Shifting Shores

The time has come again when we shift shores from the east (north) shore of the Bann Estuary to the west shore at Castlerock Golf Club. As usual the focus here are the nets set amongst the millions of Sea Buckthorn berries which support a nice mix of finches and thrushes.
This year we have finally set up a feeding station with mixed seed and nyjer on offer.
The first two visits were only sample catches whilst we prepared the net rides and set up the feeding station, with the later two visits being more focused on ringing. We have still got two of the net rides to clear but the catches have been steady that we haven't found the time as yet.

Snow Bunting

The star bird so far was a Snow Bunting which was caught at first light not far from the feeders. This is the first to be ringed in Northern Ireland since 1998 with possibly as few as 13 ringed in all of Ireland since 1952. 

Snipe

There is a fantastic small marsh close by which I've recorded as holding up to 69 Common Snipe and 5 Jack Snipe. On one of the visits we set some nets along the edge of the pool in the dark hoping to catch some of the Snipe on return to the pool after feeding in the nearby fields at night. We only caught a single Snipe and flushed another 7/8. There were at least 3 Jack Snipe present also and with a little net rejig, we have more luck next time. 

Fieldfare

The other catches have been healthy with lots of Bullfinches and good numbers of Song Thrushes present. What has been noticeable in their absence are the Fieldfares with just one seen and caught when the wintering population can number up to 600 and is normally around 100 birds daily. Chaffinches too are absent with one caught and not many more present, usually there are 30-40 and regularly caught.

The feeders have attracted in some Goldfinches and Linnets with a few caught and they will hopefully continue to attract more birds into the spring - perhaps not too many tit species! 

Castlerock Golf Club - November - 1st December 2019

                      New      Retrap

Blackbird          6           2

Blue Tit             3           1

Bullfinch          15          6              

Chaffinch          1

Dunnock           4           1

Fieldfare            1

Goldcrest           2

Goldfinch         12          1

Greenfinch        6

Linnet               10

Robin                 4           1

Snipe                  1

Snow Bunting    1

Song Thrush      9

Wren                   3

Total                  78        12                

Portstewart Strand Dunes Autumn 2019

Autumn at Portstewart has been ticking a long with reasonable catches but no stand out birds or large catches as yet. Effort has been down quite a bit as I've been running solo at the dunes up until the middle of October and I have otherwise been distracted getting married in mid-September then heading off for a few weeks to South Africa & Dubai.

Fieldfare

In total since August there have been 11 visits, 3 in August, 5 in September and 3 in October with 254 new birds caught. The most productive visit was on the 18th of September with 68 birds trapped, made up of a big catch of Linnets. I've been making more of an effort to catch Linnets this autumn in the hopes of getting some retraps and build a better of picture of where the birds come from. At the moment, the only retraps I generally get are during the breeding season when a couple of pairs seem to nest very close to a couple of the gorse nets. Otherwise, the flocks of birds passing through seem to be new.

Linnet

We added another new species for the Bann Estuary with the capture of a Grey Wagtail using a tape lure early morning, a further two were attracted in on the same morning but not caught. The Fieldfare caught on the last visit on the 21st of October was a first for the dunes at Portstewart Strand. That makes it 59 different species trapped in the estuary since autumn 2014, with 43 species trapped at Portstewart Strand.

Underside of a Grey Wagtail

                                         New     Retrap

Blackbird                            4            3
Blackcap                            4            

Blue Tit                               1            1                

Bullfinch                             8            2

Chaffinch                            4            2    
Dunnock                            16           8
Fieldfare                              1
Goldcrest                           11          3              
Goldfinch                           31
Great Tit                              2           4
Grey Wagtail                       1
Linnet                                 85
Meadow Pipit                     30
Redwing                              2
Reed Bunting                     1
Robin                                  11          6
Song Thrush                       5

Stonechat                          11          

Swallow                              1  

Whitethroat                         1      

Willow Warbler                   5                 

Wren                                   19        10

              

Total                                  254       40          

Willow Warbler

At the moment it's looking to be a very poor year for Blackcaps and Reed Buntings, effort on catching Meadow Pipits has been down and Blackbird, Song Thrush and Chaffinch numbers are lower but generally October and early November are the best period for those. Willow Warbler has done quite well since the drastic habitat loss but still less than half the number caught in 2015.

