The Bird Ringer

2010-03-21T21:05:00.002Z

2010-01-12T20:29:00.003Z

Mistle Magic . . .

A much wanted ringing tick for Becca, at last the beautiful Mistle Thrush! Caught in the Whoosh net on Sunday morning along with more Blackbirds & Fieldfare. We have now caught 15 Fieldfare at our Suffolk Orchard ringing site in January. . .

2010-01-09T21:34:00.005Z

Ringer Revival . . .2010

Update May 2009 - Jan 2010 o be continued ASAP

A smart adult Rook caught today at our Orchard site in Suffolk (a ringing tick for Phil) along with several Blackbirds & Fieldfare. All were trapped using a Whoosh net & baited with apples . . . . .fantastic!

2009-05-21T20:39:00.006+01:00

From the top: A smart Nightingale, one of several now back on territory at our Suffolk ringing site. Image 2: A Chiffchaff nest in Pampas grass, Image 3: A Dunnock nest with bright blue eggs. Image 4: The speckled eggs and nest of a Blackbird.

2009-05-21T20:34:00.007+01:00

The first nest here is a Bullfinch nest with 5 speckled pale blue eggs. Image 2 is a Linnet nest, crammed with chicks! Image 3 & 4 below illustrate more Chaffinch nests, with both chicks and eggs.

2009-05-21T20:14:00.007+01:00

Mid-May Update . . . .

The first two photographs below show 2 Wicken Fen- Grey Heron

chicks, the third went missing at the late egg/early chick stage.

The last two images are of a Blackcap nest firstly with eggs and then

with very young chicks. . . .both from our Suffolk ringing site .

2009-05-04T17:43:00.011+01:00

Nest Finding - April

The first nests to be found in April and early May included the following: Photo 1 & 2: Grey Heron at Wicken Fen. Only 1 active nest this year. Photo 3 & 4: Several Chaffinch nests have been found. Photo 5: A Robin nest with chicks, found in the leaf litter. Photo 6: Another Chaffinch nest. . . .

2009-03-22T22:46:00.004Z

Long-tails get a head start . . . .

Long-tailed Tits are one of the earliest nest builders as it can take up to a month to fully build their intricate nests. They are also on of the easiest nests to locate as the pair are very vocal whilst nest building and can be easily tracked back to the nest site. Below are a couple of this years Long-tailed Tit nests Phil has found in Suffolk so far . . . .

2009-03-22T22:20:00.007Z

Wicken Eggsitement . . . .14th March.

On the 14th March Phil gave a talk on 'nest finding' at Wicken Fen NNR alongside BTO Carl Barimore's talk on the Nest Record Scheme & Peter Bircham's discussion on bird surveying at Wicken. This was a successful event followed by an interesting search and methodology discussion 'out in the field' as can be seen in the images below. Phil has already found several Long-tailed Tit and Blackbird nests at Wicken which were still being built as of the 14th March. After the talks, Phil, Carl, Peter (the qualified tree climber!) and myself visited the Wicken Fen Heronry site to check how many pairs were nesting this year. We found 3 active nests and one with 2 big pale blue eggs! Last year, Phil monitored the breeding success of Herons at Wicken for the first time in Wicken history. After confirming breeding on the Fen, the outcome at the end of the long breeding season was 5 active nests and 10 fledged young. 3 nests were accessible, allowing us to catch and ring 6 of the chicks - another first for the Wicken Fen Ringing Group, taking the species ringed at the fen to 100!

2009-03-22T22:09:00.005Z

Chiffchaff Sings in the Spring . . . .

On the 15th March we caught our first warbler of the year - a Chiffchaff at our coastal Suffolk ringing site. Several others were heard singing the same day and there are now at least 6 present.

2009-02-26T22:29:00.002Z

Waxwing Ringing Update - Suffolk. . .

We have now ringed a total of 21 Waxwing during 2009 in Suffolk. On the 24th Feb we caught 12 from a flock of over 50 birds residing in Rendlesham. Of these, 2 were birds we had already ringed in January, 1 in Rendlesham and the other in Kesgrave.

2009-01-23T13:17:00.006Z

Winging Waxwings. . . .

To date, we have ringed 11 Waxwings during January 2009 in Suffolk. 7 of these were ringed in Rendlesham, the others later at Kesgrave (26th Jan). These birds were all 1st year birds. There are currently 17 birds remaining (biggest count 47) at Rendlesham and now over 50 birds at Kesgrave. The 2 colour ringed birds are still in Rendlesham amongst the flock of 17. In Kesgrave, we spotted one of our own ringed birds from Rendlesham amongst the sizable and growing flock there. For other Waxwing colour ringed sightings or observations or for more Waxwing project info please email: raymond@waxwing.fsnet.co.uk. amazingly one of these Rendlesham birds was colour ringed in Aberdeen during Winter 2008 and was spotted in Stockport, Cheshire, before arriving and spending the last month or so in Rendlesham, Suffolk.

