The Warblers are back

With the sounds of our favourite species group - the warblers, back on territory, we have visited some our regular spots to catch up with some old friends and meet the new cohort.
By the end of April we've had our regular six breeding species back which include Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and most pleasingly, Grasshopper Warbler. For regular readers you will know that there was a complete absence of Grasshoppers over most of Northern Ireland last year and I hadn't seen or heard a single bird. Things seem to be back to normal this year with at least five territories back in the Bann Estuary and probably a few more to come.

Some good weather over the five day long Easter weekend gave the perfect opportunity to get out and open the nets. I made three visits to Portstewart Strand in this period with a great morning on Good Friday encouraging another the following day and again out on Easter Tuesday.

Willow Warbler

The first visit seemed to be very well timed with a catch of 14 new Willow Warblers which is a daily record for the site, most were females and caught moving through the gorse bushes. The same nets also produced 13 new Linnets. A female Greenland type Wheatear was the last bird in the nets and keeps up our track record of catching one Wheatear each spring at the site.

Greenland Wheatear

                                     New        Retrap
Blue Tit                                            1
Bullfinch                                          2
Dunnock                        2
Linnet                            13
Meadow Pipit                                   3
Sedge Warbler               1
Wheatear                        1
Willow Warbler              14
Wren                               2               1

Total                              33              7

Sedge Warbler - dirty nails are regular when ringing here

The Sedge Warbler on the 19th of April was my earliest ever beating the previous record held by a bird at Copeland Bird Observatory on the 24th of April in 2016. My earliest Sedge Warbler around the Bann Estuary is the 29th of April in two years & the 30th of April in two others, so certainly an early bird.
One of the Bullfinches retrapped was also an old lady having originally been ringed as a female on the 20th of November 2014 born in that year.

The middle gorse net at first light

Having had such a good catch (in limited nets) I opted to go again the following day in what appeared to be an even better forecast and added an extra net.
The result was disappointing with very little moving and much fewer birds seen out on the estuary.

                                     New        Retrap

Blackbird                                         1

Bullfinch                                          1

Dunnock                        2                 1

Linnet                            3

Stonechat                       1

Willow Warbler            3

Wren                                                1

Total                              9              6    

Linnet

The third visit was on the 23rd of April and although the conditions weren't overly promising but the nets were sheltered from the northerly wind. It continues to be a strong start of the season for Willow Warblers but many will have to find new territories elsewhere with a lack of habitat to serve them all. We tend to catch more Linnets in the autumn with the use of tape lures but we seem to be doing particularly well this spring. There are certainly 2/3 breeding pairs right beside our nets but there are still small flocks passing through the gorse (tape lures have not been used).

                                     New        Retrap

Blackcap                        1

Bullfinch                                          1

Dunnock                                          1

Linnet                            3                 1

Willow Warbler            4                 1

Wren                                                1

Total                              8              5    

The retrap Willow Warbler was one of our returning adult male birds originally trapped on the 9th of April in 2017.

Siskins and Garden Ringing

Ken has been back in action in the garden since mid-February, ably assisted by John and James. Over the handful of sessions over 200 birds have been processed with nice numbers of Siskins and a couple of winter Blackcaps - Goldfinches continue to be noticeable in their near absence.

Siskin 

Kens Garden - February/Early March
  

Blackbird               3             

Blackcap                1
Blue Tit                  40              
Chaffinch               6              
Coal Tit                  54              
Dunnock                2

Goldfinch               11                             
Great Tit                 15

Greenfinch              2              
Long-tailed Tit        4              
Robin                      15              
Siskin                     37                

Totals                     190                  

Those totals were topped up this morning with another 32 birds processed including another 6 Siskin and a Blackcap.
I opened a net in my new garden for the first time to catch some of the visiting Siskins and have added a further 9.

One of the Siskins caught by Ken last month was a control and it was rather nice recovery at that. The adult male bird was originally ringed at Cape Clear Bird Observatory on the 26th of October 2017 and trapped 117 days later. The distance is about as long as can get within Ireland at 454 km.

Mid October Update

Over the past week or so we have managed to get a few visits to Portstewart Stand and the university river site, boosted by John having some time off.  Ken has also kicked off the winter ringing in his garden.  The weather has been fantastic yet again and it is hard to believe that it has lasted so long!

