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.

Holly Hill Country Park and the continued quest for Crests

This morning I headed out with Rob for a spot of bird ringing. We had been hoping to ring at Manor Farm to top up the Redwing totals for the year, which currently stands at one, but it was just far too windy. Instead we decided to head to Holly Hill Country Park and try for more Firecrests, as it was a woodland site and more sheltered. I had checked out this site last Sunday to see whether it had potential and whilst there I met a local birder who said that he regularly had Firecrests there, so I decided to give it a go.

The site is very public, and there were loads of dog walkers, with most dogs off the lead, but there were enough areas where I could tuck myself away. The site has a distinctly ornamental feel about it, with Rhododendron and Cherry Laurel dominating the understory, but large areas of Holly are also present. The woodland is predominantly broad-leaved with Oak, Ash, Alder and also London Plane present.

We selected a suitable location and set our nets but did not catch a single bird. The second capture site was better and we immediately caught a female Firecrest, followed by a couple of Goldcrests and then a male Firecrest. The male gave some excellent views and was regularly displaying before being caught.

Displaying Male Firecrest

Male Firecrest

Displaying male Firecrest

Male Firecrest

We ended the session having caught three new Firecrests, two females and one male, and also had a close encounter with a fourth bird; another male. We also caught four Goldcrests and a Great Tit, so a very successful morning.

Male Firecrest

Female Firecrest

January Ringing

The last week has been a busy one work wise but I have still managed to fit in a few ringing sessions. I have carried on from where last year finished with my quest for crests and have also had a couple of sessions at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's Swanwick Lakes nature reserve and in the grounds of the head office at Curdridge. 

My quest for crests took me back to Gosport and the Wildgrounds. On the last visit I had seen at least three Firecrests, but only managed to catch one, so it was an obvious site to retry. Chris and I put three nets up and almost immediately caught a new Firecrest, we also saw a ringed bird, which was probably the bird we ringed last time, and subsequent to catching the first bird saw another un-ringed one.

Firecrest - The Wildgrounds, Gosport

Three new Goldcrests were also ringed at the Wildgrounds, two males and a female, so it was a successful visit to start the week.

Female Goldcrest - Wildgrounds, Gosport

Rob has been keeping an eye on the feeders at Swanwick Nature Reserve, and so we nipped over during the week to have a look. As it was a lunchtime visit we didn't have too much time but quickly put up a net to see what we would catch. I say that but there were never going to be any surprises given the number of Blue and Great Tits present. The lunchtime visit produced 15 birds, mainly Blue and Great Tits as suspected but also a Dunnock. The best thing about the session was the capture of a Blue Tit that had been ringed back in May as a nestling.

The next session was another lunchtime session in the grounds of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's Beechcroft office. It was a quiet session with only four birds ringed, a Great Tit, two Nuthatches and a Firecrest, this one was a retrap from December.

Nuthatch - Curdridge

We were fortunate to catch one male and one female Nuthatch which provided the ideal opportunity to compare the plumage differences (see the image below).

Nuthatches - Female left, Male right

The final session of the week was a Saturday morning visit back to Swanwick Nature Reserve. The feeders were heaving, which was not surprising given the cold overnight temperature. I would not normally do bird feeders due to the large numbers of Blue and Great Tits that are usually caught, but such sessions are great for trainees, and as Rob and Megan wanted to ring it seemed like a good thing to do.

It was a busy session that resulted in the capture of 65 birds, most of which were Blue and Great Tits as suspected. There were a few other bits to make the session more interesting, three new Nuthatches, three Robins and a Coal Tit. 

Coal Tit - Swanwick Lakes

So not a bad week, 88 birds ringed including two Firecrests, four Nuthatches, a Coal Tit and a Blue Tit that was ringed last summer as a nestling.

The Continuing Quest for Crests

The wind over the last couple of days has been getting steadily stronger, and the blustery conditions have made it much more difficult to find sheltered sites. Yesterday, I headed back to Manor Farm Country Park to try and catch some more Firecrests there. I initially retrapped the two birds that I had ringed with Rob on 20th December, but after trying a few different sites, I caught a new female. Five new Blue Tits were the only other species ringed.

