Still no Woodcocks but a Little Owl saves the day.....

After a long day in the office I was keen to get out for some more nocturnal activity and so it was back Manor Farm. But rather that just trying to catch Woodcocks I decided to put some nets up with the hope of catching any passing owls, in particular the resident Little Owls. I set three nets and waited to see what would happen!!

Little Owl - February 2012

The first hour passed pretty slowly, Little Owls were around but proving to be elusive, so we decided to take the nets down and go off in search of Woodcocks, but as we approached the final net success.....a Little Owl!!

Little Owl - February 2012

Regular readers of this blog may recognise this bird, since it was a retrap that was originally captured one year and one day ago. In 2011 it was aged as an adult so it is at least two years old, looking at the first picture it didn't look very happy about being captured again!

Enthused by our success we trudged off around the fields in search of Woodcocks, but once again failed. We flushed six Woodcock and three Lapwing, but caught nothing......very frustrating!!!

Today, I had to travel to East Sussex for a survey, and as I walked around the site I managed to flush nine Woodcock, it was almost like they were rubbing salt into the wound!!! I continued with the survey, and noticed in an area of woodland the remains of another!! In the absence of any live specimens to examine, it gave me the ideal opportunity to have a go at ageing it.

Eurasian Woodcock Wing

Given that I only had nine primaries and seven primary coverts to work with I thought it might be difficult to age, but despite my limited experience with the species it seemed quite straight forward.

Eurasian Woodcock Primary Covert Tips

Apparently the tips of the primary coverts in adults have a flat profile with a pale terminal band, whereas juvenile coverts have a more rounded profile, with the terminal band the same colour as the rest of the feather....as above. The primary tips in adults show very little wear and have a clean profile, whereas they are worn and jagged in profile in juveniles....as below.

Eurasian Woodcock Primary Tips

Assuming I have aged this wing correctly it looks like this individual was a juvenile bird before it was eaten. I have no idea what had caught it but whatever it was, its having better success than me at catching Woodcocks at the moment!!!

Very frustrating......

It has been a very frustrating week this week which started on Monday evening with a visit to Manor Farm for a bit of Woodcock spotlighting. We trudged around the fields and eventually managed to flush 11 birds without catching one!!! We also nearly caught two Fieldfares, which bizarrely were roosting in the middle of a field....very frustrating!!

Wednesday night followed a similar pattern, in that we trudged around the same fields, this time flushing nine woodcocks and not catching one.....equally frustrating!! Hopefully better luck next week!

Adult Male Chaffinch

To try a salvage something from the week I put a net up in the garden yesterday evening, making use of the last couple of hours of daylight, and was rewarded with four retrap Blue Tits, a new Long-tailed Tit, two new Greenfinch's, a Goldfinch and a cracking adult male Chaffinch.

Adult Chaffinch

I never really spend much time looking at Chaffinch's in the field, but in the hand this bird was stunning. It was in full breeding plumage, with a rich chestnut back and mantle and a green rump, and the flight feathers were all fringed yellow.

Adult Chaffinch Wing

All of the flight feathers were extremely fresh, with no evidence of a moult limit in the coverts, and the tail feathers were very broad and rounded, showing little evidence of wear.

Adult Chaffinch Tail

When ageing Chaffinch's the tail is a crucial feature, with the central tail feathers being more rounded and sometimes having a black centre towards the tip, the 3rd tail feather (from the centre) is rounded, as is the 5th, which also has a well defined white patch and the dark parts are jet black.

Juvenile Chaffinch Tail

For comparison, it is possible to see the shape of the central tail feathers in a juvenile bird (pic above), note that one of the central tail feathers has been replaced, the juvenile feather is very pointed. Also the shape of the feathers in general is more pointed, and they are showing a fair amount of abrasion at the tips.

Woodcocks after Dark - Manor Farm Country Park

Nipped down to Manor Farm Country Park this evening armed with a landing net on a three metre pole, a spot light and some E size bird rings just in case! The evening began cloudy, but before long the cloud had cleared, and it was crystal clear with no wind and the temperature rapidly dropping. Apparently these are not ideal conditions for catching Woodcocks, but we had made the effort to get here, so thought we would give it a go. The first field we looked in was empty other than a huddle of sheep, but in the next field instant success....as we walked into the field two Woodcock immediately took flight, whilst the third sat tight. With the expertise of a seasoned expert Nigel had crept up to it and dropped the net over in no time.

Adult Woodcock - Manor Farm Country Park

I have flushed this species from the woods during daylight hours on many occasions, and have even seen them coming off the fields at dawn, but have never managed to catch one...so it was about time!!

Adult Woodcock - Manor Farm Country Park

Birds can be aged by a number of features, juveniles show jagged and worn primary tips, rounded tips to the inner 3rd and 4th primaries, rounded alula and the lack of a pale terminal band to the tips of the primary coverts.

Adult Woodcock - Manor Farm Country Park

Whereas adults show very little wear to the primary tips, a broad and flattened tip to the inner 3rd and 4th primaries, pointed alula and usually a distinct pale terminal band to the primary coverts, as shown in the picture above.

As we continued our search we were joined by an extremely active Barn Owl circling overhead and screeching, whilst Little Owls fed on the in the sheep grazed pasture. We didn't find anymore Woodcocks but I will certainly be having another go in the future.