Redwing

As we progress through the autumn, you notice the subtle changes in migration, day to day.  Earlier in the week, Skylarks were on the move in big numbers but by the weekend, the main wave had passed and the Thrushes took over.  On Saturday alone, seven Song Thrush and four Blackbird were caught, plus five Redwing over the weekend, with many more present.  Goldfinch and Chaffinch numbers are also building and Twite have made a first appearance for the autumn/winter.  A new species for the dune system came in the form of two stunning male Yellowhammers.  Duck numbers on the estuary are also on the rise, with plenty of Mallard, Teal and Wigeon. 

Blackbird

The sessions at Portstewart Strand have been productive and we have caught some nice birds.  The best of these would be three Skylark, five Redwing and three Reed Bunting.  The totals include a short visit from the 1st of the month, which I had missed on the last update.  It included probably the last Chiffchaff of the year and the only Blackcap so far this month, although I expect a few more in the remainder of the season. 

                                                       Skylark                                                (JC)

PSS Ringing Totals

                                        New        Retrap           

Blackbird                         5                 2  

Blackcap                          1                 1

Blue Tit                            2

Bullfinch                          1                 1

Chaffinch                         5

Chiffchaff                        1

Coal Tit                           2                                      

Dunnock                          1                 6              

Goldcrest                         1

Goldfinch                       32

Great Tit                         3                  

Linnet                             5

Meadow Pipit                8                  

Redwing                         5

Reed Bunting                 3 

Robin                              3                   1                                                                               

Skylark                           3

Song Thrush                  8                                                                      

Wren                              1                    2             

Total                              90                 13                

 

 

 The river site remains quiet, although there has been noticeable migration overhead and in the nets with Blackbird, Chaffinch and Robins moving.  The best bird caught was a Treecreeper, accompanied by a couple of Goldcrest.  We wouldn't ring in many woodland sites, so only handle one or two Treeceepers a year.  It may potentially have been a bird in search of pastures new, as the habitat contains only a few trees with a trunk girth greater than 7/8 inches. 

 

                                                       Treecreeper                                              (JC)

 

 

University River Site Ringing Totals

                          

                                       New        Retrap           

Blackbird                          2                 

Blue Tit                             1                1

Bullfinch                           1        

Chaffinch                         8                            

Goldcrest                          2                                 

Great Tit                           4

Robin                                4                                                                              

Treecreeper                      1     

Total                                 23               1                

 

 

 Redwing

 

 

On Friday morning Ken had a session in his garden for Siobhan to continue her training.  The sunflower hearts are really starting to pull in the birds, including very large numbers of Coal Tits.  Of the 70 birds processed, 29 of those were Coal Tits, which is much higher than the norm.  At this time of year they can become a bit of a pest at the feeders, as they only eat a fraction of the food and continually return and stash food around the garden.  They make good training for extracting small birds from mist nets though!

 

 

Ken's Garden Ringing Totals 16/10/2015

 

                                        Total              

Blackbird                          1                 

Blue Tit                             4

Chaffinch                         15

Coal Tit                            29

Dunnock                            1             

Goldfinch                         10

Great Tit                           9              

Greenfinch                        1

Total                                 70                       

 

 

 

 

All in all in it has been a very productive month thanks to the very settled weather and hopefully we can squeeze in another couple of sessions.  So far we have processed 268 birds of 25 species.  The obvious highlight being the Yellow-browed Warbler and I doubt that will be topped this year.  If the weather allows it, we should be back in action next weekend. 

 

 

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

Mid August Update

UUC River Site - Saturday 15th of August

John went for a morning session at the river site in calm, fine conditions.  The site hasn't really be used since the spring, so the net rides needed a good bit of work to get the nets open.
The catch wasn't big (c15-20 birds) but he did manage to catch a number of juvenile birds including Song Thrush, Blackcap, Greenfinch, Robin and Chiffchaff.  Included in the other species caught was a Swallow, which is something we don't really catch outside roosts. 

Chiffchaff

Greenfinch

Portstewart Strand -  Sunday 16th of August

I struggled to get out of bed this morning, so I wasn't on site until 06.45, arriving to find a search and rescue in operation.  The rescue helicopter had been brought up from County Sligo and various quads and groups of people were searching through the dune system/beach.  Thankfully the person was found safe and well some 12 hours after the search began.  The conditions were fine and sunny, with light winds. 