Firecrest - Manor Farm Country Park

This morning the wind was even stronger and so I headed to a couple of local sites that I had been saving for such conditions. At the first site I could hear a Goldcrest singing and quickly caught two, followed by another new Firecrest and a Robin.

Goldcrest - Funtley

Firecrest - Funtley

My final destination of the day was another very sheltered site, about a mile south of the first. This area is dominated with yew and cherry laurel, and therefore there is plenty of cover. I sat and listened for a while but did not hear a crest, undeterred I set a net and yep you've guessed it, I caught another new Firecrest and also a Goldcrest.

Firecrest - Funtley

So that is now 10 new Firecrests and 17 new Goldcrests that I have ringed at four sites since the beginning of November. All of the birds have been using areas that were dominated with evergreen shrubbery, usually holly and yew, but cherry laurel and rhododendron is also used. Such sites presumably provide the best shelter and food, and it will be interesting to see if the same birds use the same sites next winter. I have previously seen wintering Firecrests at all the sites I have visited so far, so time will tell. 

The Quest for Crests

This morning I met up with Chris and after yesterdays success we decided to go off in search of yet more crests, this time to the Wildgrounds at Gosport. Chris had seen a few there the other day, and as it was windy, setting nets amongst the dense holly seemed like a good plan. At the first site we had at least two Firecrests hanging around the net, but they just would not go in. I think they could see it moving in the wind. Our second site was set back in denser holly and quickly caught one Firecrest. This bird was much duller than those of the previous day, and the crown was principally coloured yellow, suggesting it to be a female. We continued to another couple of sites but did not see any other birds; however we know that there were at least three birds present so will try again. So currently seven Firecrests and counting, I wonder how many more are in the local area.

Firecrest - The Wildgrounds, Gosport

Firecrest - The Wildgrounds, Gosport

On returning home I was pleased to see that an unringed Marsh Tit was on the feeders in the garden. This is the first Marsh Tit I have seen in the garden for a couple of years, and the first unringed bird in the garden for three years at least. I know of one pair successfully breeding in the local area, but I suspect this territory is a bit too far from my garden, so hopefully this bird from a more local one.

A retrap Little Owl, Redwings and Firecrests at Manor Farm Country Park

After the success of last weekend, this morning Rob and I headed back to Manor Farm Country Park for some more ringing. Our plan was to try and catch more House Sparrows and Redwings, so it was a pre-dawn start to set the nets. As it turned out it was a bit breezy and so we were unable to set some of our usual nets, and instead had to settle for setting some in more sheltered locations. We had instant success on the first round, with two new Redwings and a Little Owl. The Little Owl was one of the birds that we had caught back in early November; it had put on some weight since when it was last caught, but the best thing was being able to get a good look at it in daylight.

Little Owl - Manor Farm Country Park

Little Owl - Manor Farm Country Park

The second net round produced another two Redwings and eleven Long-tailed Tits, but as the wind was really starting to pick up now we decided to call it a day at the farm and move into the woods.

Redwing - Manor Farm Country Park

Last winter I had regularly seen Firecrests in the woods at Manor Farm, particularly where evergreen shrubbery, such as Holly and Yew, was present, so we decided to go and see if any were there this winter. We only had about an hour so stopped off at a couple of likely places; the first location produced a male Firecrest, in the same bush as last year, although it was not the same bird as this one was a first year bird. 

Male Firecrest - Manor Farm Country Park

The second location also proved to have a Firecrest present, another male and also three Goldcrests. These are the fifth and sixth Firecrests I have caught since the beginning of November, and may not be the last of the year. I have now finished work until the new year and hope to get out and search for more.

Male Firecrest - Manor Farm Country Park

Female Goldcrest (left) and Male Firecrest (right) - Manor Farm Country Park

Three of a Kind and a Little Fire Cracker - November 2014

Wednesday 5th November began with a pre-work ringing session in the grounds of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's, Curdridge office. I am very fortunate to work in this semi-rural location, and to have one of my trainees working out of the same office as we are able to grab an hours ringing before work. This was our first session of the winter, and what a way to start, a cracking male Firecrest, on a date reserved for celebrating Guy Fawkes. This bird is surely better than any fireworks display. The remainder of the session was quiet by comparison with a total of four birds caught, the other notable being a female Nuthatch.

