Ringing Season

With my passion for all things conservation renewed after Whalefest and with the reports starting to flood in of Black Redstarts, Chiffys, Sand Martins, Wheatears and other Passerine Migrants, I am greatly looking forward to getting out ringing again. This winter has been incredibly slow for me on the ringing front and I am chomping at the bit to get back out in the field.

Whether or not anything can top last years Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler at Titchfield Haven I don't know nor am I really that concerned because much as it was a very exciting bird and I felt very privileged to see it first hand, the main reason I ring is not for the rarities but for the data we can provide on long term population trends.

Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler

At Titchfield last summer we ringed in total 4619 birds across 50 different species. Nearly 500 birds more than the year before. I should add that my input was minimal to these figures and the real credit should go to Barry Duffin and Trevor Codlin whose dedication to that site is unparalleled.

Sedge Warbler

At the end of the day it is the 'run of the mill' species that I am really passionate for. When you think that a Sedge Warbler of around 12g, makes a UK to sub-Saharan Africa migration each year of its life, travelling in the region of 5000km each way, that is a staggering distance and that's what fascinates me. Sedge Warblers were the most numerous bird we trapped at Titchfield last year, with 1225 new birds caught and ringed and that trend seems to be consistent with previous years. To put that into perspective the amount of kilometers travelled by all the Sedge Warblers we ringed last year at Titchfield, would be an incredible 6,125,000km from the UK to Africa in a single year! That is the equivalent of Earth to the Moon and back 16 times! And what makes this even more incredible is that's a single species and a single migration journey from one UK site.

What will this year hold? Will there be any suprises? How will the spring fair for all the breeders? With a good spring forecast and record breeding years for several UK breeders last year, will we see increases in some of our species numbers this year? Well only time will, so in the meantime please enjoy some of the picture highlights below of my first year of ringing.

Happy Birding

Starling

Cettis Warbler

Reed Bunting

Kingfisher



Titchfield Havens first ever Cuckoo fledglings

Net Ride at Farlington Marshes Hants Wildlife Trust



Linnet



Garden Warbler

Whitethroat



Redstart

Yellow Wagtail



Male Bearded Tit/Reedling

Coal Tit

Stonechat

Wood Warbler

 

   

Whale of a time

Saturday was Whalefest2015, and as you may have gathered from my previous post I was a tad excited! Despite working until 03:00 in the morning, after a couple of hours sleep I was at the train station from my 0705 train to Brighton!

On the way the wife and I planned our day from the schedule I had printed off, and I realized that if I had my way we would literally be in lecture halls all day! As in any good marriage compromise was the way forward so with our plan in place we walked down the hill from the station along West Street to the international centre.


Map showing route from the station to Whalefest2015

 

We queued for a very short time, being some of the first visitors of the day and we were in. We were immediately faced with a life-size inflatable Orca... We naturally had our picture taken with the model and moved on around the venue to look at some of the stands before our first talk started at 10am. We stood and watched a Pirate band for a while who were excellent in every aspect, great delivery, great musicianship and great dedication.

Life size inflatable Orca, with human size comparison!

There was a vast number of travel operators with stands and knowing where to start was a little daunting. Kay and I were drawn to a Hebridean Cetacean Cruise operator as we are looking to visit Scotland and figured tying it in with Whale and Dolphin(and pelagic birds) seemed a cracking idea. Hebridean Whale Cruises were extremely helpful and run some amazing looking tours, we entered their contest to win a holiday and a cuddly Puffin and moved on.

I bumped in to my friend Trevor Codlin who was volunteering for the weekend and he gave us some great advice for handling the book signing crowds. We headed up to watch Steve Backshalls' opening talk which was rammed. I wanted to see the talk after his so found a seat and waited, everyone else poured out of the theatre hall after Steve had finished and headed to the stalls. Lucky I waited as Steve came out and was chatting to a few people, so I took my opportunity to beat the queues later and get my book signed then!


Steve Backshall and I at Whalefest2015





Steves' Signature in my copy of his book

After this coup we watched John Hargrove, former Orca trainer at SeaWorld and one of the guys who contributed to Blackfish. During Johns talk there was a small protest from 2 American women followed by 3 American women making wild accusations about Johns' work at SeaWorld.... the fact that there were 5 Women in total all of American origin lead many audience members and indeed many staff to believe this may have been a set up by SeaWorld, in a vain attempt to discredit John Hargrove.

 

After Johns talk we decided to look around some more of the stands, I came across Monty Halls signing Books and DVDs and snaffled myself his new DVD box set and had him sign it for me. The series I really remember Monty for is the BBC series 'Great Barrier Reef' which, if you haven't already, I suggest you go and get! 

