Sand Martins - Visit One 11/06/2016

This morning I had planned an early start to visit both Sand Martin colonies but there was continuous drizzle from 7am, so I didn't head out until after 10.  This, plus the fact I was on my own, I opted to visit the main colony at Macfin alone.  The conditions were ideal for ringing with it being mild, calm and very dull with the low cloud. 
My first impression was that the colony seemed quite quiet but it soon livened up once the 12 metre net went up.  In previous years I would use a 6m extension net but a part of the sand bank face has collapsed and no longer houses any burrows.  The numbers are probably similar to previous years with something around 150 pairs.

Sand Martin

The shape of the curved bank is quite awkward to get a net in and means the net sits below and roughly 3 metres away from the face in places.  It isn't all bad as it allows the birds to access the burrows while the net is up but it does result in many birds flying over the net.  A total of 65 birds were caught today with 46 being new birds and one of those was the first juvenile of the year.  Of the 19 retraps, 13 were from 2015 and 6 from 2014.  All but two of the birds were caught on the inside of the net as they depart their burrows.  As I was on my own I didn't have time to fully process the birds so they were simply aged, sexed, ringed and released. 

I had been very disappointed to only catch 8 retraps last year, following 144 new birds caught in the first year at the site.  Today was much more pleasing as I recaptured 19 birds from previous years and being only the first visit, we may yet reach sufficient numbers to start a RAS.  Next year may be an ideal time to begin with potentially 272 birds bearing rings before this year, and todays totals taking the total to 318. 

I unfortunately don't have time to visit the Sand Martin colony at Grangemore but I will visit it at the start of July when I return from Croatia - when I will also do visit two to Macfin.
The blog will be quiet over the next 3 weeks but the others should hopefully be busy ringing.  I'll be back and at it in July with an update and hopefully news of more terns, gulls and the first Storm Petrels of the season. 

First juvenile of the year

Inch Island - Terns and Gull

On Wednesday morning, Ken, Steve and I headed up to Inch Wild Fowl Reserve in Donegal to study the breeding Sandwich Terns for the 31st continuous year.  We met up with a team of four from the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service and were also enjoyed by Adam and Gary from the Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study.  The weather has been brilliant with temperatures hitting 30°C in recent days but torrential rain on Tuesday afternoon had us a little worried, as, this is often a major killer of chicks during prolonged periods.  It turns out that it hadn't been too bad around Inch and the day itself was dull, calm and warm - perfect conditions!

The really dry weather presented us with a new problem and that was really low water levels, in what is already a relatively shallow lagoon.  The Islet itself was now probably 150% larger, although much of that was thick, sticky mud/clay.  We had to do quite a bit of manoeuvring to get the boat in position to ferry people across the short crossing which was now only roughly 75 metres.  Andrew did a great job getting us across safely and would probably be quite nifty on the Gondolas in Venice! 

Sandwich Tern

I had mentioned the success of the previous visit in a recent post and the great year continues.  The small islet was covered in chicks and nests with Sandwich Terns, Common Terns, Black-headed Gulls, Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans and Mallard.  The majority of the 200+ Sandwich Tern eggs on the last visit have now hatched with around 30 left to go.  The Common Tern colony has increased further with many new nests, again mostly with three eggs.  Only a handful of the eggs have hatched but should be out for the final visit in a couple of weeks.  The Black-headed Gulls are the most numerous bird on the island and I would hazard a guess at a of 500 pairs, probably many more.  They are at many different stages with birds already fledged, to eggs yet to hatch and everything in between. 

The greeny/brown areas the newly exposed parts of the Islet because of the low water levels

The trip was a great success with another 154 Sandwich Terns ringed, taking the total up to 334 and the first 10 Common Terns.  Adam and Gary have a colour ringing project for Black-headed Gulls in the North and have picked up metal ringed birds from Inch as part of their study.  They came armed with colour rings and added 70 new birds to the study with 66 of those being new birds and 4 from the last visit when 43 were ringed.  The majority of the birds colour ringed were well developed chicks, close to fledging.  The colour rings are orange with a four digit alpha-numeric black inscription.  The first digit is always the number 2 then three letters after e.g. 2ABC.  Please keep an eye out for these birds and for more information check out: http://bhgullsni.blogspot.co.uk/ .