Male Firecrest - Curdridge, Hampshire

Fuelled by the success of the morning, I went to Manor Farm Country Park straight after work. I had planned to meet Izzy Phillips there and we were aiming to check to see whether the Little Owls were around, and if so where they were. However, as the weather was so still, and I had my ringing kit with me, we put up a couple of nets. Both Tawny and Little Owls were active, but it was a single Little Owl that appeared first in the net.

Little Owl - Manor Farm Country Park

We were pretty chuffed with our immediate success, but were stunned to return to the net and find another two birds in it. I have previously caught two birds on an evening session, but never three.

Little Owl - Manor Farm Country Park

I have spent many hours wandering around Manor Farm Country Park at night and often encounter Little Owls running around on the fields. All three birds had wet and muddy talons suggesting that they too had been out on the fields in search of food.

Little Owl Talons

On the whole I have found ageing Little Owls to be quite straight forward, particularly with those birds caught in the autumn, since they often retain downy feathers around the nape. According to Baker (1993), the moult strategy of Little Owls is a follows;

Age code 3 - "Partial post-juvenile moult, starting soon after fledging, confined to the head, body, lesser and median-coverts; July, completed by September, October (November)."

Adult - "Complete post breeding moult starting as early as (May) June - July and completed by September or early or early November. Secondaries moult from three centres, usually around s12, s5 and s1. Tail is shed almost simultaneously."

There is slight sexual size dimorphism, with females being on average slightly larger than males, but there is a fair amount of overlap and therefore it is not really reliable.

The first bird we aged as an age code 3 (juvenile, bird of this year). See the image below; 

Adults and first winters are described in Baker as being similar in appearance, but in juveniles mesoptile down is often present on the inner-most tertials. The white spots on the head are bolder and more rounded and the white tip on p10, the outermost primary extends onto the inner web.

I have to admit I found the white spots on the head of all three birds very variable, and there was some evidence of a white tip on the primaries of two of the birds. However, looking at the overall plumage of the three birds, I was confident that that they were all first winters based on the following features.

Wing of Little Owl, showing presumed moult limit

With the first bird it was evident that it had undergone its post juvenile moult. The primaries, secondaries, tertials and primary coverts are gingery brown in colour, whereas the body, head and wing coverts, greater, median and lesser are dark brown in colour. This indicates to me that the main wing feathers (primary, secondary and tertials) have not been moulted as would be expected for a juvenile bird.

Little Owl tail, with one replacement tail feather

To further confirm this assessment, this bird has replaced a single tail feather, which it has probably lost accidentally, rather than through typical moult. The colour difference in the replaced feather and retained juvenile feathers is evident, as is the difference in the broadness, shape of the tip and extent of abrasion on the tips.

Wing of Little Owl, showing presumed moult limit

The second and third birds seem to show the same moult limit, albeit not as obviously as the first bird. In the image below it is again possible to see a contrast in the replaced adult type covert feathers and the gingery coloured primaries, primary coverts, secondaries and tertials.

Wing of Little Owl, showing presumed moult limit

For comparison below are a couple of images of an adult bird that I caught a couple of years ago, at a similar time of year. The lack of contrast between the main wing feathers and coverts is evident, as is the shape, pattern and broadness of p10. Another obvious feature is the size of the white spot, and general shape and pattern on the primary coverts in this adult bird, compared with the lack of it, or smaller size on all three of the juvenile birds.

Adult Little Owl - Note colour of wing feathers and lack of contrast and moult limit

Adult Little Owl - Note shape and pattern of p10 (outermost primary feather

A Firecrest, Redwing and another American Gull - October 2014

This mornings ringing session was a very sedate affair, with only 18 birds ringed of nine species, and of those half were re-traps. But amongst the new birds there was some quality in the form of our first Firecrest and Redwing of the year. The Redwing was the first that I had heard this autumn, and given that we had another eight flying over the ringing area, there had clearly been an arrival.

