Recently in the park

It's the quiet time of the year as the summer migrants start heading off south and the autumn migrants are yet to arrive. Many of the resident species are going through their moults and keeping their heads down.

On Saturday 8th August I made my first visit to the park after my holiday and had a Cetti's Warbler where the Canoe Slalom empties into the Navigation Channel. The Cetti's we have had in the park recently have been surprisingly quiet for this species and this one was the same with just a couple of partial bursts of song betraying it's presence. There was a Common Sandpiper on 100 Acre.

On the following Sunday I had a Cetti's on 100 Acre where I had set up for another photography session for Little Grebes. This bird was much more vocal singing regularly for the first 3 quarters of an hour and then sporadically thereafter. The Little Grebes are still playing hard to get and despite there being 3 pairs around the bay none appear to have bred so there are still no young to be seen. In fact they still seem to be squabbling over territory!

 

Little Grebe eating a Stickleback

A Cormorant turned up and did a bit of fishing in front of me but only seemed to be catching small fish which were swallowed unseen.

Cormorant

Cormorant

 I had a Green Sandpiper fly over my hide calling and a Common Sandpiper was seen along with a couple of Little Egrets. Juvenile Sparrowhawks were calling from the trees over by Riverside Pond and were seen occasionally as they broke cover to chase around.

This weekend it was very quiet in the park but there were pockets of birds on Elderberries and Blackberries. Blackcaps were the bulk of these but we had Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaffs and there was a Willow Warbler in the car park, a rarity in the park!

Blackcap on Elderberries.

100 Acre was also quiet with a single Common Sandpiper the highlight of the birds. Highlight of the morning was a very fresh Otter Spraint and tracks on the border between 100 Acre and Castle Mill.

There is a bat walk walk coming up on Friday the 28th at 8pm. You need to pre-book this walk as it is very popular and numbers are limited.

The next bird walk is on Sunday 30th starting at 8am outside the visitor centre, hope to see you there.

Guided Walk - Sunday 26th May

A good turn out for the guided walk and a beautiful morning for it. I scanned the main lake island while waiting for everyone to arrive. Upto 5 pairs of Common Terns now appear to be nesting on the island, the first time since the 1980's. An Oystercatcher was also present along with 2 pairs of Black-headed Gulls. One of the pairs of Gulls was seen to mate and one of the birds was moving sticks about as if nest building. There are also good numbers of Tufted Ducks around the island with a count of nineteen records yesterday morning. The Canada Geese now seem to have given up with there nests but 15 goslings have avoided the egg oiling along with another 3 on the Finger Lakes. Another good sign is the Sand Martin activity around the artificial nest block. Birds were seen entering and leaving several of the holes in the block, will they actually nest this year?

I received a call from EG who was ringing in the Rough so this was the first port of call for the group. We arrived to find EG and VI processing a pair of Bullfinches, a really great opportunity to see these beautiful birds up close. The ringers were having a slow day so we moved on after the Bullfinches were released and headed for 100 Acre. On route we had several Blackcaps singing and a Greenfinch at the Kissing Gate. Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler were both spotted on the island reed bed under the STW bridge. A Kestrel was spotted over 100 Acre and a possible Hobby was high over the STW with a party of Hirundines and Swifts. It was impossible to tell for sure as it was right in line with the sun, only appearing briefly on the edge and then it was not possible to see any colour. Shape and size were good for Hobby though.

Male Blackcap with ring by the New Cut

We headed along the river side track on 100 Acre and straight away picked up a singing Garden Warbler on the other side of the river near the mouth of the New Cut. The Kestrel showed well directly above us as we listened to the Garden Warbler. There weren't as many Reed Warblers or Sedge Warblers as I had expected but after great views of a Goldfinch on the Teasels we finally found a Sedge Warbler that was showing and singing in a patch of Hemlock. It did a couple of song flights and then a Common Whitethroat showed briefly nearby before dropping into the centre of another patch of Hemlock.

Sedge Warbler

The sun and warmth also brought out the Banded Demoiselles and a few other small Damselflies that will remain unidentified. There were also quite a few Butterflies about, Whites in the main but several Small Tortoise Shells and the occasional Peacock.

A family of Greylag Geese with 4 goslings was spotted swimming upstream and I saw them again later at the mouth of the Navigation Channel.

Greylag family

Further on we saw a family of Mute Swans with a couple of the young riding on the back of one of the adults.

