Late December at Castlerock 2019

I've just noticed I didn't post this one - here it 10 months later

With a dodgy forecast mid-morning on the 7th and nobody else keen to head out, I opted to go for a shorter early morning session to try and catch some more Snipe and the Jack Snipe that keep have eluded me thus far. I set up a six net 'V' in the corner of the marsh before first light and waited for the Snipe to return from their nocturnal foraging in the fields. While I was there I stuck up a wader net along the shore hoping that some of the Sanderling might bundle in under darkness.  

Kingfisher

The wader net was a waste of time with a big falling tide, the net was soon well away from the waters edge and didn't come close to catching anything. I did come close to catching a few Snipe on the shore with my torch but without a landing net, it was tough - one bird I had managed to get down on one knee beside it but it flew off when my hand was within 30cm.

Sparrowhawk

The catch of Snipe was poor with just a single bird and a Reed Bunting. When walking through the marsh it was clear that there certainly weren't any great numbers around with just 6/7. I've counted up to 69 Common Snipe and 5 Jack Snipe in this marsh so hopefully numbers will climb as the winter goes on.

Snipe

The weather held up and was actually quite nice all morning so I left the nets a little longer to see if anything else was around. On approach to the net I noticed a dart of blue and a bird of prey in pursuit on the inside of the 'V'. The Kingfisher veered left and was caught while the female Sparrowhawk continued to where she bounced out of one net and into the other at the tip of the 'V'. I was able to run and catch her before she slipped out of this one too. Not your regular duo to be caught in a net!

The Snipe marsh

The feeding station amongst the scrub at Castlerock has really been bringing in the birds with counts of over 100 birds present on different occasions with flocks of up to 55+ Greenfinch, dozens of Goldfinches, dozens of Linnets and a few other visitors. Chaffinch numbers still remain very low with just two or three individuals and the Fieldfare are still absent with just two present on the last visit.

The feeding station

On the 15th with yet another dodgy forecast, I waited until the rain finished around 8am before I headed over to the site. The weather was then very sunny and bright but still chilly. The catch was very slow with only a handful of birds in the 3 nets over the first couple of hours. The bright sun then moved around the horizon and the nets were finally shaded and birds began to enter the nets around the feeders. I was short on time so had to pack up but the birds were very active and a big catch was on the cards if I had kept the nets open. In the end I caught 29 new birds and 2 retraps, including 22 Greenfinch.

Castlerock Golf Club -  7th December - 15th December 2019

                         New      Retrap

Blackbird           1

Blue Tit             

Bullfinch            2        

Chaffinch          1

Dunnock           

Goldfinch          3             1

Greenfinch       22

Kingfisher         1

Linnet               

Reed Bunting    1

Robin                 

Snipe                 1     

Song Thrush      

Sparrowhawk    1

Wren                                1

Total                                         

The Greenfinch numbers are very pleasing and the catch of 22 on the 15th marks our largest ever single day catch. By the looks of it on social media, the Greenfinch has had a bumper year across the UK after decades of decline - fingers crossed.

Greenfinch

Copeland Bird Observatory 24-26th March 2017

Last weekend Steve and I made our first visit of the year to Copeland Bird Observatory and it turned out to be a great early trip.  We were joined by Ed from County Down and were set for a fine settled, sunny weekend and were actually worried that it looked too nice (which is a rare thing in NI). 
We set sail from Donaghadee a little earlier for this trip so we had plenty of time to open up the four heligoland traps and put up the nets before dark.  With the calm conditions we had no restrictions in regards to net placement so we set 11 nets around the main treed areas of the island.

Goldcrests

On arrival it was clear there were a few Goldcrests on the island and it was an early sign of what to expect for the weekend.  We were able to leave a couple of the nets open for an hour or so before sundown and managed to catch 7 new Goldcrests (plus a British control), a Robin and a Chaffinch.
We had a nice little surprise when we found c30 Twite coming in to roost at Millennium Wood but unfortunately they stayed high in the Sitka Spruce trees above the net we had set there.  We closed up and settled down for dinner as we waited for full darkness before we went in search of some early Manx Shearwaters. The crystal clear skies opened up a window to millions of bright stars but probably not the best conditions for Manx Shearwaters making landfall.  We came across seven birds and managed to catch and ring two of them. 

Manx Shearwater

We opted for an early start on Saturday and begrudgingly skipped breakfast to head out in to a cold and frosty island.  We were very optimistic after the great start last night and had all nets unfurled and traps set by 7am. It was apparent after the first half hour that more Goldcrests had arrived with calls coming from all over the island.  By 10 o'clock we had caught over 70 birds with Goldcrest topping the bill with 43 new birds caught and ringed.  A few thrushes were also passing through with 5 new Blackbirds and a Redwing trapped, plus some other migrants in Chiffchaff, Lesser Redpoll and Meadow Pipit.

