Starling disappointment--but still worthwhile

Yesterday afternoon we attempted to catch some Starlings which roost in the Belvide reed beds. Starlings are great birds for trainees because they are tricky to extract from nets and they are quite difficult to age and sex-until you get you eye in. As a consequence they carry a high 'tariff' on a trainees application for a C permit.

It will not have escaped readers that we've had rather a lot of rain recently and this meant that our usual net site was too deep--so Plan B was hatched. Unfortunately Plan B was not very successful and we only managed to catch 4 Starlings--and came up with Plan C for next time!!

Having only a small catch however can prove useful when trainees haven't ringed the species previously--and this was the case yesterday. We caught a selection of ages and sexes even within the 4, which proved useful as a training exercise.

Sexing is comparatively straightforward--males have a completely dark iris, while females of all ages have a lighter ring in the iris as shown in the picture

With a bit of imagination you can see the right hand bird has a paler outer ring round the iris showing it's a female. As time moves on, sexing becomes even easier as males develop a bluish tone at the base of the bill and females a pinkish base--ready for the breeding season.

 

Ageing however, is rather more difficult to assess and takes some time to get your eye in. Two of the main characteristics are the appearance of the throat and tail feathers.

 

First the tail. Starlings are one of the few species where both adults and juveniles undergo a complete post breeding moult; so we can't see any moult limits or tail wear features. Adult tails have a marked pointed appearance as shown in the picture

Juvenile tail feathers look more rounded

Adult male breast feathers ar probably simplest ti sort out in that they have long feathers with tiny white arrow heads on them:-

 

Juvenile males are very similar but the white tips are larger and broader:-

We didn't catch an adult female, but their breast can be confused with a juvenile male--but the female's iris is a good discriminator. Juvenile females have what I call 'white blobs' on their breast feathers:-

So, trainees all geared up for a bigger catch next time--in about 2 weeks--fingers crossed!

 

 

 

 

 

A good night's lamping

Friday night saw us lamping at one of our favourite farms where we survey fields for birds at night as well as using the imager to try to catch and ring them.
We surveyed a lot of fields but some where beans or brassicas were growing were either devoid of birds or we couldn't see then because of the dense vegetation.
However, we still had a good catch including 2 Woodcock, 10 Skylarks a couple of Fieldfare, a redwing and a Grey Partridge.
woodcocks are pretty amazing with their eyes right on top of their heads giving them pretty well 360 vision.

Although not a great deal of use in the field, this picture shows one of the key ageing criteria for this species. The row of feathers I'm pointing at are called the primary coverts and in adult birds they are tipped white whereas in juveniles like this one, they have light brown tips

This fieldfare is a male. Although not fully shown in this picture, the blue/grey head feathers have small amounts of black at the centre of the feathers--in females the black centre is more obvious

Ageing fieldfares is usually quite straightforward and shows well in this photo.

The row of feathers to the left of the tip of my thumb are called the greater coverts. You can see the feathers towards the body have got brown tips--these are adult types feathers which the bird has moulted in over recent weeks. However, the feathers towards the outside of the wing are shorter and have white tips. These are juvenile feathers which the bird has not yet moulted--making this bird a juvenile--fledged this calendar year, somewhere in northern Scandinavia or further east!? 

 

 

 

Kev the ringing machine....

Having been out early most mornings recently-Kev came with me yesterday relatively late morning to catch Jack snipe as in the previous post.
This morning he was met by his son at 03.00 hrs for a drive to a site in Great Bridgeford for an early morning thermal imaging session followed by some general mist netting ( see following report). Not satisfied with that Kev is back out with us for an evening of thermal imaging tonight--I wish I knew what he was on so that I could take some myself !!

The imaging session yielded 1 new Skylark and one which was ringed at the site almost a year ago; 2 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing and star bird- a Woodcock

Woodcock are beautiful birds--quite large with powerful wings--Gareth reports coming across them every visit now, and their catch rate is improving with experience too.

The general netting session went well, with 32 new birds of which 14 were Redwing, 6 Chaffinches and the two star birds being a Yellowhammer below and a Linnet -last picture. This was the first Linnet they have ringed at the site-let's hope it's the first of many

Yellowhammer

Linnet

What a complete numpty I am !!

