Thrushes plus Sandwich Tern and Storm Petrel Recoveries

It has been yet another quiet week in the Bann Estuary and we still can't manage to find a warbler of any form!  The week was split into two weather wise with windy and wet conditions from Saturday to Tuesday and warmer settled weather for the rest of the week, with the winds still generally from the east or south.  Wednesday marked the first day of northerlies for almost 3 weeks and it brought some new birds with it.

Redwing (JC)

The first half of the week was the quieter period with little obvious passage or grounded migrants with only a handful of Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Song Thrushes and singles of Redwing flying over early morning.  Goldcrest numbers have dropped off quite substantially with only one bird caught and only a few heard.  Things on the estuary have been a little better with lots of Golden Plover, Teal and Wigeon, a constant stream of Whooper Swans flying over from Wednesday, six Greylag Geese, six Little Egrets (3 more than my previous patch max count), three Great-crested Grebes and only the second Little Grebe of the year.  Thursday seen a better movement of thrushes with larger numbers of Redwing and a new wave of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes.  Skylark movement also picked up with flocks of up to 50 birds passing through on Thursday.  At least one Long-eared Owl is still frequenting the area and was spotted on two mornings pre 7am. 

Whooper Swans (JC)

Again we managed a couple of ringing sessions before work or on days off so generally shorter restricted sessions when working by ourselves or in twos.  A sprinkling of northern migrants has helped boost the numbers as the local bird numbers continue to struggle.  The first Redwing of the autumn is always nice and a further two Skylarks are welcome as they can be a challenge to catch! 

Blackbird

PSS Ringing Totals 15 - 20/10/2016
                                New      Retrap
Blackbird                   6                
Blue Tit                      1  
Dunnock                    1              3
Goldcrest                   1
Goldfinch                                   1
Great Tit                    2              1
Linnet                        2
Meadow Pipit           18
Redwing                    4
Robin                        1               5  
Skylark                      2   
Song Thrush             2
Wren                         4           

Total                       44               10            

Skylark (JC)

The feeding station has been relocated as it has become very exposed since the leaves have fallen off the trees so the birds are steering clear when the nets are up.  The feeders have also been plagued with rats with up to three large brutes spotted at a time so a new location was certainly in order.

Linnet

It has been a while since we have had a Sandwich Tern recovered in Africa but news came in of our 66th bird to the continent.  The bird was retrapped in La Somone, Senegal, which is our second bird from the site and 25th to Senegal.  The last one was controlled some 14 years ago so it has been quite a wait to get one from La Somone!
The bird was ringed by us as a pullus at Inch Island, Donegal on the 4th of June 2014 and re-caught by a South African (at least registered) ringer on the 6th of April of this year.  The straight line distance between the sites is 4585 km with the time lapsed of 672 days. 

Sandwich Tern recovery in La Somone, Senegal

As mentioned in the previous post we had news of another Storm Petrel controlled elsewhere in the British Isles and since then we've had another two reports in!
The first bird was controlled at Rhuba nan Sasan, Loch Ewe, Highland, Scotland on the 3rd of September 2016 at a distance of 305 km.  We had trapped the bird 38 days earlier on the 27th of July at Rinnagree Point, Portstewart. 

The other two birds are quite interesting and almost associated.  They represent an exchange from the Calf of Man Bird Observatory in both directions.  The first of these was a bird that we ringed at Rinnagree Point on the 19th of July this year which was controlled only 4 days later at the Observatory at the southern tip of the Isle of Man.  On that same night the Obs staff ringed another Storm Petrel which made its way to us nine days later, taking the reverse route as the first.
These are not the first Storm Petrels that we have exchanged with the Calf (174km straight line distance away) with two of ours going there and two of theirs coming our way.  Two of those birds were also caught within less 15 days apart so it is clearly a natural route for the birds through July and August. 

Edited note: I've only just noticed that the bird of ours trapped at the Calf was the same bird also caught at Bardsey Bird Observatory 19 days later. 

Storm Petrel Recoveries

The settled weather looks set to continue into the weekend so we will hopefully get another visit in and potentially carry out a bit of habitat management.
Our final visit to Copeland Bird Observatory for the season is pencilled in for next weekend so fingers crossed the weather is kind to us and we actually manage to get to the island and get some nice birds!

