Trevose Head and Valency Valley, Cornwall - 25th April

I arrived at Trevose Head just after 7am this morning and started birding along the road that leads to the beach and bisects part of the golf course. The scrub near where I parked had a singing Common Whitethroat, a Blackbird, a Blackcap and several Dunnocks. There were a few Swallows passing through and Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were displaying overhead. Evidence of migration was again thin on the ground, with a single Wheatear on the golf course and a couple of Sedge Warblers singing from the scrub.

Sedge Warbler - Trevose Head

Sedge Warbler - Trevose Head

There were already several dog walkers on the beach when I reached it, so any migrants present were likely to have been flushed. I had a quick scan out to sea and picked up a few Fulmars, two  Manx Shearwaters and a Gannet and then three Whimbrel took off from the beach and headed north calling. I continued to scan the sea, there was very little moving but whilst there another 12 Whimbrel dropped in and landed on the beach. Some birds immediately tried to sleep whilst others began feeding; they started on the beach but were being continuously flushed by dog walkers, eventually heading out over the golf course. Another flock of three dropped in about 20 minutes later but they didn’t stay around for long.

Whimbrel - Trevose Head

Whimbrel - Trevose Head

Migrating Whimbrel - Trevose Head

After breakfast we planned to go to visit relatives in Boscastle, which would give me the chance to pop down for a spot of birding in Valency Valley. Valency Valley has been a regular haunt of mine for many years and no trip to Boscastle is complete without a visit there. I started from the car park end and worked my way up the valley; Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were the most obvious of the migrant species but they were not my intended quarry. 

Valency Valley is a guaranteed spot for Dipper and that was what I was really searching for. I worked my way slowly up the river scouring the rocks for birds; there was plenty of evidence, bird droppings on rocks in the river, but initially no sign of one. After about 30 minutes I reached an area where I had previously found a nest and heard a bird calling immediately. The first bird I saw flew strongly past me, but soon returned and began bobbing on a nearby rock. 

Adult Dipper Cinclus cinclus gularis

Adult Dipper Cinclus cninclus gularis

When Dippers are this tame, it usually means that they have young nearby, and sure enough, a quick scan downstream produced a recently fledged juvenile. The bird was very approachable and allowed me to get get close enough for some half decent photos. From what I could make out there were two fledgling birds and two adults, I would have expected more fledglings, and there may well have been others tucked away somewhere but I couldn’t find them. I don’t think the fledglings have been out of the nest more than a week and their primaries appeared not to be fully grown and downy feathers were still present. The adults were frantically searching for food to feed their chicks, but they would not come near if I was too close, so I sat back and just watched them from a distance

Fledgling Dipper

Fledgling Dipper - note downy feathers still present

Fledgling Dipper

Fledgling Dipper

I spend a good hour watching the pair feeding their offspring, but decided to head back to the car when the expected heavy rain set in.

Titchfield Haven - End of Year Summary 2014

After what has been a generally successful season at the Haven, we have hung up our bird bags and migrated to other sites. The season ended with a total of 4651 full grown birds, one pulli, and 259 retraps of 44 species, bringing the grand total to 4911. The undoubted highlights were the Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler, the Cuckoo and the Yellow-browed Warbler. Besides the rarity highlights there were also some record catches for our standard fare, namely Robin, Blackcap and Willow Warbler. Other highlights included the first Woodcock for the site, the Wood Warbler and the Pied Flycatcher. Having now entered all the totals into IPMR there have been some slight amendments to the totals, with Willow Warbler slightly down to 268 and Grasshopper Warbler up to 341.

Table of Ringing Totals for 2014 in the autumn ringing area, the numbers
in red represent highest or equal highest totals for the site.

I have previously posted graphs showing species totals between 1998 and 2014, with trend lines to illustrate how the numbers have increased or declined over that period. For this post I thought I would show how similar species have fared over that same period, so below are comparisons for Whitethroat verses Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff verses Willow Warbler, Blackcap verses Garden Warbler and Reed Warbler verses Sedge Warbler.

Comparison of ringing totals for Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat

Comparison of ringing totals for Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler

Comparison of ringing totals for Blackcap and Garden Warbler

Comparison of ringing totals for Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler

It is interesting to see how the numbers of the different species have varied over the period, and how some species are just that much rarer than others. The most obvious being Common Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat and Blackcap and Garden Warbler. It is also interesting to note how the peaks and troughs for each species are mirrored in many cases, with fluctuations in numbers being more pronounced in species with the highest totals.

Our ringing studies will be continuing over the winter, with visits Manor Farm Country Park, Farlington Marshes and Walpole Park all planned, and from there we will see where things take us.

