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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
The tenth CES visit and twelfth overall. (We did one preliminary visit to put the equipment in place and have done one additional visit – the CES project allows a few extra visits, so long as these don’t exceed the number of main visits and are not within six days of a main visit.) Getting up is getting easier all the time, sun rise was not until 05.25BST so we didn’t have to meet until 04.55, almost a lie in! A thick mist was cloaking the Leadon and the Severn this morning, which is not always conducive to good catching. Strangely the mist was not very damp and was forecast to burn off quite quickly, so leaving the cars we set off for the yomp across the fields. The recent storms had pushed the long grass all over the place, making the going even more difficult than usual, so it was with a sense of relief that we discovered that the two fields in which we mainly work, had had their hay crop taken off, so at least the net rounds were easy walking. The removal of the hay has attracted large numbers of Crows and Rooks, numbering a couple of hundred or more, foraging in the newly revealed ground surface. Some years the grass cutter shreds my poles and guy lines, necessitating running repairs and replacements on the visit following the grass cutting. This was not needed this year and net erection proceeded quickly and efficiently. The Stonechats were heard briefly at the top end as the last net was going up, but then not heard or seen again this morning. Its always a good sign when you hear “chattering” from the hedge as you are putting up the nets and see a few birds flitting ahead of you and today was no exception and we were soon busy processing birds. Fortunately the sun didn’t break through until about 09.00 and catching progressed steadily throughout the morning, with even the last round producing good numbers of birds. 101 different birds were handled during the morning, 77 new and 24 re-traps. This makes the fourth visit where the total is over a hundred. Whitethroats and Sedge warblers made up the bulk of the catch and my prediction from last week was wrong, we did catch yet more adult Sedge warblers, 4 re-traps and two more new. Blackcaps and Reed Buntings were the next most numerous birds and 17 species were handled altogether.
One of the things I most enjoy about catching and ringing birds, is the opportunity to observe details of the birds’ lives that you would not normally be so aware of. At this time of the year moult is well under way, with many adult birds in their post breeding moult and young birds in their post juvenile moult. The regular catching of the CES project means you get to see some individuals over a period of weeks and can plot the progress of their moult. The effect of this is that you can see a young Robin go from being a speckly brown ball of feathers, to a speckly brown head with orange breast developing and then a bird indistinguishable from an adult. You can see young Bullfinches become males or females, as the moult progresses round their bodies, you sometimes catch them with only one or two pink breast feathers coming out of pin on their chest, but enough to be able to sex them where the previous week they were just juveniles. Young Blackcaps, which all look like females, become sexable as the moult reaches their heads and again, the presence of just one feather in pin of the appropriate colour allows you to assign a sex to the bird.
Today’s visit had all of this. Young Bullfinches and Blackcaps were developing their adult colours. A juvenile redstart that was becoming identifiable as a male and an adult female was nearing the end of her primary moult with the secondary feathers also well under way.
Greenfinches and a Great spotted woodpecker were conspicuous this morning. The woodpecker spending most of the morning in the row of tall, old willows which separate the two main hay meadows. The Greenfinches moved around the sight as a gregarious bunch, all calling noisily as they flew from one set of perches to another. The two Grey Herons that put in an appearance today called as they flapped across from the river to the scrape field. A couple of Mallard were on the wing and several Woodpigeons moved around. The boundary hedge across the ham had plenty of small birds moving along it as we made our rounds, mostly Whitethroats and Reed Buntings, but the occasional flash of red gave away the presence of a couple of Redstarts. There was even a brief snatch of Willow warbler song at one point.
All too soon the session came to an end. A few butterflies put in an appearance, as did a couple of common darter dragonflies. Back at the car, a few Robins were still calling, as they had been when we arrived – strange we didn’t catch any today. We have now ringed 637 birds this year of 25 species.
An introduction to the Ashleworth ringing programme can be found here.
The first of Mervyn's reports covering the first visit on 18th April 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visit on 2nd May 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visit on 9th May 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visit on 23rd May 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visit on 4th June 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visit on 13th June 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visit on 26th June 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visits during July 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visits on 5th August 2004 can be found here.
The report covering the visits on 15th August 2004 can be found here.
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