Early October

The spell of easterlies has continued into a second week and they've gradually got stronger and brought some wetter weather in the later half of this week.  In the quieter spells we managed another couple of visits to Portstewart Strand in what you would call 'ideal conditions'.
The hoped for rarities from the east didn't materialise and Northern Ireland managed just two Yellow-browned Warblers when there have probably been 1000+ across the UK and Ireland including 50 ringed at Cape Clear Bird Observatory at the far end of Ireland.  NI didn't miss out totally and notched up its first Red-flanked Bluetail and a nice Red-breasted Flycatcher - all four birds in County Down.
We on the other hand couldn't even muster a Blackcap or Chiffchaff but we have seen a continued run of thrushes.  The first few Redwings started passing through last Friday with further Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and the first Mistle Thrush I've seen at Portstewart Strand itself. Goldcrests continue to flit through with birds scattered everywhere through the scrub.  Other notable arrivals include more new Stonechats, another wave of Blue Tits (no doubt local), 3+ Great Creasted Grebes, flocks of Skylarks, the first Jack Snipe of the year and a Long-tailed Duck which I missed.

Skylark

Ringing was by no means prolific but another 3 new Stonechats and a Skylark were nice catches. October was the best month for numbers last year so hopefully things will pick up with a return of some northerlies.

Stonechat

PSS Ringing Totals 07 - 11/10/2016
                                New      Retrap
Blackbird                    6             2
Blue Tit                      7    
Bullfinch                    1
Chaffinch                   3                  
Dunnock                                    2
Goldcrest                   4    
Goldfinch                   5              3
Great Tit                    4               3
Meadow Pipit            3
Reed Bunting            1
Robin                         1               2
Skylark                      1       
Song Thrush             4
Stonechat                  3               1
Wren                         2               1              

Total                       45               14             

Song Thrush

Last week Ken hosted Siobhan in his garden for another training session.  Conditions were good and the number of birds visiting the feeders continue to build.  Chaffinch, as usual, were top of the bill with 13 new birds while Coals Tits were the most numerous species processed with 18.


Kens Garden 06/10/2016
                                New      Retrap
Blue Tit                       7            4    
Chaffinch                   13           3        
Coal Tit                      9             9
Dunnock                    1              1
Goldcrest                   2    
Goldfinch                   8
Great Tit                    8              6
Robin                         4              2
Wren                         4                          

Total                       56              25             


Unfortunately our weekend trip to Copeland Bird Observatory has been canceled due to the weather but we will hopefully get rescheduled for a couple of weeks time.  As such, the prospects for weekend ringing look limited to a wind restricted short window on Saturday morning but we may give it a go.

We've had word of another Storm Petrel recovery but I'll update on that next time.

2016 Ringing Season Prep and Visit 1 to PSS

Last Saturday, John and I headed down early to Portstewart Strand to get the site ready for the coming ringing season.  The site is a designated as an Area of Special Scientific Interest & Special Area of Conservation, so any work has to be carried out before the beginning of March.  We had quite a bit of work to do, as we lost the majority of 'East Ride', which was 66 metres long, due to scrub management by the golf club.  The result was a large clear felled area of the invasive Sea Buckthorn, including removal of the roots.  We were of course given prior notification and are very supportive of the clubs habitat management program and grateful for access to the site.

Part of the clear felled East Ride

The net ride had been reduced down to around 20 metres, so with the use of the chainsaw, we were able to blitz a new path through the dense scrub and extend it back up to 48m. We then have the option of a 12m extension which has cover on one side and what should hopefully be an area full of seed bearing weeds, on the newly exposed ground.  The ride probably won't be overly productive this year, as many of the buds had already formed (and then removed), thus leaving it a little bare.  Everything should hopefully green up before the first summer migrants arrive - the first Willow Warblers appeared on the 9th of April, so we have around a month to go. 
We also gave the other rides a little TLC, topping a few taller bushes beside the nets and cutting back the brambles. 

The new, rather rough, East Ride

John and I went for the first proper ringing session of the season on Sunday morning in ideal conditions.  We set most nets but it remained very quite with only a few birds caught.  We had set a few feeders in and around 'East Ride' last weekend and it was from those that we caught most of the birds, attracting a few Goldfinch and Linnet.
The Skylarks and Meadow Pipits are in full song and ready for the breeding season and it was one of the former that bundled its way into the 18m three shelf gorse net, making a nice start to the season.   

Skylark

Ringing Totals                                     
                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

Blue Tit                                           1 

Dunnock                       2                3

Goldfinch                      2                1         

Linnet                            2                                               

Robin                                               3

Skylark                          1 

Song Thrush                 1  

Wren                              1               1             

 

Total                               9               9      

During the quite spells I put up four next boxes in amongst some of the only mature trees on the site.  Two of the boxes are closed face, with the other two open and they have no real target species in mind.  We don't actually do any nest recording/searching on site, so it will be nice to some pulli in the scrub. 
The tideline of the estuary is in a bit of a state following the winter, so I started a bit of a tidy up.  I amassed quite a bit of rubbish in a pretty short stretch of the shore.  Over the coming months we will tidy further bits as we walk back and forth and hopefully keep it tidy until next winter.

On Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon I spent a bit time putting up more next boxes in a couple of locations.  On Saturday morning I put up ten closed face boxes and two open faced, at the derelict farm at Grangemore on the other side of the Estuary, owned by the National Trust.  This is the only location in the estuary that I see Tree Sparrows with any regularity and the hope is to boost the population, which is usually around 3/4 pairs. 

Nest boxes at Grangemore

In Caslteroe Wood we have had 30 closed face boxes in place for a number of years, which usually have a 50-75% occupancy of Blue Tits and Great Tits.  One of the boxes had gone missing, so I replaced it and added six new open faced boxes (in twos) in locations I observed Spotted Flycatchers last June.  The boxes are potentially a little low for Spotted Flycatchers but they were all placed in relatively concealed/sheltered locations on Ivy covered trees.  The last few boxes went up around my house for the local House Sparrows, although I may be a little too late, as a few of the birds appear to have paired up and found the usual nest sites under the ridge of the roof.    
Ken has initiated another nest box study on the University Campus and has erected c30 boxes as part of this scheme, looking at tree species preference for titmice.  We have three Kestrel boxes left to go back up, after which, I may spend a bit of time updating the nest box information in the Projects/Activities above.
That is us more a less ready to roll for migration and the breeding season, so hopefully here on out it will be ringing! 

I am taking part in the Patchwork Challenge for a second year with my patch of the Bann Estuary.  As of Saturday morning, I have notched up 75 species with the best birds of Merlin, Gadwall and a patch tick in Red-throated Diver.  The Irish contingent this year has increased to 29 patches and has now been divided into two sections, with coastal and inland patches. 
For more info on the coastal patches, check out the link below.  For blog posts, check out Patch Birding Ireland on the side bar. 

http://patchworkchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/coastal-ireland-minileague-january-2016.html

Late Autumn into Winter

After such a dry and calm spell through early/mid autumn, late autumn made up for any short comings on the expected and it has been abysmal.  We only managed one session in the last few weeks of November and the conditions for that were breezy.  We kicked off the winter ringing yesterday morning at Portstewart Strand, which will be the last visit to the site in 2015.

                                       Skylark                                JC

Steve was successful in his recent C permit application and now, armed with a couple of nets and a bunch of rings, I'm sure he will be very active over the winter.
To help him get set up with his first ringing site, John, along with Thom headed out west, to Steve's family farm near Gortin in central Tyrone, on Sunday the 22nd of November.  John had first visited the site back in March and did a little tester ringing, catching a number of Chaffinch and tits.
 As I mentioned earlier it was a bit breezy and damp at times but still workable and safe.  They set two nets - one through a hedgerow and another in an area of woodland. 

 

                      Treecreeper              JC

There were large numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on haws through the hedgerows which resulted in four Redwing being caught.  The catch was decent for the conditions and coverage and it could prove to be a decent site for Steve to work.  The hedgerow net caught the majority of the birds, with the woodland net only chipping in with a couple of birds after 11.30.


Ringing Totals 22/11/2015                                      
                                      
                                       New        Retrap           

Blackbird                        2               

Blue Tit                           4              

Coal Tit                           1               1                             

Great Tit                         3               2           

Redwing                         4                    

Treecreeper                    1                                                                            

Wren                               1                

Total                               16              3              

 

Yesterday, John and I took the morning off work and we had a last bash at Portstewart Strand for the 2015 season.  We has hoped to get the last session in before the end of November but the weather put a stop to that.  The conditions were favourable with complete cloud cover and light winds.  The wind did pick up to around 10-12mph for a couple of short spells but generally stayed around 3-4mph. 
We arrived around an hour before sunrise and set a couple of nets each in east and west rides plus further nets through the open gorse rides and the alders. 
It was very quite overhead with little to get excited about.  As usual there seemed to be quite a few Blackbirds and Song thrushes calling pre dawn, followed by the Dunnocks, Robins and Wrens.  There weren't many finches on show now that the feeding station is gone and the berries are all but gone.

                                                Reed Bunting                                                JC

The catch for December was good with some quality birds including a possible wintering Blackcap, two Reed Bunting and one Redwing. We also caught another Skylark, making it our 5th this year, adding to the three last year.  From 2013 back to 1975 there had only been 88 ringed in Northern Ireland, the last one coming in the year 2000. 


Ringing Totals 03/12/2015                                      
                                      
                                       New        Retrap           

Blackcap                         1

Blue Tit                           2

Bullfinch                         1               

Chaffinch                        1              

Coal Tit                                             2                             

Dunnock                                           3

Goldcrest                                          1           

Linnet                              5

Redwing                          1

Reed Bunting                  2

Robin                                                2                                                          

Skylark                            1

Song Thrush                   2                                                                                                                      

Total                               16               8              

We have been given permission to use a similar site on the other side of the estuary, at Castlerock Golf Club and we plan to do a little work there soon, to make some net rides.  The benefit of this site is that the Sea Buckthorn plants are female (supposedly) and are berry laden.  The concentration of birds tends to be much higher here into late winter because of the fruit and it usually has a few Fieldfare and Blackcap knocking about. 