You can follow updates from Inch Wildfowl Reserve on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/inchandfoyle/?fref=ts

We plan to do the first visit to the Sand Martin colonies on Saturday before I head to Croatia for three weeks.  I'll try and post an update on that before I head off on Sunday.  Looking at other first visits around the UK it looks like the Sand Martins have bred early with come catches of up to 30% juveniles already! 

Portstewart Strand - Sunday 5th June

The fantastic weather continues in Northern Ireland (nearly two weeks with a one day blip!) with today being the hottest day at 26°C.  John and I headed down to Portstewart Strand hoping that the first fledged birds would be out given the good conditions of late.  We arrived on site just before 7am and limited the number of nets and did not use East Ride.  Conditions were calm, warm, with partial cloud initially, changing to full sunshine by 10. 

Linnet

The estuary itself was very quiet with the only waders noted being 3 Lapwing.  The Shelducks have had a better year than last, with at least three groups of chicks (9, 7 , 7), although that is from c64 adult birds! 
The nets in the open caught the majority of the birds including a new species for the year in Starling.  The only Starling ringed last year was caught in the same net around the same time.  There are 100's of Starlings marauding around the site currently and we were almost inundated with about 50 but thankfully they passed over the top of the net and just the single bird got caught (a second bounced).

  The cleared area of scrub is recolonising quickly!

The ringing was fairly slow but we did encounter the first youngsters of Meadow Pipit and Robin plus an extremely young Dunnock which was released unringed. 


River Site 05/06/2016                                 

                                   New       Retraps          
            

Dunnock                                       2              

Linnet                         2

Meadow Pipit             2

Robin                          2                                

Sedge Warbler                             1     

Starling                       1

Willow Warbler           1                 

Wren                           1                2

                   

Total                            9                5             

We also took the opportunity to check up on a few of the nest boxes and single Blackbird nest I have been watching over the past week or so.  I was looking forward to the Tree Sparrow nest but unfortunately the five eggs are cold.  I watched the box for a while and there are still a pair of Tree Sparrows around but not interacting with the box.  The Blue Tit nests are all doing well and we ringed  9 chicks in one nestbox, which is just across the river from PSS.  The four Blackbird chicks in my garden are doing well and were also ringed, plus a second brood of House Sparrows with two chicks.

Blackbird

House Sparrow

As I mentioned in the last post, we have had a bit of recovery news.  The first bird was a Meadow Pipit that we had ringed as a bird of the year on the 13th of September 2015 at Portstewart Strand.  It was recovered 242 days later as a road casualty, 8km along the coast in Portrush.  The location details are not clear as the member of the public had simply given the name of the town, but I'd presume it was breeding locally in one of the local dune systems. 

The second bird was a colour ringed adult female Black-tailed Godwit which had originally been ringed at Kaldaðarnes, Árnessýsla, S Iceland on the 17th of June 2014.  The bird is quite the traveller and has been observed a number of times over the past two years. 

OY-WWflag 17.06.14 Kaldaðarnes, Árnessýsla, S Iceland

OY-WWflag 29.07.14 Frampton Marsh, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England

OY-WWflag 05.08.14 Frampton Marsh, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England

OY-WWflag 28.08.14 Frampton Marsh, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England

OY-WWflag 10.11.14 Welney, Ouse Washes, Norfolk, E England

OY-WWflag 11.01.15 Welney, Ouse Washes, Norfolk, E England

OY-WWflag 14.01.15 Welney, Ouse Washes, Norfolk, E England

OY-WWflag 26.04.15 Arnarhóll, Flói, Árnessýsla, S Iceland

OY-WWflag 13.07.15 Frampton Marsh, the Wash estuary, Lincolnshire, E England

OY-WWflag 29.08.15 Freiston Shore (RSPB reserve), The Wash, Lincolnshire, E England

OY-WWflag 31.10.15 Freiston Shore (RSPB reserve), The Wash, Lincolnshire, E England

OY-WWflag 03.12.15 Welney, Ouse Washes, Norfolk, E England

OY-WWflag 20.12.15 Welney, Ouse Washes, Norfolk, E England

OY-WWflag 30.12.15 Welney, Ouse Washes, Norfolk, E England

OY-WWflag 17.03.16 Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, Ouse Washes, Cambridgeshire, E England

OY-WWflag 02.04.16 Portstewart, Bann Estuary, Northern Ireland

The bird has since been recorded back in Iceland on the 24th of May 2016.  I wonder if it cut across mainland Britain somehow or passed along the south coast of England?