Redwing

With the Twite spending the night in Millennium Wood we had made an attempt to intercept they as the left the roost but without success once again.  We did manage to catch a single Twite in the Garden but couldn't tempt any more of the flock.  We repeated the attempts for Saturday evening and Sunday morning and although the birds returned to the same spot, we failed again...

Twite

The first Swallow of the season glided through on Saturday afternoon as we took a break in the sun but it didn't hang around long. Later we decided to give the South (heligoland) Trap a little TLC.  In the last year or so the Elder bushes inside of the trap had become a little tall, dense and leggy and have made access very difficult for both people and birds.  To make it more effective we re-opened the paths down the centre and along the inner walls of the trap and snipped back the vegetation in front of the catching box.  The vegetation in the trap will need a proper overhaul at the end of the breeding season but it should at least be accessible until late summer.  Earlier in the day we had baited some of the potter traps with sardines and placed them in shallow pools around the island.  One of these produced the goods in the evening with a nice male Water Rail.

Water Rail

That night we again tried our luck to find some more Manx Shearwaters and had a little more success.  There were certainly more flying around making their strange calls and in total we ringed one new bird and retrapped nine.  One of these retraps was wearing a geolocator and we were able to retrieve it for Oxford University who lead the shearwater studies.  We are not sure which project the geolocator relates to but believe it is for wintering feeding locations of adult birds - so likely to have returned from the east coast of Argentina. 

Geolocator on Manx Shearwater

Saturday night/Sunday morning marked the spring clock change so getting up was a struggle with an hours sleep lost!  We seen an influx of a few more migrants with the arrival of yet more Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, Blackbirds, a couple of Dunnocks and the appearance of a second Sparrowhawk.  We ringed another c25 new birds including 3 Chiffchaff, two Blackbird, three Linnet and the male Sparrowhawk.  Another nice capture was a retrap Woodpigeon which had originally been ringed back in 2012.

Woodpigeon

We closed up by lunchtime on Sunday, still in glorious sunshine and jumped abroad the Mermaid for our journey back to mainland to bring a close to yet another great trip.  It has been a really good start to the CBO season, including Northern Ireland's first spring Yellow-browed Warbler ringed on the first weekend of the year, so we are already looking forward to the next visits in April and May.

SF & RD 

Sparrowhawk

Copeland Bird Observatory 24-26/03/2017 Totals
                              New       Retrap     Control
 
Blackbird                 7               2
Chaffinch                 1               3
Chiffchaff                 4
Dunnock                  3               2
Goldcrest                57              1               1
Goldfinch                 1
Lesser Redpoll        3
Linnet                       3
Manx Shearwater    2               9
Meadow Pipit           2
Redwing                   1
Reed Bunting           2              3
Robin                        6              5
Sparrowhawk           1
Twite                         1
Water Rail                1
Woodpigeon                             1 (5+ years old)
Wren                         4               2


Totals                      99             28              1       

Sun down over the mainland

Apologies for the lack of updates recently but we have still been a little idle on the ringing front around the North Coast but we plan to get the spring ringing underway this weekend.


The only thing we have really done around the estuary was to prepare the ringing site and new net rides at Portstewart Strand (at the end of Feb) following the loss of East Ride, which was around 100m long.  We are supportive of the habitat management undertaken by the National Trust, Golf Club and NIEA and it will be quite interesting to see what effect it will actually have, although it has certainly reduced the available breeding habitat for many species.

New mist net ride

Steve and David have also found and developed a new site in the south-east coast of County Antrim and it looks like a very interesting spot.  They hope to start ringing there next month and we will keep you all updated on how they get on. 

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

 

Christmas Ringing 2015

 Over the Christmas period we managed to get out on a few dry mornings and set up a new ringing site at Castlerock Golf Club.  It is the same scrub habitat as our Portstewart Strand (PSS) ringing site but on a much smaller scale.  The lure of the site is that the Sea Buckthorn differs (apparently all the bushes are female??) from PSS in that they are laden in berries, whereas the bushes are now bare at PSS.  Whatever the difference is, the area is full of birds feeding on the hundreds of thousands of berries.  The new site is on the other side of the estuary from PSS and only a distance of 450 metres as the Bullfinch flies but by road/foot some 17.8 kilometres.   

