Autumn Migration Underway

Now that autumn migration is in full swing our focus has switched back to Portstewart Strand and we have made a couple of visits in the past week. I was out on Sunday the 24^th and John visited on Tuesday 26^th and combined, we processed a total of 88 birds of 17 species, 69 of those on Sunday and 19 on Tuesday.

On Sunday, the conditions were absolutely perfect for the nets so I headed down before first light and set up 108 metres of net and three spring traps. The nets started to catch at once including 7 Blackcaps in one net on the first round in West Ride.

Stonechat

The open ground seemed much quieter to start but as the heat got going birds started to move including 100+ Goldfinches, c100 Linnets, 200+ Meadow Pipits, 10+ Stonechats, a few Pied/White Wagtails and c20 Skylarks. I picked up the Long-eared Owl roosting in the scrub once again, this time right beside a net ride two/three feet above my head. John had a search through on Tuesday and found a number of pellets and droppings along the net ride.

Long-eared owl Pellet

My best round of the morning was the final one but unfortunately, I had to be away by 12.30, so had to take down the nets. In total, I managed a total of 60 new birds and 9 retraps. The catches of Blackcap, Dunnock and Stonechat all represent the best daily catches at the site and, along with Bullfinch, were all species that have been short in numbers this year up to now. The Bullfinches are breeding late again this year with another two fairly fresh juvenile birds. The spring traps chipped in with one new Stonechat and a same day retrap.

 

Stonechat

On Tuesday morning things were much quieter for John with thick fog until around 11am when he started to pack up.  There was an arrival of Goldcrests seemingly with a good scattering throughout the scrub and 9 new birds trapped, all in the single 6m ‘Mid Net’ ride which sits in a single tree wide strip between our main trapping areas.

Bullfinch

Amongst the Goldcrests was a new species for the site in the form of a Treecreeper. Although the habitat isn't particularly suitable for them, it is a species I have been waiting to see in the estuary over the past 4/5 years but at least I do know they appear!  

Treecreeper

Portstewart Strand/Grangemore  24-26/09/2017                          

                                       New       Retrap   
Blackbird                        1
Blackcap                         9               2
Blue Tit                           1               1                
Bullfinch                         3            
Chaffinch                        1                                          
Dunnock                         11             1
Goldcrest                        15             1
Goldfinch                         3
Great Tit                                           2                       
Lesser Redpoll                1                                  
Linnet                               2              2        
Meadow Pipit                  9
Robin                               7               3
Song Thrush                   1
Stonechat                        7
Treecreeper                    1
Wren                                3               1              

Totals                                    75                13                         

Blackbirds are still thin on the ground and it looks to have been a poor breeding year but the vanguard of migrant thrushes are hitting the northern Scottish isles as we speak, so the first flush will be here within the next week or two!
With a bigger team assembled we may start to target the finches and pipits in the coming weeks but the focus will be on the scrub in the chances of turning up something rare - watch this space!

 

With the strong winds on Saturday I ditched the nets and headed to Ballintoy Harbour to target Rock Pipits and Wheatears with spring traps. The Harbour is ga eological paradise with a couple of bays full of cliffs, boulders and islands of basalt and chalk in some exotic shapes such as Elephant Rock.

Rock Pipit

I've only ringed at the site once before but that is usually because it is really busy with hoards of tourists, particularly since Game of Thrones filmed at the site which now means we have bus loads of tourists dressed in costume with weapons & banners descending on the site daily. I thought today might have been different but unfortunately the Ultimate Causeway Coast Marathon was on but I was away before the main run of competitors passed by. 

There are two spots in the area where the kelp piles up the shore and that is where you find the majority of the birds. I opted for the one closest to the car park today and there probably around 50 Rock Pipits, 2 Pied Wagtails, 1 Meadow Pipit, 20 Starlings, 28+ Twite and a few rats feeding along the shore plus a very late Swift overhead. 
I managed a catch of 16 Rock Pipits but none of the other species showed any interest in the meal worms. 

Twite

My patch birding in the Bann Estuary has stepped a gear now that we are in September and I have matched my 2015 total of 117 species and only six shy of 2017 with one/two guaranteed species to come. The additions since the last post are Little Stint and Ruff.

Little Stint

My trip to Copeland Bird Observatory this weekend looks in doubt with the boat home off the island on Sunday looking unlikely but the forecast is improving so fingers crossed. It is a brilliant time of the year to be at a coastal observatory so I'm very keen to get out as it looks to be my only chance this autumn. The first run of Yellow-browed Warblers hit the Irish Sea Observatories yesterday with 10 on Bardsey, 1 at Hilbre, 1 at Walney and 1 on the Calf of Man, so hoping for one at CBO soon!  Firecrests were also on the move with up to 7 birds across a couple of the listed Observatories.  

Colour ringed Oystercatcher from south-west Iceland

 

Copeland Bird Observatory 22-24 April

Steve and I headed out to Copeland Bird Observatory for our first visit of the season along with three others.  The forecast had put the trip in doubt with the strong northerly winds potentially making the crossing dangerous but thankfully it went ahead, with just a bit rock and bounce on the way over.  The cold strong arctic winds suggested that there would be very little on the move, so we weren't expecting much bird wise.  The forecast did prove true and we had strong winds throughout with just two quieter spells early on Saturday and Sunday mornings but at least it stayed sunny!

