30 Aug 12 – Knot a bad day

We had been in our new house 6 days and were moving the final boxes over from the rented cottage when my trainer rang to say that he was going to try for a cannon net catch that afternoon as he had found a flock of Knot in amongst other waders on one of the nearby beaches.

As this was a new species for me I was keen to go along, so I took time out from moving boxes and went to the meeting point where I met up with my trainer and a couple of other members of the ringing group.

With the net set up it was a question of waiting for the birds to move up the beach and into the capture area. Just when things were looking good a chap appeared on the beach with a small group of dogs. Everything went on to hold until he and the dogs disappeared. After what seemed to be an age he disappeared off the beach and we were back into readiness mode for the catch when the chap reappeared with his dogs. Back to the waiting game.

Eventually he disappeared, the birds returned, albeit in small numbers, and the net was fired. In total we caught:

Knot                       6

Pied Wagtail            1

Ringed Plover          1

Starling                  1

Knot aren’t ringed very often in Orkney so it was good to have the chance to ring some.

30 Jul 12 - 21 Sep 12 - The Swallow Season

This year saw me make seven visits to the local Swallow roost reed bed. The number of Swallows was down on the last couple of years as like so many other parts of the country the weather hasn’t been the best summer could offer. If it wasn’t raining the wind was too strong to open the mist nets.

So rather than break the season down visit by visit, as I’m trying to catch up on the blog, here is a summary of the birds I ringed this season with retraps in brackets:

Pied Wagtail             1

Reed Bunting           8 (2)

Sand Martin             1

Sedge Warbler         17 (1)

Starling                   1

Swallow                  85

Wren                      2

25 and 27 July 12 - Fleetwood Nature Reserve

It has been a while since I last posted on my blog so now with the evenings starting to draw in and finding myself South on business and a bit of time in the evenings to catch up on things it is time to bring the blog up to date.

Just after I last posted back in July, I put an offer in on a cottage that we had viewed and decided that we would like to make our home. We had been renting a cottage for just over 4 years and with the clock ticking away towards the deadline for us to move out house hunting had been high on our list of summer activities.

Having put the offer in and had it accepted we then had a 5 week window before we collected the key, so sorting and packing became the number 1 activity. However at the end of July I had a work trip South and took the opportunity to go out with Seumus and Ian and do a couple of ringing sessions on the Fleetwood Nature reserve.

Both sessions were fairly quiet but I managed to ring with retraps in brackets:

Greenfinch              1

Reed Warbler           3 (2)

Willow Warbler         1 (1)

Wren                      2 (1)

As usual thanks to Seumus and Ian for having me along and thanks also to Ian for the Wren photo.

Geese Roundup

The Greylag Goose is a very common resident breeding bird here in Orkney with the numbers increasing in the winter with the arrival of birds from further North.

At this time of the year we go to an area on West Mainland to catch and ring some of the resident geese while they are moulting and unable to fly off. As well as the usual metal ring the geese are fitted either with an Orange neck collar or a White Darvic ring on the leg if they are too small to take a neck collar.

Both coloured rings allow for identifying individual birds without the need for recapature, all you need is a telescope or binoculars if they are close enough. The advantage of a neck colour is that these birds spend either a lot of time on the water or wading around the edges of water so their legs are hidden from view making individual identification from leg rings rather difficult.

Most of the geese ringed to date appear to stay fairly close to their breeding territories but a small number have been seen wintering in East Anglia!!

Saturday 7 Jul 12

This afternoon nine of us went to two sites and ringed a total of 143 geese, 100 geese at the first site and 43 at the second.

Tuesday 10 Jul 12

This evening five of us made a return visit to the second site and caught and ringed another 42 geese.

Some of the geese waiting to be released

Little Raptors

The trouble with summer is that there ares so many things going on that getting time on the computer seems to be very limited, consequently I have got a bit behind with the blog. So now it is time to play catch up again.

Monday 2 Jul 12

Just as I was finishing work for the day I got a call from Brian to say that if I wanted to ring some Buzzard chicks I needed to meet up with him immediately. I wasn't going to miss an opportunity like that so I grabbed my kit and set off to meet him.

When I got to the meeting point I found Brian and Stuart waiting for me. They had been out monitoring some of the raptor sites in the area and a visit to the Buzzard nest was their last port of call for the day.

