Gulls and BTO course

Saturday, the wife and I had 5 houses to view first thing and then our house was being viewed repeatedly in the afternoon. This meant that once we had left home first thing we needed to be out of the house for the remainder of the day. Once the house viewings were done, we wrestled with a few ideas of where to go. We ended up at Hayling Oyster beds. I hadn't checked out the Gull/Tern colony yet this year and was keen to do so.

Gravel bar across the Oyster Beds, Hayling Island

We parked up and walked down the path, my 18 month old son stopping to talk to every dog and owner he could as well as get excited about a tree with Pine Cones. As we were walking we could already hear the din of the colony ahead. Now the main colony is out in the harbour on South Binnes Island, away from disturbance with a no landing policy for boats which is carefully controlled. However in the confines of the Oyster Beds there are a couple of gravel bars that give more space to the ever expanding colony.




BH Gulls and Common Tern

Last year at this time the gravel bars were packed, birds were landing on top of one and other and the Terns had just arrived making it even more crowded. Every patch of viable rock above the waterline was taken. This year there are half the number of birds. Whether they have all chosen Binnes this year I personally do not know and the warden was busy with several parties using his scope and chatting about the birds on the bars to be able to ask this question. What was more bizarre to me at least was the absence of any Med Gulls on the gravel, last year they out numbered the Black Headed Gulls and yet this year there isn't one. I know from friends that Binnes is having a bumper Med Gull season so maybe my speculation is correct that Binnes is indeed the new 'go to' place. This could be due, in part to the way I witnessed the Oyster Beds being used by the public. I saw two families in the far corner of the inlet swimming in the pool and letting their dogs swim in the water too. The birds were all very wary and jittery, frequently leaving their nests after being spooked by the canine headed their way.

Never the less I had a very pleasant time, scanning through the birds that had chosen this inland spot, there were Common and Little Terns present as well as the Black Headed Gulls. A few Meds flew over while I watched and then headed out to the harbour. Through my scope I could see the commotion over South Binnes with an extraordinary amount of birds flying around the island.

Sunday I joined a BTO run course looking at methodologies and skills necessary in order to complete the Breeding Bird Survey, something that I have previously mentioned I intend to partake in next year. The course was being run by Avon Wildlife trust/BTO employee Matt Collis at the Dorset Wildlife Trusts, Beacon Hill Urban Wildlife Centre near Poole. The day started with looking at visual ID skills, something I am (big headedly) pretty good at, it was a very interesting look at breaking down ID features to be able to comprehensively and accurately ID certain species, especially confusion species. I even learned a new word. Speculum: The brightly coloured feather on a ducks wing, present in females as well as males and useful for ID.

Beacon Hill has a mix of Habitats from scrubland

The next section focused on songs and calls, and here, in my own mind, is my biggest downfall as a birder. I was very pleasantly surprised, song wise I am actually not bad, being able to ID 90% of the species asked. Calls however was where I really saw a gap in my knowledge. Matt was brilliant with ways to remember calls and even songs. When we got out on the heath for the practical the first bird anyone saw was a Dartford Warbler sitting on top of the gorse, characteristic long tail and jizz, it soon dropped back down into the scrub as the wind picked up.
There were plenty of Stonechats about, one male seen repeatedly carrying food parcels to either a sitting female of his young. The jarring chat noise that gives the birds their name echoing around the heath is like two stones cracking together. There were also, Goldcrest, ChiffChaff, Nuthatch, Kestrel, Carrion Crows, Jackdaw, BHG, Blackcap, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Wren and Linnet about. Almost all picked up by song and call.

The afternoon session was based around planning transects within your 1km BBS square and best practices etc., and how to go about recording all the necessary information both online and in paper form. Matt was incredibly knowledgeable and his ability to pick out even the faintest bird call/song and know exactly what made it is unerring.

To heathland



To Coniferous Woodland

   












We ended the day on a practical session practicing transect walking and recording. This was great to be able to practice what we would be doing for our BBS squares before actually doing them. I am planning on making some random 1km squares and plotting transects, surveying and recording what's in them just in order to practice for next year!

A massive thank you to Matt Collis, super birder tutor and to the team at the Dorset Wildlife Trusts, Beacon Hill Urban Wildlife Centre. Be sure to check out their Great Heath Project!

Long Live The Reed Warbler

Most people do not realise there is more Wildlife Trust land North of the A27 at Farlington Marshes, know as 'The North Field' this area is a mix of deciduous woodland, bramble scrub and Phragmites reed with the A27 thundering over the top of it. Traditionally holding a mixed head of resident and migrant birds, this is where we chose to ring on Sunday.

