A few more Recoveries

We've received a couple more recoveries from the BTO.

The first was another of our Storm Petrels heading off to the Treshnish Isles on the west coast of Scotland - our seventh caught here and the sixth on Lunga Island specifically.

We caught the bird at Rinnagree Point on the 25th of July 2017 and it was recovered on Lunga, 146km away, on the 28th of June 2018.

Storm Petrel Recovery

The next one wasn't particularly distant but interesting all the same. It is my first personal Lesser Redpoll recovery which was originally ringed on the 16th of April 2015 at Portstewart Strand. It was found dead just 7km away in Coleraine (just down the road from my house) but the 1363 days between ringing is pretty impressive. The bird was born in 2014 so made it into its 5th calendar year - the longevity record for Lesser Redpoll is 6 years old, most living just 2 years.

There is an old blog post from the same date this bird was ringed - see the link

http://causewaycoastrg.blogspot.com/2015/04/portstewart-strand-18042015.html

Lesser Redpoll

We have been out doing a little bit of ringing but the weather has finally turned and the arctic winds have brought us a lot of cold wet weather including the first snows of the winter. It's more of the same this week but there is a potential weather window open this coming weekend. I'll update on these recent activities when I have a bit more time.

Copeland Bird Observatory 28-30th October

On Friday evening Richard, David, James, Laurence and I (Steve) were joined by 2 non-ringers Andy and Pat to begin our journey to Copeland Bird Observatory from Donaghadee Harbour. Of course we could not begin our trip without grabbing our usual pre-CBO feed from the local chippy – delicious!  The journey across on The Mermaid is much slower than on the Observatories RHIB but it did give us a chance to observe Turnstones, Cormorants/Shags, Red-breasted Merganser and many gulls off Big Copeland.  The weather was good, with a slight South Westerly breeze, we were fairly optimistic that the weather would remain calm and fine for the weekend ahead.

Yellow-browed Warbler   (DS)

On reaching the island at dusk, we set about getting the mist nets up in the usual net rides at mid garden, NW Garden, Heli 60’, Heli Extension, Thicket, Pond 60', Withy, Millennium Wood, the Ditch and a new net ride at Bluebell.  We also set the four Heligoland traps, the Crow trap and a few Potter and Spring traps.  The Potters were baited with sardines as they have been producing the goods with Water Rail recently.  It was well into darkness by the time we got finished so all nets were furled as we went, ready for a busy day on Saturday.  While erecting the last net c30 Greylag Geese came in to roost on Mew Island – and what a racket they made!

Fieldfare

The next day Richard and I got up earlier than the others to prepare the nets and tape lures before dawn.  Being so late in the autumn, the main migrants passing through were thrushes with Blackbird, Song Thrush and Redwing.  The species that really caught our attention though were the Fieldfare.  Two of the Fieldfares wound up in mist nets and both, with beautiful speckled markings on their orangey throats.  This set the mood for the rest of the day. The first weekend of October 2015 saw us with high hopes of catching a Yellow-browed Warbler; a bird ringed less than 10 times before in Northern Ireland.  Being so late, the chances of getting one were slim but by 10am, I had a Yellow-browed Warbler in my hand and it was beautiful.  Lesser Redpoll numbers tend to dwindle around late October but we still had a few passing through, including a Goldpoll (a Redpoll with a golden crown in place of red) and a BTO Control (ringed somewhere else in the UK or Ireland).

Lesser Redpoll   (DS)

Song Thrush (top) and Redwing (bottom)   (DS)

Later that morning a flock of c120 Starling and a mixed flock of c150 Redwing, Fieldfare and Song Thrush passed over the island.  As well as the Yellow-browed Warbler we added another new species for the year in the form of two Wigeon amongst a flock of over 90 Teal off Mew Island. In the evening we caught a glimpse of a female Sparrowhawk but it made its way back towards big Copeland and a Buzzard was perched on the Mew Lighthouse.  A Short-eared Owl was spotted on Big Copeland although not by us unfortunately, as this would have been a nice addition to the CBO year list.

