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WELCOME TO THE SORBY BRECK RINGING GROUP BLOG FOR 2010
A new year and a new blog! Our Group Blog will include interesting anecdotes and photos to illustrate the group's ringing activities throughout the year. Blogs for the previous 2 years can be accessed via the links. We hope you enjoy them.
Quick Links: '2008 Blog' '2009 Blog' 'January' 'February' 'March' 'April' 'May' 'June' 'July' Help wanted with Great Tit study (16/07/2010) Please collect your great tit feathers! My PhD supervisor and other scientists at Aberystwyth University are trying to find out if there are any genetic differences between rural and urban great tits. The most unintrusive way to do this is to get the DNA from feathers which naturally fall from the bird. It would be brilliant if you could save any feathers that are shed while you are ringing great tits, even one small feather will be enough. The feathers have to have fallen naturally from the bird while in the hand, not just be in the bird bag (unless it was a completely clean or new bag). They then have to be bagged up (just a freezer/sandwich bag is fine) and labelled with the date and location. Each bird's feathers should be kept separate. Also try and touch the feather as little as possible, especially the bottom, as your own DNA on your fingers could blur the results slightly. They are after both urban and rural sites so if you ring in any site that is particularly noisy, please keep an eye out. This is just a pilot study at the moment to see if this method can be used to assess a population so they only want a small selection of feathers but if it is successful, it could lead to more funding and a further in-depth study. Please contact me if you do find any feathers, or if you want more information/free sandwich bags! It is quite important that the feathers are analysed within a few days so please get in contact ASAP if you have any. Thank you! Millie
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Mike J. Wareing this week ( 12/07/2010) a founder member of our Group. Mike was a larger than life character, enthusiastic about ecology and ornithology. He was an impressive athlete in his younger days and an active member of the National Farmers Union for most of his farming life. He was trained to ring birds by David Blackmore who introduced him to ringing and encouraged him to start the Breck Ringing Group. His interest in ecology also led him to take an active part as a member on the Derbyshire Naturalist Trust. When Sorby Natural History RG and Breck RG combined in the mid seventies Mike ensured a successful transition. He was also BTO Rep for Derbyshire at this time too. Many of our group and beyond joined Mike on his Braythay expeditions to ring seabirds, and all were left with lasting memories of Mike and his personality. Sorby Breck RG owe Mike a great debt of gratitude for the successful Group that exists today. Our thoughts are with his family at this time. Geoff Mawson Bondhay is a reliable site for Linnet, particularly when juveniles amass with Goldfinches in large mixed flocks on the common in late summer. This striking adult male was a pleasant surprise from the typical juvenile catch. It was one of two adult males caught today. The photo of the extended wing shows the extent of white colouration reaching the wing shaft on the 7th-9th primary feathers. Eleanor.
Male Linnet
Extent of white on inner primaries used to sex Linnets Sparrowhawk Pulli (09/07/2010) An early start before going to work can very rewarding. Sean and I had the opportunity to ring some Sparrowhawk chicks, which we were able to do with the help of Jack who climbed the tree for us. The small brood of two in a local parkland wood is short distance from a very busy shopping centre, but I can't see them popping over there for a KFC just yet! They need to try try growing some feathers first. A big thanks to Jack and the park ranger for access and helping out. Bryn
Sparrowhawk Pulli
Ageing Long-tailed Tits using the eye-ring (07/07/2010) This juvenile Long-tailed Tit was already in full moult along with others, both adult and juveniles, which we ringed.
In my opinion, the eye-ring featured well here can be used to age first
year birds for some time to come. Eventually, the colour will fade to
a fleshy yellow but its Seven good reasons to keep checking nest boxes (02/07/2010) We all know ringing Wren pulli is a no-no, but the occupants of a nest
box in Whitwell wood proved to have built a nest accessible to a careful
ringer. The nest had no roof, as the lid of the nest box provided all
the shelter needed. A clutch of seven eggs produced seven chicks ringed
at nine days old (see photo). Another nest had been built in an adjacent
nestbox, in which the female also laid another two eggs.