Sunrise over Mew Island

We were pleasantly surprised with the birds on offer with one of the first birds spotted being a Long-eared Owl, which scared the life out of Steve as it flushed from the bracken as he walked past.  The LEO resurfaced the next morning around 30 seconds after a ringtail Hen Harrier floated past.  A total of 52 species were recorded with corvids being the main movers with c80 Hooded Crows, 5 Carrion Crow, c18 Jackdaw, 1 Rook and the resident pair of Ravens and Magpies.  Passerine migrants were slim on the ground with a couple of Willow Warblers, a quick sighting of a Wheatear, a Song Thrush, a few Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins plus a few Meadow Pipits and some mixed finches in Lesser Redpoll, Linnet and Goldfinch.  Sandwich Tern, mixed auks and Whimbrel were the only obvious migrants at sea.  

Jackdaw

With the winds coming from the north/north west, we focused the nets on the more sheltered east and south of the island and used the four Heligoland traps and the Crow Trap.  We got up at 05.30 on both Saturday and Sunday mornings and opened up the nets and traps with the first birds hitting the nets after 7am. 

Rock Pipit

Catching was pretty slow and died off around 10am.  The best bit of action was the capture of 6 Linnets together in the Gully Trap, although another 6 managed to fly out the front on approach.  The second British Goldfinch control in as many weeks at the Obs was nice and will probably be birds ringed in the last year because they were both Z sequences. 

CBO ringing totals 23-24/04/2016

                                  New       Retraps          

Blackbird                                    4                                                  

Goldfinch                    7              1 (control)                                                                     

Jackdaw                      1

Lesser Redpoll           3             

Linnet                          8                               

Reed Bunting             2               2                          

Robin                                           1

Rock Pipit                   2               1

Song Thrush              1

Willow Warbler          2                

Wren                                            1

                   

Total                          26              10          

The breeding season on the island has begun with the first Greylag goslings out, the Herring/Lesser black-backed Gulls on eggs, Jackdaws nesting in the buildings, a hatched Woodpigeon egg and a Swallow seen collecting mud.  The other birds have paired up, such as the Black Guillemots, Eiders and Reed Buntings plus the first couple of Puffins have been sitting on the water below the new colony.   

One of 35 odd pairs of Black Guillemots on the Observatory Island

Our next trip is planned for the weekend of the 13th to 15th of May, so hopefully the weather is a little kinder.  There are still places left over the coming months if anyone would like to stay at the observatory, plus a number of day trips coming up - check out http://www.thecbo.org.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/copelandbirdobservatory/?fref=ts for more information.   


On Friday morning Ken and Tyrone held a ringing session in Kens garden and caught a very nice mix of 14 different species, including the first Blackcaps of the year.  The weather was sunny, calm and pleasantly warm.  The nets were focused around the feeders with an extra net set on the woodland edge.

Willow Warbler

The feeders are still attracting a number of finches including Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll and boosted the number of birds caught.  The exterior net also helped catch species not often caught around the feeders including the Goldcrest and Willow Warbler.  A total of 38 birds were processed and show a mix of general winter and summer birds. 

Kens Garden  22/04/2016                                  
                                  Processed            

Blackcap                          3

Blue Tit                            2

Chaffinch                         8

Coal Tit                            1

Dunnock                           2                                                                  

Goldcrest                          1

Goldfinch                         5                                                                      

Great Tit                           2

House Sparrow                1

Lesser Redpoll                 5            

Long-tailed Tit                 4                           

Robin                               1                      

Willow Warbler                1          

Wren                                2  

                   

Total                               38                 

John had a quieter session at the River Site on Saturday morning with a handful of birds but he also caught his first Blackcap of the year and caught a returning Willow Warbler that had been ringed at the site in the previous year. 

A Change in the Birds

The change in the birds has finally arrived with five new additions to the year list at Portstewart Strand this morning.  A Chiffchaff was the first to appear, with a second unidentified Phylloscopus Warbler, probably another Chiff.  The other new birds included two Sandwich Tern, one Wheatear, one Iceland Gull and a Greenshank.  Lesser Redpoll and Black-tailed Godwit numbers have also risen, including a new colour ringed Bla-wit.

Chiffchaff

The ringing was a little slow and again the feeders were very important, accounting for all eleven finches. 

Ringing Totals - PSS 02/04/2016                                     
                                      
                                      New       Retraps          

Blackbird                        1      

Chaffinch                        1       

Chiffchaff                       1

Dunnock                                          1

Goldcrest                        1               2             

Goldfinch                        6

Lesser Redpoll                2              1                                                                 

Linnet                              1                                                           

Robin                               1    

                            

Total                                13              4        

 

Dunnock

 

As mentioned before, there were five additions to the year list for the patch on Saturday morning, with the total now at 86 species. 

 

Rock Pipit

 

On Sunday morning I headed up the coast in the hopes of catching some Rock Pipits and Wheatears.  I started off using three double/triple shelf nets and a single spring trap in a small bay, where lots of decomposing kelp gathers.  The nets didn't stay up long as the rain began and the wind seemed to be coming from all directions, manipulated by the rugged coastline. I did manage to catch one Rock Pipit before this.  The two Wheatears present weren't having any of it and departed after the first pass.  After the nets came down, I continued with the spring trap, baited with meal worms, for a little longer and caught a further two Rock Pipits.  There were c45 birds knocking around different parts of the bay, so it may be worth another visit.   

 

 

Other birds around included 29 Eider, a pair of breeding Ravens in a driftwood nest, Kittiwakes and Fulmars on the cliffs, two Sand Martin, one singing Chiffchaff and a few Gannets off shore.