Close friends will know this already of course--but yesterday I excelled even for me!

Having decided to try for Jack snipe at our special site, I managed to recruit Kev to give me a hand. We loaded up the car for the half hour drive--but as we got out at the site I realised I'd left the crucial hand net back home.........doh!!. So back in the car to go home and bring the net--45 minutes wasted.

We then entered the site with Kev on the net while my job was to find the Jack snipe with my new thermal imager. I was getting really concerned when after about an hour I hadn't seen any form of wildlife despite the fact that common and Jack snipe were flying up around us. Quite by chance I looked at Kev through the imager and saw that his face was black, not glowing white as it should have been. Inadvertently I had changed the palette and was trying to see black shapes against a black background; no wonder I couldn't see anything.........doh again!!

I couldn't work out how to change it ( it's still very new and I haven't learned how to fly it yet) but fortunately I had asked Kev to bring our other imager in case my battery ran out. His wasn't working properly either but he was able to spot birds and we managed to catch 5 Jack snipe

Here are the heads of two Jack snipe showing two features:- first the short bill in comparison to common snipe ( see pic below); and secondly the bird on the left as you look at it has very pale almost white stripes on the head showing it's a juvenile, while the adult bird on the right has broader creamier head stripes. Unfortunately they aren't always that easy to age........

These are the same two birds--the upper one is the adult showing more golden hues in the back sripes than the paler juvenile. This also shows an important aspect in that Jack snipe tend to stay still when you approach and use camouflage to avoid detection. Imagine those colours sitting amongst dead grass stems--almost invisible.

This is a common snipe for comparison--somewhat bigger overall than Jack, but with a much longer bill

 

 

Now that's what I call--dedication!!

This is the time of year when continentally bred thrushes--Fieldfare and Redwing pile into and through Britain from their breeding grounds in Scandinavia and points east. Redwings in particular are attracted to a sound lure which was discovered only a handful of years ago. This was produced by a birder in Latvia, and it has transformed the numbers of Redwing we are able to catch. This is giving us valuable information about their whereabouts--and as we get more recaptures, more data about where and when they spend the winter months.

For a few years now, Pete has been very active in catching these birds at a lovely walled garden site, and he has caught several thousand over the period. Lately, another member of the group Kev, has found a very good site and lately, the two of them have been demonstrating their dedication to the cause. They are both out before dawn on every available morning--sometimes 4 and 5 mornings in a row--and this is paying off.

Catches have been variable, and overall Pete reckons there are fewer birds around than in recent years--but the numbers they are catching are still impressive. Kev ringed 46 and 45 in the last two days, and overall between them, they have ringed just under 700 Redwings since late October. Kev reports that there has been a significant shift in the age of the birds he's catching now. Earlier in the season adult birds predominated but now he is catching mostly juveniles. It would appear that adults migrate first and the juveniles come through a few weeks later. It would be interesting to know if other ringers are finding the same pattern. Well done chaps!!

Another form of dedication is getting your outdoor gear on and venturing out in the cold winter evenings when all sensible folk are settling down to a glass of something in front of the telly.
Such is the lot of our thermal imaging aficionados--out trying to survey and catch Skylarks and other birds roosting or feeding in fields. We are having a big bash on Friday evening so watch this space over the weekend for the results and an update on how we have been doing.
As of yesterday you can also follow us on Twitter --@Belvide Ringers

Jubilee Wood Demonstration

Yesterday morning we did another ringing demo for a lovely group of people who run a small nature reserve called Jubilee Wood near Codsall. It was raining until a few minutes before we were due to start but cleared in time to set only three short nets. A group of about 25 mums, dads, kids and other interested folk showed up

and we hope they had a smashing time. As expected Blue and Great tits were by far the majority of birds we caught --but although we get a tad blasé about them, the wonder in childrens' eyes when they release a bird makes it all worthwhile.

It's not only the children who are blown away by the experience either--the adults are often dying to take part also!!

Theresa is releasing one of the star birds of the session--we caught three Redwings and were able to explain where they come from, how to listen for them at night etc.

It seemed like everyone went home very happy and we hope felt they had learned something. But of course the real prize for us is if any of the group--especially the youngsters--are so taken by the experience they will take up birding or even ringing. Time will tell.