Redwing

The next day the Yellow-browed Warbler was relocated in Bluebell Gully where it had been last heard on Saturday afternoon.  There were a few more Lesser Redpoll, Redwing, Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Linnet and Blackbird on the move.  The Gully heligoland trap performed well producing a six Meadow Pipit but with the trap being unfinished it could have possibly caught more.  There were a good number of Grey Seal pups scattered around the island, snuggled in amongst the rocks with their mothers close by.  The glorious weather on Sunday, which felt like earlier September, produced a late migrant butterfly - a Red Admiral. 

Grey Seal Pup   (SF)

Ringing Totals for Copeland Bird Observatory 29-30th October

                                             New    Retraps  Controls

Blackbird                               3           5

Blackcap                               2

Chaffinch                              4

Dunnock                               5           4

Fieldfare                               2

Goldcrest                             1            2

Goldfinch                              2

Linnet                                    1

Lesser Redpoll                    24                          1

Meadow Pipit                      6

Redwing                               14         1

Robin                                     1          8

Song Thrush                         5           1

Wren                                      3          4

Yellow-browed Warbler    1

Total                                     74        25             1 __      

As this was the last visit of the season we were set with a list of end of season chores.  After these were completed we were able to relax and wait for the boat to arrive.  We brought five lawnmowers ashore for servicing and it must have been quite a sight watching us lift the heavy machines off the boat and carrying them up on the steps of the harbour walls on our return to Donaghadee.

 The team ready for home

Fully packed boat home

As we left Copeland Bird Observatory behind us, the sun was dropping behind the mainland and brought a close on a very successful weekend and yet another brilliant season at Northern Ireland's only bird observatory.  Bring on next year as I'm sure everyone who has been to the island is desperately longing to return.

The Observatory building locked up and ready for winter

 Sunset over Donaghadee

Myself (Steve), Richard and David

Richard will be back at the weekend with an update about the goings on back at home over the last week. 

Steve Fyffe

Last Sunday morning I headed down to Portstewart Strand, to prep the site for the coming autumn season.  We had done a bit of 'whacking' a month ago or so, but there had been plenty more growth in this period, so the net rides were in need of a little TLC.  I brought a strimmer plus a blade head, so I was able to blitz the net rides into good condition and hopefully they won't need any further work until next summer.  I didn't finish the western net rides but hope to do those soon.

Lesser Redpoll

I also took the opportunity to set up a feeding station around the 'East Ride' net run.  We first used feeders at the site this spring from April-May and they worked well to attract Goldfinch and Linnets but they should be more prolific through the autumn.... if we can keep them topped up.  I have scrapped feeding in the garden and will focus solely on Portstewart Strand - the cost of running two feeding stations, the chance of oddities at PSS, plus the hundreds of tits in the garden make the decision an easy one.  I had a couple of nets open while on site catching only a handful of birds - included in the totals below.   

'East Ride'

Yesterday morning (Saturday) presented the first opportunity to ring at the site with John, Dineka and myself present.  We arrived on site at 06.30 in calm, sunny conditions and set up the Gorse Nets, East Ride, the first 24m of WR plus a new 12m net by the feeders.  It was clear to see that the feeding station is having the desired effect with near empty feeders and plenty of droppings.

The new feeding station

The catch was decent but we were very dependant on the feeders which caught the majority of the 15 Goldfinches and 6 Lesser Redpolls plus the 2 Chaffinch, Reed Bunting and Great Tit.  All but one of the Goldfinches and Lesser Redpolls were juveniles.  There were still a couple of singing Willow Warblers about but only one juvenile was caught plus a complete absence of Blackcaps.  The feeding station should only get better over the next few months and hopefully attract a few more species.   
The clouds started to gather around 10am, so we packed up and it was a wise choice as the heavens opened just as we were finishing off. 


