What a difference a day makes....February 2014

Yesterday the south of England was being battered by hurricane force winds and heavy rain showers, but today was like a perfect spring day. Overnight the storm force winds had subsided, the sky had cleared and a light frost had carpeted the ground. During yesterdays poor weather the first Eurasian Siskins of the year turned up on the feeders in the garden, so in todays calm conditions I set a net in the hope of catching some. 

Pair of Siskins, the first in the garden this year

I opened the net just after dawn and before long had my first three birds, a Great Tit, a Blue Tit and a Eurasian Nuthatch. All three were retraps, the most notable being the Great Tit which was originally ringed on 25th June 2011, 2 years 236 days previously. The session was steady but mainly consisted of Blue Tits, with other occasional species namely Dunnock, Goldfinch, Long-tailed Tit and a new male House Sparrow. The House Sparrow had dark lores but still showed some yellow at the base of the lower mandible, suggesting that it was not in full breeding condition yet.

Male House Sparrow

In total I caught 33 birds, of seven species, 15 of which were retraps. The majority of retraps were of recently ringed birds, but three of the Blue Tits were originally ringed over three years previously, one on 5th December 2010 (3 years and 73 days previously), one on 30th October 2010 (3 years 109 days previously) and one on 10th August 2009 (4 years 190 days previously).

The spring like conditions and warmth from the sun proved popular with bumblebees, several buff-tailed’s were flying around the garden and a brimstone butterfly. The latter was sunning itself on bushes next too my ringing station, it took a while to get settled but eventually found somewhere  suitable for it to soak up the sun’s rays.

Mealy Redpolls at Blashford Lakes - January 2014

A recent visit to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts Blashford Lakes reserve gave me the opportunity to pop into the woodland hide to look at the visiting finches. The feeders are a popular place for visiting birders as you can get great views of a variety of species, especially lesser redpolls, siskins and bramblings, although there have been none of the latter recorded so far this year. Siskins too have been thin on the ground, but there are good numbers of lesser redpolls coming to the feeders, despite the mild weather. There has also been reports of a mealy redpoll frequenting the feeders and fortunately for me it was there as I entered the hide.

Mealy Redpoll Carduelis flammea (first bird)

The bird was very obvious amongst the lesser's since it was larger and paler with pale fringing to the wing feathers and an obvious white rump. The wingbar formed by the greater coverts was also broad and white, and an obvious white tramline was present on the mantle. Looking at the pointed shape of the tail feathers on this bird it appeared that it was a first winter bird.

Mealy Redpoll (first bird)

After a while the Mealy flew off, but before long it appeared to be back again. However, looking at this bird it did not have the overall grey tones of the first bird, the mantle was warmer brown in tone and the streaking on the flanks was not as bold. Looking more closely at the bird the white fringing on the tertials and tips of the primaries was broader. The white rump on this bird was more heavily streaked than the first bird, but this is not visible in the photo below.

Mealy Redpoll (second bird)

For comparison, below is an image of a typical lesser redpoll. The plumage of this bird is much warmer brown in its tone and heavily streaked. The wing bars are buff coloured and the flanks are boldly streaked and brown. Most birds tend to lack the white tramlines down the mantle, but not all.

Lesser Redpoll C. cabaret

Redpolls are notoriously variable in their plumage and therefore care needs to be taken when identifying them. A recent article published the the birding journal British Birds (Volume 106, December 2013) provides an interesting insight into the complexities of redpolls and is worth a read. The image below shows the variation in three birds seen during my visit to Blashford Lakes.

Lesser Redpolls and Eurasian Siskin

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, you do get some excellent views of birds on the feeders, so it is definitely worth a visit. But please remember that the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is a charity and needs your support, so make sure you leave a donation to help pay for the bird food.

Eurasian Siskin

End of Year Review, December 2013

So here we are at the end of my third full year writing this blog, I hope you have enjoyed its content and would like to thank all those who follow it and those who have visited over the years. This year (2013) has been an interesting one for me as back in February I started a new job, which I had hoped would give me more spare time to enjoy bird ringing and other natural history activities. In reality, more spare time meant more out of work social commitments, which did limit the amount of free time I had, and three stints in hospital were certainly not welcome. Despite the set backs I still had a great year which resulted in several new birds in for me in Hampshire, over 20 new moth species in the garden, a couple of new birds in the hand and ended with a British tick (Brunnich's guillemot). In typical fashion for a year end post I thought I would do a quick summary of my personal highlights of the year, and please feel free to share yours with me.

January
The start of the year for me was all about trying to see as many bird species as possible on the patch. There were no real highlights to speak of with this, that came in the form of a recovery notification from the BTO of one of the common nightingales that I had ringed at Botley Wood. Unfortunately the bird was found dead in France 488 days since being ringed, which was not good news for the bird, but was my first foreign control of this species since starting the project.

Adult Common Nightingale - Sadly found dead in France

February
The long staying and very confiding black-bellied dipper at the BTO HQ Thetford in Norfolk was the first that I had seen in the UK, and got my annual Norfolk pilgrimage off to a good start.