Meeting Monty Halls

 

We then headed back to catch Will Travers OBE. Will is the director of the Born Free Foundation, and a vocal advocate of the 'Empty the Tanks' movement. Wills' speech was unfortunately interrupted by Technical issues but was none the less extremely moving and very interesting.

 

My friend Dan had asked me to get his son Lewis a Deadly 60 book and try and get Steve Backshall to sign it too, so after half of Steves next talk we went and queued up for the book signing, lucky we did as it was limited to 70 places (of which we were #40) and many people were disappointed. Steve remembered me from earlier in the day and we had another brief conversation as he signed Lewis' book and my own son Bradleys' book.

 

We wandered round a few more stands and then headed back to the Discovery lounge, we caught the end of Donal Macintyres debate with local MP's and then watched Monty Halls and James Brickell. This was awesome, I love Monty Halls he is just a genuine guy(and played Rugby!) and I really enjoyed hearing about the making of 'The Great Barrier Reef' from him and James(series producer).

 

After Monty came what I was really keen to see, Gordon Buchannan and Steve Backshall sat having a chat on stage. Gordon is a real hero of mine as is Steve so to have them chatting about one of my all time favourite documentaries 'Lost Land of the....' was a real treat.

 

After this Kay and I had a final wander around the stands, chatting to some lovely people and enjoying the atmosphere of the event. We rounded the day off on the Beach looking at the Cetacean Graveyard art installation which is quite simply breathtaking and extremely troubling at the same time! Each cross representing a cetacean that has died in Captivity, it was carried on inside the venue as well with over 3000 crosses being erected in total!

 

    

All in all, an amazing day! Next year I will be doing both days and partying in Brighton in the evening!!!

 

    

Whalefest 2015

Last year I saw through a friend, Trevor Codlin, about Whalefest. At the time it was far too late notice for me to get tickets but my interest certainly piqued! So it was with great excitement that I saw the adverts released for this years programme of events in Brighton.

'In 2011 Ian Rowlands and Dylan Walker had a dream: to create the biggest, most popular event of its kind and touch the hearts and minds of a huge audience, inspiring them to be an army of ambassadors to defend whales, dolphins, marine life and oceans.' In a very brief paragraph taken from the official site That’s WhaleFest.

My ramblings tend to be very ornithologically orientated, however I am a passionate advocate of pretty much anything Ecological or Conservational. With the prevalence of films such as Blackfish and The Cove and the televised work of Sea Sheppard in Whale Wars, Whale Fest is a natural progression in engaging with Naturalists and general public in highlighting the plight of some of the worlds most enigmatic, charismatic and endangered animals.

Cetaceans are apex predators in their eco system, Apex predators play a major role keeping their ecosystems in check, known as ‘trophic dynamics.’ On land, or in the ocean, studies have shown that their removal can have a dramatic impact on the ecosystem and results in much larger problems. Reduction in the numbers of Apex predators results in an increase in meso-predators which causes a decline in prey populations. This is known as the ‘Top Down trophic cascade.’ Apex predators keep meso-predators at a reasonable number and ensure abundant prey populations.In short they are essential to ensuring a healthy and sustainable marine eco system.

Whalefests line up this year is nothing short of spectacular. Guest speakers include; Steve Backshall (Lost Land Series and Deadly 60), Gordon Buchanen(Natural History Film-maker) Monty Halls(Broadcaster) and Michaela Strachan(Spring/Winterwatch).

I have tickets for the Saturday for all the talks and I am very much looking forward to hearing from Gordon Buchanan and Steve Backshall who were both involved in one of my favourite documentary series Lost Land of..... 

Lost Land of the Jaguar

    

New Year, New list

Happy New Year, 2015 is here and I met it with a trip to Farlington Marshes, and a blank notebook.




As I left the house I saw my first birds of the New year. 1: Wood Pigeon, 2: House Sparrow, 3: Starling. Nothing to set the world on fire but birds none the less. Considering the considerable decline in House Sparrows, I am glad to say there is a thriving population around my area, owing to the Terraces my neighbours and I have up for them. The Starlings too have an impressive roost nearby.




Arriving at the Marshes there were a lot of families walking along the seawall so I opted to go the reverse route around. I walked across the field where a Jack Snipe flushed from next to the path and along the stream where I picked up the usual suspects; Blackbird, Greenfinch, Linnet, Wren, Stonechat, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Black Tailed Godwit, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Mute Swan etc....




