The Tide was High.....Curbridge February 2014

It was too windy for ringing this morning so after a very leisurely start I headed to Curbridge for a spot of patch listing. This was my first visit to this site this year so I was hoping to add a few wader species to the patch list. Heavy overnight rain meant the river was high and being within two hours of high tide meant there was not much mud remaining, but there was enough. A couple of Common Redshanks were feeding in the creek, with a couple of Mallard and I could hear Eurasian Curlews calling in the distance. I headed to the entrance of the creek and my usual watch point, but access was more tricky than usual due to a fallen tree. A Kingfisher was feeding at the creek entrance and a flock of 35 curlew were feeding on an adjacent field. I could hear some geese but couldn’t see them so I headed further down the estuary to get a more distant but better overall view of the area. A mixed flock of Black-headed and Common Gulls were roosting and bathing on the water.

Two Common Gulls and a Black-headed part of a flock of over 340 birds

A flock of 39 Canada Geese were feeding/roosting on the edge of the same field as the curlew along with a single Greylag Goose. Despite being more distant from my new vantage point I had a better view of the field and was able to study the feeding curlew. One of the birds seemed very small, almost Whimbrel size and appeared to show a central crown stripe and faint supercilium. I watched the bird for a while but was not really getting those clinching views. Despite being very small, and appearing to show the typical Whimbrel head striping, the bill on this bird was too long for Whimbrel. It then vanished over the brow of the hill and I could not find it again.

Part of the Flock of 35 Curlew

I scanned the flock for a while and whilst doing so had a couple of Common Sandpipers land on the creek edge, another new year tick for the patch. I then decided to head back in the hope of a closer view of the curlews. By now it was nearly high tide and a combination of spring tides, strong winds and the recent rain meant the water was very high now. The curlew were out of sight from my vantage point, but were at one point flushed, flying around briefly before settling back down out of sight. There was not much more to report bird wise, I had recorded 41 species with several new additions to the patch year list which now stands at 65. The small curlew was frustrating but hopefully it will hang around and give me some decent views over the next few weeks. 

High Tide at Curbridge Feb 2014

The tide was now very high and if it wasn't for the boardwalks getting back would have been difficult. The Jetty at Curbridge was totally submerged but did not deter a few winter kayakers from landing.

The Submerged Jetty and High Tide Line

As well as the birds there was evidence that spring was just around the corner, Hazel catkins were fully out, and Snowdrops were flowering on the edge of the tide line. New shoots of Lesser Celandine and Bluebell were also evident.

Snowdrops living on the Edge of the Tide Line

Bunny Meadows - 6th October 2012

Back in the UK I thought this weekend would give me the chance to catch up with some bird ringing at Titchfield Haven, but heavy rain overnight, continuing onto Saturday morning scuppered those plans. So after doing a few domestic chores I headed out to Bunny Meadows to catch the rising tide. High tide was at around 14:30 and being a sunny Saturday   afternoon there were lots of people out walking, but there were still good numbers of waders around. The most abundant species was Common Redshank so I started to count them a immediately picked out a colour ringed bird. I was unaware of anyone locally colour ringing this species but text a colleague just in case it was one of his, and got an immediate response. It was, he hadn't ringed many but this bird had been ringed on at Hamble Point, 4 km to the south on 27th March 2011, 18 months previously. 

Eurasian Curlew

Continuing on there were a few Curlew, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Grey Plovers and a flock of 96 Golden Plover. Having been away for the last few weeks these were the first I had seen this autumn. I spent a few minutes working my way through them just in case there was something different in the flock, but they were all Eurasian Golden plovers.

Eurasian Golden Plovers

My attention was drawn to  a couple of Oystercatchers on the far bank, one adult and one juvenile. The adult was one of the colour-ringed birds I had previously seen tending their newly hatched chick, so it looks like the chick survived. Whilst on the subject of those Oystercatchers, whilst away I heard back from the BTO details of their original ringing, and as suspected they were both ringed at Hamble Point. Interestingly they were both on the same date 29th December 2007, nearly five years previously. Since they were both ringed together I wonder if they were paired up then, and whether Oystercatcher are monogamous?

Wader Ringing - Farlington Marshes 18th August 2012

With the tide again right, and the weather set fair, we headed off to Farlington Marshes for another wader mist-netting session. We arrived early and set a couple of nets on the scrape in the hope of catching another Common or Green Sandpiper, before heading off to the lake, and our main ringing site for the evening. A Spotted Crake had been reported earlier, so on the way to the lake we stopped to chat to a couple of local birders, and timed it just right to catch up with the Spotted Crake, plus a Little Stint, several Green Sands and a Spotted Redshank, but a reported Wood Sand was not in view. Whilst some of the group set the nets on the main lagoon, I headed back to the scrape and was pleased to see a new Common Sandpiper in the net along with six Starlings, not what was expected on a wader ringing session.

Colour-ringed Common Sandpiper

The Common Sand was colour-ringed, the third of the autumn to be so, and it was released to go on its way. 

We were fairly optimistic tonight, the tide was high, and there was no moon, but as the sun set the wind picked up and a heavy sea mist drifted in, which was certainly not expected. Presumably the conditions weren't right for some birds, such as Dunlin since we only caught one, and there were none on the lake, when normally it would be teaming with them. However, it was better for others; Common Redshank was the most numerous species with 12 new birds and one retrap, all adults again, but for me the bird of the night was Greenshank. This species has long been a favourite of mine, and tonight we caught three; all adults and all colour-ringed as part of an on-going study.

Adult Common Greenshank

Adult Common Greenshank

Being adults they were of course in primary moult, which is usually carried out in a progressive manner, in that one feather is dropped and starts to grow before the next is dropped. One bird however had dropped all of its secondaries, and was moulting its primaries, and so didn't have many feathers left in the wing to fly with!

