What a Cracker!!!

Opted for a lazy day today, and rather than ring at Manor Farm I decided to put a net up in the garden. A heavy overnight frost had frozen my furled nets so I had to start by taking down the frozen net and putting up a new one!!!

The feeders were full of the usual suspects, Blue and Great Tits, a Coal Tit and two Marsh Tits, but at 09:00 I noticed a small crest, with a very prominent white supercilium, in the net!!!

Firecrest

I knew immediately what it was, and having not captured one in the garden before I quickly rushed outside to get it....a cracking male Firecrest. I am sure that there will not be many who disagree when I say that this species is one of the best looking species in the British Isles, and beyond!!

Firecrest

The sharply pointed tail enabled me to age this bird as an immature, so a bird that was hatched this year.

Juvenile Tail of Firecrest

After release I was able to watch it feeding within willows at the bottom of the garden before heading off across the field behind to the denser scrub. What an amazing bird for a mid December ringing session in my garden!!!

Manor Farm Country Park Again...

With the predicted windy conditions not materialising, it was back to Manor Farm Country Park this morning for some more ringing. It was freezing and the heavy frost took its toll on my hands and feet, the latter still haven't warmed up this evening!!

We had a steady morning session which ended with 31 birds captured of which 13 were recaptures, most were fairly recent retraps, but two, a Dunnock and a Goldcrest were older.The Dunnock was ringed 2 years 298 days previously, but the notable one was the Goldcrest, which was ringed as an juvenile bird 3 years and 45 days previously. I have never previously retrapped a Goldcrest older than a year, so the age of this bird was quite a surprise. However, looking at data on the BTO website, it appears that the maximum recorded age for a Goldcrest is 4 years 10 months and 9 days, so our little chap has a little way to go yet!

Adult Male Goldcrest

Other species captured included five Blackbirds, three House Sparrows, a few Great Tits, Robins and Wrens. Another Linnet took our total for the year to 20 and this immaculately plumaged Blue Tit added to the cast.

Adult Blue Tit

There were hundreds of thrush's present, most of which were Fieldfare and Redwing, but the occasional Song Thrush was also recorded. We only captured one Song Thrush and two Redwing, despite our best efforts.

Immature Redwing

I was reading an article in the latest copy of BTO News about Redwing, which stated that the wintering population in most of Western Europe, including Britain, is the nominate race Turdus iliacus iliacus, with the race T.i.coburni, which breeds in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, wintering mainly in Ireland and northwest Iberia. However, there have been two ringing recoveries of this race in England, but it clearly is rare. So I started thinking how would I identify coburni if I caught one; the biometrics of the two races are virtually identical, although coburni does average slightly larger and the plumage overall is slightly darker, with heavier streaking on the throat and breast, and more extensive olive colouration across the flanks and under-tail coverts. 

Boldly Streaked Redwing

Looking at the two birds we captured today they both seemed to be boldly streaked on the  flanks and the under-tail coverts, but they lacked the bold streaking on the throat. Size wise they were both above average, with wing lengths of over 120mm, but given the variability in the species I think I am going to have to go to Iceland again and get my eye in before I am bold enough to claim one.

Bunny Meadows and Retrap Redshank

In my last post I mentioned the re-trap Common Redshank that was captured at Farlington Marshes during our ringing session, well here are the details. Bearing in mind that the National longevity record for this species in the UK is over 20 years, this bird was captured in August 2005 in another part of Langstone Harbour, so nothing spectacular there. But it was captured with 267 other Redshank and 26 Dunlin, and was an adult at the time, so unfortunately we will never know its true age!

With the rising tide combining with the setting sun, it seemed like an ideal time to search for waders back at Bunny Meadows. Black-headed Gulls were abundant and the wooden rails  were ideal resting locations, this adult winter individual proved to be particularly confiding.

Adult Winter Black-headed Gull

Ducks and waders were present in good numbers, with Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Eurasian Curlew, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Grey Plover and a single Red Knot present. But the most numerous species was Dunlin, with at least 500 birds present.

 

Dunlin Feeding on the Rising Tide

Birds were feeding on the rising tide, occasionally wheeling around before settling back on the mud, chattering and busily feeding before the last areas of mud disappeared.

Dunlin in Flight

As the sun continued to set and the tide continued to rise, the Dunlin became more tightly packed as they searched for the highest points and the most suitable roosting locations....

Dunlin Milling Around on the Rising Tide

............before finally settling down to roost.

Waders Settling Down to Roost in the Setting Sun

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.