A new project we will be initiating over the winter period is setting up a couple of new nest box schemes on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland, following the completion of Kens long-term studies on titmice at the University campus in Coleraine.
We have already gained permission for one woodland and we will be searching for another ideal location.  The hope is to provide tempting accommodation for Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers that pass along the east coast in Spring before they flit over to Scotland where they breed in Dumfries and Galloway. 
It is an ambitious plan given that Redstarts last attempted to breed in 2011 (and failed) in County Kerry and before that, 2003.  Pied Flycatchers haven't bred (proven) since 2003 in County Wicklow and before that 1999.
They have bred along the north east coast before, including a pair of Pied Flycatchers in a nest box in Breen Oakwood in 1985.  This was the first successful breeding attempt recorded in Ireland and in the same year, two pairs attempted to breed in boxes in County Wicklow, but failed.  Nest boxes had only been installed in Breen Oakwood in 1984, following 120 boxes being installed, two years previous across three oak woodlands in Wicklow.  So the idea works anyway!    
There is a lack of substantial habitat in Northern Ireland which the species favour, but also, with the absence of Woodpeckers and veteran trees, there are insufficient nesting holes.  The limited holes that do exist, are occupied by resident breeders such as Blue Tits in early spring, before the RS and PF reach our shores. 
To combat the problem of early occupancy by titmice, we plan to use the tried and tested method of placing nest boxes in groups of four/five.  The idea is that Blue and Great Tits are quite territorial and will not nest in close proximity of their own kind, thus leaving one or two boxes unoccupied for the target species to inhabit.  We may also remove the front of a few boxes and place them in more concealed locations to attract the likes of Robins or Spotted Flycatchers. 
It is project that is unlikely to be successful but you certainly have no chance if you don't try!

Portstewart Strand 23/05/2015

I was optimistic for the session ahead with near perfect conditions.  The winds were 2-3 mph south-westerlies, full cloud cover and a mild start of 10°C at 05.15.  The conditions remained decent through the morning, although the clouds broke and the wind notched up 4/5 mph.  I departed the site before 11am with the temperature up to the middle teens.  
 

The scrub has now leafed up nicely and the net rides are looking much better, although some of Sea Buckthorn may need a few months to regenerate some new growth after cutting.  The local breeding birds are now remaining very quiet and there wasn't much of interest.  The best bird of the day was a female Cuckoo that zipped by mid morning, pursued by an army of Meadow Pipits.  The local Otter was fishing close to the shore for much of the morning and later joined by a Grey Seal.  The first Small Heath butterfly of the year, was on the wing, along with multiple Green-veined White and Speckled Wood.

Meadow Pipit

The catching was again slow and you would be excused for thinking that it was late autumn/winter, with a complete lack of warblers.  My optimism soon dissolved but the prospect of something nice always keeps you going.  The best catch was the first Skylark of the year, caught in the 3 shelved gorse net.  Another 2 new Blackbirds takes the total to 38 in 7 months.  The Meadow Pipits in the close vicinity of the gorse scrub seemed very active, with 5 birds ending up in nets.    

Skylark

 

 



Skylark brood patch

Ringing Totals 23/05/2015

                                        New         Retrap

Blackbird                          2                 1         

Bullfinch                           1                 2   

Chaffinch                                             1

Dunnock                           2                 2              

Lesser Redpoll                 1        

Meadow Pipit                   3                 2

Skylark                             1

Song Thrush                     1

Wren                                                    1                                    

Total                                11                9                

     


I had noted a pair of Grey Wagtails feeding along the river by the house so I thought I'd take a look for the nest on the near by stream.  They tend to nest on the same large rock face every year, although I was unable to locate the nest this time, but, going by the adults, I was close.  I had erected a net just downstream and managed to catch the female.  The Dipper nest is now empty and presumably they have fledged but I didn't see any of the family group about.

Grey Wagtail

 

 

I also visited the 30 (now 29, one missing) nest boxes in Castleroe Wood, late Saturday afternoon. The occupancy was very disappointing with only 7 boxes (plus one failed nest of 4 GT chicks) being used, compared to 21/22 last year.  Those that were occupied were dominated by Great Tits, with 6 nests and Blue Tits taking up residence in the other.  As well as low numbers, the birds are also late, with only two broods of ringable size and three nests still with eggs.  I ringed the two clutches of Great Tits of suitable size, one of 7 and the other of 3.