As Brian climbed up to the nest one of the parents was flying around close by keeping an eye one him but was a bit pre-occupied by a Sparrowhawk who had decided to mob it.

Soon there were four chicks for me to ring and weigh. Once they had been ringed Stuart fitted wing tags so that they could be identified out in the field without the need to recapture them. The wing tags were Red in colour with a single White letter and were fitted to each wing. So now when I see Buzzards out in the field I will be looking for tags M, X, Y and Z.

The last chick to be fitted with wing tags.

Chicks ringed and tagged and ready to return to the nest

With the ringing and tagging complete the chicks were returned to the nest.

Thursday 5 Jul 12

Another call from Brian to say there were some more raptor chicks ready for ringing. I met up with Brian at the meeting point where we were joined by Lorna.

The first port of call was a nest box, which we had visted last year but had been empty at that time. This year it had been occupied by a pair of Kestrels and there were four chicks for ringing. It was interesting to note that the Kestrel site that we had ringed at last year, had been visited nearly 5 weeks earlier than this year's nest site.

We then moved onto the next site which was occupied by a pair Sparrowhawks and this nest held another four chicks. Four seems to be a good number for all the sites visited this week.

Two days in a row

This week seems to have gone so quickly but now I have a bit of time to update the blog with some ringing activity at the start of the week.

Monday 25 Jun 12 - Gull chicks

On Monday evening Colin, Dave A and myself headed for one of the gull colonies to ring some gull chicks. This colony has Common Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. Although there were Common Gulls on the colony we didn't find any chicks to ring. So I'm not sure whether it has been a poor year for them or whether we were just a bit too late and they have all fledged.

The Great Black-back Gulls were more successful and we found and ringed around 30 chicks which was significantly better than last year.

As we were leaving the colony Dave A spotted a solitary chick on the far boundary of the field next to the one we were crossing. Dave set off to get it while Colin and I both kept an eye on where the chick was going as it set off along the boundary fence. As Dave got closer it moved into the field and disappeared into the undergrowth. We tried to guide Dave to where we had last seen it when I suddenly spotted it coming out from underneath the gate in the boundary fence next to us.

Now it was Colin's turn to move in and he soon had the chick caught. Of course I wasn't allowed to ring it until I could identify it. It certainly wasn't a Common Gull chick as the bill was totally wrong. It didn't look like all the Great Black-backed gulls that we had just been ringing either. Now I was showing my weakness in gull chick ID. I hadn't spotted that Colin kept on looking up into the sky as a hint and eventually he said 'What's above us?' I looked up and there were some Herring Gulls circling overhead. So tenatively I asked if it was a Herring Gull chick. Before Colin had a chance to answer Dave arrived back with us and said 'Herring Gull, thought it was.' So that ended my deliberations with the answer revealed.

I definitely need to do some more homework on gull chick ID and also remember that there might sometimes be a clue in the sky!!

Tuesday 26 Jun 12 - Seabirds and others

The good weather continues and tonight Colin, Dave A and myself went down onto South Ronaldsay to ring Razorbill and Shag chicks. The Shags were also going to be colour ringed as part of a project to see where they go once they have fledged.

The original plan was to colour ring the Shags over on Swona when we went over on the annual sea bird ringing trip but with the recent poor weather and more forecast it wasn't looking good for getting over there so it was decided we would colour ring some of the Shag chicks on South Ronaldsay instead.

On the way to where we were going to park the car we spotted some Oystercatcher chicks in one of the fields. Dave managed to catch a couple of them to start the evening's ringing totals.

After a short walk from where we parked the car we arrived on site. The first birds to be ringed were Razorbills, an adult and a chick. Then we started on the Shags, ringing about 15 of them. We also found a Herring Gull chick in the area sat on its nest so that was ringed as well.

We then moved onto another site, where some more Shag chicks were ringed.

On the way back to the car we were crossing a bit of moorland when a Bonxie (Great Skua) started taking a bit of interest in us. We spread out and started looking around the area in case there were any Bonxie chicks about. The Bonxie disappeared only to re-appear a few minutes later with a mate for backup, however after several overhead passes they disappeared again.

