Saturday 17th October-Moore Nature Reserve & Woolston Results

Moore Nature Reserve

Hello Everyone,

Migration Watch

Time -07.00hrs -12.30hrs, cloud 6/8, wind -zero,

BRAMBLING-2
SISKIN-18
CHAFFINCH-22
SKYLARK-13
GREY WAGTAIL-7
BLACKBIRD-8
SONG THRUSH-4
REDWING-200
FIELDFARE-40
REED BUNTING-8
GREENFINCH-46
REDPOLL-33
GOLDFINCH-26
STARLING-160
WOODPIEGON-3000 (08.00-10.00hrs then small parties of 5-10)
CURLEW-2

Ringing Results - (new)

KINGFISHER-1
GOLDCREST-1
GREENFINCH-25
BLACKBIRD-1
WREN-2
LONG TAILED TIT-1
BLUE TIT-1
GREAT TIT-1

TOTAL-33

AEH


Woolston Eyes Ringing Results -Dave Riley and team No1 bed;
Keiran Foster and team No3 bed

RINGING OCTOBER 16/17 2009

Dave Riley was joined on No1 bed, by Stephen Menzie and Leah Williams on the Friday morning, with John Blundell and Tony Davis coming down in the afternoon. 50 birds were caught then, with a retrap Sparrowhawk and new Green Woodpecker, Coal Tit and Lesser Redpoll proving to be the highlights. A further 68 birds were caught on the Saturday morning when DR, JB, TD and SM were joined by Louise Soanes. Unusual birds included their fifth Kingfisher of the year, along with a retrap Reed Warbler, having a fat score of 4 and weighing 13.1 grams, 2 Treecreepers, 46 Greenfinches (highest total for a couple of years), 7 Lesser Redpolls and a Siskin. Altogether, 25 species of bird were caught, an extremely high total for October.

The No3 bed team were also out on the Saturday morning , catching 97 birds, 57 new, with a 3 male Cetti's Warbler the highlight (Cetti's Warblers were also reported at Leighton Moss and Conway on the same day), although the most remarkable feature was the 14 new Reed Buntings caught and must have been part of an influx of birds moving on to the bed. 2 Redwings were the first of the year, part of a large passage of birds and 2 Lesser Redpolls were noteworthy.

Sightings included: No1 bed 16/10/2009: 2 Wigeon on the east pool, 2 Green Sandpipers, 10 Snipe, 2 Tawny Owls and a Water Rail. Visible passage included 1 Skylark, 15 Meadow Pipits, 1 Grey Wagtail, 20 Redwings, 10 Goldfinch, 1 Siskin and 8 Lesser Redpolls

No1 bed 17/10/2009: 1 Green Sandpiper, 5 Snipe, 2 Water rails, 22 Skylarks, 35 Meadow Pipits, 30 Fieldfare, 500 Redwings, 21 Siskin and 15 Lesser Redpolls.

No3 bed 17/10/2009: 1 Coal Tit over the car park, 1 Siskin and large numbers of Redwings.

Moore Nature Reserve Ringing Results Friday 18th/Saturday 19th September 2009

Friday 18th
With the help of Mike Mullholland x4 nets (x3 60ft x1 30ft) were erected in the evening.

Due to the light fading only x3 birds were captured - (NEW)

ROBIN -2
REED WARBLER -1

Sightings included - Tawny Owl - 1; Little Egret -1; Green Sandpiper -1.

It was then off to Woolston Eyes for the Hog Roast on No1 bed!

Saturday 19th

Conditions were excellent and the nets were open by 06.30hrs, again I was joined by Mike.

Ringing Totals - retraps in ( )

BLACKCAP -1
BLUE TIT -9 (2)
CHAFFINCH -3
CHIFFCHAFF -2
COAL TIT -1
GOLDCREST-1
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER -1
GREAT TIT -7
GREENFINCH -6
LONG TAILED TIT -9 (11)
REED BUNTING -2
REED WARBLER -2 (1)
WREN -2

TOTAL - 18TH/19TH = 49 NEW; 14 RETRAP

Sightings -

GREENSHANK-1; GREEN SANDPIPER-1; WOOD SANDPIPER-1; MEADOW PIPIT-40; BUZZARD-4; NUTHATCH-1;
CHIFFCHAFF-4; SWALLOW-60; GREAT SPOT WOOD-4; BLACKCAP-2; GREY WAGTAIL-3; SISKIN-5; CHAFFINCH-20;
GREENFINCH-20; REED WARBLER -4; SONG THRUSH -2 (HIGH OVERHEAD).
Butterflies - Small Tortoiseshell-1; Large White -1.