 

Back on the patch

Saturday saw a return to the home patch where we provided the Staffordshire Smallholders Association with a ringing demonstration to back up a talk I gave a few months ago.
We set up at the Belvide feeding station for an hour and a half and caught 30 birds--mostly Blue and Great tits; but we also had Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal and Marsh tit. Everyone went home happy.
On Monday evening we re-started our thermal imaging/lamping project on Mike's farm. He came out with us for a couple of hours and was delighted to find how attractive his stubble fields are to Skylarks and Woodcock. Over 80 of the former and 5 of the latter were found on only two fields. We managed to ring 11 Skylarks and one Woodcock. We were a bit rusty with our technique and hope to improve on this catch rate in future--possibly!!

Jolly boys and girls on Tour !!

Apologies for no posts recently but we have been in Portugal on our 13th annual ringing trip to the Algarve region. WIFI connection was pathetic so it was impossible to provide a running commentary--which was unfortunate because we had a brilliant time. So I shall try to give you a feel for it with some figures and nice pics!

 

The first week saw 13 of us--including some guests from Cumbria, visit our regular site near Vilamoura, for general ringing. We ringed 962 new birds ( a bit less than average) the most common of which were Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. One of the former was carrying a British ring but we haven't got the details yet. The following pics are some of the other species we ringed:-

 This is one of the three Wrynecks we ringed--always a superb bird in the hand.

We also caught three Kestrels--this is an adult male

This is a juvenile Little Bittern which spends its time in the very large reed beds catching fish and frogs

A family party of Penduline tits had arrived for the winter from goodness knows where--this is one of the juvenile birds as can be seen by the poorly developed black mask.

Although there are some common Starlings in the area--the Spotless Starling is the most regularly seen. Ben tried to catch some at their large roost--and this is one of the small number he caught-an adult male with absolutely no spots at all.

Hoopoes are quite common in southern Europe--but that never detracts from their splendour in the hand!!

This is obviously a magpie--but not as we know it Jim. It is now called an Iberian Magpie--having previously being called an Azure Winged Magpie--a stunning bird

Southern reed beds are the winter home of this stunning bird--it's a male Bluethroat--a relative of our Robin. This is a male and a member of the white spotted race which breeds across large parts of central and southern Europe. Birds from farther north have a red spot in the middle of the blue bib unlike this bird.

It's always exciting to find a new species at the site--especially when its one that you've never handled before. So it was with this male Dartford Warbler. A beautiful grey back contrast beautifully with the dark maroon breast with white speckles--an absolute stunner!! 

 

Week two saw 6 of the group stay on, four new members join up and the team move east to the Ria Formosa National Park where we have access to some old disused salt pans and a superb shallow lagoon, in order to catch and ring wading birds for the Portuguese ringing scheme. It's great fun, but also very tiring because we need to catch at high tide and at night--so most catches meant leaving at around 9pm and getting to bed about 0500...........

Our efforts were rewarded with a very creditable 424 waders ringed --Curlew, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Bar and Black Tailed Godwit all provided some syunning birds in the hand. The picture that follow are mostly taken using flash which unfortunately really doesn't do the plumage justice.......

This was one of a record breaking 16 Whimbrel--smaller than a Curlew with a shorter bill and a central white stripe down the mid line of the head

Here is a Curlew for comparison-much longer bill and no head stripe

This is a Bar Tailed Godwit--one of the medium sized waders with a slightly upturned bill

These are two Bar Tailed Godwits showing the difference in bill length between females on the left and males on the right ( as you look at them)

Ringing at night always opens the possibility of birds like this Barn Owl finding their way into the nets--what a bird!! A male judging by the almost plain breast with hardly any spots.

 

Sometimes we had enough energy to do some daytime ringing for other birds. In fact we caught 200 new birds--mostly Chiffchaffs. However we were delighted to ring another new species for the project--this bird is a Woodlark. The stripes above each eye meet at the rear of the head is one of the key ID features of this species.

Finally, a picture which sums up how most of us feel at the end of each day in sunny Portugal even in late October---tired but happy!!

Plans are already being laid for next year's repeat visit!!