The remnant scrub is very patchy and undoubtedly we have lost a large population of breeding birds. My hope is that the migrants passing through will still remain consistent but with much fewer ideal net rides and with those remaining more susceptible to the wind, it makes it more challenging.

What remains of my favourite former net ride, which used to measure 90 metres, now only fits a 9 metre net - it was great for Blackcaps and chipped in with Garden Warbler & Lesser Whitethroat.

One thing that has remained consistent is the continual flow of litter down the river. My new pet hate are shotgun cartridges and wads which are never ending both here and at Lough Foyle and I've gathered 200+ this year. Every little bit I can do as I walk between nets does build up to be quite substantial.

Copeland Bird Obs Winter Training - November 2017

I've been slacking once again and not updated the blog in a month but we have been a little idle over the past three/four weeks down to weekend weather and lack of free time. My last time out, until today, was back on the 27th of October at Portstewart Strand, so we really missed out on the thrush passage.

This morning Steve, David and I were up in Antrim for the first Copeland Bird Observatory training session of the winter. We ring here once a month Nov-Mar outside the Obs season to give the trainees a little more experience and to handle some new species. We had a good mix of 5 trainees, 3 C and 3 A permit holders.
The feeding station was really quiet with not a Goldfinch in sight and very few thrushes but we still processed over 100 birds.
The wild bird seed plot produced half the haul from two well placed nets.
The best bird of the morning was the first Blackcap for the site and 28 new Linnets is a great catch.

Blackcap

Antrim Ringing Totals - 19/11/2017
                  
                             New       Retraps

Blackcap                1
Blue Tit                  6              2
Chaffinch              17             5
Coal Tit                  4              1
Dunnock                2              1
Goldcrest               8
Great Tit                 1               2
Lesser Redpoll      5
Linnet                    28              1
Long-tailed Tit      10
Robin                     7
Wren                      3

Totals                   92              12        

Initial signs are that it was a bad year for Blue and Great Tits. This time last year we caught 14 Greti but just one juvenile today. The Blue Tit catch was also low and only 3 of the 8 were juveniles. There were a few Blackbirds around but not feeding on the fruit trees just yet. We caught 27 new Blackbirds in the first two visits of last winter. A cold snap and a touch of frost would help the next catch!

Long-tailed Tits

Although we had planned to carry on at Portstewart Strand for a few more visits, it turns out that the 27th of October was the final visit of the season. I was down by myself in mild sunny conditions with some light northerlies. As I sit now I don't remember all that much about the day but I did catch 34 new birds. The total was heavily boosted by Linnets with 17 new birds.

Portstewart Strand 27/10/2017                            
                             New         Retrap
Blackbird               2                        
Blue Tit                  1      
Bullfinch                2                2
Chaffinch               4
Goldcrest               2                2 
Goldfinch               1
Great Tit                 1      
Dunnock                                  1  
Linnet                    17  
Robin                                       1         
Song Thrush         1
Wren                      3

Totals                    34              6         

Bullfinch

John was out on the 2nd  of November at the University River Site and over a few hours caught 23 new birds including 12 Long-tailed Tits and a Blackcap.

We were all up at the BTO Northern Ireland Birdwatchers Conference last Saturday at Oxford Island and thoroughly enjoyed the range of talks with plenty of focus on ringing, migration and talks on Ireland's two bird observatories!

I will follow up with the end of season totals for Portstewart Strand in the next month or so. As for now it should be back to Castlerock but I have been saying that for a few weeks and not made it out the door! There has been no sign of the usual winter thrushes feeding on the Sea Buckthorn berries but it is early doors yet. I have prepared the net rides at Castlerock but other than that, we don't have any real plans for the winter and have yet to set up any feeders but will find other bits and pieces to keep us busy.

27m net ride at Castlerock

Portstewart Strand 06th & 8th October 2017

On Friday (06th) John, Ken and I were joined by a couple from France who had last ringed with us back in 2015 when they were studying at the University of Ulster. They have both since gone on to complete their undergrad degrees and now a masters in Ecology & Water Chemistry and are enjoying a bit of time touring around Ireland. The conditions were perfect with hardly a breath of wind and good cloud cover.

