Bann Estuary Waders 2019

As usual we've struggled to match up the ideal tides that fall over a couple of days every two weeks after sunset, with some ideal weather and availability of a suitable team (some of the older guys play bowls 😅) but we did succeed twice.
The first of these visits was on the 7th of August with myself, John, Abbie, Rich K and John S. The catch was steady over the few hours of darkness in the three nets and produced a new species for us - Greenshank.
In the end we managed to catch 3 Greenshank, 18 Dunlin and 14 Redshank plus a BTO control.

Greenshank

In 2018 there were only 18 Greenshank caught across the UK and Ireland and between 1952-2018 there were just 53 trapped across Ireland, 12 in Northern Ireland since 1977, so a very good catch indeed. Interestingly there were 7/8 present and we did try a range of their own calls but they only came into the mixed tape to roost.

Knot

The next session was two weeks later on the 21st of August, again with help from Abbie & Rich supported by Ken. We reduced the number of nets down to a single 12mx12m V net set and had to work with higher water levels in the shallow pools.
The catch wasn't quite as large as two weeks previous but we did get slightly more diversity with four species. We added a new species for the Bann Estuary with a Knot which are normally scarce here but there were up to 46 present over a few weeks this August.

Black-tailed Godwit

The final catch was 15 Redshank, 8 Dunlin, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and the single Knot. Before the waders I set a single net along a thin strip of phragmites reeds and managed to catch 10 Swallows with a number of others attracted in as we took the net down.

Barn Swallow

The controlled Redshank was originally ringed in Kent in the south-east of England on the 30th of August in 2018. Going by the wing length of the bird we presumed it to be Icelandic and it may well have been on route to the south-east of England or further south for the winter once again.

We're now approaching the end of October so it is unlikely we will do much more wader ringing in the estuary but we may get out along the Causeway Coast.

Acro Warblers on Lough Neagh 2018

After our exploratory visits to our new site on the west shore of Lough Neagh in 2017 we were full of anticipation to get back in amongst the reeds this summer.

In 2017 we made two visits to the site producing 197 birds with 30 Reed Warblers, 121 Sedge Warblers, 17 Blackcaps, 10 Willow Warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Wren, 2 Blue Tit and 6 Reed Buntings (which seems rather strange after 2018).

To refresh your minds on last years visits, please follow the links below:

https://causewaycoastrg.blogspot.com/2017/09/end-of-summer-update.html

https://causewaycoastrg.blogspot.com/2017/07/acros-galore.html

Reed Warbler

The total of 30 Reed Warblers was massive in an Irish and Northern Irish context given that the average catch of the species in NI between 2007-2016 was 3 birds per year and that there hadn't been more than 4 Reed Warblers caught in one year in the initial nine years before 17 in 2016. In the south they have averaged around 25 birds per year for the past 10 years. Certainly for the north, much of the change is down to effort and increased ringing around Lough Neagh once again - in 2015 there was no ringing in the area, one site in 2016, two sites in 2017 and two in 2018. In 2019 we should see this number climb further with certainly three, possibly four sites up and running, including two Constant Effort Sites with Portmore Lough being brought back into action after decades of no ringing - this site has produced over 1000 Sedge Warblers in certain years in the past and 1/2 Reed Warblers when they were much rarer back in the 1970's/1980's.




In 2018 we made three visits to the site on the 22nd of July, 11th of August and the final visit on the 25th of August producing 126 new birds (+2 controls), 182 new birds and 165 new birds respectively. Sedge Warbler numbers were pretty consistent across the three visits with 98, 97 & 84 respectively with Reed Warblers increasing across each with 10, 12 and 19. 

On the third visit there were noticeable gatherings of hirudines (and Swifts) feeding over the reedbeds and wet woodland so once the deluge of Acrocephalus (acros) warblers had subsided we had a go at tape luring some, successfully catching 15 Swallows and 3 Sand Martins with many more landing on top of the nets and poles and avoiding capture in the bright sunshine. I've never visited the Lough in the evening or at night but undoubtedly there must be some massive hirudine roosts forming all around the lough in autumn and our site seems better than most for potential habitat.
Through lack of extra hands we still haven't fully explored the potential of the backing wet woodlands but we did catch 26 Blackcap, 19 Willow Warbler and 4 Chiffchaff in short spells but a concerted effort would produce much more and perhaps a secret pair of Garden Warbler - the habitat is perfect (we may have as few as 50 breeding pairs in Ireland, generally around the Lakelands of Fermanagh, Leitrim, Roscommon and Cavan).