In every field were small to medium flocks of Brent Geese, knowing that a few Black Brants winter in the Harbour, I scanned each flock for the tell tale characteristics, however there was no sign of one amongst the birds present.


At the hut, I scanned the reeds and picked out Bearded Tits pinging across the reed bed. As I did the entire avifauna around the reeds exploded into the air, after a couple of seconds of feverish scanning I picked out a cracking adult male Marsh Harrier Quartering the reeds, no doubt after the Bearded Tits I had just been enjoying.




On the East wall of the Marshes, I had Red Breasted Merganser, Slav Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant and two Med Gulls. Headed towards the Deeps I watched a Peregrine dive into the Starling flock in the fields sending them the Brents and the Canada Geese skywards.




At the deeps there were Shoveler, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Little Grebe, Reed Bunting and Buzzard, Carrion Crows, Magpies in the adjoining fields.




The point field was fairly quiet with a Cetti's Warbler, Linnet, Greenfinches and the resident Blackbirds all in attendance.




I wandered round to the Lake where a Spoonbill dropped in for 20 minutes before taking flight out across the harbour. On the lake were a decent head of Pintail, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Dunlin, Redshank, Snipe, Black Tailed Godwit, Grey Heron with Grey Plover, Curlew, Little Egret all out on the mudflats in the Harbour.




Walking back along the seawall, I saw a Robin flitting on a fencepost until a female Kestrel flew over and spooked it.




Back at the car a flock of Redwing flew over towards the North field which was a nice way to round off the first birding outing of 2015




56 Species on day one :D and probably the best day birding at Farlington I have ever had.


http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/reserves/farlington-marshes













 

Light at the end of the tunnel

As many of my regular readers will have noticed I have been offline for sometime. There is a large mitigating factor for this.


I sat down and thought the other day; this year I have had 5 different jobs..... 5! I have left jobs by choice and been made redundant as well and I cant say its been a vintage year. With all due respect it has been a bitch of a year.


80 hours of work a week has been needed to keep the wolf from the door so to speak and this has meant that I have had large chunks of time away from the family and other endeavours that I pursue.


My bird ringing has, on the whole been amazing this year, some cracking species like the PG Tips and good numbers for many of the regulars too indicating a good breeding season, however I went AWOL on multiple occasions for extended periods of time due to my work load.


My birding too has suffered, 220 species this year which is respectable, however my Scilly trip was cancelled due to pro rata holiday restrictions at new jobs meaning the trip would be a week unpaid.


I was asked to reflect on my favourite bird of 2014 that I had twitched and for me it has been the Short Toed Eagles tour of the South. I first went for the bird at Pig Bush in the New Forest but before I had even reached Southampton news reached me that it had moved, after a couple of attempts to catch up with the bird in Ashdown Forest, I eventually found it! Turns out I was in the wrong part of the forest (I had wondered why it was so devoid of other birders!!!). I spent a blissful hour watching the bird catching thermals and hunting until it drifted over a peak and out of view.


I am now, thankfully, settled in a job and am looking to be here for the long haul. I must apologise to my ringing trainers, Duncan Bell and Trevor Codlin for my extended absences this year and can assure you both that it is full steam ahead for me from now on!  


And to my beautiful wife Kayleigh and my gorgeous little boy Bradley, I love you both so so much and couldn't have made it through this year without you both!    

Shrikey Mate

Shrikes.... for me they have always been this mythological bird that once called the UK part of their breeding range, but by the time I was birding in the mid to late 90's the had all but vanished as a breeding bird from these shores. How I longed to see one of these birds, species really didn't matter, just one of these so called 'Butcher Birds'. They fascinated me, a songbird by all appearances, that was as predatory as any raptor.

I have recently posted about my ringing exploits and in that piece I alluded to my best ever year list. Residing, I am ecstatic to say, on that list for this year is not one.... but TWO species of Shrike!

The first of the Skrike species I encountered was the Great Grey, Lanius excubitor, on Thursley Common. Due to Shrikes frequenting a certain hillock on Thursley each winter, the area has now become known as Shrike Hill. Working as I did on the A3 corridor I would often stop at Thursley to have my lunch and a quick walk, having signed up to Rare Bird Alert recently and the Shrike featuring almost daily I decided it was high time to see it. I parked up the South end of Thursley and confidently walked onto the common. First mistake! Little did I know Shrike Hill is infact on the other side of the reserve. I scanned feverishly with my bins for around 45 mins and with my lunch break fading I admitted defeat.