As we were searching the area Dave spotted the remains of a bird lying on the ground. As he moved in for a closer look he noticed an adult Meadow Pipit exit from the other side of a small clump of heather. Moving round the clump he found a small opening and inside there were three chicks. So thanks to his keen observation I got to ring a new species of chick.

We also added another Oystercatcher chick to the total for the evening.

All in all a successful evening. It will be interesting to see if and when any of our colour ringed Shags get reported.

Is it about timing? Dunno!

They say it's all about timing.

Today was a case in hand.

This afternoon I was half way between home and Kirkwall taking my good lady to the hospital for a routine appointment when the mobile goes.

It was my trainer. He had just found a nest containing three Dunnock chicks in his garden and they were ready for ringing, was I interested? I sure was. I dropped my good lady off at the hospital and went straight round to my trainer's house, about two minutes from the hospital.

He showed me where the nest was. Mr and Mrs Dunnock couldn't have picked a bush with more thorns on if they had tried. Fortunately on this occassion my trainer retrieved the chicks from the nest and once I had ringed them he also put them back.

That was another new species of chicks for me, the third this year. I wonder what will be next.

Sanday Sanderlings

Today four members of the Orkney Ringing Group (Colin, Dave, Brian and myself) went over to Sanday to look for colour ringed Sanderling and if the opportunity presented itself  to do a cannon net catch. The group is involved in a study of Sanderling along the Eastern Flyway. The project originally started on North Ronaldsay but was extended to cover Sanday where upto 600 wintering Sanderling gather. I went over to Sanday in November 2010 to spend the weekend ringing mainly Sanderling and Purple Sandpipers and went back in early 2011 for a day to try and get some resightings.

Today's trip saw us at Kirkwall harbour at 07:30 for the 07:40 sailing to Sanday. It was good weather and a very calm crossing. This led to a bit of a first for me as I actually went down into the bowels of the ferry to the cafe and joined the rest of the team to indulge in a bacon butty and a brew. Not bad for someone that usually stays on deck where the horizon can be seen and the wind can be felt on their face!!

On arrival on Sanday we set off across the island checking known sites where Sanderling have been seen/caught in the past. There wasn't a lot about as we worked our way towards Start Point. As we got to one road junction some Lapwing chicks were seen moving about in the field next to the junction. With me and Colin keeping an eye on the chicks Dave and Brian went in to the field to recover them and bring them back to the car for ringing. Once processed Dave returned them back to the field.

We arrived at Scuthvie Bay and things looked more promising with Sanderling feeding from the water's edge right to the back of the beach.  A comprehensive scan of the flock by the four of us didn't find a single colour ringed bird.

We decided to set the cannon net up and go for a catch. We caught a total of 34 birds; 1 Turnstone, 4 Ring Plover and 29 Sanderling (none of which were ringed). We then set about processing the birds. I was on ringing duties, with Dave doing the wing and foot measurements and logging all the details, Brian was doing bill measurements and weighing and Colin had the fiddly task of fitting the colour rings to the Sanderling. Brian and Dave were also doing the ageing and sexing. The Ring Plover were a new species for my ringing list.

Once all the Sanderlings had been processed each bird then had its photograph taken so that the photos could be sent off to someone who is studying Sanderling plumage.

By now it had turned 2pm and it was time for a quick bite of lunch before resuming the hunt for colour ringed birds. Dave and Brian started at the south end of Scuthvie Bay and headed North along the bay, Colin and myself went up to the North end of the Bay of Sowerdie and headed South and we all met up where the two bays join.

Between us we managed to find five of our birds with full colour ring combinations, two with incomplete combinations and two birds with metal rings only.  A total of nine birds out of approximately 350 birds checked. 

In addition Brian and Dave found a Sanderling with a complete blue flagged combination of colour rings. Checking the records when we got back it was confirmed that this bird was ringed at Zackenberg, Greenland last year as a breeding adult female and has been seen since near Aberdeen on numerous occassions.

   24 Jul 11     Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire

   30 Sep 11    Blackdog, Aberdeenshire

   3 Dec 11     Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire

   21 Jan 12     Blackdog, Aberdeenshire

   5 Feb 12      Blackdog, Aberdeenshire

   4 Apr 12      Donmouth, Aberdeen

   19 May 12   Sanday, Orkney

So hopefully she is now on her way back to Greenland.