Mute Swan family courtesy of Ray Piercy

On the far side of the river on the land next to the Waitrose car park there were several Lapwing, some possibly sitting on eggs. A Common Buzzard got up over 100 Acre showing well as it climbed on a thermal. We saw another or same bird again later.

A Lapwing passes overhead

In the same area a pair of Redshanks showed briefly and I thought they also flew over to waste land next to Waitrose but when I went back later I found them in the same area and they were dropping into the reeds by the edge of the river.

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Moving on we spotted a couple of Little Egrets on the wader scrape and as we rounded the end of the scrape they flew along with a third that we hadn't seen. Two more were in the big gulley on the Castle Mill side of the fence. Skylarks were singing all around at various times and as we turned to head back along the north edge of the arable field I heard a Linnet call but was unable to locate it. As we moved off I heard it again and this time spotted it as it flew over towards the waste ground on the east side of the field.

A call from the edge of the field alerted us to the presence of a pair of Yellow Wagtails which showed really well to within 5 yards.

Female Yellow Wagtail  courtesy of Ray Piercy

Male Yellow Wagtail  courtesy of Ray Piercy

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me and when I went back later both birds were by the wader scrape and I was unable to get as close.

Male Yellow Wagtail

Female Yellow Wagtail

A little further along we had great views of a pair of Skylarks along the edge of the field at similar distance. Another brief showing by a Common Whitethroat as we made our way back along the edge of the big lake. An Oystercatcher on the island. There was also a pair of Great Crested Grebes, 2 male Gadwalls and several Tufted Ducks. I heard a Little Grebe whinny but couldn't see where it was. Several Lesser Black-backed Gulls were cruising about the area all morning. At least one Canada Goose is still sitting on its nest on the island and a pair of Coots were feeding their 2 youngsters at the south end of the island. When I returned later I spotted another pair of Coots with 2 smaller youngsters on one of the pools on the island.

It was getting late by this time so we headed back to the park along the New Cut but failed to find a Kingfisher. We did get a singing Common Whitethroat behind the visitor centre when we got back to the car park.

By this time it was 12:30pm, sorry all for making you late for your lunch, but we had a great morning with plenty of species ticked off the list. The next bird walk is Sunday June 30th starting at 8am (yes that is 8am), hope to see you there. Meet outside the visitor centre.

Recent bird ringing activities

The Constant Effort season is over at Priory Country Park. All 12 visits were completed (including the odd extra visit). I haven't posted CES totals for a while and on this occasion, for my ease, I'm going to lump visits 8-12 all into one (including non-CES birds/sessions).

238 new birds, 57 retraps (in brackets) of 23 species:

Wren 8 (1)
Dunnock 6 (6)
Robin 6 (7)
Blackbird 10 (8)
Song Thrush 8 (1)
Sedge Warbler 1 (0)
Reed Warbler 24 (1)
Whitethroat 25 (6)
Lesser Whitethroat 2 (0)
Garden Warbler 19 (2)
Blackcap 91 (8)
Chiff Chaff 2 (3)
Willow Warbler 2 (1)
Blue Tit 8 (5)
Great Tit 6 (3)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (1)
Chaffinch 3 (0)
Goldfinch 10 (0)
Greenfinch 1 (0)
Bullfinch 4 (3)
Treecreeper 0 (1)
Sparrowhawk 1 (0)
Wood Pigeon 1 (0)

We'll start with the standout total for Blackcap. This site has always been good for Blackcaps - more Blackcaps have been ringed than just about all other species in the park. The total above includes birds caught outside the CES. On Saturday 27th August I caught 26 Blackcaps (the majority new and the majority male). These birds must have moved on and another lot moved in as by the following Wednesday (31st August) I caught 30 Blackcaps (only one retrap from the weekend and only because it's from a late brood & not ready to go yet).



Above: Female Blackcap



Above: Male Blackcap



Above: This bag contains a big living ball of feathers (see below)!



Above: A Wood Pigeon (the big ball of feathers).



Above: A Lesser Whitethroat. This bird represents one of two ringed on 27th August. This species used to be more regular in the park but there have been very few records this year. I assume therefore that these two birds (juveniles) were migrating through the park (we would likely have caught the adults & juveniles earlier if they had bred).



Above: Normally seen in the skys above & normally too good at airobatics to be caught. This juvenile Sparrowhawk is obviously still learning then!