2009-01-16T08:23:00.001Z

2009-01-04T21:27:00.002Z

Last of the Fieldfare? . . . .

We were up before dawn and back to our Suffolk Orchard site today for a new year session trying to catch the many Fieldfare which had been seen feasting on rotten apples before Xmas (see first visit below . . ). Unfortunately our excitement and hopes were dashed upon arrival as the apples had all but completely gone and the flocks of Fieldfare were nowhere to be seen! We thought we were going to have a lot more time to catch these great Thrushes at this site this Winter but will now have to wait until next Winter and utilize the opportunity properly then - Xmas just got in the way this time! However, we did manage to catch 1 token Fieldfare, so all the effort was not wasted . . . . .

2009-01-01T22:55:00.001Z

2008-12-19T20:47:00.005Z

Apple Attraction . . . Suffolk 16th December 2008.

We have permission to ring at a fabulous old orchard site near Woodbridge where we have in past winters, noted Fieldfare coming down to feast on good numbers of apples which are not harvested but left in situ. On our first attempt at the site, we caught 6 Fieldfare which we were really pleased with (no tapes used here). There were 50 or so noted feeding on fallen apples throughout the day. We have high hopes for a lot more Fieldfare here as the winter progresses (Interestingly there were only 9 Fieldfare ringed in total in Suffolk in 2006).

2008-12-19T20:33:00.006Z

At last a Jay! Cambridgeshire Ringing Site . . . 11th December 2008.

Finally I (Becca) have managed to get rid of my ringing 'bogey' bird - the JAY! A fine example was caught whilst coming to a peanut feeder at our Cambridgeshire ringing site. These birds are hardy, strong and very aggressive! There is power in that bill! Jays take a 'D' ring, the same as Lapwing, Green Woodpecker, male Sparrowhawk and Redshank to name but a few. This bird was an adult (4) based on the black bars on the blue feathers on the primary coverts being aligned with each other (see below).

2008-12-19T20:25:00.004Z

Spring Trap Sandpiper - Suffolk - 3rd December 2008.

A Green Sandpiper was trapped and ringed on the Deben Estuary on the afternoon of the 3rd December. The spring trap was set up at the waters edge of a small reservoir within our ringing site, where several Sandpiper had been seen feeding along the water margin.

2008-12-19T20:18:00.003Z

Suffolk Redpolls . . . . .17th November 2008.

Back at our Deben site post Fair Isle, we managed via tape-luring, to catch 7 smart Lesser Redpolls.

2008-12-19T19:38:00.012Z

Suffolk Sewage works - Revisited . . . .November 19th 2008.

We visited the Sewage Work site again in Mid November but unfortunately had little success. Although there were a few wagtails, both Pied and Grey in the vicinity, the numbers were smaller than previous visits. After spending the afternoon and evening in the area, we only caught one Pied Wagtail with two 40 ft mist nets up and a tape lure. The bird caught was a first year (3) Male. See the bottom image below which shows the new, dark greater coverts in contrast with the brown old retained ones.

2008-10-30T21:33:00.007Z

Siberian Chiffchaff (Tristis) . . .

2008-10-27T09:39:00.011Z

Merlin Magic . . .

Sunday nights 'dazzling' session - (the highlight of each day now there are so few birds about!) saw the triumphant ringers return with this fantastic 1st year female Merlin which had been dazzled as it roosted next to the roadside. Merlins are quite a handful as they are extremely alert & vicious, they will attack with their talons or bill at any opportunity and have lightning reactions! After Phil ringed this bird, which took an 'E' ring & was a ringing 'tick' for him, it was roosted overnight in a box & released at first light the next morning. There have been at least 3 Merlin seen hunting about the Island over the last few days. I particularly like the rufous underwing pattern as shown below . . .

2008-10-27T09:21:00.003Z

A large catch . . . (Friday night continued)

Friday nights catch included 6 Whooper Swans. Of these 6 birds, 2 of them already had Darvic Rings on & were from Iceland! One other was a retrap from the night before. The other 3 were brought back & ringed with split rings size 'M' - a very different type of ring to work with! It was great to see these incredible birds so close & in the hand - they are so large & heavy! Interestingly all the Whooper Swans we have caught so far have been very calm & placid in the hand - unlike Mute Swans . A Herring Gull was also caught along with the other Wigeon & Tufted Duck mentioned in an older post below.

2008-10-26T22:11:00.002Z

Wildfowl & Waders . . .

