Shag, and also a Red-necked Grebe that has been present on and off this winter. The tide was high when we arrived and there wasn't really much to see. A shout from Paul quickly alerted us to a Red Kite that was drifting east over the harbour, a scan of the sky line produced two more hunting behind the harbour over East Hills.

Red Kite - Wells Harbour

We continued our search for the Shag and eventually picked it up sat on a spit on the opposite side of the harbour. Apparently when it is not feeding it roosts in this spot or on the jetty, so hopefully it will be a regular feature each winter in the future.

Shag - Wells Harbour

Cley Coastguards, East Bank and Arnold's Marsh

Our next stop was Cley Coastguards and a scan for the wintering Black-throated Diver. We picked up on a good candidate immediately and after a short deliberation we concluded it was the bird. A scan over the sea produced a couple of Common Scoter and a couple of Red-throated Divers.

After quick stop at the centre to check for any news and a scan over the marsh we decided to walk up the East Bank in search of a reported Golden Plover. There were very few birds on the marsh, Teal, Avocet, Dunlin and Grey Plover to name a few. The Golden Plover was all alone on the beach, not the usual place to see one, but it was the only one we had seen on the trip to date, so a welcome sight.

Golden Plover on the beach at Cley

We headed back down the East Bank and picked up a calling Bearded Tit (or Reedling or Parrotbill). At first it was the other side of the ditch, but soon flew across and began grubbing around at the base of a patch of reeds. It was amazing to watch the bird as it fed, it was scraping back the earth with both feet like a miniature chicken. It was occasionally calling but regularly sat up giving excellent views.

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Bearded Tit - East Bank, Cley

Sheringham

With time pressing on we headed to Sheringham in search of Purple Sandpipers. This is another site we visit annually, but have only ever seen them here once. We picked up a bird on one of the groynes, but it quickly went out of sight. We began working our way along the promenade to get a better view when we spotted another. This one was on a rock right next to the car park, and stayed there for several minutes giving excellent views.

Purple Sandpiper - Sheringham

Warham Greens

The harrier roost at Warham Greens was our final stop of the day. We arrived at just after 3pm and picked up a flock of 48 Golden Plovers in a nearby field. It was a bright, sunny day and ideal for looking for raptors. A couple of Marsh Harriers were hunting over the marsh and a Peregrine perched up on a distant sandbank. Our first Hen Harrier was brief, but the second, a cracking male performed well. Further sightings brought our total to at least three male and two female Hen Harriers, a Merlin, a Peregrine, a Sparrowhawk and one Barn Owl. It was pretty dark by the time the Barn Owl came past but I managed one record shot.

Barn Owl - Warham Greens

Great Bircham
We arrived back at our accommodation and were greeted by a couple of calling Tawny Owls   from the nearby trees. It was pitch black by now but we were able to make out their distinctive shape.

We finished the day on 88 species with several new species our grand total was now 115, so not bad after three days birding.

Times they are a changing, Titchfield Haven Ringing Update - October 2014

This post reflects changes on two levels at Titchfield Haven; the first is that after 42 years of bird ringing at the Haven we have decided to set up a ringing group. Titchfield Haven Ringing Group (the obvious name to choose) has been formed in the hope that we can build a keen group of bird ringers who will help continue with our ringing studies at the site in the future. We currently have a group of three qualified ringers, Barry Duffin, Duncan Bell and me (Trevor Codlin) and several trainees, who are progressing well towards their ringing permits.

The second change is the season; summer is now well and truly behind us and autumn has arrived, although the severe thunderstorms we have had this week have been a bit out of season. Bird ringing has become slightly more unpredictable during the first half of October, due to some very variable weather. Despite this, and the fact that we are now approaching the middle of October, bird numbers have been holding up well. On the 3rd October 114 news birds were ringed, on the 5th October 145 and today, 11th October, 84 new birds were ringed. Of course the species mix has changed and Reed, Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers no longer predominate the numbers, instead we are faced with large numbers of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Reed Bunting numbers have also picked up and we have now ringed 21 new birds.

Occasional gems also pop into our nets and so far this October they have been in the form of two Bearded Reedlings, one male and one female, and a Stonechat. Bearded Reedling is not an uncommon species at Titchfield Haven, but the reed bed is so vast that they rarely stray into our ringing area, so these two were a real treat and the first of the year.

Male Bearded Reedling - © B S Duffin

Female Bearded Reedling - © B S Duffin

Similarly, the Stonechat is another species that does breed along the Meon Valley, and is regularly seen by us as we carry out our studies, but not often caught. Only 31 Stonechats have been ringed at the Haven since 1972, this individual was the first ringed since 1996, so a bit of a rarity in ringing terms.

Stonechat - © B S Duffin

The total of new birds ringed for the July to October ringing period has now passed 4400, and as I have stated in previous posts, there have been some very notable totals. Willow Warbler was the first with a record number of 270 birds ringed, and the Blackcap total has also set a new record, with the magic number of 800 new birds fast approaching. The Sedge Warbler total of 1225, is the fifth highest total, whilst the Reed Warbler total of 689 is the second highest. The Grasshopper Warbler total of 340 in also the fifth highest, and Garden Warbler at 67 is the third highest. Common Whitethroat numbers were at their second highest and Cetti's Warbler numbers are also high. A species that I haven't really mentioned before is the European Robin; currently the total for the year stands at 80 birds, only four off equalling the previous highest total. I haven't mentioned Chiffchaff yet because the migration of this species is still in full swing, with over 50 birds ringed today. As we approach 600 new birds ringed this total is already the second highest ever, but is unlikely to surpass 2011 when 858 new birds were ringed.