Redwing, Titchfield Haven - October 2014

The Firecrest was a real cracker, as of course they always are, this bird we aged as a juvenile due to the pointed tail feathers, and a male by virtue of the amount of orange in the crown.

Juvenile Male Firecrest - Titchfield Haven

Juvenile Male Firecrest - Titchfield Haven

This was the 25th Firecrest to be caught at the Haven, the first was in 1982 and the second in 1988, with the remaining 23 caught between 2000 and 2014. Despite the status of this species as a breeder in Hampshire and regularity with which it occurs along the Hampshire coast in winter, its occurrence remains unpredictable at the Haven, as demonstrated below.

During the ringing session the other species captured were Cetti's Warbler, Robin, Blackbird, Wren, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit and a female Blackcap. A Brambling, several Linnets and Goldfinches were recorded passing over.

I have recently been given permission to ring at Walpole Park in Gosport, and will be hoping to catch and colour-ring Black-headed, Common and Mediterranean Gulls at the site. After ringing I nipped down there to see how many birds were present and how they were behaving. There were around 100 Black-headed Gulls present, a few Herring and a Common Gull.

Adult Winter Black-headed Gull - Walpole Park

Adult Winter Herring Gull - Walpole Park

Of course the star attraction at Walpole Park over the last 12 winters has been the Ring-billed Gull. It had arrived back on 26th October, and had already taken up residence in its usual place. As interesting as it would be to catch this bird, colour ring it, and see where it goes during the summer, I will not be making any attempts to catch it.

Adult Winter Ring-billed Gull

Mute Swans and Canada Geese also make the most of the food on offer at Walpole Park and whilst I was there I found three that were ringed. One bird had an orange colour ring, whereas the other two had just metal rings. The swans are so approachable that it is easy to read the ring numbers, and take close up photos. I will let you know where they are from when I find out the details.

Adult Mute Swan - Walpole Park

Adult Mute Swan wing feathers.

Patch Listing in the Snow

Last year I decided to take part in some Hampshire patch listing and opted for a 5km x 5km square covering my home, Curbridge and part of Manor Farm Country Park. I have to admit that my effort was sporadic to say the least, and I ended 2012 with a total of 121 species recorded on 'my patch'. This year I have decided to patch list again, covering the same patch, and with the aim of beating last years total. To make things more interesting, during quieter birding periods, I am also going to record other taxa that I encounter, such as mammals, butterflies and dragonflies etc., hopefully this will make my posts more varied!

A view of my Patch

My patch listing activity during 2013 to date has been limited to the area around my house,  a couple of visits to Manor Farm Country Park and a snowy visit to Curbridge. My garden has provided the usual suspects, with the common tit species bolstered with the usual wintering marsh tit, great spotted and green woodpecker, nuthatch, house sparrow and sparrowhawk. The surrounding area, in particular the River Meon valley and surrounding patches of woodland have, unsurprisingly produced a greater range of species, after the recent snow, some of these have become more visible. On the 13th January I wandered around the local woods and was rewarded with siskin, mistle thrush, nuthatch, goldcrest and the star bird of the day a cracking male firecrest.

Flooded meadows, a bird feeding Haven

Today I ventured out into a snow covered landscape, starting at the River Meon, where the high water levels are still breaching the river banks and flowing across the adjacent fields. With most of the grass snow covered, the flowing flushes were the best areas for feeding birds, and they flocked to them, 20 lapwing, 11 snipe, over 70 fieldfare, 80 redwing and a grey wagtail were present. A mixed flock of finches including siskin, lesser redpoll and goldfinches were also present in the alder trees, occasionally dropping down to the flush to drink.

Curbridge - on the rising tide

Moving on, my next stop was Curbridge; I had timed my visit to coincide with the rising tide in the hope of seeing birds that were pushed further up the estuary as the mud further down stream was covered up. My timing was perfect and I was able to add common redshank, greenshank, curlew, oystercatcher and common sandpiper to my patch list. Two little egrets and a mixed flock of several hundred gulls, black-headed, common, herring and lesser black-backed, were also present.

Greenshank, Curbridge

So by 19th January my patch list stands at 67 species, the recent snow has certainly made some species more visible, so whilst its still hanging around I will make to most of it, and back out again tomorrow.