To all my friends, followers, and readers of this little blog, I would like to wish
A HAPPY NEW YEAR !!
May 2010 be good to you.
My Garden Birds | December 2009
Jack Frost had painted the landscape, transforming the appearance of all that was exposed to the touch of his ice laden brush. Overnight, water had turned to ice, trees and shrubs sparkled white, while frozen spiders webs shimmered now in the first rays of sunlight.
After the rich pickings of Autumn the birds now faced the hard cold days of winter. Those nuts and berries plus the many and varied
After the rich pickings of Autumn the birds now faced the hard cold days of winter. Those nuts and berries plus the many and varied
Merry Christmas from My Garden Birds
Merry Christmas everyone.
Merry Christmas from me too.
and us.
Yes A MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.
Ringstone edge reservoir
A nice couple of days this week at Ringstone edge with 26 more birds ringed.
5 Goldfinch
8 Chaffinch
6 Greenfinch
1 Reed Bunting
2 Blue Tits
1 Coal Tit
2 Gt Tits
1 Dunnock
and 1 retrap Dunnock from December 2007
More Pictures from Cley
Thanks again to David and Pat for sending me more great shots of the Twite that was ringed in August at Whiteholme reservoir .
A flock of 27 were seen yesterday at Cley.
Saturday
Yesterday spent a Full Day out with Phil and Sara at there Allerthorpe site near York. A great day with over 140 birds caught. Every third bird seemed to be a Tree Sparrow with , Blue Tits, Gt Tits, LT Tits, Willow Tits and a Marsh Tit. Also ringed Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Dunnocks, Wrens. We also Colour Ringed 4 Blackbirds. One of the last birds out of the nets was a cracking full adult Male Sparrow Hawk. A very busy day. Thanks to Phil and Sara for inviting me over.
Rishworth Twite seen at Cley today
I got a lovely email from David and Pat Wileman today:
Our friend Tony Aberdein found a couple of your C-R Twite in a flock of 34 feeding in the salt marsh adjacent to Cley West Bank this morning (Dec 11)TG045449. They occasionally went up on wires and he started trying to read the rings but only had bins. We then arrived with scopes and have hopefully
got the full combos. Wondered at first if they might have been Marcus's birds from Kelling (he passed on the details) but they seem to be different.
Bird 1
Left Red over White split ring over Carmine ring.
Right metal (code included the numbers 87) over Yellow over Blue split ring.
Ringed at Rishworh Quarry in September sorry to say the 87 is part of T938700>T938799
First reports of any of the Rishworth birds Yellow /Blue on the right leg with metal
Bird2
Left White over Red split ring over Carmine ring.
Right metal ring.
Didn't see this bird for as long as the first but don't think there was any
ring above the metal.
This Bird was ringed at Whiteholme reservoir SD960199 on the 09/08/2009
Whiteholme had white /red over Bright Pink
Thanks for the photos as well
Being a Norfolk Boy i cannot blame them for wintering in a fantastic place
End the week on a high
Back down at Cooper Bridge today 30 Birds caught.
Mainly Blue Tits and Gt Tits
2 More Bullfinch
3 Robins today
1 Coal Tit
and on the last net round
a young Male Sparrowhawk
Very Nice.
My garden Birds | Latest Visitors
Three days ago, Friday to be precise, we had a pair of Coal Tits visit the garden. This is the first occasion that we have observed this species here at home. They seemed to be quite relaxed feeding on seeds in the vertical hanging feeder, making frequent visits and flying to and fro between the neighbouring trees. I was unable to take any pictures of them, they refusing to stay still once I had
This piece continues from yesterdays post where we saw the Blackbird tucking into some meal worms in the garden. During that time he was not alone. Flitting about and watching with interest were a Robin who has become a frequent visitor again and also a Little Wren. A group of House Sparrows were constantly flying in and out but the relative peace was about to be shattered.
The Blackbird
The Blackbird
Cooper Bridge
I was going over to Allerthorpe near York to day for a ringing session with Phil. But due to the shity weather this morning it was cancelled . I drove up to Ringstone edge to put some more seed down and had a mixed flock of 50 finches coming down. So i will try for them next week.
I then moved on to Scammonden to see if the GND was showing any better and i fell lucky, it was right down by the inflow and quite close.
.
See more at www.grayimages.co.uk
After taking about 300 photos i packed up and drove down to Cooper bridge where i set one 30ft net. 2 Hours later i packed up having ringed
3 Bullfinch
4 Gt Tits
2 Chaffinch
1 Coal Tit
6 Blue Tits
1 Robin
So not a bad day after a crappy start.
My Garden Blackbird
After writing the post titled Blackbird likes Holly berries, it seems that my Garden Blackbird has begun to wander more into the garden and is certainly eating more than just those berries. Perhaps he takes them as desert, a nice bit of fruit, part of the 5 a day we are all told we should eat.
"I've had enough of those Holly Berries" the handsome male Blackbird thought to himself.