We have now cut 39 metres of net rides and hope to use the site until the berries are gone.  The scrub has its own population of breeding warblers and the potential for migrants, so it may be used through the main season alongside PSS.  While cutting the net rides we stuck up a couple of nets and managed to catch a few birds.  Three of those were retrap Bullfinches ringed at PSS, one from 2014 and two from 2015.  One of the Blackbirds was a monster continental bird with a wing of 138mm and a decent weight of 120.5 grams.  The target species was the flock of c40 Fieldfare but unfortunately we didn't connect with them.  Maybe next time. 

Blackbird

 

Ringing Totals    27+29/12/2015                                 
                                      
                                       New        Retraps         

Blackbird                        3

Blue Tit                           1

Bullfinch                         5                 3

Chaffinch                        2

Song Thrush                   1         

                                                          

Total                               12                3      

Apologies for the shadow but the picture sets the scene with the open Atlantic Ocean to the North

 On the 3rd of January I managed my first session of 2016 and started the winter ringing in the  garden.  I had been pretty slack in topping up the feeders, leaving them empty for a day or two, but I was a bit more consistent over Christmas and the numbers have been building.  The conditions on the morning were quite windy but the single 12m net was mostly sheltered.  The rain started around 10am and cut short the ringing.

Siskin

 
The catch was distinctly average but it was very pleasing to get the first (hopefully of many) Siskin of the winter, following the 36 caught in the garden late Feb to mid March last year.  I also caught my regular male Sparrowhawk and it is now the fourth time he has been caught since Jan 2014.  It has bounced from the nets a few times also and would have again this time had I not been standing below it extracting a Blue Tit.  I'll have to wait until February before the finches start to arrive in any numbers.  I was very surprised to re-catch only one Tit considering there have been over 500 ringed here in the past few years and they are usually much more prevalent in catches.   

Sparrowhawk

Ringing Totals   03/01/2016                                     
                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

 

Blue Tit                         11

Chaffinch                       3             

Coal Tit                          5                1         

Great Tit                         6                                                               

Robin                              1  

Siskin                              1

Sparrowhawk                                  1

 

Total                               27              2       

 

 

I will hopefully post the groups ringing totals for the year in the next few weeks but I am just waiting for the guys to submit their data on IPMR.  I have also started the next post on the Irish Bird Ringing data which will cover the Owls.  I have now received all the data from Cape Clear BO and a portion from Copeland BO, so I've been a little distracted compiling it all.   

 

 

Early December Ringing

This morning Steve, Thom and I met up with a group from Copeland Bird Observatory at a winter ringing site near Antrim.  The site has been used in previous winters for training sessions and this time around there were five trainers and four trainees.  It was a frosty morning with the mercury hitting -2 °C but there were plenty of birds about.  The site has a wealth of fruit trees and berry bushes, which attracts Thrushes in decent numbers with c50 Redwing, c40 Blackbird, c10 Song Thrush, c10 Fieldfare and a couple of Mistle Thrush around this morning.  The feeders brought in plenty of tits and finches but the a real draw was an area of winter cereal cover which held c35 Linnet, c30 Chaffinch, c25 House Sparrow, c15 Lesser Redpoll plus a few other bits and pieces - a proper net combination here should work well in the next sessions. 

                             Sparrowhawk                           SF

 



It was a productive morning with 84 birds processed of 16 different species.  One of the first birds to hit the nets was a nice male Sparrowhawk flying low around the feeding station.  A Grey Wagtail amongst the Apple trees was unexpected but gladly welcomed by one of the trainees.  All four trainees managed to get new species, including two who got multiple new birds.  We only managed to trap two species of Thrush but 11 new Blackbirds is very good, a few of which were certainly of a continental origin.  We wrapped up at 12.30 just before the rain started. 

Ringing Totals 13/12/2015                                     
                                      
                                        New       Retrap           

Blackbird                        11              2 

Blue Tit                            8               2

Chaffinch                        22              1         

Coal Tit                            2               3              

Dunnock                          2

Goldcrest                         1

Goldfinch                         1

Great Tit                           6               3

Grey Wagtail                   1

Lesser Redpoll                4

Linnet                               7

Long-tailed Tit                                 1

Redwing                           1                                                             

Robin                                2               2

Sparrowhawk                  1

Wren                                1

Total                                70              14  

On Tuesday morning Ken hosted Steve for a bit of training in his back garden and were joined by John later in the morning.  The morning was an ideal weather window with dry, calm conditions, plus it wasn't freezing for the ringers! 

They caught a large number of birds and had to close a couple of nets in order to cope - hence Johns arrival.  A total of 102 birds were processed, with perhaps 35% of these having been caught before.  There are a few nice birds in the garden at the moment including two Brambling and two wintering Blackcaps.  Unfortunately the former weren't caught but they might stick around with the c50 Chaffinch.  The Sparrowhawk ringed last time out has continued to visit daily and was retrapped. 