Marsh Depiction

Net ride

We arrived at 05:20 and made our way down to the field. We set up 6 nets in total, one being a large dog leg through the central path. This net has traditionally been the 'top performer' during our sessions north of the road.

Once we had finished erecting the nets we had a cuppa before making a net round.... having a chat while drinking our tea, Duncan expressed that he felt this should be a good session. Understatement of the day! The North field usually yields reasonable numbers of birds but has been a winter site for us predominantly due to ringing on the Point Field taking precedence in Spring and late Autumn & with Titchfield being our residence over the late summer/Autumn. Sunday we had 50 birds which is exceptional for the site. This kept us very busy indeed (lots of extraction experience for Amy and I) there were loads of migrants including Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap as well as the more resident species such as Blue & Great Tits, Blackbird, Songthrush, Wrens and Cettis Warbler. There are now 4 different breeding male Cettis Warblers in the North field and at least 12 on the main reserve according to Jason. A real success story for these little skulkers.

Great Tit

Reed Warbler

The real story of the day unfolded after we had left the site. One of the re-trap Reed Warblers that we had processed during the day had an amazing story to tell that goes to show the value of the ringing performed by all the BTO volunteers across the UK & the rest of the world. She(for it was a female) was ringed originally by Jason on 19.07.08 when she was coded as a 6. She was the caught again the following week at the same site, then not seen again until she was trapped on Sunday. This makes her at least 8 years old this summer.
8 years worth of African migration journeys, 16 times she has crossed the Sahara and 16 times she has survived. If

Blue Tit

we take into account the species lays on average 3-5 eggs each brood, and have the ability to have multiple broods each year, she could have had 80 odd young in her lifetime so far. Her migration is around 3500 miles each way meaning in her lifetime she has traveled 56,000 miles in migration alone! Amazing!

On one of our net rounds I walked down a path with a stile at the end of it. A bird took off from the bottom step of the stile, slightly hawk like and dark mottled brown with white primary and tail spots. It flew west towards the playing fields with a slow zig zag flight. I am 90% sure it was a Nightjar and all the evidence supports this, but having been the only one to see the bird properly and even then briefly I'm not going to count it. Having seen Nightjar in the near dark seeing this bird in broad daylight threw me a little so I didn't get chance to call it to the others.

Overall an amazing session for us and I am looking forward to another session on the North field soon. Next weekend I am away on a course with the BTO but the weekend after we should be clear for another session weather permitting.

Entrance gate at the North Field

Ringing on the Marsh 04/05/15

05:20 meet at the gates of Farlington on Monday morning for ringing. Although early on, the wind was a little high, it was forecast to drop by around 7am so decided on the point field again. The weather was clear, with a south westerly wind. After the last session that resulted in 4 birds we were all keen to see what migration had delivered to the Marsh.

On the walk around to the field, there were Whitethroat & Sedge Warbler singing from everywhere, a group of breeding plumage Dunlin were fast asleep on the shore of the lake and a couple of Mute Swan took off and headed East towards Hayling. The tide was all the way out and the calls of Whimbrel could be heard from out on the mud.

We set the nets in the usual rides and before we had even guyed the poles a Sedge Warbler ploughed into the net! Things were looking good. Our main species for the Point field are Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Sedge Warbler & Whitethroat. All seemed to be in the field in reasonable numbers, although Mipits seem to peak in Autumn. After a couple of net rounds we had ringed a couple of Linnets, a resident male Cetti's and a female with brood patch... already beating the last sessions total.

This cracking male Whitethroat was next into the nets, although a re-trap, it was a very interesting exercise for us Trainee's on ageing and sexing Whitethroats. As this bird was previously trapped by us we could there and then check the book to know what last years age code was and the measurements of the wing chord etc.. On looking at all the features this bird was aged as a 6 male, meaning it is an adult bird. Upon cross referencing with the stats from last year this seemed to correlate nicely. With a pinkish hue to the breast, the eye colour and the head colour this was confidently identified as a male bird. Upon release he sat on a patch of Bramble only two metres away and began singing as well.

Bird song is an area of my birding that requires improvement and seeing birds as they sing is useful for me to be able to visualize the species and associate it with the song/call. This year songs and calls have become my focus to get to grips with, although I realise it requires more than self taught and Xeno Canto recordings to nail it in the field.

