Bits and Pieces

Waders were again on the menu on Wednesday night with another Swallow roost attempted before.  We weren't overly optimistic going into it with a full high tide only beginning to drop around 9pm, clear skies, no wind and very large bright moon - i.e. bad conditions.  It was also a hot one and the midges were out on mass and somehow after all the rain and it being high tide, our pools were nearly dry!
We set as usual for the Swallows and managed to attract only 30 birds this time around.  We watched them for a while and they appeared to drop into the reedbed but not near the nets.  We ended up with 2 Reed Buntings, 1 Stonechat and 1 Wren.   

Dunlin

For the waders it was a bit of a tester to see if they are still attracted to the pools and tape during high tide or falling tide.  The answer I guess is NO but we didn't leave empty handed.  We caught 8 Dunlin and 3 Redshank with a couple more birds bouncing when it was still bright including a Curlew.  I think we will stick to rising tides in future!

Dean with a Redshank and Dunlin

We were out again at Portstewart Strand on Saturday morning in what was a mostly sunny morning with a stiff North westerly breeze.  Dean, John, Rick and I were on site shortly after 6am and set the usual nets, although none around the feeders.
The site was really quiet with the only obvious migrants being a single Willow Warbler, 6+ Wheatear, 70+ Meadow Pipits and a few Sand Martins and Swallows.  The feeders did get a bit of action through the morning with 6+ species visiting them and we probably should have put a net in front of them.

Meadow Pipit

We did spot an interesting duck, which when first glimpsed looked like a male Pochard with a bright reddish head.  I've only ever seen one Pochard in the estuary so I grabbed the scope for a proper look.  The bird had turned in the sun to show a clean white patch between the bill and eyes and Scaup-esque flanks like an adult female Greater Scaup.  It then showed an obvious white 'bum' with its white under tail coverts, similar to a Ferruginous Duck.  Overall a very confusing bird and surely a hybrid unless someone knows of some exotic duck that 'fits the bill'?  I would suggest it was a Ferruginous x Greater Scaup.  Not sure how hybridisation works exactly (i.e. can a bird show male traits of one species and female of another) but it certainly showed suitable features for a female of both species.

The lack of birds had a direct impact on the ringing and it was really quiet with five nets catching nothing.  Our usual staples of Blackbird, Blackcap, Bullfinch, Song Thrush etc. are still missing and surely indicative of a poor breeding season.

On Tuesday I paid a short visit to PSS once again between 16.00-19.00 to see if there was anything new in.  It was a sunny evening with a stiff breeze from the north.  There was very little about other than a flock of Goldfinches at the feeders and a single Chiffchaff calling from the bushes.

Goldfinch

PSS Ringing Totals
                                 New      Retrap
Blue Tit                                    2
Chaffinch                   2
Dunnock                                  1
Goldcrest                   1
Goldfinch                 14           5
Meadow Pipit           10
Wren                          1            

Total                        28           8           


The ringing information for the controlled Portuguese Sand Martin came in during the week and it was a really nice catch.  The bird was originally ringed in the Algarve region of Portugal just behind the glitzy marina of Vilamoura in what looks like a marshy reedbed with a couple of ponds/lakes.  It was originally ringed on the 4th of October 2015 as a juvenile and retrapped by us 286 days later at a straight line distance of 2012 kilometres.   

Portuguese Sand Martin Control

Ken and Tyrone were set for a good morning ringing in Kens garden last Friday but unfortunately the rain appeared and cut it short.  The garden is attracting quite a few birds at the moment with the majority tempted in by 12 sunflower heart feeders. Considering they were only up and running for around an hour they got a decent catch of 30 birds including 14 Coal Tits. 

Blue Tit      8
Chaffinch   5
Coal Tit     14
Great Tit     3


There have been some new Tern arrivals this week in the estuary including a Black Tern.  I grabbed an hour on Sunday morning to try and pick up the Black Tern for the patch list.  I located the Terns in their usual roosting spot and had a good sift through. Amongst the birds I found 2 Black Terns, 1 colour ringed Sandwich Tern and a further 14 metal ringed Sante and comic terns.  I tried to clinch the colour ring digits but the bird kept flushing.  The bird was either ringed in the Netherlands or much more likely, in the Ethan Estuary in Scotland. 


Dean, Steve and I are off to Copeland Bird Observatory this weekend so we are hoping for something good.  Tonight's boat was cancelled unfortunately but we hope to get out early on Saturday morning and make the most of it.  Fingers crossed we will have something to update on!