This is the second record of a Greenland breeding bird in Orkney, following quickly from the one seen on North Ronaldsay recently.

So all in all a bit of a mixed day. Good that we caught and colour ringed some more birds and in some ways a bit disappointing at the lack of our birds with colour rings. However, given the number of Sanderling that have now been colour ringed in Orkney, some thing like over 200, were we just unlucky or had our birds moved on and we were looking at birds that had arrived from further South?

The sailing back to Kirkwall was again calm, but this time I stayed on deck and was rewarded with some good views of a Black Throated Diver.

Ravens

After several days of waiting for the wind to drop a bit, last night was deemed suitable conditions.

So with my friend Marc we met up with fellow trainee Lorna and headed off to meet Brian and to pay a visit to a Raven's nest not far from him.

He knew that there were at least two chicks on the nest but that they were getting close to leaving so time was running out to ring them before they departed.

Last year I was away when the nest was checked. Lorna had been there but as there was only one chick to ring she got the short straw and the chick was ringed by someone else.

This year looked like we were going to get one each.

Brian went to the nest and there was actually three chicks. The adults were a bit noisy at first but soon quietened down. There has been some stories in the press recently about members of the corvid family recognising certain peoples voices and acting differently to when they heard a stranger's voice. Perhap these birds recognised Brian and knew that the chicks would not come to any harm.

The youngsters were fairly docile while being ringed, which made life a bit easier as they had sharp claws.

Whilst the adult Raven is a magnificent bird the youngsters like most other chicks were ugly in a cute sort of way. The irridescence in some of the feathers just goes to show that yet again that a bird that is usually considered black and boring actually has quite stunning plumage.

With all three youngsters ringed Brian returned them safely to the nest and the adults reappeared to reassure them that all was ok.

I was lucky enough to ring two out of the three chicks and we both got to ring a new species.

Hopefully we'll be back again next year to ring the next lot of youngsters.

Ringing in Uigen

Uigen may sound like an exotic Scandinavian location to go ringing, but it is in fact a small village on the Valtos Peninsula on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

The Isle of Lewis being the destination for this year's holiday.

Claire had always wanted to see the standing stones at Calanais (Callanish) so we decided that this year that is where we would head for. We couldn't get much closer to the site as we had booked a holiday cottage right next to the Calanais Visitors Centre.

The holiday cottage was once a farmhouse and is one of the most historically important buildings in the area with records indicating that it was occupied from as early as 1716. Over the years it has played a vital role in the life of Calanais providing a focal point for the community and a gathering place for important meetings almost up to the present day. In 1861 it was recorded as being used as an inn when a visitor was noted as saying ‘it was a queer place, the dirtiest little den it was ever my misfortune to locate’!!

In its time it has also been used as a post office and as accommodation for students doing archaeological working on the standing stones site.

So this was our base for the week.

Apart from visiting the standing stones and other archaeological sites, we explored most of Lewis and Harris notching up a list of 60 species of birds seen although the two birds we wanted to see, the White Tailed Sea Eagle and Golden Eagle eluded us apart from a couple of very distant sightings of something big.

During preparations for the the trip I contacted Chris Reynolds, a ringer based in a small village called Riof (Reef) also on the Valtos Peninsula, to see if it would be possible to do some ringing with him during the week.

Chris has a ringing site in a garden in the village of Uigen which is where I met up with him. The site is a sloping site with a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees surrounded by fields on two sides, hills on one side and a sea loch on the fourth side.

I met up with Chris for two sessions, one on the Monday morning and the other on the Friday morning. We had 5 mist nets up and there was lots of bird activity in the trees.

The two sessions saw me ringing a Greenfinch and a Redwing, both species I have ringed before but new to the list were nine Meadow Pipits and a Redstart.

Male Redstart

Retraps were three Meadow Pipits, three Robins and a Dunnock.

There was also a Pied Flycatcher flitting amongst the trees but it managed to avoid all the mist nets.

Chris also took me on a tour of the peninsula and on our way round we spotted a Lapwing nest with four chicks so I was able to ring those as well.

Unfortunately we didn't get out to do some mist netting of waders, maybe another time.

A big thanks to Chris for having me along, I hope to come back sometime and do some more ringing.