Dave's results from Woolston -

Ringing took place on No1 bed on both the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, with 134 new birds ringed, including an amazing 46 Chiffchaffs along with smaller numbers of other warblers and 11 Meadow Pipits.

The No3 bed team just ringed on the Saturday morning, ringing 45 new birds including 9 Reed warblers, 8 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs and a single Sedge Warbler.

Sightings included three early(ish) Redwing and three Snipe on No1 bed, while No3 had sightings of three separate Marsh Harriers, one Snipe, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Redpoll and a Grey Wagtail.

Friday 11th/Saturday 12th September 2009 - moving on...

I have now upped sticks and moved to Ringing Pastures new - Moore Nature Reserve, just down the Ship Canal from Woolston, with kind permission of the WRG Wardens Brian and Paul.
Dave and co continue the good work on No1 bed and i will continue to keep you all updated on results from both Woolston and Moore.
Results from my first session are listed below..

Friday 11th -

Ringing Totals -

CHIFFCHAFF -1
LONG TAILED TIT -11
BLUE TIT -6
GREAT TIT -3

TOTAL = 21 NEW

Sightings - Green Sandpiper -1; Buzzard -2.

Saturday 12th- 3 nets operated (x2 60ft x1 30ft)

Ringing Totals -

CHAFFINCH -2
GREENFINCH -9
LONG TAILED TIT -12 (1 RETRAP)
BLUE TIT -5 (1 CONTROL)
GREAT TIT -2
REED WARBLER -1
BLACKCAP -1
REED BUNTING -1
ROBIN -1
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER -1

TOTAL = 35 NEW (1 CONTROL, 1 RETRAP)

Sightings - Green Sandpiper -2; Buzzard -8; Peregrine -1; Teal - 6; Nuthatch -1; Gspot Woodpecker - 3;
Chaffinch - 20; Greenfinch - 30; Grey Wagtail -6; Meadow Pipit -20; Curlew -1; Sparrowhawk -1; Kestrel -1;
Siskin -1; Chiffchaff - 5; Jay -12.

AEH

Results from Woolston courtesy of Dave Riley -

Dave Riley was joined by Phil Guest, Steve Menzie and Chris Bridge for the Friday afternoon session on No1, catching 56 birds (42 new), including the fifth and sixth Nuthatches to be ringed at the Eyes, other unusual birds for the afternoon included Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk and three Coal Tits (two new). For the Saturday session, Phil and Dave were joined by Tony Davis and John Blundell, catching 88 birds, including good numbers of Chiffchaffs, Reed Warblers and Blackcaps, along with solitary Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat.

Michael Miles spent the majority of Friday on No3 bed, catching 101 birds (71 new) including the bed's first Goldfinch to be ringed this year, while being joined by Kieran Foster, Hugh Pulsford and Margaret Rawlings for the Saturday morning session when a further 133 birds (111 new) were caught. Again, good numbers of Reed Warblers (18) and Blackcaps (44) were ringed, although possibly the most noteworthy catch was 14 new Dunnock, 10 of which came from the same 18m net.

No unusual sightings were noted

Friday 4th/Saturday 5th September 2009 - .....

I was away this weekend but please find Dave's summary below -

The breezy conditions of Friday afternoon restricted the ringing on No1 bed to the more sheltered sites resulting in twelve birds caught, all new with eleven warblers including eight Chiffchaffs. Saturday morning was more settled and 53 birds were caught on No1 (49 new), including the third Sparrowhawk of the year for the bed.

Kierhan and Hugh worked No3 bed on the Saturday, catching 125 birds (100 new), including 65 new warblers, with 35 Blackcaps and 15 Reed Warblers comprising the bulk of them.

Sightings included a Hobby and a Tawny Owl on No1, while 3 Tree Pipits, 3 Grey Wagtails, 2 Tawny Owls, 1 Marsh harrier and a Curlew were all seen on No3 bed.