The combined totals of the three visits were:

Blackcap                      26
Chiffchaff                      4
Reed Bunting              83 (2)
Reed Warbler              41 [1 NW England control]
Robin                            2
Sand Martin                  3
Sedge Warbler            279 (1) [1 French control]
Swallow                        15
Willow Warbler            19
Wren                             1

Total                            473 (3) [2]

Reed Bunting

The biggest surprise of the year was the numbers of Reed Bunting around and the number caught. On the second visit an incredible 53 were caught (for not being a roost catch this is spectacular), an impressive 21 on visit three and a very decent 9 on visit one. Given that we only caught 6 in both visits combined in 2017 this is a massive change and 2019 might let us know what is normal! 


Having gone through the first autumn migration without a recovery from the 180 ringed warblers we were really quite surprised, particularly for Sedge Warblers which are readily controlled in the habitats they stopover in on migration. We were then even more surprised that we avoided any recoveries on the return journey north. 
The first visit of the season produced the goods with two controls, a very nice French ringed Sedge Warbler and a BTO ringed Reed Warbler which was even better in our minds! The Reed Warbler had been ringed at Middleton nature Reserve at Heysham Bird Observatory in Lancashire. Interestingly one of the ringers there, Pete Marsh, used to ring on our stomping grounds in the Bann Estuary back in the early 1970's and he reported that the Reed Warbler had arrived in a fall, including birds ringed elsewhere with 2 Sedge Warblers ringed in France and another in Belgium - did they all head to Ireland also?
A week after we received the details of our French control Sedge Warbler, we received news that one of our Sedge Warblers from this year had been recovered on the way south in France.

Sedge Warbler Movements (green) and Reed Warbler (light blue)

The Reed Warbler was originally ringed at Middleton Nature Reserve, Heysham on the 04th of May 2018 and controlled by us 79 days later at a distance of c151 miles.

The Sedge Warbler was originally ringed near La Rochelle on the west coast of France on its way south on the 11th of August 2017. It then spent the winter in sub-Saharan Africa before returning to Northern Ireland to breed for the first time, 345 days later, at a minimum distance of 1087 km but in reality this will be much more.

Our recovered Sedge Warbler was a juvenile ringed on the 11th of August this year and was recovered in Dourges in NE France 17 days later at a minimum distance of 790km. Normally we would expect these birds to stick to the west of France on their way to Africa but that's part of the beauty of the study of migratory birds.

Sedge Warbler

Limitations and Restrictions
As a ringing group, all of us are located 70-90 minutes away from the site, so regular visits and very early starts are difficult to enable the full monitoring the site deserves. The walk into the site is also over a mile long striding through reeds and wet grassland and not the easiest with all the equipment but the shear volume and quality of birds makes it very worth while. Getting sufficient pairs of hands in 2018 was our biggest restricting factor in regards to the number of nets we can use and also keeping the limited number open - at times the birds enter the nets faster than they can be extracted, let alone processed so the nets are closed until all birds have safely processed and released before reopening. Early morning seems to be the key time for the movement of birds with birds pouring through before tailing off before 9am, with basically no birds being caught around 10am. Normally on arrival the birds are in full flow and we've caught up to 17 birds in two joined nets in the process of erection which only takes a couple of minutes.
Cost is also a consideration when ringing such volumes of birds, the current price per bird for an A ring is 25.2p, so for the 449 ringed in 2018 equates to £113.50 + a further £5.07 in AA rings. Thankfully I have been able to source some funding sources over the past 4/5 years to pay for some of the rings, most notably to the Centre for Environmental Data & Recording (CEDaR) who covered the cost of 1000 A rings for 2018, but having never charged our T's & C's (and no plans to do so) there is still a financial burden into the £100's each year for myself and John. A CES would help us get a real understanding for the local breeding population of the site and take away the financial burden but unfortunately we couldn't commit to the effort at the moment!

..... but after all that, we do hope to increase our studies at the site next year to increase our understanding of the breeding birds on site, the turn over of birds in 24 hours and potentially investigate the sites potential in the evening (= overnight camping!).
If I get some time over the winter (on top of everything else I take on and pile up) I may take a look at the patterns from previous recoveries of the migration routes taken by be Sedge Warblers with the UK and Ireland to and from Lough Neagh of which I think there are three main routes - via NW England (possibly more so spring?), direct line through Wales out of SE Northern Ireland and NE Ireland and some to SE Ireland before making the leap to SW Wales and SW England.

