Redwings
At first light there appeared to be plenty of thrushes in the scrub, including 100+ Redwing. Linnet numbers have also risen with larger flocks roving about. Other sightings included 1 Kestrel, 1 Sparrowhawk, 27 Whooper Swan, 6 Light-bellied Brent Geese and c45 Greenfinch feeding on rose hips, away from the ringing site. Things died off after 8am as the winds picked up and this was also the case in the ringing.
The nets caught a lot today, but not as hoped (but expected), with a ratio of ten leaves for every one bird! We totalled nine new birds with four Redwing, one Blackcap, one Blackbird, one Goldfinch, one Great Tit and one Wren. We didn't catch any birds after 08.30, so packed up early and headed for home.
I've finally managed to get some time to update the ringing records and I have attached a copy of the ringing totals for Portstewart Strand below. Thus far it has been a fairly pleasing season, with a good spread of species. We will probably wrap it up at the site at the end of November, so hopefully we can add a few more new species in that time. We wouldn't say no to another rarity!
Species | New | Retrap | Control | Total | |
1 | Blackbird | 38 | 12 | 50 | |
2 | Blackcap | 32 | 2 | 34 | |
3 | Blue Tit | 8 | 4 | 12 | |
4 | Bullfinch | 31 | 25 | 56 | |
5 | Chaffinch | 13 | 3 | 16 | |
6 | Chiffchaff | 3 | 3 | ||
7 | Dunnock | 40 | 45 | 85 | |
8 | Coal Tit | 5 | 3 | 8 | |
9 | Goldcrest | 9 | 8 | 17 | |
10 | Goldfinch | 51 | 1 | 52 | |
11 | Grasshopper Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||
12 | Great Tit | 7 | 3 | 10 | |
13 | Lesser Redpoll | 59 | 1 | 60 | |
14 | Linnet | 28 | 2 | 30 | |
15 | Meadow Pipit | 127 | 4 | 131 | |
16 | Redwing | 10 | 10 | ||
17 | Reed Bunting | 15 | 2 | 17 | |
18 | Robin | 35 | 13 | 48 | |
19 | Sand Martin | 3 | 3 | ||
20 | Sedge Warbler | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
21 | Skylark | 4 | 4 | ||
22 | Song Thrush | 24 | 4 | 28 | |
23 | Sparrowhawk | 2 | 2 | ||
24 | Starling | 1 | 1 | ||
25 | Stonechat | 9 | 3 | 12 | |
26 | Willow Warbler | 59 | 12 | 71 | |
27 | Woodpigeon | 1 | 1 | ||
28 | Wren | 29 | 30 | 59 | |
29 | Yellow-browed Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||
Total | 648 | 179 | 1 | 828 |
We have received word back from the BTO on the movements of a Storm Petrel and Black-headed Gull. The Storm Petrel was a bird ringed by us on the 27th of August 2014 and it was re-caught by another ringed 332 days later. The bird was trapped on Papa Westray, Orkney at a straight line distance of 518 km. I have updated the totals and maps in the tabs above.
Storm Petrel movement
For details on the Black-headed Gull check out the Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Survey blog - http://bhgullsni.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/black-headed-gull-el72723.html
Black-headed Gull movement
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