Bearded Parrotbill...Reedling or Tit.....Ringing at Farlington Marshes - November 2013

Despite the success of last weeks ringing session at the Haven, and our first Radde's warbler (sorry to mention it again!), today we decided to go to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's Farlington Marshes reserve to try and ring bearded parrotbills. We had been aiming to try several weeks ago, but the weather conditions have been against us. This morning it was forecast to be flat calm for the first few hours, then strong winds and squally showers moving in by lunchtime, so we decided to give it a go.

As you may have gathered from the title to this post, the bearded parrotbill is a species that has puzzled ornithologists for over two centuries. It is considered to be a member of the Paradoxornithidae family, but is thought to be an outlier in that family. It is the only parrotbill species to exhibit sexual dimorphism and a bill that bears no resemblance to other parrotbills. Subsequently the English name has changed from bearded tit to bearded reedling, and now to bearded parrotbill. There is no guarantee that this latest name will last long though, as according to molecular evidence the link with parrotbills may be a remote one.

We erected four nets at dawn and could hear bearded parrotbills calling their distinctive 'pinging' call almost immediately, but our first net round produced only three wrens. There have been at least 35 birds in the reedbed at Farlington and so we were hopeful of catching some birds, and and we didn't have to wait long.

Male Bearded Parrotbill

Male birds are striking and probably the most stunning breeding species in the British Isles. They are easily identified by the chestnut and white upperparts, grey head and throat and distinctive black moustache. The bright yellow bill and iris put the finishing touches to this beautiful species.

Male Bearded Parrotbill - Note the characteristic black moustache that
give the bird its name, grey head and rich chestnut and white upperparts.

Female birds are by contrast much duller and lack the distinctive moustache and the head is a buffish-brown colour. The wings are chestnut and white, as with the male birds, but not as bright.

Female - Bearded Parrotbill - The female is much duller than the male and
lacks the moustache and grey head.

Another striking feature of male birds are the black undertail coverts, which add to the overall stunning look of the species. Female birds lack the black and instead theirs are buff.

Male and Female Bearded Parrotbills - Note the striking black undertail
coverts of the male bird.

Ageing bearded parrotbills at this time of year can be tricky as both adult and juvenile birds undergo a summer complete moult and are therefore inseparable. Birds moult from mid-July through to late October and prior to that the 1st primary of a juvenile bird is longer than the longest primary covert, and its tip is rounded. In adult birds the 1st primary equals the length of the primary coverts  and its tip is pointed. A feature which is used by some ringers is the colour of the iris, which is paler in juvenile birds and richer in adult birds. Of course this feature is only any good if you have experience with the species, or have several birds for comparison. Fortunately we caught 17 birds, 16 were new and one was a retrap and so we had plenty of birds to compare. 

Comparison in eye colour of full grown birds - the bird on the right is undoubtedly
a bird of this year (age code 3), the bird on the left could be adult, or maybe a juvenile
from a first brood

The image above illustrates the difference in eye colour in two male birds. The right hand bird has a very pale, yellowish iris which would suggest a juvenile bird. In contrast the bird on the left, has an iris which is more orange in colour. This bird could be an adult, but the iris was still yellowish towards the outer edge which may indicate a juvenile bird but from a first brood. The image below illustrates two females, the bird on the right was an adult that was ringed at least two years before. Looking at the bird on the left, it again has a very pale iris indicating a juvenile bird. Another interesting feature is the colour of the bill, the adult birds bill is brighter, whereas the presumed juveniles bill is darker, this is not evident in the male birds.

Comparison of eye colour in female birds. The right hand bird was a retrap
that was at least two years old.

The session was not only memorable for the beardies but also for another species that I have not handled this year...a common stonechat. We had seen three birds feeding on the edge of the reedbed and suspected that there might be a chance of catching one or two. This bird was a juvenile (age code 3) male. 

Common Stonechat Saxicola torquata

Adult stonechats undergo a complete moult after breeding, whereas juvenile birds undergo a partial moult. Therefore birds can be aged by the presence of retained juvenile feathers, evidence of wear and fringing. This bird exhibited a moult limit in the greater coverts and also a fair amount of wear and fringing in the wing and tail feathers, as seen below.

Common Stonechat

The surprise bird of the day was a sedge warbler, a species that should by now be well on the way to Africa. We have caught a few late birds during October at Titchfield Haven, but to catch this species in early November is exceptional. I looked back at the previous latest date for the species in Hampshire, and other than a previous bird that was recorded wintering on one occasion, the latest date is 9th November and that was in 1963. The latest bird in Hampshire in 2011 (2012 data not yet available) was 16th October.

Sedge warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

By the end of the session we had caught 24 birds, 17 beardies, three wrens, and one each of robin, stonechat, Cetti's and sedge warbler. Looking at the forecast for the rest of the weekend it is doubtful that there will be anymore ringing.