Portstewart Strand 06/08/2016 (+ 3(3) from 31/07/2016)                                      
                                       New     Retraps

Blue Tit                                            1     
Bullfinch                          4
Chaffinch                         2
Dunnock                          1
Goldcrest                         1
Goldfinch                        14             1
Great Tit                           1
Lesser Redpoll                 5              1
Linnet                               1
Meadow Pipit                   1
Reed Bunting                   1
Robin                                3             2            
Willow Warbler                  1
Wren                                 2

Total                                37             5        

Goldfinch

News has come in about one of the colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits sighted in the Bann Estuary back at the start of May.  As suspected the bird was indeed Portuguese having been ringed at Alhos Vedros (South Tank), Tagus Estuary, Setúbal, Portugal on the 12th of November 2008 as an adult female.  The bird was subsequently recorded 18 times over the next five winters between October and mid-March in and around the Tagus estuary.  She was also recorded on the way north last Spring on the 17th of April at Bovenkerkerpolder, Amstelveen, Noord Holland, Netherlands.
The other CR Black-tailed Godwit has been confirmed as a French bird but exact details have not been received as yet.

Black-tailed Godwit recovery

 

John, Jeff and Dineka were out again on Monday night catching Storm Petrels at Rinnagree Point.  The conditions were ideal but it was quite yet again with 9 new birds and a single British controlled bird.  The birds disappeared before 1am with the net taken down half an hour later.  Overall numbers caught are down but the first few weeks of August can still produce catches of over 50 birds, so we plan to get 3/4 more attempts in before the month is out. 

Storm Petrel

Steve was out ringing in his garden last Sunday and caught a nice mixed bag of species.  As of this week he is now a married man so the shackles are on!

Steve's Garden 31/07/2016                                      
                                       New     Retraps
Coal Tit                                           1
Chaffinch                          1
Dunnock                           1
Great Tit                            2
Greenfinch                        1   
House Sparrow                 5    
Robin                                1
Willow Warbler                 1    
Wren                                 1     

Total                                13            1          

Greenfinch

 



Dodgy phone scoped Common Sandpiper

Some of the 115+ Sandwich Terns roosting in the estuary with at least 7 bearing rings



Sunday 17th of April

This morning we were out bright an early for the next session at Portstewart Strand.  John and I were joined by a new trainee ringer from County Donegal who managed to arrive shortly after 6am after departing the house at 04.15 - good to see some commitment!  The weather was settled to start with good cloud cover but it broke up through the morning leaving fairly sunny conditions.  The wind picked up to 20+ mph from the west late morning and ended the session (including one net full of sticks and brambles which took 15 minutes to clear).    
Steve was out ringing by himself in a site near Omagh out in the west. 

Lesser Redpoll

The male Willow Warblers are now back in force at PSS with 25+ singing males scattered throughout the scrub.  Four birds were captured including two more returning birds originally ringed in April last year. The only other notable change in birds were a single Swallow, an increase in Lesser Redpolls and Black-tailed Godwits plus the absence of Black-headed Gulls.
A total of 24 birds were processed, ten of those new, the best bird was a new male Reed Bunting.
Steve caught nine new birds with three Siskin, five Goldfinch and one Willow Warbler. 


Combined ringing totals 17/04/2016
                                  New       Retraps          

Blackbird                                    3      

Chaffinch                    1               2

Dunnock                     1               3                                                    

Goldfinch                    5                                                                      

Lesser Redpoll           4               1

Linnet                                          1               

Reed Bunting             1                          

Robin                          1               2         

Siskin                          3

Willow Warbler           3              2                      

Total                          19              14          

Reed Bunting

On Saturday morning I made a quick visit to the Bird Hide in the Bann Estuary and picked up a new colour ringed Black-tailed Godwit, as seen below and also the first few Whimbrel of the year with ten birds.

Colour ringed Black-tailed Godwit

Mid January Ringing

On Sunday morning, John, Steve and I headed down to Antrim to meet with the guys from Copeland Bird Observatory for the next instalment of their winter ringing training program.  It is a great opportunity for trainees who visit the Obs to get in some extra ringing and keep themselves well practised over the closed season.  I had been eagerly anticipating the freezing forecast conditions for the weekend but they didn't materialise, particularly on Sunday when the forecast -8°C came in at +5°C.  The plus side was safer driving conditions and all fingers & toes are still attached. 