Wing of Adult Greenshank

Our total also included a Black-tailed Godwit, a Ringed Plover and Eurasian Curlew, the latter two species were also colour-ringed, so I hope that readers of this blog will keep their eyes peeled for any colour-ringed waders and make sure you report them to the BTO.

Adult Curlew

Ringed Plover (Duncan Bell)

We ended our session on 27 birds, which included six starling, so a lower total than expected, but a much better variety, and a 3am finish, which was earlier than I expected.

Farlington Marsh Wader Ringing Again

After a couple of very wet and windy days which were looking at putting this weekends planned ringing session in doubt, the skies cleared, wind dropped and so it was off to Farlington Marshes for another wader ringing session. The forecast was for the temperature to drop below freezing, so we opted to set out nets on the stream and ring birds in the relative comfort of the shelter, and as it turned out it was a wise choice since there were very few birds on the main lake and it got very cold late on.

Our first bird was captured just as we were walking away having set the nets....a first winter Grey Plover. I cannot actually remember the last time I had handled this species, so we set about ageing it.

Juvenile Grey Plover

In the field it is very easy to age this species since gold spotting is present on juvenile/first winter feathers, and these are often present until mid winter. This bird was a classic first winter with gold spots present in the inner medium coverts, scapulars and throughout the mantle.

Gold Spotted Juvenile Feathers

In the autumn juvenile Grey Plovers can easily be misidentified as Golden Plovers due to the gold spotted plumage, but the presence of black axillaries on the underwing will confirm the species since these are lacking on Golden Plovers.

Grey Plover Underwing Showing Black Axillaries

We were very excited to have captured three Curlew on our previous ringing session as this is quite a rare event at the marsh, so to find another in the net on the first net round filled us with eager anticipation. But as it turned out this was the only Curlew of the night.

Juvenile Curlew

This bird proved to be a juvenile based on the presence of both adult and juvenile feathers within the wing, in addition the primaries were worn and pointed.

Juvenile Curlew Wing

Once again Dunlin proved to be the most numerous species with a 50/50 split of adults and first winters captured. The first winter birds were still relatively straight forward to age, due to the buff fringing to the flight feathers.

Juvenile Dunlin Wing

Whereas the adult birds lack the buff fringing, instead having brownish grey coverts with white fringing, although interestingly one of the adult birds captured had retained some summer plumage feathers within the mantle.

Adult (upper) and Juvenile (lower) Dunlin Wings

In total we captured 21 birds, which included single Grey Plover, Redshank and Curlew and 18 Dunlin. The Redshank was a retrap adult bird, whilst all the other birds were new. Given that the high tide was not a particularly high one, and therefore many islands in the harbour were not completely covered, we thought this was a very respectable result.

Wader Ringing at Farlington Marshes

Well with the weather set fair and the predicted strong south-easterly wind yet to materialize, we arranged to meet at Farlington Marshes for a nocturnal wader ringing session. Unfortunately, on arrival we were slightly dismayed to find that the strong breeze had indeed arrived, and therefore it was looking like the session would have to be called off. But having made the effort, we decided to walk down to the trapping area to check the wind down there. Surprisingly, in the shelter of the reeds the wind wasn't as bad so we decided to put up a net and see; four nets later we settled down at our ringing base to wait for high tide.

Initially things were slow, but it was not long before we started catching birds on the rising tide, with our first capture a Dunlin. It has been a while since I had last been wader ringing, and so I was a little concerned that I would not remember the ageing criteria for some of the species that we captured, so Dunlin was a nice easy start.

Juvenile Dunlin - Farlington Marshes

In adult winter plumage, the upper-parts are brownish-grey with white fringes to the coverts, whereas juvenile birds have blackish brown fringes with chestnut fringes to the coverts. 

Juvenile Dunlin - Farlington Marshes

This bird clearly exhibited chestnut fringes to the lesser coverts and tertials, and therefore was aged as a juvenile bird. In total 6 Dunlin were captured by the end of the session.

Juvenile Dunlin Coverts - Farlington Marshes

After a couple more Dunlin, our next capture was an adult Common Redshank. Common Redshank are aged in a similar way to Dunlin, with adult birds having grey brown, white fringed coverts whilst juveniles are a warm brown colour and extensively fringed buff. In addition, the deep red colouration of the legs and base of the bill are a useful feature, since juvenile birds are duller and paler in colouration.

Adult Redshank - Farlington Marshes

Our first Redshank proved to be an adult, in fact, all 11 birds captured, 8 new and 3 re-traps, proved to be adults. Apparently, it is quite normal to catch only adults birds during ringing sessions at the marsh, so I guess the question is where have all the juveniles gone? It is possible that juveniles winter elsewhere, or maybe it has not been a good breeding season for the species.

Adult Redshank - Farlington Marshes

The most surprising thing about this session was the number of Eurasian Curlew coming on to the lake. Unprecedented numbers of birds were circling over the lake before flying east and dropping down onto the stream. Surprisingly, we managed to catch 3 birds; the first time that has happened for many years. Adult birds are aged by the presence of noticeable rounded primaries, and grey brown centred coverts with pale edges. Juvenile birds have extensive bright buff edges to the coverts, with a distinct brown central mark. We captured 2 adults and 1 juvenile.

Adult Curlew - Farlington Marshes

Despite, the slightly breezy conditions we ended on a total of 20 birds, 3 Curlew, 11 Redshank and 6 Dunlin, but as we were leaving we noted over 100 Curlew and 11 Pied Avocet on the nearby stream. Maybe we will have to ring there next time.