Wren's nest (above) and Wren pullus (top) This weekend was the real start of the juvenile dispersal for me. Most of the 85 birds caught were juveniles, and with warblers making up the majority of the total, we had a good morning’s ringing at Palterton. The Chiffchaff photographed here has the typical juvenile “fluffy” feathered plumage. I also ringed my first Robin in juvenile moult. Geoff.
Chiffchaff Colour ringing (17/06/2010) A link to a very good article on the BirdGuides website detailing the value of bird watchers reporting colour ringed sightings.
A pair of Buzzard chicks ringed by Eleanor
A Goshawk chick at an undisclosed site All the Goshawks this year are late or so it seemed. The three is this nest were quite a surprise given that chicks from elsewhere were only dreaming of feathers! Geoff Tonight, after the day's incessant rain gave up at last, I ringed the brood of Little Owls in the photo below in a box just a mile or so from Whitwell Wood. The single chick already wears the expression of the 'frowning' adult. The box has only been up since this spring, so I was really pleased for it to be used in the first year. I'd like to express my thanks to the landowner Claire for allowing me to put the box up. Eleanor.
Little Owls Williamthorpe Ringing Demonstration (05/06/2010) An enjoyable ringing demonstration at Williamthorpe Nature Reserve today, was well attended and produced many good birds for the public. The pictures below tell the story!
Aberrant Reed Bunting (05/06/2010) The pictures below, kindly supplied by the Stanford Ringing Group, show a female Reed Bunting showing some male colouration on it's head pattern. Although the bird is somewhat duller than a full male, it could catch out the unwary. The bird was originally ringed as a 3J on 02/08/2008 and retrapped as a 4F with a BP on 27/06/2009, before being caught again today. The bird had a brood patch and a wing of 75mm, which although not completely out of range for a male bird is much more typical of a female. The breeding plumage of certain bird species is controlled by hormones, with females deprived of their sex organs adopting male plumage. Therefore, might this bird's plumage be due to a hormone imbalance? Further information would be gratefully received.
Female Reed Bunting with male characteristics. Photos courtesy of Mike Haig
Scarce Woodland Migrants (31/05/2010) As a ringing group we are fortunate to live in an area where there is a diverse range of habitats within easy reach of group members. One of these habitats is ancient Oak woodland and several members of the group run nest box schemes for Pied Flycatchers. The same habitat also provides a home for Wood Warblers and Redstarts. At one of these sites, myself and Jack are also colour ringing Wood Warblers to support a study at the University of Sheffield by Dr. Karl Evans. An article on the website will follow shortly, but the pictures below illustrate why it is worth putting in all the hard work to ring these handsome birds. Sean
Male Pied Flycatcher
Wood Warbler
Carr Vale SW (27/05/2010) I was beginning to think that I may miss out on Swifts this year given that the weather conditions make it all happen. Finally, a cold, overcast morning produced Swifts, House Martins and Swallows at Carr Vale SW. Not many other species featured. Plenty of Starlings , a Jackdaw and a Black-headed Gull! This is lowland Derbyshire. Geoff
Black-headed Gull
Swift Ringing Demonstration in the Shirebrook Valley (22/05/2010) Back in September 2009, I was asked by Chris Smith, the head ranger at
the Shire
We met at 5.30am to set the nets, which enabled us to catch enough birds
to
The wind was calm providing good conditions until the sun got high in
the sky.
Between 30 and 40 members of the public attended the session. BTO leaflets
Thank you to Chris for the bacon sandwiches, tea, coffee and biscuits;
and More information on the morning can be found on the Sheffield Star website Sorby Natural History Society Day Kevin Bower
Rook and Lapwings (16/05/2010) Eleanor, Stuart, Heather, Mark and myself tried a new site at Clowne today. It has real potential but the rain forecast failed to show and the Swallows and House Martins were just too high. Eleanor did ring her first Rook which she was pleased to process. We were surprised to see her run and as Stuart said, “It will be on the website this afternoon”. We also ringed 3 more Lapwings and as the photograph of the nest shows there are still more to come. Geoff
Rook
Lapwing Nest
Lapwing Chick
Ringing in the Netherlands (14/05/2010) An update on another member of the group, Hannah Dugdale, who is ringing in the Netherlands. hannah has been visiting specific projects and some photos of these can be seen at the links below.