We set most of the nets pre dawn and had one 'WinterWoozle' tape playing in the hopes of some winter thrushes. On checking the first net, we had caught couple of thrushes and normally I extract the biggest birds out of the net first but an interesting Sylvia warbler caught my eye in the top corner. As I lowered the net I could see that the bird was certainly not a Blackcap and was in fact the first ever Garden Warbler I have seen in Northern Ireland, so unsurprisingly a new species for the site. The only other one that we have caught in NI was a bird at the River Site at the Uni by Rick some four/five years previous.

Garden Warbler

Bird numbers were more numerous this morning but a little less diverse including 300+ Meadow Pipit, 100+ Skylarks, c20 Reed Bunting, another half dozen new Stonechats, 10+ Song Thrush and 20+ Chaffinch. Other birds around included the ever present hunting Peregrine, the first Little Grebe of the autumn, a second Great Crested Grebe and 24 Whooper Swans.

Reed Bunting

The nets amongst the gorse did well, chipping in with two more new Stonechats, five Reed Buntings and five Meadow Pipits. We did attempt to catch some Skylarks as the small flocks passed mid-morning but we need a proper net set on the open ground and a bit of luck.


Portstewart Strand 06/10/2017                            
                              New         Retrap
Blackbird               3
Blue Tit                  1                  2
Bullfinch                1                  2
Chaffinch               7          
Dunnock                1                  1
Garden Warbler    1
Goldcrest               2                  1             
Meadow Pipit         5
Reed Bunting         5
Robin                      1            
Song Thrush          3                 1 
Stonechat               2
Wren                       3                  1  

Totals                    34                 8     



The forecast for this morning (8th) was looking like a no go and I hummed and haad with the idea when my alarm went off but I decided to go for it after a short snooze on the alarm. As I set off from home there was light drizzle and I was regretting getting out of bed but by the time I got to the coast there was no rain in sight and it remained that way all morning. The sky was very dark and heavy and suppressed the bird activity until mid morning when things got moving. With the risk of rain I went for just the two nets in the deepest cover in the scrub and then after an hour put up one of the nets amongst the gorse and a two shelf over the saltmarsh.

The ringing was really slow to start with just a retrap Blackbird and two new Robins until around 9am. Things visibly picked up as it brightened with many more birds flitting about and a few more in the nets. A couple of the other net rides might have caught well had I erected them! There was apparently nothing uncommon around and no sign of any warblers but I was pleased enough with the catch after the poor start.

Chaffinch

Portstewart Strand 08/10/2017                            
                              New         Retrap
Blackbird                                  1
Bullfinch                3                  1
Chaffinch               6                  1                          
Linnet                     7
Meadow Pipit         6
Robin                      2                 
Stonechat               2

Totals                    26                 3    


That afternoon, John went for a stroll through the dunes and picked up the first Redwings of the autumn and heard a Phylloscopus warbler calling in the scrub but it remained unidentified. We rarely ring past 11 and don't think we have ever gone beyond midday but we could be missing plenty in the afternoons!

Last Gasp Belgian Blackcap

Apologies for the lack of updates of late but things have been pretty quiet on the ringing front with the weather turning back to the norm with plenty of rain, strong northerly winds and cold and as I write the first flurries of snow are falling.  We haven't been totally idle and have squeezed in the final two visits to Portstewart Strand for the season and Ken has continued the winter ringing in his garden.

The penultimate visit to Portstewart Strand on the 9th of November was a very slow one and we were packed up and away by 10.  At the stage of packing up we were sitting on only 2 new birds with a Blackbird, Wren plus 5 retraps.  At the last gasp we got a nice final reward with a 1st year male Blackcap bearing a Belgian ring.  It had originally been ringed near Grembergen in northern Belgium on the 18th of September at a distance of around 532 miles.  Only our second foreign control for the site following last years Sedge Warbler, also from Belgium. 

