Bonjour!

Given that we have had an extended weekend, I have made the most of it and got in a load of ringing.

The highlight of the weekend was getting my new site set up on the coast. It has got loads of potential for the autumn migration and should have some breeding accros present. The site is mainly dry reed with lost of nettle beds, willowherb, a tree-lined ditch running across the middle and willow scrub around the outer edges. Until I know how well the site will work I have started with a ringing rides across the middle cutting into the willow scrub on one side and the hedge in the middle.
Thankfully the rides didn't need any cutting this morning so we were able to get the nets straight up. It took an hour,but these things always do for the first time, and the 5 nets were up.
In spite of the strong wind and sunny conditions it was a very productive few hours producing 8 new and 2 controls including 5 sedge warbler, 1 reed warbler, 1 male bearded tit and 2 blue tits.










The highlight however was the control sedge warbler. As I approached the net I saw that I had caught a sedge but was dissapointed when I could see it was ringed...one of the birds I had just done? As I got it out I checked the ring and the numbers looked far too big and then the address gave it away - MUSEUM PARIS, a French control...awesome!! There is a good chance that it could have actually been ringed in Africa so we will have to wait for some info back.

Also around the site was a singing grasshopper warbler, cuckoo, 4 bullfinch and a ringed male whitethroat near the car - will try for him next time!

In an attempt to catch some corvids, I have taken delivery of a spring trap from my mate around the corner. The rooks and jackdaws are very clever and have sussed out where my mist nets now are and keep well out of the way so a new direction is needed.

The trap is a large piece of netting attached to two long rubber strap. It is attached to two angled poles with a firing pin in each side. All you need to bo is bait the area infront on the net and wait. When the birds are in range, pull the string and it fires.




It was very success managing to catch 1 rook (ringing tick), 2 jackdaw and 10 starling.

Adult jackdaw

Uninspired!!!

I have to admit that with all the rubbish weather recently I have done very little birding. The time I have spent in the field I have carried my camrea and got some varied shots.


Reed warbler trapped on our 2nd CES visit



Male red legged partridge that flew into my

garden nets. Due to the fact that they have

spurs on their legs you can't ring them.







Juvenile oystercatcher ringed at Bircham

Short eared owl on the way to work

The swifts and martins were very low (and fast)

and these were the best I could do.





Juvenile bearded tits as Titchwell. If you look

closely you can separate the sexes...the males

have pale eyes (left) and the females are dark

(right). The top image shows 2 male and 1

female.

CES started

Today was the first visit to our new Constant Effort ringing Site (CES) on the coast. The weather conditions didn't look terribly promising with a strong NW wind and the occasional shower. Despite the lack of any real migration and most of the resident birds incubating and not moving far, we had a decent catch of birds. The highlight was the capture of two Cetti's warblers, a new species for me. 22 birds were ringed including 2 chiffchaff, 1 willow warbler and 2 blackcaps. Hopefully numbers will improve as spring arrives.

Male Cetti's warbler

A walk around the Choseley area in the afternoon included 2 hobbies and several yellow wags but not a great deal else. The news of a female pallid harrier the had been further down the coast made me head for the reserve. If was difficult to decide where the best place was to view the bird so headed for the height of the dunes. The walk down produced a cuckoo (162) and a 1st summer little gull (163) on the fresh marsh. After an hour in the dunes and no sign of the bird I gave up.

Oh deer!

Had a bit of a surprise on the way home from work yesterday. Along the back road just south of Choseley I came across 4 red deer hinds in the road. As soon as they saw me they were through the hedge and off. I did manage to get a photo on my mobile but it is rubbish! It is the first time I have seen red deer this close to the coast. I assume that they are wild and not escaped from Park Farm at Snettisham. 3 birds added to the yearlist today, a nice female redstart (159) on the access road this morning and both whitethroats in the carpark.

This weather is taking the piss now!!!

It is early May, the classic time for spring to start and what is it doing....chucking it down with a poxy northerly wind...fed up with it now. Decided to go out to Thornham Point after work this evening to see if there were any migrants that had braved the conditions. Well it was pretty quiet! 2 willow warbler, 1 chiffchaff and a male blackcap were the only birds in the bushes. A female whinchat (152) was in the scrub on the way back and a late female merlin was chasing pipits. The fresh marsh was pretty good with loads of swifts, swallows and house martins (still only see 3 sand martins) along with 2 common tern, black tern a hobby through but 3 brambling over reminded that winter hans't gone yet. Still managed to add 7 yearticks (158) but that probably says more about the time, or lack of, I have spent in the field recently. Bank holiday this weekend so hopefully the weather will oblige? Two new species added to the garden yearlist yesterday, house martin (43) and cormorant (44).

Pied piper?

Well it did feel like that a bit today. Just after lunch a report came in of a male pied flycatcher the the trees by the main path and as spring males are pretty unusual on the reserve, we went out to look for it. The bird was reported to be mobile and sure enough, it had moved off. Despite the poor weather for migrants (strong northerly with constant rain) there did seem to be a few birds about. Loads of swifts (100+), swallow and house martins were moving through, there were yellow and white wags on the fresh marsh and a couple of greenshank were reported. David also had seen another osprey moving through west early morning. At about 4pm the pied fly (151)was relocated and we were able to get cracking views as it fed low in the trees. The contrasting brown wings showed it to be a 1st year bird. Fingers crossed the weather will change for the better soon!

Need to pull my finger out!

Not really sure what has been happening recently but I have been missing loads of birds. Probably been a combination being distracted and the poor weather but I need to get it sorted. David was in early this morning and found a black-necked grebe on the sea along and along with spoonbill and the hawfinch he has nearly caught up with me in only 2 months!
From next week (unless it is chucking it down)before and after work birding is a must.