Great Tit Research Project (13/05/2010) Some of you may have seen Millie on Calendar News on Thursday. She was talking about her Great Tit project featured on the 'Survey' section of our website. Below are a couple of pictures of the day.
These pictures are of a juvenile (3J) Siskin ringed this morning at Uppertown by George, the first fledged Siskin ringed by the group this year. The buffish plumage tones are clearly visible.
Juvenile Siskin This male Redstart was a nice bird to finish a morning's ringing. The morning had been successful as we had caught and colour ringed several of the target bird, Willow Warbler; these are being ringed by Karl Evans as part of an ongoing study. All the Willow Warblers ringed were male. The Redstart was easily aged as a second year (EURING 5) due to the moult limit in the greater coverts, heavily worn plumage and white mottling on the black throat.
Redstart Mistlethrush and Skylark (10/04/2010) On the first really warm day of the year, which was made all the more pleasant by the still conditions, a ringing session at a site in the Shirebrook Valley produced 2 species that, although not uncommon, are not often ringed by our group. The morning started off well with Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler all present and ringed. These birds were caught at nets in the scrub. However, we were also ringing in a more open, grassy area in an attempt to catch one of the Skylark which were present and singing in reasonable numbers. A bird in the net raised our hopes, but this was not the target species; but a Mistle Thrush was a nice surprise. The bird was aged as a EURING code 5.
Mistle Thrush The Skylark were being elusive, but just as we thought that we were not going to be lucky, a bird was caught. This was a female bird, based on the wing length of 112mm and the presence of a brood patch. We were not able to age it, as Skylark are one of the species where the adults and juveniles undergo a complete moult in late Summer.
Skylark A blustery Saturday morning at Ringinglow certainly affirmed that March is a windy month - let's hope that April showers are not going to be the pattern for the month ahead! Despite the windy weather, the feeding site is relatively sheltered and 31 birds were ringed from a good mix of species. Several Lesser Redpoll were ringed, the bird of the morning being a control. V536429, a cracking adult male, was first ringed at Agden in October 2007.
Lesser Redpoll, first ringed in 2007. A substantial proportion of the birds ringed were retraps, which is not unusual for this time of year as the birds present at a site tend to be the resident population. However, one of the benfits of retraps is it gives a good idea about how birds are surviving. A number of birds ringed, particularly Coal Tits, were first ringed in 2008 and early 2009, encouragingly surviving two harsh winters. Four Goldcrests have been ringed in the last week, another positive sign.
Coal Tits, present in good numbers despite the harsh winter weather earlier in the year. Another advantage of retrapping birds is it enables confirmation of ageing techniques. A Dunnock first ringed as a EURING age 3 in September 2009 was still aged easily on eye colour.
2Y Dunnock, still showing a dull brown eye, compared to the warmer chestnut tones of an adult bird.
These two pictures taken today at Bondhay, surely herald the welcome
signs of spring.
Chiffchaff with 'pollen horns'
Marsh Tit Mute Swans with Colour Rings (17/02/2010) The image below shows a Mute Swan with a colour ring on its left leg, Y265. This bird was sighted at Potteric Carr, near Doncaster. Although this was close to where this bird was originally ringed, Mute Swans, which are often regarded as purely sedentary, can move considerable distances (see our article on Mute Swan Migration). Information from field sightings of any bird with a colour ring on are very valuable for tracking movements, so please send details of any sightings in the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire area to us or contact the BTO. Many thanks to Graham Uney for sending us this record.
Mute Swan Our target bird this morning was Yellowhammer, a species not ringed at Bondhay since 2004. Having seen them coming in to the new feeding station during the week made me feel optimistic about our chances of catching them and my optimism was well founded with 5 birds being ringed during the morning. The photos below show a 5M Yellowhammer, the shot of the tail clearly illustrating the tail shape of a young bird. Eleanor.