The site was heaving with birds on arrival around 8.30 with large flocks of finches drifting about.  There were much fewer thrushes around, compared to the last visit but a flock of c30 Redwing  appeared late in the morning and a flock of mixed thrushes were noted in the open fields on departure. 
The catch itself was much smaller than previous visits but it was nice to get 11 Lesser Redpoll following a record year at the Observatory with over 500 ringed and also 7 Linnet from the cereal cover crop. 

Ringing Totals   17/01/2016                                     
                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

Blackbird                       1                1

Blue Tit                          2                3

Chaffinch                       3             

Coal Tit                                            2         

Great Tit                        5                6

Goldcrest                       1                1

Goldfinch                       4                                                                           

Lesser Redpoll             11               2

Linnet                             7

 

Total                              34              15       

  

 

 

 On Saturday morning I opened the nets in the garden bright and early in cold and crisp conditions.  I only had the nets open for around an hour before the rain started and I had to close up.  I had opted for an extra 12m net, so the rain was probably a blessing in disguise as the birds were coming thick and fast and I only have one pair of hands.  The catch was decent for the limited time and it was pleasing to ring another three Siskins.  The majority of the retraps were from the last session but there were two Great Tits from Dec 2012, who would appear to be a pair. 

 

 

Ringing Totals   16/01/2016                                     

                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

 

Blue Tit                          4                8

Chaffinch                       6             

Coal Tit                          2                6         

Dunnock                        1    

Great Tit                        4                5                                                               

Long-tailed Tit              1                1

Robin                                               1  

Siskin                             3

 

Total                              21              21       

 

 

Ken also had a one to one session in his garden for one of his trainees on Saturday, but like myself, were held up by the rain.  They were able to open the nets in the scrub after 1pm and managed to process 22 birds

 

Copeland Bird Observatory 2nd - 4th October

After our routine pre-CBO 'chippy', John, Ken, Steve and I were ready to jump into the RHIB and set sail for Lighthouse Island.  We met up with Island regulars David, Philip and Ian at the harbour in Donaghadee, who were accompanied by Olli, on his first trip.  As forecast, the winds were very light and the sea was flat calm for a change.
On arrival on the island, we set about readying the nets and traps.  With 6 ringers on hand we set a few extra nets than the norm, covering most of the north and east of the island.  In total we set 10 mist nets, with the 4 in situ Heligoland traps, the crow trap, plus 7 spring & potter traps.     

Lesser Redpoll

When setting up it was evident there were a few birds knocking about and we caught a couple of Blackcap, Goldcrest and Song Thrush before sunset around 7pm.  After dark, a few us headed out in search of a few Manx Shearwaters but with little hope.  It is very late in the season and the majority of the chicks should have fledged and be on route to the southern hemisphere.  Luckily we managed to find 12 new chicks within half an hour and the following night added 5 more. 
  The CBO team along with Oxford University were successful in retrieving 3 geolocators from adult birds over the summer.  These had been attached 3/4 years ago when the birds were chicks in their burrows.  It is not known exactly what young shearwaters do from their first migration south until they return to the breeding colonies 3/4 later.  Hopefully the data can be extracted and it will shed some light/confirm peoples thoughts in what they do!  For updates on the project, follow Copeland Bird Observatory on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/copelandbirdobservatory?fref=ts

Linnet

The next day, we were up before dawn (two of us anyway!) to open the nets and get ready for the mornings ringing.  Again the conditions were ideal and the birds started trickling out of the bushes and into the mist nets.  The birds consisted of Blackbird, Blackcap, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Robin, Song Thrush and Wren.  It wasn't long before the finches got moving with flocks of Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll and Linnet moving around/over the island plus c30 Skylark.  With the help of tape lures we picked up 73 Lesser Redpoll and 11 Linnet, before closing the nets early afternoon.  A Hooded Crow found it's way into the crow trap for a second time, following its initial foray in April.  The sea remained quite for the most but totals of 1000+ Razorbill, 500+ Gannet, c40 Eiders, c50 Harbour Porpoise, a few Red-throated Diver and other bits and pieces kept Ian content.  The Grey Seal breeding season is in full swing with at least 40 seal pups spotted at the Observatory and on the near side of Mew Island, with probably many more around the rest of Mew and Big Copeland.  The bulls (males) were also getting very frisky, as the females come in to season. 