The session before this one, Duncan and I were discussing Skylarks, I was asking how you would go about ringing them. Duncan said that traditional nets don't work and that one of the only methods that has yielded many results is single panel nets low to the ground. This make sense as much of a Skylarks life is spent in near vertical flights whilst singing, or bounding across the floor. It was therefore a massive shock when Jason came back from a net round with a 'small Thrush' sized bird clutched in the ringing grip. I don't think I need to tell you all, dear readers what it was...... that's right..... A Skylark. And in the top panel of a 3 metre net to boot. A similar experience happened in the tail end of 2013, when ringing in the North field. I had been asking Duncan about catching Water Rails, he again said that they occasionally crop up but around 1 every 3 years. On the first net round of that morning, there was.... you guessed it..... a Water Rail. I think next week I may have to start a conversation about ringing Golden Winged Warblers................! To see a Skylark up so close was a real treat and well worth the 5am start, considering they often get confused with Meadow Pipits they are surprisingly big in the hand. The bird was ringed and winged before posing for a few photos. The bird obviously a bit grumpy or maybe even embarrassed to have been trapped and ringed!


Another nice surprise of the day was another re-trap Whitethroat, this time an adult female that I had personally rung the year before. It is staggering to think that she has been all the way down to Africa and back again, a feat most humans would fail to achieve under their own steam! She had a well developed brood patch so she was processed, photographed and released close to where she was found in order to return to her nest asap. She was a very good weight possibly pointing to the possibility of still carrying an egg. Its nice to see returning birds to the marsh, it means the habitat is still viable and hopefully this year they will have a good breeding season here after last seasons wet start.

The Marsh itself is looking great at the moment, the Gorse is just giving over to seed, the vegetation is all flourishing and there are birds literally everywhere. With the vegetation all growing up, some of the rides are overgrowing slightly within a week of us using them so needed some attention. A Stoat proved a distraction for a few moments when I saw it crossing the path in front of us in the distance. Stoats are a very rare occurrence on the reserve so nice to see other wildlife eking out a living as well as the birds!

The session continued with more Linnet, a male and a female trapped together. These were processed and released together as were evidently a pair, a retrap Sedge and a retrap Whitethroat, then a Mipit hit the net. A nice new bird for Duncans study of Meadow Pipits on the reserve. The bird was aged as a 4 meaning it hatched before the current calendar year but its exact age is unknown. Close attention was paid the greater coverts for contrast. After deliberation and processing the bird posed briefly for some photographs and was then released back onto the reserve. 

As we were packing down all the kit and packing our bags to head home a Small Copper Butterfly dropped in below us. This is the first of this year for me and first on the reserve of the year too. Peacocks have been very evident the last two sessions so refreshing to see something a little different.

A cracking session and nice to have some migrants back!

Getting into Surveys

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) asking if I wanted to join a Breeding Bird Survey course in Devon. I have been wanting to get involved in survey work for a while now and this seemed the perfect chance to learn before getting involved for real. I signed up paid my course fee and on May 10th I do the course at Darts Farm.


BTO Logo link to website

The Breeding Bird Survey is, in the BTOs words "The BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is the main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s common breeding birds. It is a national volunteer project aimed at keeping track of changes in the breeding populations of widespread bird species in the UK. Wild bird populations are an important indicator of the health of the countryside, and knowing to what extent bird populations are increasing or decreasing is fundamental to bird conservation."


This, to me at least, seems like a way of combining my regular birding activities and genuine citizen science to allow me to contribute to something that gives me so much pleasure in my spare time. My 5/10 year career & life plans also require me to have survey experience which also gives the whole exercise a personal development edge as well.

As a man who is, lets be honest, has a tendency to be a little obsessive, I didn't stop there! Dawn Balmer of the BTO added to Twitter that they were looking for volunteers to take on 1km transects in order to survey House Martin colonies. I enquired, was given the local representatives details and requested my square! I am ecstatic to announce that this morning I was given my requested square and can now start the planning stage for my visits.

House Martins on the nest - taken from www.bto.org

"Critically, we do not know why this species is in rapid decline in the UK. Currently, it is ‘Amber listed’ in the Birds of Conservation Concern listings, compiled by the UK’s leading conservation agencies." - Taken from the BTO website


I am so excited to get my teeth into some survey work, and help out with some tangible citizen science. Join in if you can, every little helps and the more we know the better we can protect our enigmatic avifauna!