Yellowhammer
5M Yellowhammer with a pointed tail
New trainee Jack Baddam's initiation ceremony was going really well at Bondhay, until his left arm fell off! (07/02/2010) Trainee Jack learnt that a Blue Tit up the sleeve really knows how to peck on the soft tissue of an underarm. Thankfully Geoff was at the rescue and the explorative escapee bird was successfully ringed despite its intimate encounter with our newest ringer.
Ageing Treecreepers (24/01/2010) Treecreepers are not the easiest birds to age according to plumage (Svennson, 1992) although he mentions a method of ageing based on the size and shape of the pale tip on the 3rd outermost primary covert. However, he also claims that this method needs more testing. In an excellent article, Suorsa and Hakkarainen (2007) presented their findings of testing this method of ageing, and demonstrated that it is a useful field character for ageing Treecreepers. The authors showed that the pale tips on the outer webs of the outermost primary coverts on young birds are larger and more drop shaped than those of adults.
The picture above shows a 2nd year (5) bird caught at Bakewell SF on Sunday. The prominent pale spot on the longest primary covert clearly identifies this bird as 2nd year, rather than an adult. It is important to look at the outermost primary coverts, as the pale tips on the inner primary coverts can be inconspicuous like those on an adult. The picture also clearly shows a colour contrast between the longest unmoulted alula feather and the darker replaced feather above it, another feature cited by Suorsa and Hakkarainen (2007). References 1. Identification Guide to European Passerines, Svennson, 1992, p 247 2. Ageing and Sexing in the European Treecreeper, Suorsa and Hakkarainen, Alula 4, 2007 pp 146-150. Weight gain in urban Blackbirds (21/01/2010)
During the adverse weather, a reasonable number of Blackbirds were caught by our group. I ringed a small number in my garden and noticed, along with other group members, that there was a definite upward trend in the weights of the Blackbirds caught. The average weight of four birds I ringed on the 3rd January was 112g, but by the 9th January the average weight of a further three birds was 123.9g and fat scores for these birds were 4 using the BWG system. One bird caught on the 9th January, an adult female, weighed 120.9g. This same bird caught as a first year in December 2008 before last Winter's cold snap, weighed only 95.3g at that time. Eleanor, who ringed a larger than usual number of Blackbirds at Whitwell Wood and noticed some possible trends, is going to combine the results for the Blackbirds caught by the group during the recent cold spell and an analysis of the data will be presented on the website. Care was taken not to interfere with birds feeding during ringing activities in this period. Sean What do ringers get up to when they can't ring? (16/01/2010) The answer to that is probably quite a variety of things, not all of which should be shared here! Regular visitors to our site will have noticed that the blog has not been updated for a couple of weeks. This is because the inclement weather has meant that ringing has either not been possible or we have voluntarily decided not to ring in the best interests of the birds. In such harsh weather conditions, birds need to be able to feed uninterrupted, and the limited amount of ringing we have been doing as a group has been to look at how birds fare in such conditions, the data being of scientific value to the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology).
Before cutting back However, in answer to the question of 'What do ringers do..' one of the useful things that can be done is site and habitat management. Ringers are heavily involved in managing sites for wildlife as this, obviously, encourages more birds to use the area. So to make the most of not being able to ring, Kevin and I went down to Blackburn Meadows yesterday to cut back the Willow Scrub. This will ensure thick new growth providing excellent habitat for Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers and other birds. I was only there in the morning, but Kevin stayed into the afternoon and was rewarded by a Peregrine flying over and landing on the Magna building.
After cutting back A new bird for the new year (and an older ringer! - 02/01/2010) An early start at Williamthorpe Nature Reserve and cold enough for some to wear thermals at -7 degrees Celsius produced some good birds. The decade started as the previous year with both Snipe and Jack Snipe ringed. The value of Williamthorpe as an ice-free marsh fed by its mine pump-water was evident today by the good to reasonable weights of the waders ringed. The site certainly has more snipe species when the temperatures are low as they were today.
However, the star bird of the morning was a Water Rail, ringed by Dave Atkinson. Despite many years of ringing Dave had never ringed a Water Rail so an excellent ringing start for 2010. The pictures show an immature bird, but its measurements were inconclusive as to sex.
Water Rail - Photos Courtesy of Dave Atkinson.
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