                                                               Sparrowhawk                                                           SF

Ringing Totals 08/12/2015                                     
                                      
                                   Processed           

Blackbird                        3

Blackcap                         2

Blue Tit                          11

Chaffinch                       32             

Coal Tit                           9                             

Dunnock                         1

Goldcrest                        1

Goldfinch                       24

Great Tit                         18                                                             

Sparrowhawk                  1

Total                               102     

 

 

Ringing Update 31/10/2015 - 04/11/2015

The forecast for this morning was perfect, with full cloud cover and basically no wind, so I took the morning off work and headed down to the dunes at Portstewart Strand.  On arrival in the dark, I could hear Redwing and Fieldfare calling overhead and once the first light crept into the sky, the Blackbirds and Song Thrush became a little vocal.
 As I was alone, I limited myself to the gorse nets, the feeder V, the alder net and the first 24 metres of west ride.  Ken joined me a little later, after this first couple of net rounds. 

Goldfinch

The only real interest on shore was a Merlin that passed low over the saltmarsh, stirring up the Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails.  The Fieldfares outnumbered the Redwing, with c30 birds and they did their best to avoid the nets.  The estuary was packed with wildfowl and waders today, with the usual suspects, plus 29 Whooper Swans & an unidentified flock of geese that took off before first light.   

The first three rounds were the most productive and I picked up another seven new thrushes with 3 Redwing, 2 Blackbird and 2 Song Thrush, which is pleasing.  Two new Goldcrests were also nice.  We seem to have missed the huge influx of Goldcrests into the UK here on the north coast of NI.  In fact the numbers are down on last year and that's with us ringing over an extra 5/6 months and using a lot more nets.  Things dropped midmorning so we started to pack up around 10 and I headed to work.

Blackbird

Ringing Totals 04/11/2015
                                      New        Retrap           

Blackbird                        2                   

Chaffinch                        2               1

Coal Tit                                            2                             

Goldcrest                         2

Goldfinch                        3               1

Great Tit                          3               2           

Redwing                          3

Robin                                               1                                                          

Song Thrush                   2               1                                                      

Wren                                1               1                 

Total                              18               9             

Long-tailed Tit

On Saturday the 31st of October, Ken played host to John and a possible new ringing trainee - Thom.  The conditions were very blustery with winds 12-14mph from the south, although this had little impact on the ringing, in Kens sheltered garden.  It was a mild day with plenty of sunshine.  The catch was steady through the morning with the highlight of a male Sparrowhawk.
A new net, set away from the feeders in some scrub, produced the Long-tailed Tit flock with the two Goldcrest. 


Ken's Garden Ringing Totals 16/10/2015

                                        Total              

Blackbird                          1                 

Blue Tit                             5

Chaffinch                          1

Coal Tit                            11

Dunnock                            1

Goldcrest                          2             

Goldfinch                          2

Great Tit                            6              

Long-tailed tit                  11

Robin                                 1

Sparrowhawk                   1

Wren                                 3

 

Total                                 45                       

Simultaneously, I had headed down to Portstewart Strand for a net restricted session.  The site, being on the coast, is very exposed and the winds were very strong.  Southerlies can often prove to be more of a hindrance with the wind running straight along the river, into the estuary and directly at the best nets.  Northerlies tend to be some of the best, with the dune system acting as a barrier to the wind and the birds congregating on the sheltered south side, near the nets. 
For much of the morning I was wondering why I bothered getting out of my bed at 06.30 when I knew the forecasted winds?  I only set one gorse net, 30 metres in east ride and the feeder V.  West ride was inaccessible due to the massive tide in the estuary, covering the access with 1.5 feet of water.  It was incredibly mild for the last day of October with the thermometer hitting 14 degrees Celsius at 7am!
 I had only managed 1 new bird and two retraps by 10.30 but the wind final dropped (later than forecast) and I caught a few birds.  Up until this point, the feeder V was much too windy with, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and a few tits gathering behind but not daring to make the leap of faith to the feeders.  This net set-up then caught 20 new Goldfinches and 5 retraps in the remaining hour, during which time I had taken down the other nets. 
I also grabbed the opportunity, in the quite spells, to do a little tree work and bring down some of the taller trees/bushes alongside some of the net rides.  I will continue this through the reminder of the season and hope to create lower, more luscious net rides. 

Ringing Totals 31/10/2015

                                           New        Retrap           

Blue Tit                                                 1

Goldcrest                                              1

Goldfinch                             20            4

Robin                                    1              1                                                                    

 

Total                                     21            7                   

The ringing site is visible on the far shore