Titchfield Haven - End of October Ringing Update

With very few birds ringed at the Haven over the last couple of sessions it is probably time to move on to our winter sites. It is always difficult to close every thing down and move on, but when you catch a measly 10 birds in a session, the enthusiasm does tend to wain. Last Friday was obviously bolstered by the Firecrest and Redwing, but on Saturday there was nothing of note in the ten birds ringed.

Following on from my post of 22nd October, this post provides a further update of the autumns ringing. As expected we did not catch any more Grasshopper, Garden and Willow Warblers, nor did we catch any more Whitethroats; the totals from that post are therefore still correct. Since that last post over 200 more birds were ringed, a total that was well and truly boosted by good numbers of Reed Buntings. We have ringed a total of 4603 new birds of 42 species, with the totals for three species, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Robin, reaching new highs. 

Ringing Totals for Selected Species from 1998 - 2014

The Sedge Warbler total was looking like that might end up being the highest at one point, but the number of birds tailed off quicker than expected. The total ended on 1225 which was the fifth highest total of all time. The graph below shows some interesting variations in the ringing totals over the last 17 years, but there is a very clear upward trend in the number of birds caught over that period.

Sedge Warbler Ringing Totals from 1998 - 2014 at Titchfield Haven

The Reed Warbler total of 693 was the second highest total ever, and once again there is a clear upward trend in the number of birds caught. The number of birds caught between 1998 and 2014 has not fluctuated as much as with Sedge Warbler, with the exception of 2002 and 2004. The last two years have produced the second and third highest ringing totals.

Ringing Totals for Reed Warbler from 1998 - 2014 at Titchfield Haven

There has been a very strong upward trend in the numbers of Blackcaps ringed at the Haven over the last 17 years, culminating in a record number for 2014. The total of 807 birds was a 14%, or 104 bird increase over the previous best of 703 in 2007. The BTO previously reported that good numbers were being recorded at ringing sites, it will be interesting to see what reasons are given for this.

Ringing Totals for Blackcap from 1998 - 2014 at Titchfield Haven

The Chiffchaff total was again a strong total, with the 611 ringed being the second highest total ever. The numbers of birds ringed over the 17 years have been fairly consistent with a slight peak in 2002, but strong peaks in 2011 and 2014. The upward trend for the Chiffchaff  is probably skewed by the massive 2011, and 2014 totals. There are still a few Chiffs passing through the site, but we have not caught any new birds for a couple of sessions.

Ringing Totals for Chiffchaff from 1998 - 2014 at Titchfield Haven

Other species totals of note are Robin, with a new high of 88, Cetti's Warbler with 61, Goldcrest with 43 and Reed Bunting with 63. Blackbird and Song Thrush numbers are down with only 23 and 8 new birds ringed, respectively.

Titchfield Haven, Mid-September Update

It is now mid-September and what started as a slow season has turned out to be an excellent autumn. As I have mentioned in previous posts, we try to use standard trapping methods at the Haven, this includes using the same number of nets, ringing on only three mornings a week and the same tape lures. This allows us to directly compare our totals year on year. Of course the birds that we catch will not necessarily be from the breeding population in the UK, but are likely to be birds from other parts of Europe, as was illustrated so dramatically illustrated with the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler a couple of weeks ago.

Looking at the nine key species that we study, it is evident that they have all had good years. The Sedge Warbler total currently stands at 1183, which is already our sixth highest total ever. Reed Warbler's seem to be one of the winners this year, as the total of 642 is already the second highest total ever, and the Willow Warbler total of 267 is the highest ever.

The Grasshopper Warbler total is the fifth highest total ever and Garden Warbler's appear to have had a good year as this total is our second highest ever. It is still early days for Chiffchaff, as this species is a later migrant, but the total to date is the second highest of the last five years. I was only today reading a post on the BTO Bird Ringing Demog Blog about large numbers of Blackcaps being ringed at western and central sites in the UK, and this is definitely the case at the Haven. We have already ringed 537 birds, which is the eighth highest total, but looking at the year to year comparisons, the total this year is already 180 more that at the same point in 2010 when the third highest total ever was recorded. The total for Common Whitethroat is on a par with our highest ever total, which was recorded in 2011 and the Cetti's Warbler is again indicating a strong breeding season.

There were no surprises over the last week, although we did catch our second Sparrowhawk and Green Woodpecker of the year and our first Spotted Flycatcher of the year.