Recovery streak - Portuguese Sand Martin & 2nd BTO Sedge Warbler

On Saturday morning, a mear 4 hours after getting home from Storm Petrel ringing, I was down at Grangemore for visit three at the Sand Martin colony.  I was joined by David S from Copeland Bird Observatory, who had come up from Belfast direction.  The conditions were dry, cloudy and a little breezy.  The main focus was on ringing Sand Martins but we also put up a couple of nets in the small reed bed and marsh.  The wind direction was ideal for the Sand Martins as the bank was well sheltered from the south but the other nets were a little more affected.

Grasshopper Warbler

The site is currently coming down with birds with large flocks if marauding Linnets & Goldfinches plus plenty of Meadow Pipits, Reed Bunting, Skylark and Stonechat.  Again there were two reeling Grasshopper Warblers from the off but Sedge Warblers were much less conspicuous.  I also managed a total patch tick in the form of a juvenile Moorhen which we flushed from an area of reeds.  I was sure they breed in the estuary as the habitat is perfect but I've somehow never encountered one in the past 4/5 years... until now!   

I had the two 12m nets up in front of the Sand Martin colony pretty quickly and immediately caught a number of birds as they exited their burrows.  We caught quite well in the first few rounds and opted to the close the nets when we started to catch a couple of same day retraps.  In total we caught 54 new birds, 11 retraps and also 3 controls.  The best of the bunch was a Portuguese Sand Martin bearing a CEMPA SEA LISBOA ring and equals only my third foreign passerine recovery/control.  We also managed a couple of local controls from Macfin which is 12.6 kilometres away (14.1km following the river) and the interactions between the two colonies was the main reason we started ringing here.  Now we have a basis of ringed birds in both colonies it will be interesting to see the future exchanges between them.  The majority of the catch seemed to be adult females and very few juveniles, so I presume that brood two are well on the way and it may be worth a final visit at the end of the month to catch a few of the juveniles.
The other nets weren't overly productive but we did catch the first Grasshopper Warbler of the year plus 2 Stonechat, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 new Sedge Warbler and another British/Irish Control Sedge Warbler.     

Movement between the Sand Martin colonies

Grangemore 16/07/2016

                                        New     Retraps     Controls
Grasshopper Warbler        1
Meadow Pipit                   1
Sand Martin                     54           11              3
Sedge Warbler                  1                              1
Stonechat                          2

Total                                59            11              4

On Friday night John, Geoff and I headed down to Rinnagree Point for our second attempt at catching Storm Petrels for the season.  It was much darker and milder this time around but a stiff westerly was just about workable.  We had the net open and tape on for 23.00 with the first birds appearing 15 minutes later.  The windier conditions seem to suit the birds and there was a constant stream of birds with 4/5 birds at a time and probably a few hundred birds over the two hours.  The wind was a real hinderance as the birds approached from the outside of the billowing net and the vast majority of birds bounced/turned.
We still had a decent catch and managed 21 new birds and one retrap.  If the wind had been a little lighter the catch could have been much greater, although perhaps not as many birds would have been attracted in.


The number of birds visiting the feeders in Kens garden are beginning to build as we approach the end of the breeding season so Ken held the first ringing session of the autumn season.  He was accompanied by Tyrone who is now approaching his application for his C permit.  The weather was a little hit and miss but the sheltered garden and the proximity of the nets to the house meant that the nets could be closed quickly during a short shower.
For mid July the catch was pretty decent with the finches already starting to gather in decent numbers.  House Sparrows were a species usually absent from the garden in the past 5/10 years but they seem to have taken up residence since the winter.  I'm not suggesting population increase/spread but they have certainly homed in on the plentiful food source! 


Kens Garden 12/07/2016                                                                      
   
                               Captures         
Blue Tit                        4
Chaffinch                    11

Coal Tit                       5

Dunnock                      2

Goldfinch                    7

Great Tit                     3 

House Sparrow           1        

Robin                           4

Wren                            1               

                   

Total                            38                          

I hope to get the data sent off to the BTO later this week and it shouldn't be too long before we receive the information on the three controls! (with the exception of the Portuguese Sand Martin).
We plan to get visit three at the Macfin Sand Martin colony at some point this week, maybe our first evening attempt and probably Portstewart Strand on Sunday morning.

Sedge Warbler