A Quiet But Interesting Morning

We slipped up this morning by not carrying out any ringing at the'obs'. The forecast last night was for a fairly stiff NNE wind but just after 6.00 a.m. at first light it was fairly calm. Nevertheless I still covered the obs but without mist nets.

One of the first birds I saw or heard was a Goldcrest and by the end of my coverage of the site I had recorded 5 at various locations. The only other grounded birds I had were two male Wheatears just behind the sea wall.

 Wheatear

The NNE wind, although light, did slow down the 'vis' this morning, but it wasn't too bad all things considered. I recorded 49 Alba Wags, 13 Linnets, 9 Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, 3 Siskin and 95 Meadow Pipits.

Out on the sea it was quiet with just 2 male Eiders, 31 Common Scoters, 3 Red-throated Divers and 4 Whooper Swans. I did have one interesting bird in the form of a Bonxie that arrived from the west high and then rapidly headed south. 

I then went on to the cemetery but all I could find were 3 Goldcrests and 3 Robins.

Later in the morning I was back on the coast having a walk with Gail. As we were walking behind the sea wall and heading towards the golf course I could see a white bird walking along the sea wall towards us. I lifted my bins up and it was a cracking male Snow Bunting! Typically I had left my camera at home so couldn't get any pics, which was a shame because it came to within 15-20 feet of us. Anyway, it was a nice way to end a quiet but interesting morning.

First Chiff

My blog title was nearly 'I wish I'd stayed in bed this morning' but then I thought about it and thought that every time I go out, even if I don't see a great deal it has been worthwhile. Mind you, my first reaction at 5.30 a.m. when I set off into the mist wasn't that at all!

I headed to the 'obs' in the hope of my first Wheatear of the Spring, but based on the weather conditions I knew this was unlikely. The wind was southerly, which was good, but the overnight murk and mist would probably have held migrants up. Surprisingly there were a few birds on 'vis', most of them heading north, but a few heading south; presumably just moving around 'off passage' because of the weather conditions. I had 29 Meadow Pipits, 20 Alba Wags, 1 Pied Wagtail and 10 Chaffinch (headed south).

A quick look through the fog on the sea revealed a first on the sea off the obs for me in the form of a male Goldeneye, 9 Eiders and 3 Cormorants.

Grounded migrants were restricted to a single Goldcrest calling from grassland behind the sea wall and a singing Chiffchaff, my first for the year.

Back home in my moth trap was a single Hebrew Character.

 Hebrew Character

I have a couple of site visits this afternoon in some good habitat so I am hoping I might pick up another early migrant or two then. Perhaps that first elusive Wheatear!

A Taste of the Med

Just a quick post to tell you of an addition to my garden list (if I kept one) that I had late afternoon today. As I sat down in the conservatory with a coffee to start reading 'Greenshanks' by Desmond and Maimie Nethersole-Thompson, I glanced out of the window and there on the bungalow roof just beyond the end of my garden was a full summer plumaged adult Med Gull! I grabbed my bins and had a good look at it and thought about running for my camera, but it then took off, flew round and headed off to the north. Not rare by any means, but one I wouldn't have predicted for the garden!  

More Vis, More Ringing and Two Moths!

Once again Craig, Ian and I met at the 'obs' at 5.45 a.m. (it's getting earlier!) to do some ringing and 'vis miging'. Just after we had put the nets up we were treated to a display by a hunting Barn Owl as it floated along in the half-light.

As it dawned with full cloud cover and a very light WNW wind birds started to move. Our vis totals included 197 Meadow Pipits, Reed Bunting, 41 Alba Wags, 2 Lesser Redpolls, 7 Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, 5 Linnets, 4 Grey Wagtails and a Siskin.

The only grounded migrants we had were 3 Goldcrests and we ringed one of these. Other birds of interest included a Peregrine, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.

We ringed 18 birds as follows with recaptures in brackets:

Robin - 1
Meadow Pipit - 10
Blue Tit - 1
Linnet - 1
Dunnock - 1 (1)
Chaffinch - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Greenfinch - 1
Goldcrest - 1

 Goldcrest

Back home I checked my moth trap and this morning I had two moths in the form of a Clouded Drab and an Early Grey.

Clouded Drab

Early Grey

Some Vis, Some Ringing and A Moth

This morning Craig, Ian and I met at the 'obs' at 6.00 a.m. and we were greeted with virtually full cloud cover with a 5 mph WNW wind. We put the nets up in the half-light and prepared ourselves for a morning of early Spring migration monitoring.

We had some 'vis' this morning and though there weren't huge numbers of birds it was typical for early Spring. On the move were 92 Meadow Pipits, 6 Linnets, 4 Grey Wagtails, 24 Alba Wags, 5 Curlews, 8 Goldfinch, 20 Siskin, Raven, 3 Skylarks, Sparrowhawk, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting.

We ringed 15 birds as follows (recaptures in brackets):

Meadow Pipit - 7
Dunnock - 2
Linnet - 4
Greenfinch - 2
Blackbird - (1)

 Linnet

The forecast is looking okay for the next few days, but due to work commitments it will be Tuesday before I can get back to the 'obs' again.

Back home I checked my moth trap and I had my first moth for 2012 in the form of a Common Quaker.

Common Quaker

Nest Boxes - Day 2

As I mentioned yesterday it was my turn to treat Gail to a day out repairing, replacing and putting up new nest boxes. Our first port of call was the Hodder Valley in Bowland where I have 38 boxes up for Pied Flycatchers. We checked all the boxes and carried out repairs as well as putting up one or two new boxes to fill gaps in the coverage of the woodland. Below is a dark picture taken by my good lady of 'yours truly' putting up a box.

Whilst we were wandering round we had Brambling, Siskin, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

It was then on to Rawcliffe Moss for yet more boxes but this time for Tree Sparrows. Whilst there I fed at the feeding station and there were 132 Tree Sparrows, 14 Chaffinch and 4 Yellowhammers. Two Kestrels and a Merlin also put in appearance.

It's the 'obs' for me in the morning so I'll be sure to let you know how we got on tomorrow.

Nest Boxes - Day 1

I was out this morning helping Ian and his good lady Wendy put some boxes up in some local authority woodland where Ian has a feeding station. We just put 10 boxes up today but we'll hopefully increase this to 30 over the next couple of years. Below is a picture of Wendy showing us how many boxes she can carry at once and this is followed by a picture of Ian in action putting up a box.

 

Tomorrow I'll be treating my good lady to a day putting up next boxes in the Hodder Valley; I bet she can't wait!