The 2019 Belvide Ringing Report
Overview:
A great year!! This is the first complete year when
our ringing group has adopted the name Belvide Ringers as a sign of our
commitment to Belvide. It made it even sweeter then, that 2019 was yet another record
breaking year for the Belvide ringing project. We ringed more individual birds during
the late summer/post breeding season than in any previous year. An unexpected
new species in the form of a couple of Linnets increased the total species
ringed at the site to 68 !!
Background:
It’s really fascinating to witness the year-on-year changes in the
numbers and species ringed at Belvide. We can often only conjecture about the
reasons why these changes occur—although with some species we can be a little
more certain (see later).
Roger Clay’s operation at the West End continues to work well, and
continued habitat work should result in increased totals as the years move on.
This year he contributed 469 new birds. Within this there are some really
fascinating differences from the main area—almost twice as many Blackbirds,
SEVEN times the number of Song Thrush, half the Long Tailed Tits and an equal
number of Bullfinch. To put these figures into context, Roger manages
significantly fewer sessions due to work commitments, and only about a quarter
of the total of nets. All of which points to the West End operation playing a
great part in providing a much more complete picture of the birds at Belvide.
The two factors which appear to have the biggest
influence on breeding success at Belvide are weather conditions during the
breeding season, and the available habitat for nesting. Overall the weather was
pretty good but yet again the water levels were very high until late in the
season which inhibits reed growth thereby slowing down Reed Warbler breeding—as
well as reducing the available nesting habitat for Sedge Warblers.
The weather during the ringing season was very good,
good numbers of ringers were available and no sessions were lost—added to which
passage was good with a constant movement of new birds through the site from
quite an early date.
Totals Summary Belvide 2013-2019
|
Species
|
2019
|
2018
|
2017
|
2016
|
2015
|
2014
|
2013
|
|
|
|
Mallard
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Sparrowhawk
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
||
|
Kestrel
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Moorhen
|
0
|
10
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Snipe
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
||
|
Water Rail
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Lapwing
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Oystercatcher
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
(2)
|
||
|
Black Headed Gull pulli
|
115
|
139
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Lesser Black Backed Gull
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Common Tern pulli
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Swift
|
0
|
0
|
191
|
2
|
76
|
0
|
4
|
||
|
Kingfisher
|
9
|
3
|
6
|
3
|
4
|
11
|
6
|
||
|
Gr Spot W’peck
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
||
|
Sand Martin
|
28
|
5
|
42
|
3
|
9
|
20
|
0
|
||
|
House Martin
|
0
|
53
|
45
|
7
|
87
|
38
|
0
|
||
|
Swallow
|
2
|
5
|
6
|
19
|
32
|
1
|
3
|
||
|
Tree Pipit
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Meadow Pipit
|
17
|
19
|
24
|
8
|
2
|
142
|
123
|
||
|
Pied Wagtail
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Yellow Wagtail
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Grey Wagtail
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Stock Dove
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Woodpigeon
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
||
|
Tawny Owl
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Robin
|
36
|
23
|
41
|
14
|
25
|
32
|
22
|
||
|
Redstart
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
||
|
Whinchat
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Blackbird
|
23
|
16
|
12
|
9
|
3
|
18
|
6
|
||
|
Song Thrush
|
7
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Redwing
|
2
|
6
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
2
|
|
|
|
Fieldfare
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Pied Flycatcher
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Spot Flycatcher
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
||
|
Dunnock
|
41
|
18
|
51
|
17
|
31
|
17
|
24
|
||
|
Wren
|
52
|
30
|
58
|
40
|
40
|
47
|
24
|
||
|
Goldcrest
|
40
|
13
|
36
|
3
|
12
|
31
|
1
|
||
|
Nuthatch
|
5
|
7
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
||
|
Treecreeper
|
9
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
||
|
Cetti’s Warbler
|
1
|
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Chiffchaff
|
405
|
190
|
498
|
300
|
204
|
274
|
154
|
||
|
Willow Warbler
|
72
|
74
|
93
|
58
|
43
|
45
|
20
|
||
|
G’pper Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
10
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Reed Warbler
|
344
|
269
|
336
|
178
|
169
|
199
|
93
|
||
|
Sedge Warbler
|
386
|
341
|
431
|
267
|
274
|
95
|
63
|
||
|
Lesser Whitethroat
|
18
|
10
|
20
|
17
|
5
|
10
|
8
|
||
|
Whitethroat
|
31
|
50
|
50
|
15
|
18
|
16
|
19
|
||
|
Blackcap
|
861
|
363
|
355
|
208
|
116
|
109
|
60
|
||
|
Garden Warbler
|
28
|
40
|
31
|
12
|
17
|
18
|
16
|
||
|
Blue Tit
|
299
|
147
|
156
|
69
|
73
(+93)
|
91
|
109
|
||
|
Great Tit
|
98
|
74
|
60
|
43
|
43
(+38)
|
55
|
57
|
||
|
Coal Tit
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
8
|
2
|
3
|
||
|
Long Tailed Tit
|
85
|
65
|
42
|
19
|
22
|
31
|
21
|
||
|
Willow Tit
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
||
|
Marsh Tit
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
||
|
Bullfinch
|
23
|
4
|
7
|
6
|
8
|
12
|
6
|
||
|
Chaffinch
|
10
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
16
|
||
|
Greenfinch
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
3
|
||
|
Goldfinch
|
10
|
3
|
18
|
13
|
6
|
8
|
5
|
||
|
Redpoll
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
||
|
Linnet*
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Yellowhammer
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Reed Bunting
|
45
|
29
|
37
|
12
|
24
|
124
|
25
|
||
|
House Sparrow
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Tree Sparrow
|
16
|
4
|
39
|
12
|
0
|
14
|
10
|
||
|
Jay
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Magpie
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||
|
Starling
|
185
|
32
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
64
|
0
|
||
|
Total
|
3360
Of
44sp
|
2080
Of
45sp
|
2714
Of
44sp.