                                            Grey Seal pup           (© Steve Fyffe)

  Adult Grey Seals

On Sunday morning the conditions were perfect, with next to no wind and a good covering of cloud.  The initial net rounds showed there had been an arrival of Chiffchaff, with 14 ringed in the first few hours.  The catch was similar to Saturday but with an added Wheatear from the 'Heli Trap' at first light, a Woodpigeon from the 'Thicket' net and a Meadow Pipit in a spring trap.  Again the finches got moving with Linnets (including a flock of c50), hundreds of Lesser Redpoll, plenty of Goldfinches and a single Chaffinch.  The Lesser Redpolls surpassed the previous days totals and this corresponded in the ringing totals, with 103 new birds.  The sea was again pretty quite but 3 Great Skua, c100 Curlew and a few extra Black Guillemot was something.  No Hirundines were noted all weekend.

Wheatear

Chiffchaff

 



Overall it was a very enjoyable weekend with lots of birds ringed and some good weather.  Unfortunately we couldn't produce one of the Yellow-browed Warblers, that have pouring down the coasts of the UK and Ireland, that we were hoping for. 


CBO    Ringing Totals         02-04/10/2015

                                        New        Retrap           

 

Blackbird                         1                4                   

Blackcap                          6                1                            

Chiffchaff                       14  

Dunnock                          3                             

Goldcrest                        27               2

Goldfinch                         1                                      

Hooded Crow                                    1

Lesser Redpoll              175  

Linnet                              14

Meadow Pipit                   1

Manx Shearwater           17               2

Robin                               13              5                                                                                

Song Thrush                    4                                                                            

Wheatear                         1      

Woodpigeon                    1

Wren                                4                1                                

 

Total                               282             16        

 



A bird laden Pond 60' net

 



 

Other bits and pieces from the weekend included Peregrine Falcon, Sparrowhawk, up to 7 Buzzard, a possible Harrier spp., Stock Dove, Water Rail, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Snipe Turnstone, Grey Heron, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull Fulmar, Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Magpie, Jackdaw, Raven, Rook, Cormorant, Shag, Teal, Mallard, Starling, Reed Bunting, Pheasant, Small-tortoiseshell and Red Admiral. 

 

 

Home time at 'East Landing'

 

 

Portstewart Strand 16/04/2015

The winds had finally eased on the 'North Coast,' so I was able to get out for my next session at Portstewart Strand.  I arrived on site at 06.15, with the temperature at -1°C and set up 'West Ride' and the gorse nets.  The full sunshine heated things up and it had reached 12°C by my departure around midday.  The breeze remained light and it clouded over a little, but the sun still impacted the nets, particularly the gorse nets which are exposed. 

Image showing the patches of gorse and the two blocks of scrub behind, where we set the nets

 

 

The only obvious migrants around were the dozens of singing Willow Warbler, at least 3 male Blackcap, a single Swallow and a number of Sandwich Terns. 

The catch of 25 new birds and 5 retraps was made up mostly of Lesser Redpoll  (34 caught on site this year) and Willow Warbler, plus the first Blackcap of the year. 

 

Smart male Lesser Redpoll

 



 

Surprisingly 5 of the Willow Warbler were caught skulking about the low gorse nets, rather than the singing males around the 'West Ride'.  From the picture below you can see that the Sea Buckthorn is still at budding stage but the warm weather over the next few days should open the leaves.  The Elder is a step further, with the first few leaves out but it will also fill out in the coming days, increasing the catches in the currently bare net rides. 

 

 

A rather bare section of 'East Ride'

 

 



Willow Warbler

 

 

Ringing Totals 16/04/2015

                             New         Retrap

Blackbird                1                

Blackcap                 1

Bullfinch                 2               2

Chaffinch                1

Dunnock                                   1

Lesser Redpoll        9

Linnet                      1

Robin                      1                                              

Willow Warbler      8

Wren                       1               2                 

Total                      25                5