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys

Back on patch

An evening that I was not working and the wife had friends over coincided last night, so it was with a hop skip and a jump, I took the opportunity to avoid a live episode of loose women convening in my living room to get in a few hours patch birding.

It was around half past 6 I pulled up to the car park at Farlington Marshes. The sun was low but still warm and there was a 15-20kmph NNE wind. The tide was out so I decided to visit the lake last for any waders coming in to roost at dusk, this meant that I started in the scrub area just inside the reserve. There is one thing that bothers me about Farlington, one massive 6 lane thing..... The M27! The incessant roaring of cars, trucks and general traffic is deafening, and hinders ones audible appreciation of all things avian, in English I could here bugger all bird calls. 2 species manage to hold their own over the din.... Cetti's Warbler with their explosive song and good ol' Jenny Wren with the staccato machine gun rattle. The further into the scrub you go and the further from the road, you start to hear more and more. Robins are perched atop on every bush, Blue Tits are chasing each other and busying themselves with food collection (there is a very healthy population of Blue Tits on the Marsh thanks to the nest boxes hidden all round). There are 2 particular species I felt were conspicuous by their absence. Bardsey and Portland Observatories have both been reporting good numbers of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs during ringing sessions, Farlington on Monday evening could boast 1 singing bird of each species with neither actually being seen. This has reflected our ringing numbers on the Marsh as well, with very few migrants coming through as yet. Singles of Sedge Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff have made up the migrant species caught in recent weeks. Only time will explain this lack of birds at Farlington.



After the scrub I came out at the stream, where there were a good head of Black Headed Gull, I scanned the flock for other Larus species and picked out 2 cracking summer plumaged Med Gulls. Langstone Harbour has been very successful for breeding of Med Gulls over the years, with numbers increasing year on year. Haylings Oyster Beds being well worth a visit around Mid May/June time. Other birds on the stream included Coot (2 on nests), Snipe, Moorhen, Lapwing, Grey Heron, and the usual duck species. Quite dramatically all the BHGulls took off together and it soon became apparent that a Great Black Backed Gull had come in over the reed bed. The BHG's mobbed the GBB showing that size has no bearing on the mob mentality and soon saw it off. No doubt these raids will increase in frequency as the chicks start to hatch and fledge. Down by the hut the Bearded Tits showed well as did Reed Bunting. Although a few Observatories have reported Reed Warblers in their ringing nets, there were no obvious singing birds at the Marshes last night.

The Stream

The fields around Farlington are filled with wheeling Lapwing, and their frankly eerie display call. Many birds are already on nests and have been for some time so it will not be long before we are seeing chicks and fledglings there either. In the harbour were a few Red Breasted Mergansers and Black Necked Grebes looking resplendent in their breeding plumage. I scanned the cattle herds for any migrant Yellow Wags but to no avail. The deeps held the usual Shelduck, Shoveler, Mallards, Gadwall etc... and the point field had Meadow Pipits, Sky Larks, Dunnock, Cettis Warbler, Robin, Green Finches, Linnet and a single singing Sedge Warbler.


I made my way around the sea wall, picking up Little Egret, Oystercatcher and Curlew as I did, when I reached the lake there was a nice flock of Redshank all piping away.

The Lake

Redshank



Godwit in summer plumage

Some very splendid looking Black Tailed Godwits, just coming into breeding plumage. Up the back skirting the reeds was a Snipe and a Grey Heron. A Peregrine shot in from the South across the fields sending all the birds on the lake up, the Redshanks pipes became so loud they hurt my ears. On this occasion the Peregrine pull up unsuccessful.


The sun had dropped right down as I left the lake and wandered back to the car.



Snipe



As I was leaving I noticed the tell tale tents made by black tailed moth caterpillars. These are not in the numbers they were a couple of years ago, but only recently was I talking about these with Jason and Duncan and it was commented on regarding their absence so far this year.


All in all it was very pleasant to be out birding again, something that I have truly missed with such a hectic lifestyle at present. I will be taking every opportunity possible over the coming months to get out and bird.       

Farlington Marshes 12/04/15

 

This weekend looked to be a complete wash out with Saturday looking like a miserable start and Sunday being very bright and windy.

Saturday delivered on its promise of rain but Sundays forecast seemed to change. With the wind looking like it would be favorable in the morning we arranged to meet at the Marshes gates at 05:45. Migrants at the Marshes are still few and far between, with the occasional Blackcap and Chiff singing and a few Mipits flitting about and certainly far too early to start trying for Reed Warblers in the outstanding reed bed at Farlington, therefore we decided to try the Point field again.