|
1367
Of
37 sp.
|
1374
Of
38sp.
|
1497
of
38sp.
|
925
of
37 sp.
|
Discussion Points:
There are many possible areas for
discussion but the main ones are:-
--the stand out figure is the number of
Blackcaps ringed (861), which is almost three times the previous record. This
mirrors reports from other ringing stations in the country and was mainly a
result of early arrival followed by successful breeding. Indeed, in September
we were catching young birds with newly fledged type plumage, suggesting that
many Blackcaps certainly had two broods and several possibly three!
-- Reed
and Sedge Warblers had good totals but our feeling is that their numbers really
picked up once migration started suggesting the water levels did reduce
breeding success on site.
--less regularly caught warblers such
as Lesser and Common Whitethroats appear to at least be holding their own after
several years of low numbers
--local breeders, such as tits, Wren,
Dunnock, etc all have had at least a reasonable and in some cases very good
breeding seasons linked to the generally good weather.
--the low numbers of hirundines is more
a reflection of the good weather during the ringing period –we catch big
numbers when there are cold and damp conditions
--the high number of Starlings reflects
the increased effort put in to ring these.
Reports of Ringed birds:
Despite records in newly ringed birds,
the number of birds we ringed which were reported elsewhere was disappointingly
low.
Others may come through , but as a
write we have had only 5 reports of our ringed birds-all Sedge Warblers, and
all from the various well known ringing sites in the big estuaries through
northern and mid France. These reinforce what we already know about the route
and speed of movement of our birds so I have not repeated the same type of data
from these recoveries that I have included in previous reports.
We have had some reports of the 115
nestling Black Headed Gulls we ringed but these will be reported when we
produce a report specifically on that project.
Finally, we ringed only 4 Common Tern
chicks this year with both metal and colour rings, which enabled someone
birding at Crosby Marina to spot one of those tern chicks as it dispersed from
Belvide. Interestingly it moved north—before presumably heading south for the
winter. We hope that in future years we will be able to ring more tern chicks
and thereby produce a report on their dispersal and possible return to their
natal colony.
STOP PRESS-
we have a report of one of our Sedge Warblers found in Mauritania !! In case
you’re not quite sure where that is—if you find Morocco, travel south through
Western Sahara, then you get to Mauritania. This is our most distant recovery
of a Sedge Warbler and another piece in the jigsaw of where these birds travel
to spend the winter.
This juvenile bird ( hatched probably at
Belvide in early July)—was ringed on 8th August at Belvide, and was
controlled by a ringer in Mauritania on the 9th February 2019 – a distance
of 4226 kilometers from Belvide. This is an interesting date—was this bird
spending the winter in Mauritania, or had is started it’s northward migration
back ‘home’? These questions will be much easier to answer when we are able to
fit real time data loggers on to these small birds and track them in detail.
For now though- a great record!
In conclusion:
It’s only by concerted teamwork that an
operation like ours can be successful. Most obviously we rely on our team of
ringers to be available for what is a considerable time commitment over three
months—thanks team.
However, there are many others we would
like to thank:-
-- the committee of the West Midland
Bird Club give us permission to ring on the site, and their moral support
throughout is invaluable,
-- the Belvide management team provide
lots of support, from calling in when we are ringing to see how things are
going—to helping prepare the ringing site during the annual work party
programme, their banter is always a welcome addition to our ringing sessions!!
--our dear friend Gladys Chappell is no
longer with us but her support for our gull and other studies is still much
appreciated,
--the many WMBC members who stop by at
out our sessions and show interest probably don’t fully realise how much we
appreciate their interest.
To all of those above we say a sincere
THANK YOU, and hope to see you all again in 2020.
Colin McShane December 2019
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