The fresh wing (lower) of a juvenile Sedge Warbler and worn wing of an adult (upper)

A big thank you to John Clarke, Steve Fyffe, David Stirling, David Galbraith, Ken Perry, James O'Neill and James McDowell who were present at one+ of the visits and to Godfrey who gives us access to the site and is always on hand to assist. 

Copeland Bird Observatory 17-18th of September & PSS

After our 13 hour delay getting to Copeland Bird Observatory due to the tide, we set sail from Bangor at 7am, all a little weary eyed.  As well as Dean, Steve and myself, we were joined by Laurence from the Belfast and Down Ringing Group for the weekend.  The trip out was a new route for us leaving from Bangor and it was a real treat with perhaps 500+ Razorbills all around the mouth of Belfast Lough with a scattering of Black Guillemots, Guillemots and Eiders along the way. 
We arrived on the island around 8am and immediately set about opening the traps and getting some mist nets up.  We used the usual lot of the favoured net rides and opened the 4 helgoland traps, crow trap and a few potters baited with sardines.

Water Rail

The weather was decent with moderate westerlies for Saturday morning switching to southerlies in the afternoon for the rest of the weekend.  Saturday was a hot sunny day, where as Sunday was a little greyer with light drizzle as we were getting ready to depart mid-afternoon.

The range of migrants on show was lower than expected but a couple of species passed in large numbers.  Swallows and Meadow Pipits were the main feature with probably 800+ of the former and 500+ Mipits passing over the two days.  As usual in September, Robins begin to arrive back on the island after heading elsewhere for the breeding season.  A number of adult birds were reencountered that hadn't been seen since the spring plus a number of new juveniles.  Finches arrived on Sunday with 80+ Goldfinch, 40+ Linnets, a couple of Chaffinch and a single Lesser Redpoll.  Lesser Redpoll will soon become the dominate passage species as the autumn progresses with over 800 ringed last year!  There was a light scattering of Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests, House Martins and singles of Skylark, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Willow Warbler and a migrant Blackcap. 

Swallows

The ringing was pretty decent in terms of numbers which were bolstered by the three main movers with 22 Swallows, 14 Meadow Pipits and 13 Robin.  The first couple of rounds on Sunday morning produced the majority of the new Chiffchaffs (5) and Golcrests (3).  The Chaffinch caught is more than likely a controlled bird although it could have been ringed on the island 6+ years ago. 

Willow Warbler (left) and Chiffchaff

 

On Saturday night, as we were heading out shearwatering, we got a nice a surprise when we captured a Water Rail in one of the baited potter traps.  The bird was already bearing a ring and was originally trapped on the island back in 2012.  Despite the very bright full moon we managed to ring 29 Manx Shearwaters which were all pulli or recently fledged birds.  We also set the moth trap to run through the night but the catch of 5 moths of three species was pretty low and they were outnumbered by Sexton Beetles who do a great job clearing up the bird and rabbit carcasses across the island. 

Song Thrush

Copeland Bird Observatory Ringing Totals 17-18th Sep 2016

                                 New      Retrap    Control
Blackbird                                  1
Blackcap                    1            1
Chaffinch                                                  1
Chiffchaff                   6             1
Goldcrest                   6             1
Goldfinch                   4
Manx Shearwater      29  
Meadow Pipit            14
Reed Bunting             1
Robin                         13           9
Song Thrush               1
Swallow                     22
Water Rail                                1
Willow Warbler          1
Wren                          4            3            

Total                        102           17               1           

All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend and we are looking forward to the next visit in mid October is the weather allows it. 



On Tuesday morning John and I squeezed in a quick visit to Portstewart Strand to make the best of the conditions before a delayed start to work.  There had been a report of a possible male Common Yellowthroat a couple of hundred metres further along the shoreline a few days before and although the bird had been searched for by others unsuccessfully, a number of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs had been sighted. 

Sunrise

We were on site bright an early and had the nets up by 7am.  The wind was a little brisker than forecast but that is usually the case with southerlies where they blow straight off the river.  It was evident that there had been an arrival of Robins with a number ticking throughout the scrub before first light.  Other new birds included Blackbirds and a few extra Bullfinches than of late.  Once the sun had risen and things heated up a few Chiffchaff began to call amongst a roving flock of Goldcrests and a few Blackcaps appeared. 