Map of Farlington and key areas

 It was crystal clear and very bright but flat calm when we arrived. Gorse is all in flower and the marsh is coming alive.

View from our ringing station

Gorse Flower

View across the marshes towards the Deeps

We set 4 nets in total, 2 in our normal rides and 2 in rides created by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts management of the scrub in the field. As we were setting our final net we heard our first Sedge Warbler of 2015 in the adjacent scrub. We retreated to our Ringing station and waited a while before doing a net round. The first round produced a single female Blackcap, again a first for 2015 and certainly a sign that spring is starting to come although a bit later than last year. After processing she was released back to continue her journey, assuming as we did that this bird was indeed a migrant.








Female Blackcap

The next round brought the Sedge Warbler to our nets. First one on Farlington this year so far and more than likely the Male we heard singing as we put the nets up. The bird was quite light and had a very low fat/muscle score, so had probably dropped in very recently. The tail feathers were clearly abraded but a cracking little bird and one of my personal favourites. We never get quite the numbers through the Marshes as we do in Titchfield, but in Spring/Summer they are a staple of ringing. A male Linnet was also in the Sedge Warbler net, Linnets are very much an under appreciated bird. Fantastic russet brown backs pale fronts and lovely red breast and head feathers on males. There are good numbers of Linnet down on the Marsh and they appear to be pairing up and scouting for nest sites. Some are even carrying nest material around so it shouldn't be too long until we can expect to see Juv birds in the hand as well.

Male Linnet

Sedge Warbler

 Unfortunately at this point the wind started to pick up, this coupled with the fine weather meant that the billowing nets were very easily seen by the birds. Just one more was added before the nets were closed and packed away and that was a cracking Male Greenfinch. Easily identified as a male by checking the primaries. If the yellow/green streak reaches the shaft of the feather then the bird is a male, if it does not then it is female. With the colouration of the bird and the diagnostic primaries the bird was confidently ID'd, ringed processed and then released again, not before posing for a quick snap.

Male Greenfinch

4 birds....... my least amount ringed in a session ever, however 4 cracking birds and the signs of spring, fingers crossed the migrants are coming in now. 24 hours later I walked through Victoria park in central Portsmouth and for the first time this year there are Blackcaps everywhere. feasting on the berries and singing away.

Better Luck this week!







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Troglodytes Troglodytes

I was always told of the abundance of Wrens as a young birder. However only seeing the odd one or two, owing to their skulking and secretive nature never convinced me. As a naïve young lad I assumed that Blackbirds, Starlings or House Sparrows were far more abundant than ol' Jenny.

Over the past two years I have begun to take my birding a little more (I hate the phrase) seriously. I have been using the ever present Geoff Sample to learn bird song as well as taking up ringing. This has helped me get my ears and eyes in and my repertoire is increasing constantly. One of the first songs I learned was that of the Wren. Its percussive Sten gun like rattle halfway through the song giving it away. Since learning the Wrens song I have been amazed at how many birds are about. My back garden, which to me was devoid of birdlife other than a Collared Dove and some very noisy Starlings has suddenly come alive, Blue Tits, Goldfinches, Med Gulls flying over with their distinctive cry, and of course the subject of todays ramblings.... a Wren.

I have been extremely tied for any spare time recently. Preparing to welcome my second offspring into the world, new job, looking to move house and an 18 month old all taking their much deserved attention. Birding therefore has suffered as a result. This has led me to use my commute to bird a little.

Each morning takes me through Victoria Park in Portsmouth and apart from the Feral Pigeons and caged exotics there is a surprising amount of Avifauna to be found. I have so far discovered 3 Blackbird territories, a sizeable Wood Pigeon roost, a plethora of Laridae species, many 1cy birds which have been helping me with moult in juv Gulls and their many variances, Chiffchaffs on migration, blackcaps etc. but the main thing that has struck me is the abundance of Wren territories around the park. In the short walk from the bus stop for the park and ride to the Guildhall cenotaph alone there are 5 different singing males at present. As you venture round the park the song bursts from every patch of cover.

Spring is very much in the air around the park and I am sure it will not be long before we are seeing downy young birds with the tell tale yellow gape, and pin feathers. I have never before looked forward to a spring so much nor enjoyed the bird song as this year. I genuinely believe that schools should be teaching basic bird song to kids, maybe this could begin to arrest the reliance on modern convenience and put people back in touch or even foster a real appreciation for what nature is all about.