Sunday 30th August 09 - migrants all around..

After sleeping under the stars, grateful that the rain stayed off, it was evident at dawn that there had been a fall of migrants. Chiffchaff were calling from most of the bushes, whilst around the West pool a Grasshopper Warbler skulked by the waters edge and phyloscs numbered 20 at least.
Around the Elder ride Whitethroats and Blackcap were feeding - Blackcap becoming the star bird with eventually 33 new birds being ringed, one having a fat/muscle score of 4/2 with a weight of 19.9g.
Best bird caught today was our first Spotted Flycatcher since 2001 (see pics)a bird of this year (3)with a wing of 84mm and weight of 14.0g.
This was closely followed by another Tree Pipit - the fourth to be ringed this year.
Sightings included 50 Goldfinch, 2 Peregrine, 200+ Swallow and 20 Swift feeding at the entrance to the reserve.

Ringing Totals (new)

SAND MARTIN -1
SWALLOW -2
SONG THRUSH -2
BLACKBIRD -2
REED WARBLER -12
ROBIN -7
CHIFFCHAFF -10
WILLOW WARBLER -3
BLACKCAP -33
CHAFFINCH -7
WREN -2
WHITETHROAT -4
BLUE TIT -2
DUNNOCK -3
BULLFINCH -3
REED BUNTING -3
GREAT TIT -5
GARDEN WARBLER -1
GOLDFINCH -3
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER -1
WILLOW TIT -1
LESSER WHITETHROAT -1
TREE PIPIT -1

TOTAL -109

AEH/RDR

August 09 -normal service resumes...

Sorry for the lack of postings of late...please find Dave's results from the weekend, and enjoy some photo's from the annual Storm Petrel trip to Scotland...

Dave Riley and Cath Smith were on No1 bed from 11am Friday morning and managed to avoid the showers during the afternoon, as they passed to the north of Warrington. It was a little breezy, but 38 birds were caught, including the only two Garden Warblers for the weekend on that bed. The weather on the Saturday morning was much better, probably too good in fact, as the sun shone almost from dawn, but there was little wind, and a further 106 birds were caught, including their first Jay for two years, another two Kingfishers and another two Tree Pipits - this is the first year that more than two Tree Pipits have been caught. Good numbers of warblers (78) are still present, including, amongst others, 6 Sedge Warblers (none caught the previous week), 18 Reed Warblers, 20 Blackcaps, 15 Chiffchaffs and nine Willow Warblers.

The No3 bed team started off Saturday morning really well, with a first round of over 60 birds and caught steadily during the morning to end up with a total of 200 birds (168 new), again with large numbers of warblers (109), including 11 Sedge Warblers, 39 Reed Warblers, 8 Whitethroats, 6 Garden Warblers and 38 Blackcaps. There were some indications of a fall on the bed, with sights like 4 Lesser Whitethroats in one bush, which must be unprecedented for Woolston.

Other sightings included: Common Sandpiper and Tawny Owl on No1 bed, along with 2 Hobbys and a sub-adult Marsh Harrier on No3 bed.

I have also attached a comparison of some species caught at this stage in 2008, which gives an indication of how well some have done this year, notably Dunnock (up 144%), Blackcap (up 187%) and Blue Tit (186%). The year did start very slowly, with low returns on most finches and tits, but most species seem to have had a good breeding season.

regards


Dave

Saturday 11th July 2009 - A busy morning...

Another busy Saturday morning with perfect conditions enabled Dave,Phil Guest and myself to catch and ring a healthy total of 116 new birds of 21 species.
2- 3j Siskin were a surprise, perhaps local birds from nearby Butchersfield Tip?
Good totals also of Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler.

Totals-

Long Tailed Tit - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Treecreeper -1
Blackbird - 3
Siskin -3
Greenfinch -4
Lesser Whitethroat -2
Linnet -1
Bullfinch -3
Blue Tit- 4
Willow Warbler -15
Reed Bunting - 10
Reed Warbler - 26
Chiffchaff -9
Whitethroat -6
Goldfinch - 2
Blackcap -13
Dunnock -6
Great Tit -1
Robin - 5

Total (new) = 116

AEH;RDR;PG