Blackcap control from Belgium

The movements of Blackcaps are interesting ones and I would suggest it is fair to say that this bird is one of the increasing number of Blackcaps that migrate into Ireland for the winter.  These birds are believed to come from central Europe, particularly in Southern Germany in Württemberg-Baden and Bavaria and there are a number recoveries to back up this theory.  One such bird ringed in Northern Ireland in January was subsequently recovered in its breeding grounds in the Black Forest in southern Germany.  These birds pass through the European lowlands to winter in the UK and Ireland, with further recoveries of birds that have passed through Belgium, The Netherlands and England which have spent the winter in Ireland.  Check out the link below for a previous post on Sylvia Warblers in Ireland and some mapped recoveries.   

http://causewaycoastrg.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/irish-bird-ringing-data-tree-grass-and.html

The final visit of the season at Portstewart Strand wasn't much busier with 1 new bird each for Blackbird, Goldcrest, Robin, 8 retraps and a bit of boost by 13 new Linnets.  The only thing of real interest was a female type Common Scoter which is the 121st species for the year for the Bann Estuary. 

Linnet

We packed up the site for winter and don't intend to be back until March 2017.  I'll update on the season total for the site in the coming weeks.
The NI Environment Agency have been in touch recently to inform me that they will be undertaking widespread habitat management at the site over the winter which will involve the removal of some large areas of the non-native invasive Sea Buckthorn.  It looks as though we are going to lose a few of our net rides and will be working in a very different site next year but it is sound conservation on their part and we will make it work!  

Ken has been busy in making some alterations to his garden ringing site and made a few net rides and generally just chopping and changing things.  The birds continue to visit his garden on masse to some of the c20 feeders on offer!
Ken hosted a couple of trainees on the 28th and 31st and produced some good catches of 44 birds and 67 birds respectively.  There were a few nice species in the mix with Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk and Woodpigeon. 

Sparrowhawk       (DJ)

Kens Garden Ringing Totals - 28th + 31st                                
Blackbird               5
Blue Tit                 18
Bullfinch                1
Coal Tit                 23
Chaffinch              20
Dunnock                 3
Goldcrest                1
Goldfinch                4
Great Tit                19           
Robin                     10
Sparrowhawk         1
Treecreeper            1
Woodpigeon           1
Wren                      4

Total                     111                      



At the moment we don't really have any proper plans for the winter but one site we plan to visit is our Castlerock Golf Club site which is again absolutely laden with millions of Sea Buckthorn berries.  The initial reccy showed there to be quite a number of Bullfinch, Chaffinch and Greenfinch plus a mix of other birds including Blackbird and Fieldfare.  Once we get the net rides opened up we will hopefully get some good catches! 

 

Easter Ringing

On Easter Monday, John and I visited Portstewart Strand bright and early in the hopes of connecting with the first summer migrants.  The forecast wasn't quite on the mark and we had to wait in the car, on arrival, for a shower to pass.  The winds were 15-20mph from the north west, which is fine for basically all our net rides, as they are generally only affected by wind from the south and east, along the exposed estuary shore. 

Sparrowhawk

There is still a wintery feel around the estuary with Whooper Swans passing through, groups of Teal, Wigeon and Red-breasted Mergansers on the water, flocks of Goldfinch and Linnet continuing to visit the feeders, a single Redwing dropping in to 'East Ride', plus it was only 4 °C. 
There were a few new birds about including c150 Black-tailed Godwit, a new female Stonechat, a Sparrowhawk and the Bullfinches and Robins have returned from wherever they disappear to for the winter.      

Bullfinch

It was a good session, with the feeders continuing to produce the majority of  the birds, plus a few nice birds in Sparrowhawk, Reed Bunting and Redwing.  That takes us up to 19 different species ringed so far this year at the site, in less than a month, so a good start to better last years 29. 

Ringing Totals - PSS 28/03/2016                                     
                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

Blackbird                        2               

Blue Tit                            1               1                   

Bullfinch                                           1                

Goldfinch                        2               1                                                  

Linnet                              8               1                                             

Redwing                          1                    

Reed bunting                  2                 1

Robin                               2    

Song Thrush                                     1

Sparrowhawk                 1                              

Total                                19              6        

 

Saturday looks to be the next suitable slot for our next visit and is open to anyone who would like to come along.  The first spring summer migrants are bound to be by then.... probably!