Black-tailed Godwit movement

Poplar Hawk-moth

Summer Season - Terns, Gulls and Nest Boxes

John hosted two trainees at the University River Site on Bank Holiday Monday.  The conditions started off overcast but the cloud soon burnt off leaving a hot sunny morning.  They had a decent session, catching the first fledged birds of the year in the form of two Robins.  Two Sedge Warblers were also a nice catch as they don't breed that often at the site and we usually only manage half a dozen each year in total.

Sedge Warbler

River Site 30/05/2016                                 

                                   New       Retraps          

Blackbird                    1                                                                                 

Bullfinch                     2                1               

Dunnock                     1                1              

Lesser Redpoll           1

Robin                          2                1                

Sedge Warbler           2     

Song Thrush                                 1

Willow Warbler          2                 1 

                   

Total                          11                5             

Ken and a team of five (three from the National Parks and Wildlife Service) made the first follow up ringing trip to Inch Wildfowl Reserve in Donegal on Tuesday, following the initial visit back on the 10th of May to gauge the number of nests, eggs etc.
The team  had a successful day and ringed 180 Sandwich Tern chicks, which is only 9 birds shy of last years total with the second visit to come in a week or so.  There had been around 400 eggs counted on the first visit so, all being well, there should be many more fledged birds on the final visit.  They also managed to ring 43 larger Black-headed Gull chicks.  Andrew took the opportunity to count the Common Tern nests and found 57, the majority with 3 eggs.  If the fantastic weather and lower water levels continue and the local predators stay at bay, we could be set for one of the best years for the Common Terns.  The most productive year at Inch was back in 1999 with 86 chicks ringed.

For some videos of the trip check out the Inch Wildfowl Reserve on Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/inchandfoyle/


Over the long weekend I managed to get around the rest of the general nest boxes scattered around the estuary and in Castleroe Wood.  The boxes in the estuary haven't had a great uptake with just one pair of Blue Tits at each of three.  I did manage to get at least one pair of Tree Sparrows with eggs and a second partially complete nest.  It is a decent start for the target species and they will hopefully use the boxes further and increase. 
Castleroe Wood has improved on the dismal year in 2015 when only 27% of the boxes were occupied.  So far this year it looks liked c40% are occupied, which is still down on the norm of c75% in the wood.  I ringed 24 Great Tit chicks, 3 adult females plus two adult female Blue Tits on this visit.  The Blue Tits are well behind, mostly still at the egg stage but they should be ready for ringing this weekend.  I did find 4/5 Spotted Flycatcher territories around the wood, 3 with vacant open faced boxes but no interest in them as yet.     

Blue Tit

Ken also checked his boxes back on the 26th of May in the University campus and ringed 39 Blue and Great Tit chicks.  This scheme is part of a study on the preference of tree species for nesting, comparing c30 species, so it will be interesting to hear the initial results from year one! 

John has been keeping an eye on an accessible Long-eared owl nest in the University campus over the past few weeks but we have missed the opportunity and the chick has fledged already.  It is still nice to see the birds in such close proximity and that they continue to fledge young every year. 

Long-eared Owls by John Clarke

I have received news of one of the colour ringed Black-tailed Godwits and of a local movement of a Meadow Pipit, so I'll try and update on those next time!

Patch Birding on the Bann Estuary

I've been birding around the Bann Estuary for a few years but it was only once I signed up for the Patchwork Challenge in 2015 that I put in some proper effort.  It's actually great encouragement to put in more time, record full lists and look at everything, (sometimes with a second look) where, in the past, I would maybe turn a blind eye to the likes of gulls.