"The lovely
"I've had enough of those Holly Berries" the handsome male Blackbird thought to himself.
"The lovely
Ringstone edge
Last few days at Ringstone edge reservoir ringing near the feeding station { well seed on ground}
Birds ringed
11 Chaffinch
3 ReedBunting 2 new birds 1 retrap from july this year
6 Greenfinch
1 Dunnock retrap from December 2007
6 Goldfinch
1 Robin
Also had a Gt Northern Diver on the reservoir on Sunday
13 Whooper Swans on Monday
4 Shelduck today
and a text came in to say another Gt Northern on Scammonden today
so went for a Look
Yesterday
I was up and off at 630 to meet up with Andy . Because the weather has been so crap for mist netting we decided to get permission to try and catch a few Wildfowl around some local ponds and reservoir. Always nice to try a few different things . 2 Male Mallards caught just by using the bread and grab technique. On the way home stopped off at Cooper Bridge for 2 hours . The wind had died down so put up a 30ft net.
Gt Spotted Woodpecker ringed
with 4 Blue Tits
Coal Tit
6 Gt Tits
Blackbird likes the Holly Berries
Yes I know, that is a picture of a Wood pigeon, yet again. But they are always around and this one was having such a nice rest. I could not resist taking a picture as it posed so nicely.
I have started to gather some pictures of Woodpigeons in an attempt to see if it is possible to identify individual birds by differences in their markings.
As I began to photograph this bird that happens
Greedy Woodpigeon
This is one of my feathered friends I saw this morning, but he is a rather greedy Woodpigeon.
The mixed bird feed is suitable for a variety of birds, containing all of the popular, favourite seeds.
This mesh tray fixed to the upright metal pole is good during this very wet weather (we seem to have had endless rain here recently) because any rain easily passes through, therefore the food does
The mixed bird feed is suitable for a variety of birds, containing all of the popular, favourite seeds.
This mesh tray fixed to the upright metal pole is good during this very wet weather (we seem to have had endless rain here recently) because any rain easily passes through, therefore the food does
Oldest and furthest Twite
From Dave Sowter
Twite seen on Priest Island on 15 June 2009 by Jacquie Heaton of Highland Ringing Group. This bird had BTO ring R547*** identified and red over yellow on left. So it was a bird ringed between Jan and end of June 2003 at cant Clough. checking ring series there were 159 rings used R547001 - 260 between Jan and end of June 2003. BTO Used ringing date as 15 march 2003
Duration is 2284 days or 6yr 92days and the distance is 510 km.
I reckon this is probably the longest UK distance for a Twite and longevity record for twite
Martin Mere another season starts
I woke at 0530 to the sound of wind and rain on the window . Surely they wont be ringing today i thought. No text message had come through to say otherwise so i set off at 6am over the Pennines .God the weather was atrocious. By the time i got to Martin Mere at 0730, the rain had nearly stopped.
After a quick meeting about the weather and how they thought a catch could be done , mainly going for Duck and a few Whoopers. We all got are waders and waterproofs on and off we went.
1
3 Hours later 110 birds caught.
.
52 Mallard all new birds and 1 retrap
18 new Shelduck and 13 retraps
13 Pintail
7 Pochard
.
1 Wigeon
.
1 Greylag Goose
.
and
3 Whooper Swans 1 Mute Swan
A cracking start to the season. A big thank you to everyone involved.
Please check out the link below to follow the Whooper Swans and see the work
The WWT are doing
Also check this page out on Kanes site showing the methods used in catching Swans and Ducks at Caerlaverock and Martin Mere
Thankyou for the Food
Last night as the light was first starting to fade, the Woodpigeon stood on the edge of the garage roof, looking towards me. I was likewise stood in front of the kitchen sink looking through the window towards the Pigeon. It showed no inclination to fly away but rather seemed to make motions towards the bird feeder in an attempt I am sure to make me realise that the mesh plate used to hold the
Out for an Airing
Great morning at Cooper bridge this morning with Dave Sowter. Nice to see him out in the fresh air again.
23 Birds Caught mainly Blue Tits and Gt Tits with a few Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Blackbird and Long Tailed Tits.
Back Home in the garden this week 13 More Starlings Ringed, the markings on these birds are fantastic.
Nice Weather for Coots
After an awful week weather wise,
{only been out once to Cooper Bridge which was quite with a new Gt Spotted Woodpecker ringed in with a few more Tits and Greenfinch}
Today I was invited out with Kane to catch and colour ring Coots.
Kane Brides and Steve Christmas have started Colour ringing Coot in the North west area to look at wintering site fidelity/dispersal to breeding and moulting sites and to get more understanding on Coot movement.
I met up with Kane at his house for 8am and of we went loaded up with 4 loafs of bread and all the gear, well rings and pliers.
A fantastic day with 10 more Coots Colour ringed
Over 60 Coots have now been individually colour coded so far.