Next day I decided to try again. Going to the same(wrong) carpark again and with the renewed enthusiasm and confidence a new day brings I headed onto the common. Strike(not Shrike) two, swing and a miss. Feeling pretty deflated from my first real foray into 'Twitching', I went about my days work but resolved to scour the internet for Shrike Hill, as it had dawned on me that I could be in the wrong place. I found some forums and to my delight detailed instructions on how to get to the right carpark, and further more directions with detailed descriptions on how to locate Shrike hill.

On my way home the next day armed with my new information, scope and bins I headed out again. After finding the hill and finding two more 'twitchers' we started scanning, a friendly lady joined me while the other chap decided his luck lay in the other direction. After nearly an hour of waiting and scanning we were about to give up, was this bird indeed a myth? Then out of no where my eye saw something twitch on a dead tree.... bins up sharp as a flash I had it. I barked 'GOT IT' to the lady with me and in a few seconds I had put her on the bird.

Great Grey Shrike, picture taken from an image library.

It darted right to left in front of us starting at our 3 o clock and settling 4 meters to our 12 o clock on a gorse bush. I put the scope on it even though you could see it with the naked eye and was rewarded with crippling views of this exquisite bird.

Over the moon I floated back to the car, and on home. I had finally found a Shrike in the UK!!!

With my love affair with Shrikes re-kindled I guess it was inevitable that when a Juvinile Red-backed Shrike was reported 8 miles from my house I was going to go for it. The day I did a Daurian Shrike and an Isabelline Shrike had been reported on Shetland(lucky bastards!) I finished work and headed down to try my luck. The reports all said it was showing well in the SE corner of Sandy Point NR Hayling Island. I wandered around the reserve on the beach(the reserve is authorised access only) and made my way to the SE corner. The wind was 25km/h Easterly and not much was showing, I stood and scanned for a while watching the tops of the vegetation for any medium sized brown bird. I watched a couple of Dartford Warblers, Yellow Wagtails, Whinchat, Stonechat and Wheatear and then put my on an odd patch of gorse... There it was, not on top of the gorse but hunkered down out of the wind. Being a juvenile it was no where near as showy as the Adult male birds but a stunning little bird all the same.



Juvenile Red Backed Shrike from image library



Adult Male Red Backed Shrike from image library

 




Happy as larry I headed off home once more wondering if the Great Grey will return this winter to Thursley and whether next year I will be able to find one of the showy Adult Male Red Backs or maybe even a Woodchat Shrike. Regardless of what or when I find it appears my love affair with Shrikes looks set to continue, and I wouldn't change a thing!!!

Happy Ringing Day

Having just celebrated my first wedding anniversary, it came to my mind that I must also(this coming weekend) be about to celebrate a year as a BTO ringing volunteer. What a corking year it has been as well, my best ever year list, bolstered I have to say by the ringing and the guidance of the trainers, 100's of birds ringed including some personal ambitions for me such as Kingfisher and Bearded Tit, and some friends made along the way.

Male Bearded Tit/Reedling/Parrotbill

Female Bearded Tit

Kingfisher

There have been a few heart stopping moments like in the case of the very juvenile(just fledged) Cuckoo that proved to be the first ever ringed at Titchfield Haven, and recently in the case of a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler. As if that species in the UK wasn't uncommon enough, it is the earliest known record in the UK and the second most southerly record, also to add to an impressive rap sheet a first for Hampshire.

Newly fledged Cuckoo

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler Titchfield Haven

Many of the species we have ringed have been lifers for me(never seen before in the hand or field) such as Yellow Wagtail, Garden Warbler, Cetti's Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler, so to be able to have had these birds not just in view down a scope or bins, but in my hand has been a true privilege.

Garden Warbler

Cettis Warbler

Yellow Wagtail

A few friends have been a little scornful at my involvement, calling it an old mans past time and laughing at my passion for all things avian but I tell you what, if this is an old mans past time then getting older seems fine to me. I would much rather be out, contributing to genuine scientific research in my spare time and have a fantastic time doing it, than be stuck in between 4 walls staring at the square eyed monster! I genuinely believe that if more people took an interest from a young age our country wouldn't be in the state it is in now!!!

So this weekend I raise a glass and light the candles... Happy Ringing Day! 

Postscript: My thanks for this year have to go to the people that have made it possible. First and foremost to Duncan Bell, my trainer, without whom I would not have even begun to ring. Next to Trevor Codlin and Barry Duffin, who have been generous and kind enough to allow me to join in their sessions as well. Please click on Trevors name to take you to his blog which will offer far more of an in depth analysis of the work the ringing teams do, than I can offer at present.