The patch in a broader context

The estuary is located on the north coast of Northern Irleand at the mouth of the Lower Bann, wedged between the beaches at Castlerock and Portstewart Strand.  There is a pretty decent spread of habitats; predominately sand dunes, beaches, mudflats and open sea but with a nice mix of reedbeds, dense scrub and a small Ash Woodland.  Most of my attention is focused on the central estuary and scrub from my main ringing site on the Portstewart side and the bird hide on the south bank.  Some sites, such as the difficult to access Ash Woodland at Kilcranny get one visit a year to tick off a few species.  You really get to know your patch the more you work it, so I now know the only spots to find the likes of House Martins and Tree Sparrows or the single pair of Spotted Flycatchers. 
Most of my observations are made while ringing at Portstewart Strand and it is a great excuse to be on site pre dawn.  The nets have also chipped in with two NI rarities in the last two years with Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow-browed Warbler, which otherwise would have been missed. 

As with many patches, common species can be quite a challenge, so if I pick up Coal Tit or Long-tailed Tit I'm rather pleased.  Some obvious omissions from my list and from what I have gathered from historic records are Collard Dove, Dipper, Jay, Treecreeper and Moorhen - although I have seen all five just outside the patch.  Coot is another example, with just one available recorded observation in over 60 years!

From historic records and my own observations I have accumulated a total of 220 species for the site, with 127 sightings of my own.  As mentioned above I haven't found any records of some very common species like Dipper, Jay and Moorhen but I would suggest they have been seen many times. 
There are some nice species in the historic records with Alpine Swift, Avocet, Barred Warbler, Collard Pranticole, Foster's Tern, King Eider, Nightjar, Richard's Pipit, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Temnick's Stint to name but a few. 

Yellow-browed Warbler

As for the 2016 challenge, I kicked off my visits in mid January and I have had fairly consistent coverage with about 30 visits in some shape or form - 13 of those while ringing. 
January started pretty well with a few good species to tick off early in the year with Fieldfare, Little Grebe, Merlin, Siskin and Turnstone, which are all fairly uncommon.  I spent my first day Sea Watching at the end of February and added Razorbill, Guillemot, Black Guillemot, Kittiwake plus a patch tick Red Throated Diver - Gadwall was another nice species for the month.  March was a bit of a slow burner with only six new species but one was a Great Crested Grebe, which I had seen last year but somehow overlooked it!  Spring kicked into gear on the 2nd of April with the arrival of the first Chiffchaff, Greenshank, Sandwich Tern, and Wheatear plus an Iceland Gull.  The final two days of the month added Fulmar, Grasshopper Warbler, House Martin, Sedge Warbler and Knot (only my second record).  The 30th also brought a personal tick in the form of a breeding plumage Spotted Redshank, although it had been found the day before.  Surprisingly I didn't get my first Blackcap until the 1st of May, with a Cuckoo on the same day. The best day of the year on the patch was on the 22nd of May when I picked up four new species for the year, including two patch ticks - Garganey (drake), Scaup (female) plus a Little Egret (only one sighting of 3 birds last year) and a female Whitethroat which appeared in the nets.  The final visit of May included a few hours trawling through Kilcranny Wood and I picked up the usual Spotted Flycatchers in the same spot, plus some Long-tailed Tits but I still can't get myself a Treecreeper!

Now we are at the start of June, I am pretty pleased with my position, sitting only 7 species behind my species total for last year.  I am also now at the point where I reckon I have ticked off the majority of the species I expect to get with the exception of Common Tern, Kingfisher and Water Rail, so anything else will be a bonus and you never know what they might be!  The summer tends to be pretty quiet on the estuary, plus I am heading off for three weeks in June, so I don't really anticipate anything new until things get moving in August.  From there I can hopefully kick on and hit my 120 species goal plus a nice bird or two in the nets would be nice!    

As an added bonus I have also picked up five colour ringed birds so far this year with two Sanderling (Greenland & Iceland) and three Black-tailed Godwits (Iceland & two to be confirmed but look to be French and Portuguese).  This follows on from last year with a Scottish Oystercatcher and one Icelandic and one French Black-tailed Godwit.  There have also been a number of metal ringed birds, particularly Sandwich Terns (probably from Inch, Donegal) but I've not been able to read these. 

Anyone wishing to visit the site or wanting some information feel free to get in touch through the Causeway Coast Ringing Group Blog - http://causewaycoastrg.blogspot.co.uk/

Check out:
http://patchworkchallenge.blogspot.ie/ 
http://patchworkchallenge.blogspot.ie/2016/05/coastal-ireland-minileague-april-2016.html