Black-bellied Dipper - Norfolk

March
Eurasian siskins came into my garden in good numbers this year and I ended with a record number of 40 new birds ringed, beating the previous best of 12 back in 2003. Individuals were trapped throughout January, February, March, April, May and one bird was re-trapped in August. The peak month though was March when 22 new birds were ringed.

Male Eurasian Siskin

April
The return of the common nightingale is always a highlight for me and this year was no exception. At least eight singing males were back on territories, and I managed to catch four of those, one being a bird from May 2009. This month was also memorable for the presence of a singing male common redstart and a lesser spotted woodpecker, both found whilst surveying for nightingales.

Retrap Adult Nightingale - Botley Wood

May
Being my 25th wedding anniversary this year my wife and I took short break to the Greek Island of Rhodes. There were no new birds for me but we did have a great trip with a variety of wildlife being seen. The highlight for me had to be snake-eyed lizard which was stunning beast, the resultant blog post has become the most read post on this site. 

Snake-eyed Lizard, Rhodes

June
The undoubted highlight for me this year was being invited out to ring northern goshawk pulli. I had ringed common buzzards before but the size of these birds, in particular the females and their talons was amazing. The low point was being savaged by a cat and spending four days in hospital with an infected arm.

Juvenile Goshawk

July
Mothing really took off this month and checking the trap before work became near on impossible due to the numbers present. On one date I recorded 250 moths of 90 species in the garden and by the end of the year I had recorded 310 species. The second high point was surviving being knocked off my bike by a car and only needing seven stitches in a gash on my chin and having mild concussion for 48 hours.

White Satin Moth - a new species for me

August
Ringing was starting to get into full swing at Titchfield Haven and on 17th we ringing 223 new birds, with 24 of those being garden warblers, the most we have ever caught in one day by a long way.

Garden Warbler - Titchfield Haven

September
This month was memorable for two amazing highs, catching my first, and second, Clifden nonpareil moths whilst staying at Castlehaven on the Isle of Wight; and seeing the first brown shrike to ever be recorded in Hampshire. An excellent find by Bob Marchant.

Clifden Nonpareil at Castlehaven, Isle of Wight

October
There were many highlights during October, but these were sadly all overshadowed by the untimely death of Tim Lawman, a popular and active member of the Hampshire birding scene. The highlights were finding a yellow-browed warbler at The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Trusts (HIWWT) Testwood Lakes Nature Reserve, and then another at Anton Lakes whilst waiting for Hampshire's second ever Radde's warbler to show. The semi-palmated plover at Sandy Point on Hayling Island, a truly amazing find by Andy Johnson. And if all that wasn't enough, it ended with us catching our first, and Hampshire's third Radde's warbler at Titchfield Haven. What an autumn this turned out to be!

Radde's Warbler at Titchfield Haven

November
Ringing bearded reedlings (or parrotbills) at the HIWWTs Farlington Marshes reserve was a real treat, but the undoubted highlight had to be the phenomenal starling roost of 10,000 to 100,000 birds at their Blashford Lakes nature reserve. As natural history spectacles go this is one of the best I have seen and is still continuing as I write this post. If you get the chance it is definitely worth a visit and if you are lucky you may even get the see one of the two bitterns wintering there.

A Murmuration of Starlings at Blashford Lakes

December
There is only one contender this month and that was the Brunnich's guillemot in Portland Harbour. We were heading home after spending Christmas in Cornwall and made the short detour. A cracking bird and a British tick for me to end the year on.

Ageing Siskins

Back on January 29th I reported that during a garden ringing session I had captured a male Eurasian siskin. Not a particularly notable event for some ringers, but for me this was the first siskin I had ringed in my garden since 2006. In fact, when I looked back over time I had only previously ringed 23 in my garden, two in 1998, 12 in 2003, seven in 2004 and two in 2006. 

Since ringing that first siskin of the year, I have now ringed 32 new birds which has given me the ideal opportunity to brush up on siskin ageing and sexing...so here goes.

Male Siskin

Sexing siskins is really not that challenging, the male (above) has a black cap and bib, yellowish throat, upper breast and rump and heavily streaked lower flanks. The female (below) is much duller and greyer, lacking the black crown and bib and a white breast and belly which is heavily streaked. The mantle is lightly streaked and the rump whitish with light streaking in the plumage. There is very little size difference between males and females and in juvenile plumage birds cannot be sexed.

Female Siskin

Like many other passerine species adult and juvenile siskins have different moult strategies, with adults under going a complete moult post breeding, whereas juvenile birds undergo a partial post juvenile moult. However, there are always exception and Svensson states that young also occasionally undergo a complete post juvenile moult, and in Continental populations, occasionally a few primaries and all tail feathers and tertials are replaced by juveniles during their post juvenile moult.

Greater coverts of Adult male Siskin, note the colouration
and thickness of the yellow fringe of the greater coverts

Adult birds can be aged by way of the colouration and broadness of the of the outer edge of the greater coverts, and the lack of an obvious step (and contrast) between moulted and unmoulted feathers (above).