It was high tide on the estuary so it was very quite, although I did see my first 3 Little Egrets of the year (two years in fact) on the patch and the Grey Heron numbers have increased to 15.  It was weirdly quiet on the land with a lack of Starlings, Goldfinches and Skylarks, only 3 Linnet, 2 Meadow Pipit and 2 Lesser Redpoll.  Usually there are a few dozen of each species at the least.  The helicopter might have had something to do with it...   

Willow Warbler

 



The first net round was decent with 10 birds, but in the following hour or so I managed 4 retraps, so I packed up around 09.00 and headed for home.  Last week we had caught 17 birds by 8am, so I probably started too late.  Things should pick up when the berries ripen; perhaps in two weeks.

Sunny net rides

Ringing Totals 06/08/2015

                                        New        Retrap           

Blackcap                            2 

Bullfinch                             1              1

Dunnock                                             3              

Sedge Warbler                                    1                                         

Willow Warbler                  4                                                    

Wren                                   1              

 

Total                                8                5         

Storm Petrels - Tuesday 11th of August

John, Steve and I tried a sixth attempt at catching Storm Petrels this year at Rinnagree Point on Tuesday night.  The conditions seemed near perfect with good cloud cover, light winds, mild and no bright moon.  We opened up the net at 23.20, with the first bird flying in 6 minutes later.  We had caught 8 birds by around 00.05 but it then went quiet before another 4 birds came in around 00.30.  We caught just 3 more Stormies, coming at 01.07, 01.14 and 01.55.  In between the last two birds we had a bit of excitement when an Oystercatcher was caught.  It was almost followed by a second but it unfortunately missed the net.  In total it was 15 Storm Petrels, taking us to a meagre 92 new birds for the year, well down on regular totals.

John and the Oystercatcher

We have received some information back from the BTO on a couple of the controlled Storm Petrels caught last month. 
The first bird was caught on Ailsa Craig, in the Irish Sea on the 13th of July 2014.  This is the second exchange with the island, with one of our birds being re-caught there previously.  The straight-line distance between the locations is 100km, 389 days in between.
The second bird came from a new location for us and another bird from the east coast of the UK.  It was originally ringed at Kilnsea Clays, East Riding, Yorkshire on the 8th of July 2014.  The distance between the sites is 475km, 370 days between. 
We also received word from Declan Clarke from the Irish Midlands Ringing Group to say that he recovered one of our birds on the 11th of August at Portacloy in County Mayo.  We originally ringed the bird on the 26th of July last year and it is the second bird we have exchanged with Declan.  Distance  = 221km. 

I'll maybe map them later this week if I get a chance!
  

June Bits and Pieces

Time has been limited thus far in June, so we have only managed bits and pieces, here and there.

 Back at the start of the month I re-visited the Castleroe Wood nest boxes to ring the 5 broods that weren't ready in May.  The poor breeding season for Blue & Great Tits continued with only three of the broods having some success.  The first brood had 1 chick and 2 cold eggs, brood two was 2 alive plus one dead chick, brood three were 5 dead chicks, brood five (the only Blue Tits of the season) were 7 cold eggs and brood five was 2 alive & 2 dead. 

 

 Great Tit

Normally from the 30 boxes (now 29) there is c75% occupancy but that was down to 26/7% occupancy producing only 16 chicks to a ringable age.  All those ringed were Great Tit, so it may be the disastrous season for the Blue Tits that is skewing the results. 

 Great Tit

Each year a pair of Pair Wagtails nest around my house, usually managing two broods.  This year they choose the new nest box nestled in the Climbing Hydrangea.  I ringed the 4 chicks on the 9th of June and they have since fledged.  Hopefully the adults will go again for brood two.

Pied Wagtail 

 

 

 

Last week Adam McClure from the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group came up to check out some birds of prey nests around the University of Ulster in Coleraine.  Thanks to Adams tree climbing skills we were able to access a couple of nests, although the presumed Buzzard nest was empty but we did get an active Sparrowhawk nest.  There were 3 chicks in the nest with one male and two females.

 



Another of Adams main projects is running the Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Survey, which has produced some nice results.  You can check out more information on the blog below.

http://bhgullsni.blogspot.co.uk/

 Adam hard at work

On Saturday morning John and Steve had a session at the University river site.  In very nice conditions (for basking in the sun) they managed a dozen birds including the first Whitethroat of the year, a couple of Starlings and a few more fledglings of common species.