Chaffinch

The main entertainment for the morning was the local juvenile Peregrine who has been terrorising just about every bird in the estuary.  Today it was testing out 4 Ravens, 11 Grey Herons in the roost and every duck and wader in sight.  It seems to have the most luck lifting the Black-tailed Godwits of which there were 140+ this morning.  It eventually made a kill before the tables were turned and the Hooded Crows tried to muscle in.  A second juvenile Peregrine appeared before we left around 10. 

The ringing was slow in the shortened sunny, breezy session but it is nice to see the arrival of some migrant Blackcaps and Goldcrests and hopefully a sign of the start of proper autumn migration.

Blackcap

PSS Ringing Totals 20/09/2016
                                 New      Retrap  
Blackcap                    3           
Blue Tit                                     2
Chaffinch                   1             1                 
Dunnock                    1            
Goldcrest                   3            
Goldfinch                   5
Meadow Pipit            1
Robin                         3             1
Wren                                                  

Total                        17           4              


The weather forecast is looking grim but there is a chance of short session on Sunday morning.  Dean and David S are heading off to the south coast of Ireland tomorrow to the fabled Cape Clear Bird Observatory (I'm just a bit jealous) for a weekend ringing course.  Cape Clear is easily the best birding spot in Ireland for autumn passerines, particularly from North America and if they hit the winds and weather right, they could be in for an amazing weekend.  Dean and David will be back next week with an update and pictures of their trip. 

 

Waders and Swallows - Take 2

After the success of last Wednesdays wader and Swallow roost catches we went for a repeat performance on Monday evening (http://causewaycoastrg.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/wader-bonaza-and-roosting-hirundines.html).  The prospects were a little better with high tide peaking roughly an hour after full darkness and we were a little closer to peak Swallow time in the estuary.  We had a team of five this time around with John, Ken, Siobhan, Steve and myself and the nets opened for around 7.30pm.  The evening was a scorcher with full sunshine and temperatures hitting 25°C at 7pm and although it clouded over a little, it was still a muggy 20°C on departure after 11pm.   

Snipe

The Swallow tapes worked immediately and attracted in c25 birds within a few minutes and over the next half an hour birds continued to trickle in and swarm overhead totalling around 1000 birds.  The commotion stirred up the resident Water Rails with 4/5 calling all around the reedbeds.  With the lower tide we were able to set two separate 18m nets slightly further in amongst the reeds. 
As with the last attempt, a number of waders and Teal etc. were flushed out of the pools when setting up the nets with the majority not returning.  We opted for the same set up but with an extra 18m three shelf net in the other pool without a tape.  The drier weather of late had dried out the pools a little, but as I write, it is raining cats and dogs, so I don't think it will be an issue on our next visit. 
There were a few other bits and pieces around the estuary with a Grey Seal, Otter and a couple of pipistrelle bats.

Sunset over the estuary

Given the number of Swallows that we had attracted in and the number that had dropped into the nets early we had to switch off the tapes.  The big flock circled overhead while we processed the other birds and eventually settled into the reebed just before dark.  Half had dropped in a bit earlier but a bird of prey (which we didn't get a proper look at) had flushed them back up. 
We caught a total of 73 Swallows, 4 Sand Martins and a single Sedge Warbler.

Last couple of Swallows being processed

For the waders, we again had to wait for complete darkness before the birds appeared and hit the nets.  We had an initial good catch but only a few birds in subsequent rounds.  The catch was quite different from the previous with some larger species in Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew and only a single Dunlin. 

Black-tailed Godwit (left) & Bar-tailed Godwit

Grangemore Ringing Totals 05/09/2016

                                        New               

Bar-tailed Godwit              2

Black-tailed Godwit           3

Curlew                               1

Dunlin                                1

Redshank                         18

Snipe                                 1

Sand Martin                       4

Sedge Warbler                   1

Swallow                             73

                           

Total                                 104             

Curlew

We are planning on heading to Portstewart Strand on Saturday morning with another attempt at Waders/Swallows at the start of next week if we can match up the weather and tides!  The stormy blast from the south this evening is probably good news for the guys on the south coast and the islands of the east and west but it might just produce a little bit for us - fingers crossed!
 
There are a few nice birds around the north coast at the minute including a couple of Little Stint and two Little Gulls at Magilligan Point pictured below. 

Little Stint

Little Gulls

Wader Bonaza and roosting Hirundines

On Wednesday evening (31st of August) Ken, Steve and I attempted a double roost catch, targeting hirundines and waders.  We had earmarked our Grangemore site as having great potential for both species groups, so thought there was no time like the present to test it out!