 

Also check out the new tab above - 'The Birds' for images of the species ringed by the group in the past 4/5 years in Northern Ireland, Donegal and Mayo. 

 

Reed Bunting

 

River ringing, Portstewart Strand and Colour ringed Greylag

This morning we spent a couple of hours ringing on some of the small local rivers, hoping to catch some of the riparian species.  John and I were joined by two new potential ringers  - Dineka and Nicholas, who were keen to see what it is all about.  We had opted for some river ringing because of the blustery forecast, managing to find a few sheltered locations.

Dipper

We spent around half an hour at three locations, catching a single Dipper at each.  The first spot was in the University campus, with a couple of Dippers present.  The bird trapped was a retrap from last year.  Location two was on the River Rhee and had two Dippers and two Grey Wagtails present.  Both Grey Wagtails went into the net straight away, but one bounced (twice) and the second had been lightly caught and flipped out before extraction.  The Dipper captured was a new bird , while its partner slipped under the net.  The third site was roughly one kilometre down stream and had a single Dipper and Grey Wagtail present, with the former being trapped.    

Site 2 which usually produces Dipper and Kingfisher

On Good Friday I took the day off work and headed down to Portstewart Strand for a short session.  The weather did as forecast and got a little breezy around 9am, meaning I had to take down all but the two most sheltered nets.  There was little change in the birds from the 17th and nothing new for the year but I did have my first sighting of one of the Otters since November.  The down time wasn't so bad as I was able to work on driftwood bird perches close to the network of nets through the Gorse.  Hopefully it will produce a Wheatear in the coming weeks or perhaps a Merlin in the autumn.  Another plus was that the National Trust arrived down mid morning and took away the heap of rubbish I had collected throughout the month.     

Linnet

I caught a total of 11 birds through the morning, three of which were retraps.  The single net in front of the feeders caught 9 of those with six Goldfinches, two Linnets and a Dunnock.  A pair of Goldcrests were trapped at the other net.

   

Goldfinch

Finally, the first summer migrants have made it to the North Coast of Northern Ireland, when I recorded my first two Sand Martins by the house on Friday the 25th.  The numbers climbed to 4 on Saturday and c15 today.  They will hang about over the river for the next few weeks, then disappear to the breeding sites a few miles away and I probably won't see any here for another year! 
The forecast looks decent for Easter Monday and Tuesday and we hope to get out on both mornings.  With any luck the first Wheatears will appear and perhaps a Chiffchaff or two, which only appear at the site on passage.



I have spotted up a few ringed/colour ringed birds at the Myroe Levels in recent weeks but unfortunately I wasn't able to clinch the details on the two Whooper Swans (although most likely Icelandic).  I did get the full details of a Greylag Goose with a neck collar, which was in the company of 18 Greenland White-fronted Geese and 27 other Greylags.
 

Dodgy record shot taken on my phone through the telescope - Greylags plus one White-front

The bird had originally been ringed at Lough Eye, in the Moray Basin in Scotland back in November 2005.  The bird is of the Icelandic breeding population has wintered in the north of Ireland and Scotland in most years since ringing - the birds sighting history is listed below.

L.Eye	06/11/2005
Batchen, Miltonduff, Elgin	14/11/2005
Toome, lough Beg	05/03/2006
Toome, lough Beg	09/03/2006
Toome, lough Beg	29/03/2006
Inch Is, Co Donegal	11/11/2007
Inch Is, Co Donegal	19/01/2008
Inch Levels, Lough Swilly, Donegal	21/11/2010
Inch Levels, Lough Swilly, Donegal	22/11/2010
Inch Levels, Lough Swilly, Donegal	23/11/2010
Shiskine, Isle of Arran	30/12/2010
Loch Askog, Isle of Bute	19/12/2011
Loch Quien, Isle of Bute	16/04/2012
Inch Lough	12/01/2013
Inch Levels, Lough Swilly, Donegal	28/11/2014
Inch Levels, Lough Swilly, Donegal	21/01/2015
Inch Levels, Lough Swilly, Donegal	30/01/2016
Myroe Levels, Co.Derry	12/03/2016