Greater coverts of First Winter male: Note the different colouration of the two
outermost greater coverts

First year birds usually show an obvious break in the greater coverts, which is evident by a difference in the length of the covert and the colouration and broadness of the fringe. The images above and below illustrate this perfectly, with the old greater coverts (OGCs) clearly visible.

Another Juvenile wing, again the three OGCs are very obvious due to different colouration and broadness of the fringe

The number of retained OGCs varied with each individual I ringed with one bird having just one and another bird having 7. Out of the 13 juvenile birds I have captured to date the average was 3.

Adult tail: Note the broad, dark and rounded tail feathers and lack of wear on the tips

Ageing birds using the tails feathers can be a useful feature, although a cautious approach should be adopted in spring when feathers can be worn. Typically and adult bird will have broad, dark and rounded tail feathers, as illustrated above.

First year tail feathers; note the pointed and worn tips

The tail feathers of first year birds are more pointed, thinner and generally not as robust and therefore they wear more quickly. The image above illustrates the shape and condition of the tail feathers of one first year bird, whereas the image below illustrates another. Note the difference in the colouration and the extent of wear on the tail tips on the image above but not the one below.

First year tail: Note the feathers are still pointed but are not heavily abraded as with the bird above

It does pay to be cautious with tail feathers in isolation though, for example the image below illustrates what looks like an adult type tail. The tips of the feathers are generally rounded, the feathers are broad and dark in colouration. But this bird had three retained greater coverts in the wing and therefore, given the species' moult strategy, must be a first year bird. The presumption with this bird is that it has either lost its tail and replaced it, or it has simply moulted its tail, as has been shown to occur in some Continental populations. In fact maybe it was a Continental bird!

Tail of first year bird: This bird had three OGCs in the wing
and therefore must be a first year, yet the tail looks distinctly  adult like.

Garden Bird Ringing January 2013

Bird ringing at my usual haunts has been somewhat disappointing of late and so rather than risking another disappointing session, I opted for a bit of garden ringing for this session. On the plus side this would mean that I could fall out of bed and have the nets open within five minutes, but on the negative side it would mean that I would catch loads of blue and great tits, and probably not much else. The day started as expected and before long I had a net full of blue and great tits, which consisted of mainly retraps but also a few new ones. 

Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus - one of 23 birds captured during the garden ringing session. of
those captured 15 were retraps, two of which were originally ringed over four years ago,
one on 6th December 2008 and one on 31st December 2008. 

There have been two great spots Dendrocopos major, one male and one female, frequenting the garden and both of them were squabbling over the peanut feeder, before the female ventured into the net. This bird was very easy to age since it had an obvious contrast in the greater coverts, showing  the difference between old juvenile and newer adult type feathers. A retrap dunnock Prunella mondularis was a bird from just over a year ago, and new song thrush Turdus philomelos and blackbird Turdus merula were worthy rewards for my efforts, before two pied wagtails Motacilla alba ssp. yarrellii dropped into the net. 

Pied wagtail - first year bird

Over the last few winters one or two pied wagtails, and the occasional white wagtail Motacilla alba ssp. alba have spent much of the winter in my garden, and as a result I usually end up catching one or two. These two birds, I am presuming they are the same two, had been frequenting the garden all through the recent cold snap and heavy snow, so it was not really a surprise to catch them, but a welcome break from blue tits.

Pied Wagtail - First winter bird - there is an obvious contrast between the outer wing
(primary coverts, primaries, secondaries, alula etc) and the inner wing
(lesser, medium and majority of greater coverts). Note the two outermost greater
coverts, which are retained juvenile feathers. The general coluration of the outer wing is
brown-ish as opposed to dark grey below.

The moult strategy of this species is similar to that of many passerines, in that adult birds undergo a complete moult in the summer, post breeding, whereas juvenile birds only undergo a partial moult. The result of this I have discussed before, but essentially it means that a contrast will be visible between the old juvenile feathers and new adult feathers. Luckily I caught one adult and one first year bird, which was ideal for comparison.

Pied Wagtail - Adult bird - note the general colouration of the wing (dark grey) and the broad
primaries with a pale tip on the outer edge of the feather. In addition, there is no contrast/break
in the greater coverts and the primary coverts are broad and tipped white.

At one point I noticed a male Eurasian Siskin Carduelis spinus on the peanut feeder, a species that was very common in my garden six or seven years ago, but recently I have not recorded them. I watched the bird for a while before it flew off, so I was surprised to find, that not only had it come back but I had caught it.

Eurasian Siskin - male bird - note the black crown, and extensive yellow
 to the sides of the head and breast

Adult siskins undergo a complete moult post breeding, whereas juvenile birds usually undergo a partial moult, and so there will typically be a contrast between juvenile and adult feathers in the greater coverts. In addition the tails feathers on juvenile birds are usually pointed and show a high level of wear. This bird showed no discernible break in the greater coverts and the tails feathers were broad and rounded, with very little wear, therefore this bird was aged as an adult.

By the end of the session I had captured 42 birds of 11 species; more than half of the birds were blue tits, but they still provided some interesting retrap data. The variety of species ringed was unexpected so it was definitely worth the effort.