Old Timer

Last night I was out on my site near Llanilar with my 'woodcock mucker' Terence Lambert. It was still and birds were very jumpy. After failing to get anywhere near 25 woodcock I decided that we should head higher up the site where I hoped we would have a better breeze to conceal our squelchy approach.

We deliberately bypassed a single bird on a large field with the hope that on our return later in the night it would be a little more settled. A few hours and 7 woodcock later we returned to the field. After a bit of a chase I managed to catch this bird, which was EW58652, ringed on 14th Nov 2008. This was the second bird caught on my first outing after completing my training with Tony Cross.

She? (longish bill) was caught as a juv in 2008, so had probably made 7 migration flights and a rough total of 17,500 km, not far compared with some species, but not bad going for a woodcock.

She looked in top condition weighing in at a healthy 332.8gms. This is why I go woodcock ringing!

Bienvenido a Gales 17096983

I received an email yesterday from the Estacion Biologica de Donana with the ringing details of the colour-ringed Glossy Ibis seen on Sunday.  It was ringed as a chick on 7th May 2007 in the Coto Donana, Andalusia, Southern Spain, 1,720 kms south of Borth. It was also seen there on 2nd April 2010. Why on earth has it suddenly decided to pay us a visit in the depths of winter?!

Redpolls and Rails

Last winter myself and Tony acquired permission from the landowner and C.C.W, to trap and ring birds at The Flash in Welshpool, with the main target being Snipe (and Jack Snipe). In the 3 visits we managed before the weather turned against us (and the birds) we managed to catch 23 Common Snipe and 2 Jack Snipe (and a handful of common species)!


(Jack Snipe 06/11/10)

This winter there seems to be very few Snipe about (anywhere), so we turned our attentions to catching Redpolls and Rails as there seems to be a good number of both species. So far, in 2 visits we've managed to catch 15 Lesser Redpolls and 1 Water Rail.


(adult male Lesser Redpoll)


(adult female Water Rail)

A quick trip up to Bardsey (nearly) with a touch of gloss to finish

Yesterday Adrienne called to say she had had a report of an un-ringed pair of Choughs roosting in a location where they might be catchable. We had caught a bird in the same spot about 15 years ago so there was some hope!! Opportunities to catch adult Choughs don't come too frequently so I filled my gas-guzzler with £60.00 worth of unleaded and headed up with Jane to meet Adrienne at Porthmadog. The site was very near the end of the Lleyn near Bardsey. Thankfully, the female of the pair obliged us and we also caught this cracking female Kestrel roosting in the same spot.

We are pretty sure that this is the same adult female from one of the nests we ring young at a bit further along the coast. Now she is colour-ringed, we will find out for sure in a few weeks time.

Returned to Borth at 5am,  just in time to catch another couple of Dunlin before it got too light.

Finished up by dropping in to view the colour-ringed Glossy Ibis (white 8J9) that has just turned up in a scruffy horse field at the back of town - amazingly, despite the ice,  it seems far happier there than a lot of the other residents of Borth! Will post ringing location when I know.

Back home now, fuel tanks empty!  Good job the BTO help with ring subsidies, the 20p forthcoming for last night's adventures (8p per chough and 12p per kestrel) will help off-set the cost ;-) !

Knot what we expected

Jane and I had another quick trip down to the (low) high tide at the point in the early hours of this morning hoping for a  few more Golden Plovers. As is often the case with lamping, the birds behaved completely differently to how they had the morning before and were having absolutely none of it!  Consolation came in the shape of 9 Dunlin, 3 Redshank and a Knot though so who's complaining!

Owling on the bog.

This morning started early with a trip down to Ynyslas to catch waders.  I met Jane at 4.30 am and we tried lamping a few of the coastal fields - even here though, they were frozen solid and it was impossible to get close to anything!  A quick trip down the beach was a bit more rewarding with 3 Golden Plovers and a Dunlin caught.

Next I headed over to Cors Caron National Nature Reserve (more widely known as Tregaron Bog!) to meet the wardens, Andy and Iestyn,  to check the condition of the Barn Owl boxes and to erect a few new ones. Cors Caron and the immediate surrounds hold around twelve pairs of Barn Owls, although numbers this summer were much lower than normal, following last winter's extremely cold weather.  Whilst checking the boxes two new Barn Owls and a Tawny Owl were ringed.




On my way home I quickly nipped in to Strata Florida to renew a few of my older Pied Flycatcher nest boxes and to put up a couple of extra Tawny Owl boxes. As the catching isn't good at the moment, might as well get ready for the coming season!

'hammering it!

Well, not exactly! The sudden onset of winter in these parts has at last concentrated some Yellowhammers, Tree Sparrows and finches around the sheep-feeders in the Clun Uplands, just over the border into Shropshire. This morning I thought I'd have a quick go at catching some at the same farm we caught a load at this time last year.  Freezing fog soon put pay to that idea, but not before I'd caught 4 Yellowhammers and a Chaffinch. OK, it isn't a lot but its 4 Yellowhammers more than I've seen in Wales so far this year!!

1st winter male

Adult female

sweet knees

The past week of ringing woodcock has seen us all processing birds kneeling on very waterlogged fields. Youngsters won't be too bothered about getting these vital joints damp and cold but when you get over fifty like many of us it starts to hurt a little.

But all is not lost, I have discovered the sheer joys of neoprene knee warmers wear them over your trousers and they are quiet and warm.

You can get these online from any good motorcycle store. Not a fashion winner, but who's watching anyway?

Pulling the Older Birds

Having returned from a fabulous trip to New Zealand I was keen to get out on my woodcock site near Llanilar to find out how numbers had changed over the past three weeks.

On the night of Jan 24th I set out across horribly soggy fields reminding me that unlike down under we were still very much in the midst of winter. The woodcock were very jumpy but I did manage to catch 6, amazingly all were re-traps. Have I reached saturation level?

Four were retraps of birds caught earlier in the winter. However EP94241 was originally ringed by me on the site on 18/2/09 and EW93452 on 11/11/09 both were on the same fields I first caught them. As the years go by we are learning that there seems to be a high level of wintering site fidelity in woodcock.

Getting Legless

Finally reached 50 last night, no not colour-ringed Golden Plovers, calendar years!! Have been dreading it so I "celebrated" by going out and getting Legless (along with 16 of his mates, 3 Woodcock and a Lapwing!).

"Legless"

 It was a particularly fitting way to roll-over the chronometer as, thanks to the filthy weather,  it ended up being a record catch for me as far as Golden Plover caught in a night.  It also boosted the total of colour-ringed GPs to 43!!

The one-legged bird seemed fit and healthy otherwise, with a good weight and good feather condition so yes, of course I did, after all it was the left leg that was missing! Anyway it will be particularly interesting to see how it fares.