Also ringed today
2 Male Mallard
1Male Tufted Duck
4 Canada Geese
9 Mute Swans 6 of them ringed 3 being retraps
Coots are being ringed with 3 colour rings 2 on left leg and 1 above metal BTO on Right leg
Colours being used are Light Blue Dark Blue White Black Green Red Orange Yellow Pink and Purple
Any sightings of these birds would be gratefully received and can be sent to kanebrides@googlemail.com
or reported to
All sightings will be acknowledge with full ringing and re sighting information.
British Garden Birds
I hoped you liked that previous post where I showed you a few of the birds I encountered during my holiday in Australia. But what of the birds back in my own British Garden?Well I returned to find that Autumn was well under way with most of the leaves having fallen from the trees. The ground is muddy and strewn with leaf debris and that unmistakable damp autumnal feeling is in the air. And the
Western Australia Birds
As some of my regular visitors may know, I have spent the last month in Western Australia. I thought before I returned to blogging about my garden birds I would show you a few of the birds I saw while I was there.The GalahThe Galah is easily identified by its rose-pink head, neck and underparts, a paler pink crown, and a grey back, wings and undertail. Galahs are quite common in the areas
Fame at last!
The BBC News 24 team obviously saw my potential and singled me out of the crowd of c700 birders at the Eastern Crowned Warbler for this interview. I'm just waiting for the TV offers to come flooding in. Expect to see me on Springwatch next year...
Yesterday
Out Yesterday with Andy and Aiden from Bishop Monkton Ringers. We set 3 nets at Timble for Redpoll , Redwing and Goldcrest . A steady morning with only 4 Redwing and another 6 Redpoll , 10 Goldcrests 2 Reed Bunting and a Gt Tit.
Also ringed at Ringstone edge this week with 10 Goldfinch 4 Bullfinch 2 Blackbirds
4 Starlings and a Wren ringed.
More Redpoll
Managed to get out for a couple of hours before the weather kicked in during the last few days.
another 20 Redpoll ringed with 4 Redwing, 5 Blackbirds 2 being Continental bird's, few more Goldcrests and Coal Tits another Jay and a Drake Mallard that came to close to the car while we were ringing
Redwing ageing as well as Tail shape white wedges show on the young birds
Tertials
Twite season ends
Reports this week from Dr Guy Anderson down on The Wash at Terrington Marsh that he had a good flock of Twite with a mixture of colour rings some Nicks and some ours from this Autumn RED/WHITE above Pink and a few 2008 birds and 2007 birds.
So they are on there way again.
This year i have caught 307 Twite in the Pennines with 227 of them being new birds
{Unringed}
Since August i have ringed 143 birds that were born this year.
That with Nicks pulli project of 250 birds
makes 393 1st year birds ringed in 2009.
Also report of unringed Twite still being seen, so all in all not a bad year for this cracking little bird, again lets hope all is being done to try and improve Breeding grounds, wintering grounds
feeding areas etc so this bird can keep making its journey back and fourth for years to come.
Meadow Pipit Turns up
Just got news of a Meadow Pipit we ringed at Kex Gill Quarry in 2007 {two pink rings on left leg} was recaught at Thistledown, nr Nympsfield in Gloucestershire on 13/10/2009 . Nice to know they are still out there.
Thanks to Phil Williams for letting us know.
Also had a quite week as have been laid up with the most awful cough since Sunday
managed to open net in the garden with a few more Starlings ringed
and the Goldfinch number is now touching 70 well 69.
hope to be out at the weekend weather don't look good.
Timble
Another great morning at Timble with 35 more Redwing Ringed and 26 Redpoll.
Also 4 More Goldcrest and Coal Tits and Blue/Great Tits.
Good Flock of 29 Crossbill near nets but not playing.
Like most Thrushes you can Age Redwing on Tail Shape
The rounded tail feathers belonging to the Adult birds
Euring age 4
{Hatched before current calendar year}
Pointed tail Feathers belonging to the juvenile bird
Euring age 3
{Definitely hatched during current calendar year}
15 Oct 09 - Pied Wheatear, Horsey Gap, Norfolk
Dashed out for an extended lunch today for a quick twitch up to Horsey Gap to see the 1st-winter male Pied Wheatear sat on the pillbox just south of the NT car park. The bird called quite often, a soft "chit", similar to a Stonechat, but without the hard 'tacking' property. It often flew in the air and hovered a-la Eurasian Skylark and this enabled viewers to see the sooty underwing and characteristic tail pattern.
The bird was really co-operative and sat on the pillbox at close range for extended periods. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the Paddyfield Warbler at Snettisham. After sitting on news of it for 6 hour, word finally got out but the bird had gone. Thanks guys - not!
13 Oct 09 - Raptors in Oxon
Whilst driving around Oxfordshire looking for gulls, there was a number of photo opps for raptors, particularly a nice perched-up Common Buzzard and numerous Red Kites.
Here's a selection....
Here's a selection....
13 Oct 09 - Azorean Yellow-legged Gull in Oxon