Friday night 'dazzling' ended with a Wigeon, Tufted Duck & Whooper Swans in the ringing room. The Oystercatchers were caught a few nights earlier. One was an adult bird & the other a 1st year - see photograph below of both of them together showing differences in eye & bill colour & bill length. The adult was released without ringing as it had a serious leg injury caused by sheep's wool which had wrapped around the leg & over time had tightened - the leg was cut deeply & close to coming off altogether. The bird had sadly died the next morning. Oystercatchers with wool around their legs are a fairly common sight on Fair Isle where they suffer the consequences of feeding in fields where small quantities of loose wool are in abundance. Many Oystercatchers die a slow death after picking up wool & others end up losing a leg & carry on a healthy & active existence with only one.

2008-10-24T20:15:00.001+01:00

Fair Isle Fare . . .

There has been a marked increase in Fieldfare over the last few days. This bird was trapped in one of the heligoland traps and is a first year female based on tail shape (pointed tips not rounded like adult) & female due to the lack of black on the underside of the crown feathers.

2008-10-24T19:44:00.002+01:00

Jack of Snipes . . .

We love Jack Snipe so it was great to see one in the hand & with a Common Snipe for close comparison after another successful dazzling session on Thursday evening (23rd). 1st & 2nd pic below Jack Snipe, 3rd Common & Jack Snipe, 4th Common Snipe, 5th Jack & Common Snipe.

2008-10-23T11:32:00.002+01:00

More Dazzling Success . . .

Tuesday evening saw another Tufted Duck dazzled and brought back to the Obs for processing. During the day more Purple Sandpipers were Spring trapped in the Havens, a few more Snow Bunting were ringed after being caught in the single panel net on the beach & a striking Woodcock was trapped in Vaadal. On Wednesday, a change in the weather brought in an influx of Redwing with numbers ringed reaching double figures. Wednesday night saw a return of higher winds & rain - so more dazzling was called for. This time the 'Dazzlers' brought back 5 Greylag Geese & 2 fabulous young Whooper Swans. . .

2008-10-20T20:57:00.002+01:00

Razzle Dazzle . . .

This morning saw the 3rd Purple Sandpiper ringed in 2 days - spring trapped in South Haven. Bird of the day goes to an adult female Tufted Duck which was caught in North Haven. The appalling weather seemed perfect for a nights dazzling, so Phil and several Obs staff headed out north after dark to dazzle Gulls, only to return an hour later clutching 10 Greylag Geese! Quite a catch, which left the ringing room floor in a bit of a state!

2008-10-18T18:47:00.001+01:00

Snow Flurry . . .

Well hardly a flurry - managed to catch 3 Snow Bunting out of a large flock of over 50 birds on North Haven Beach. A single panel net was used in the only sheltered area on the beach. There will be further attempts . . . .

2008-10-17T20:16:00.003+01:00

Fair Isle Ringing - October 2008

Redwing - showing size & plumage differences between races, iliacus on left & the larger, darker, coburni on the right. Also Reed Warbler & Common Redpoll (probably islandica). A Pink-footed Goose which was 'dazzled' in Boini Mire, Lesser Whitethroat, Barred Warbler & Redshank (Redshank spring trapped on South Haven).

Wagtail Roost - Woodbridge Sewage Works - Sept'08

2008-10-03T12:41:00.001+01:00

The first session at the sewage works proved successful with 10 Pied Wagtails being caught, 8 juveniles and 2 adults (at this stage it is not possible to confirm whether the juveniles were Pied or White). The images below are of juveniles.

Nightingale - Woodbridge - Suffolk Site.

2008-10-03T12:34:00.000+01:00

The images below are of an adult Nightingale taken at our Woodbridge ringing site in May 2008. We had at least 6 breeding pairs present throughout the summer. 1 adult was a control from Strasbourg. 1 juvenile was caught and ringed.

Firecrest - Woodbridge - Suffolk Site.

2008-10-03T12:18:00.001+01:00

We had a male Firecrest present throughout the summer. Breeding was not confirmed. This individual was joined by a second male in September.

Ringing on the Deben, Suffolk - 22nd-24th Sept'08

2008-09-26T23:10:00.000+01:00

We have been ringing at the Woodbridge site since May 2008 on a fairly regular basis. To date, we have ringed 530 birds there. Highlights include 10 Nightingales, 1 Firecrest and best of all: 1 Yellow-browed Warbler trapped on the 23rd September (see photo opposite) and a good inland Suffolk record. We have controlled 3 birds at the site so far, these being a Nightingale that was ringed in Strasbourg (believed to be the 6th foreign recovery of this species in Britain), a Long-tailed Tit and a Greenfinch. During this latest ringing session we caught a total of 92 birds over 2 days with 4 'site firsts' - Yellow-browed Warbler, Siskin, Barn Swallow and Redwing.We also noted small numbers of Redwing and Song Thrushes passing through, these were our first Redwing of the Autumn. Other birds ringed over the weekend included several Coal Tit (15th ringed since May) and Blackcaps. This is a first year (3) male. Note the brown specks in the blackening crown.