The conditions were ideal with 10-15mph westerlies blowing over the open saltmarsh while remaining cloudy and dry.  The reedbed, where we were targeting the hirundines, was much more sheltered by the deeply eroded river banks.  The timing of high tide wasn't perfect, coming at 19.45ish, roughly an hour and a half before darkness.

Curlew Sandpiper (Left) and Dunlin

We haven't quite worked out where all the estuaries waders, gulls, terns etc. go to roost.  There are 1000's of birds at low tide but the vast majority head out the mouth of the river at high tide.  The most likely location are the Skerries Islands off Portrush, which are 8-9km away and it is almost certainly where the gulls head; including the hundreds from further up river.  The nearest shores of Lough Foyle are 13km away and are a possibility for waders, although it would be the turf fields of Myroe which would be most suitable for roosting, but the 20km seems unlikely (why bother return the Bann Estuary twice a day?).  We have no idea about the Terns but the beaches of Magilligan Point (11-12km) or perhaps the Skerries would fit the bill.
What we do know is that perhaps up to 500-750 waders remain to roost in the estuary at this time of year, mainly Curlew, Black-tailed Godwits, a few Redshank and perhaps a couple of hundred Calidrids (a number seem to roost on the piers at the mouth of the river).  The oxbow lake (very shallow, partially exposed mud) holds the main concentrations (when not disturbed) and seems to appeal to a wider range of species, perhaps due to the water being less saline and the more consistent levels.  The oxbow lake is cut off from both rivers, sitting a few feet above high tide and surrounded by salt marsh and wet meadows.

Wader nets

We opted for two 18 metre wader nets in a 'V' shape over the open water of the oxbow lake, which is no deeper than 25cm.  On arrival there were 200/300 birds on the pools already with all but a few Dunlin, Teal and Snipe flushing.  We placed a tape lure in the middle playing the infamous Redshank tape from the Wash. 

Trying for roosting hirundines was a first for the site but the habitat (reedbeds) is much better than our usual site plus it is in close proximity to our Grangemore Sand Martin colony.  I had created a net ride through the reedbed earlier in the year for Sedge Warblers, which was around 50 metres long but the high tide meant we could only use the last 12m.  We added another 18m net running at the edge of the reeds to create another 'V' shape'.  A Swallow and Sand Martin tape lure were placed in the centre.

Net locations

A few Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit showed a little interest early on when it was still bright but the nets were a bit obvious.  Four/five Dunlin did fly into the nets but only one stuck with the rest bouncing out and a few others going under.  We altered the nets a little making the pockets a bit deeper and slightly lower, but still high enough to keep a big bird out of the water. 
  
The hirundines built around sunset and we managed a catch of 15 Swallow, 6 Sand Martin and 2 Sedge Warbler.  There didn't appear to be many more birds about, so a decent catch.  While keeping an eye on the other nets, we ringed and released the birds straight from the nets (still light) and closed up. 

Ruff

Just after dark, perhaps 300 waders appeared and descended on the pools giving us an initial big hit.  We turned the tape off straight away as we were not equipped for too large a catch.  The result was really pleasing with 20 birds in the nets of five species.  The majority of birds were Dunlin (14) plus 2 Redshank and 1 Black-headed Gull but the real big surprise was 2 Ruff and a Curlew Sandpiper.
These two species were new ones to us and very unexpected.  The Curlew Sandpiper is the first to ringed in Northern Ireland since at least 1977, possibly ever.  In the same period there were only 4 Ruff ringed in Northern Ireland with the last one coming in 1983.

Dunlin

Grangemore Ringing Totals 31/08/2016

                                        New              

Black-headed Gull            1

Curlew Sandpiper             1

Dunlin                              14

Redshank                          2

Ruff                                   2 

Sand Martin                      6

Sedge Warbler                  2

Swallow                           15                                  

Total                                43                     

We plan to get out to Portstewart Strand at the weekend and are hoping for an arrival of some new birds.  The next attempt at wader and hirundine roost catches will probably be next week if we can muster the manpower and work the weather and tides!

Redshank

Black-headed Gull

Curlew Sandpiper (right, top, bottom) and Dunlin

Early September Catch Up

Copeland Bird Observatory - 4-6th September


The forecast for the weekend was looking very poor, with strong winds coming from the north through Friday and Saturday, meaning our boat was in doubt.  Thankfully on Friday evening a calmer weather window opened, allowing Steve, Niall and myself to reach the island safely.  The winds picked up through the night and persisted until Sunday morning, when they switched to westerlies at around 10mph.  It stayed dry throughout and was sunny for large parts of the weekend; particularly Sunday.  Not great conditions for ringing but it's all part of the challenge.