Our First Ringing Control in Portugal

Ringing activities during November for me have been restricted to a couple of sessions at Titchfield Haven and a bit in the garden. The sessions at the Haven were the latest we have ever done and did not really amount to much despite having all of our nets open. In fact on both dates half of the birds were resident retraps. However we did manage to add a few more chiffs to our annual total and caught more goldcrests in those two sessions than we had all year.

Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

We also caught another new kingfisher which takes our total to the year to four. This bird was an adult, this can be seen by the all black colouration at the base of the lower mandible.

Adult Kingfisher Alcedo atthis

One session was also memorable due to the capture of two green woodpeckers. Both birds were retraps and adults, but one was a male and the other a female.

Male Green Woodpecker Picus viridis

Male birds (above) exhibit a red centre to the black moustache, whereas female birds (below) have no red in the black moustache. 

Female Green Woodpecker

One thing I do like about winter is the fantastic light and lack of heat haze, on a still clear day this lends itself to taking crisp photos with lots of contrast.

The River Meon at Titchfield Haven from our ringing area

The downside of ringing in the winter, is that on clear nights you can start your session with a heavy frost. This is not ideal when trying to open furled nets as it quickly saps any heat from your hands and makes your nets stand out until the sun melts the frost.

Frost on Phragmities Reed Head

Within the last couple of weeks we have also had a few recoveries back from BTO HQ, a summary is provided below. It is sometimes quite frustrating how long some of these take to come back, this is very evident with the blackcap T619991. This bird was controlled in Portugal in February 2010, but we have only just received the information. In these days of instant news and computerised data it is a shame it takes so long. On a very positive note though this is the first bird that was ringed at the Haven to be controlled in Portugal, so a great recovery for us.

Other interesting foreign controls were two French ringed sedge warblers. One bird was ringed as a juvenile in France in 2011 and retrapped at the Haven this autumn two years and a day since its original capture. The second bird was first ringed as an adult in France last August and and retrapped at the Haven this August. Both were presumably British birds migrating south when they were trapped in France, which is why they have been retrapped at the Haven. A reed warbler ringed on the Isle of Wight was retrapped at the Haven, having travelled north by 17km in five days. It is possible that weather conditions were preventing this bird from migrating south and therefore it was coasting waiting for suitable conditions.

Species	Ring No.	Capture Type	Age	Date	Details
Blackcap
	T619991	N	3	27/09/2009	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire
		C		06/02/2010	Fontes, Faro, Portugal (132 days, 1623km  SSW)
	Y759573	N	3J	22/07/2013	Bessacarr, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire
		C	3F	07/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (47 days, 297km, S)
Reed Warbler
	Y718412	N	3	17/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire
		C	3	05/09/2013	Litlington, East Sussex (19 days, 99km, E)
		C	3	12/09/2013	Litlington, East Sussex (26 days, 99km, E)
	Y813442	N	3	01/09/2013	Great Meadow Pond, Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead
		C	3	24/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (23 days, 80km, SW)
	D562011	N	3	29/08/2013	Haseley Manor, Arreton, Isle of Wight
		C	3	03/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (5 days, 17km, N)
	Y544426	N	3	01/09/2013	Thatcham Marsh, Thatcham, West Berkshire
		C		08/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (7 days, 65km, S)
	Y813442	N	3	01/09/2013	Great Meadow Pond, Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead
		C		21/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (20 days, 80km, SW)
Sedge Warbler
	Y719541	N	3	07/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire
		C	3	20/09/2013	Nanjizal, Land's End, Cornwall (13 days, 327km, WSW)
	6693908	N	3	19/08/2011	Marais de Cap, Montmartin-en-Graignes, Manche, France
		C	4	20/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (732 days, 173km, N)
	6706223	N	4	24/08/2012	Urdains, Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
		C	4	02/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (343 days, 819km, N)
	D218893	N	3	26/07/2013	Kirkton of Logie Buchan, Aberdeenshire
		C	3	10/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (15 days, 728km, S)
	D610553	N	3	21/08/2013	Dunkirk, Little Downham, near Ely, Cambridgeshire
		C	3	19/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (29 days, 209km, SSW)
	D639756	N	3	21/08/2013	Much Marcle, Herefordshire
		C		07/09/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (17 days, 159km, SSE)
	L931682	N	3J	04/08/2013	Bellflask, West Tanfield, North Yorkshire
		C	3	10/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (6 days, 375km, S)
	Y661622	N	3J	22/07/2013	Rye Meads, Hertfordshire
		C		06/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (15 days, 137km, SW)
		C		08/08/2013	Titchfield Haven, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire (17 days, 137km, SW)

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.