030517 Hirundines at KSW

I got to the sewage works at 5:30 and had three nets set up by the time Bobbie (CT) joined me and we put the fourth net up together. I had a 40ft in the far left corner, as far down as we're allowed to go. I put a 60ft between two rotating things, one 40ft between a rotating thing and the hedge and the 30ft I put up with Bobbie we put next to the fence to the farmers field next door.

The first catch was a Pied Wagtail. I'd never processed an adult Piewa until this morning and following guidance from Laurent Demongin's ID guide I concluded that it was an age code 6, however I didn't manage to tell if it was Pied or White because the guide was talking about how the shades of grey/black/white are different in each, wing bars are broader/narrower than each other, face tinged "olivaceous yellow" in white or "slightly yellow" in pied... I had nothing to compare to. So it will remain a Pied Wagtail until proven otherwise! The second bird was a male Goldfinch and after that it slowed down quite a bit. Hirundines had started flooding in and a bright spark told me to move the 30ft net, so Bobbie and I did that and then Bobbie had to go to do BBOWT things. Thank you for coming and helping me! Please come again 😊

Captures continued to be slow and I was practicing my hirundine identification. They kept giving me heart palpitations, getting so close to the net and then dodging it at the last moment! To mock me even more one of them crapped in my coffee. Thanks. But that didn't stop me being ecstatic when I caught one! A House Martin 😁 The book says that they do a full post juvenile moult so I couldn't age it any more precisely than 4. I caught a Grey Wagtail in this round, too. After that I caught a Blackbird at 9:55.

I was just about to take my nets in and thought I'd better check the nets first. Another Grey Wagtail and 3 House Martins! Wow! After processing those I went and got a net in. Checked the other nets again - 2 more House Martins!... Processed those, took another net in, checked the last two nets nets, a Swallow! 😁💓 After processing that one I took a third net in (left the one that was catching the birds until last. Don't tell me you wouldn't) and there was another House Martin. Processed that. Another one in the net. Processed that. Took the last net in! Phew! I'm now knackered and I don't know how I'm going to survive work this evening! Wish me luck!

House Martin:

Swallow:

Totals:

020517 Mist netting AND Nest box checking

Today has been a very bird-filled day! I started with ringing at Bowdown, putting three nets up - one of which was 18 metres so I thought I wouldn't stretch myself with putting a fourth net up, just in case I got inundated! 

The first 5 captures were Long-Tailed Tit's which was hardly surprising since they were beeping away all around me for the first half of the morning 😄 they were caught in the footpath net. Then a Marsh Tit and a Garden Warbler in the net ride that Ian found when we went out as a group last Sunday was great! I will definitely be putting that net up again! All the 18 metre net caught all morning was a retrap Chiffchaff - a female just starting to develop a brood patch.

Corinne, who helps check the Dormouse boxes at Bowdown, came to visit at 9 and we had a nice time chatting about Dormice, birds and butterflies 😄 she has since kindly emailed over some documents to help with my Dormouse licence training - thank you so much! 💓 I thought it would be another no-show like at the demonstration on Saturday, but at 10:30 a female Bullfinch went into the footpath net 😊 a nice little bird to be able to show!

I'd just finished getting the first net in at the end of the day when Roger Dobbs, Bowdown reserve warden, came over for a chat. He was doing a butterfly transect and a lovely day for it, too! I really like Bowdown - a great place to ring, I'm getting involved with the Dormice here, bird nest boxes, and I'll be doing some bird surveys for Simon here soon as well!

I'm so good at making birds look really unphotogenic, but it was very pretty I promise! The Garden Warbler from the new net ride:

Here are the totals for this mornings session:

This afternoon I met up with Steve to check the nest boxes here at Bowdown and also at Aldernbridge Gulley (spelling..?). One clutch of Great Tit's at Bowdown were ready to ring today, but I haven't put the information into IPMR yet. I think I will wait until I'm with Jan so that I can make sure that I'm not doing it wrong! (I think it's mostly like normal, so age code 1 - pulli, but do I put the wing measurement (1 - 2 mm showing through the sheath) in? Or should I leave the wing length blank? Or put it in an "own" column. I know that I need to put the box number in an "own" column, too.)

When we got to the other site, who do we happen to bump into? Simon and the CT's!! They had just finished doing their Habitat Condition Assessments so they came along to check the boxes with Steve and I. A couple of clutches - one Great Tit and one Nuthatch - look as though they might be ready to ring in a few days, so Simon and I might go out late afternoon on Friday or in the morning on Saturday to ring those.

So yeah, it's been a very birdy day, and to top it off Simon and I went and did a full weekly shop (we made a list and everything!) It's time to chill now, before another morning of ringing tomorrow at the sewage works!

290417 Demo at the Butterfly Reserve

On Saturday I did a ringing demonstration for Ailsa's Birding for Beginners talk (which was really good!! I highly recommend her talks! I learnt so much :D). I got to the reserve for 6:30 and put up 4 nets - a 9 metre, 2x 12 metre and an 18 metre! I'd just finished putting up the last net when Ian arrived, shortly followed by Jan, and they put one more net up. We retrapped a pair of Treecreepers - the same one's that I retrap here a lot that are good examples of different ages. The younger one is the male - toyboy hahaha. :P

We caught all of the birds before the ringing demonstration took place. The one guy who turned up early saw the Blackcap but sadly no one else got to see any birds in the hand. Thank you so much Jan and Ian for coming because I don't know how I'd have coped with having to run around every 10 minutes checking the nets praying for there to be a bird AND entertain 10 people at the same time all on my own! You guys basically saved my bacon so thank you very much 💓

We found out when Simon came to lead the group of people back to the NDC that there was an event happening in the reserve at 10 - it was 9:30 at that point so naturally I freaked out 😅 but Ian reassured me that it wouldn't take long to take the nets down with three of us, and it didn't 😁 so again, thank you! xx