Despite the windy weather we did manage to open a number of mist nets in the more sheltered rides (marked on the map below), mostly on the southern end of the island.  On top of those we also set the four Heligoland traps, the crow trap and three potters traps. 

The island remained quiet throughout the weekend with very few typical migrants making landfall - with a single Willow Warbler, one Goldcrest, two Wheatear and a few Blackcaps.  The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly the juvenile White-tailed Eagle which stopped off on the island on Saturday morning at 10.15.  This is only the second record for CBO and the first to actually land on Lighthouse Island.  It was also a first for the three of us and very unexpected.
The strong winds produced a strong passage offshore but very little time was spent sea watching (not my cup of tea).         
Through the weekend we managed a total of 43 new birds ringed and retrapped 24.  There was a total of 7 species, with Swallows making up most of the new birds.  We weren't ringing the Manx Shearwaters at night but we did catch two inside the 'Gully' Heligoland trap, pre dawn on Saturday morning. 

CBO Weekend Ringing Totals 04-06/09/2015

                                        New        Retrap           

Blackbird                           1               9

Blackcap                            3               8

Goldcrest                           1              

Manx Shearwater              2

Robin                                 6               4                                         

Swallow                            25                                                    

Wren                                  5               3              

 

Total                                 43             24   

Steve and Niall at work in the ringing lab

Kens Garden - 09/09/2015

On Wednesday Ken held a session in his garden for one of trainees, Tyrone.  They started at 10.30am, targeting the birds coming to the feeders (using four mist nets), finishing up in the late afternoon.  The day was very breezy but the sheltered location of the garden often means the nets remain relatively still.  They were kept busy with lots of tits and managed to extract a Woodpigeon before it flipped out of the mist net pocket.  They managed a total of 60 birds, both new and old, of eight species.   

Woodpigeon  (An old picture from 2013)

Ringing Totals 09/09/2015

                                    

                                   Captures         

Blackbird                          1                 

Blue Tit                           14

Chaffinch                        12  

Coal Tit                           15            

Dunnock                           3                           

Goldfinch                         1

Great Tit                          12      

Woodpigeon                     1

 

Total                               60

Swallow Roost Catch - 09/09/2015

Following the session in his garden, Ken had an attempt at catching roosting Swallows at the University of Ulster River Site.  He was joined by Tyrone, Steve, John and myself.  We used a line of one eighteen and a twelve metre net with a single tape lure.  The nets were set in an open glade amongst the colonising Ash and Willow, which was much more sheltered than the usual net rides. We were set up for 19.30, with the sun setting 35 minutes later. 
The numbers of last year still haven't materialised and there was a maximum of 50 birds circling over the nets.  A wave of birds dropped in at 20.20 and 22 Swallows were captured.  All but one were juveniles.  A single Blackcap was also caught soon after the nets were set.

The previous day, John had a morning ringing session at the River Site in calm conditions.  It was a bit quiet with very little moving through the net rides. 


River Site Ringing Totals - 08/09/2015

                                        New        Retrap           

Blackbird                           2              

Blackcap                            1               1

Bullfinch                            2              

Chiffchaff                          1

Dunnock                            1               1                                         

Great Tit                            1                                                             

 

Total                                 8              2 

Portstewart Strand - 13/09/2015

With a decent forecast and nice birds dropping in along the south and west coast of Ireland, John and I went into our session with a bit of optimism.  We arrived on site at 05.45 and set all nets plus a new extra net in the patches of gorse.  The weather was sunny for the most, with 9-12mph winds from the south. 

Coal Tit

  

There was very little new moving through the site with the only noticeable birds being Meadow Pipits, a Wheatear and the return of Teal to the estuary. 
The ringing was decent with 49 new birds and 3 retraps.  There were 11 different species caught, with Meadow Pipit accounting for almost half the catch.  Four new Song Thrushes was a nice catch and the Coal Tits were new species for the site.  We packed up after 11 and headed for him.


Ringing Totals 13/09/2015

                                        New        Retrap           

Blackbird                          1                 

Blackcap                           2  

Bullfinch                           3              

Coal Tit                             2

Dunnock                            6               2            

Goldfinch                          2      

Linnet                                3

Meadow Pipit                   23

Robin                                2                1                                                               

Song Thrush                     4                                                                 

Wren                                 1               

 

Total                                49               3         

Goldfinch