Sunday 12th

September rushes on, the birds move out, ready for the "winter lot".

Ringing today produced the following in the nets (retraps in brackets):
Blue Tit 3, Great Tit 1, Blackcap 6 (1), Blackbird 1 (2), Robin 2 (2), Dunnock 1 (1), Greenfinch 1, Goldfinch 2. That's 23 birds in total.
The Blackcaps are putting on a lot of fat for their journey south - all, that is, bar one, the retrap now caught on the last three sessions. Now that the tits "are back", we will have to think about reinstating the feeding station soon. The two Goldfinch were able to fly but could not have been out of the nest for very long.

Other birds seen by us included 4 Tufted, 4 Swift, 14 House Martin, a Buzzard, a Jay and a Spotted Flycatcher. A party of Long-tailed Bushtits passed close by, along with a couple of Chiffchaff.

On the move

Another quick ringing session after the rain this morning produced the following:
1 late Garden Warbler (fat), 1 scrawny Reed Warbler (not fat), 5 new chubby Blackcaps (3 fat, 2 still trying), a retrap juv. female from last week (trying to put on weight) & an adult male completing its moult which it started in the middle of July! - and hence 'no fat' , having put all its energy into growing new feathers so far. All were birds of the year except this.

Only other birds of note were a Marsh Tit, 2 flocks of Long-tails, and at least 3 Chiffs feeding up on the Elderberries. There were 4 Gadwall on the main lake and DK had some/a (?) Wigeon. Suspect the Gadwall were moved by whatever spooked the Ruddy Shelduck off Fingers as well.

Sat 28th Aug

Main Lake and area - 15 Shoveler, 1 Wigeon, 15 C.Swift, c.20 House Martin, 8 Cormorant
Fingers - 2 Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, Kingfisher

Long Hedge - ringing totals were: Chiffchaff 2, Blackcap 6, C.Whitethroat 3, Blackbird 3, Song Thrush 4, Robin 1, Dunnock 4, Chaffinch 1, Goldfinch 1.
Birds seen whilst ringing - Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, ~8 Goldfinch, juv Gt. Spot.Woodpecker, Greenfinch, party of Long-tailed and other Tits. No sign of last weekend's Spotted Flycatcher(s).

Total number of individual birds caught during the CES (Constant Effort) period (May-August) was 370, made up of 115 adults and 195 juveniles plus an extra 60 pulli ringed in local nest boxes that have not been recaptured to date. So far, 56 Blackcaps have been ringed this year (with 5 recaptures from previous years - 1 female & 4 males) but the season has not ended. We hope to be catching them for another 6 weeks yet.

CES ringing

Sunday 15th - another "slow" day with a change of numbers across the species, Notable absentees were Willow Warbler (expected) and Chiffchaff (youngsters moved on but some calling from the bushes).

16 new birds (& 8 retraps)
Wren (1)
Robin (1)
Blackbird 1 (3) - several young birds re-caught
Reed Warbler 2
Les. Whitethroat 1
C. Whitethroat 1
Garden Warbler 4 - today's special!
Blackcap 4
Blue Tit 2 (1)
Gt. Tit (2)
Bullfinch 1

Other birds about: - male Sparrowhawk (twice), a few Swallows, Common Terns (youngsters calling for food), Gt. Spot and Green Woodpecker, COMMON SANDPIPER. No Swifts seen.

More ringing results

On the 8th, we returned hoping to do better than last week. We suceeded - just.

Wren 1, a recent fledgling
Robin 3, a mixed bag of youngsters
Blackbird 2 (2)
Song Thrush 1, a recent fledgling
Whitethroat 5, including an adult completing its wing moult, a sign that it will soon depart for Africa
Garden Warbler 3, scruffy youngsters getting 'dressed' for the off
Blackcap 3, included a new adult male
Chiffchaff 2
Willow Warbler 1, number 4!
Long-tailed Bushtit 1, a stray youngster
Blue Tit 3 (2)
Great Tit 1 (1)
Chaffinch 1, a fine male
Goldfinch 2, possibly a pair
Bullfinch 1, a breeding last-year's female.

Well, that was 35, but we had to exploit two sub-sites to reach it.

Back for another go next weekend, if the weather permits.

w/e Sun 27th June

Midsummer birding is always steady with little change; that's 'cos we're in between the last of the spring and the first of the autumn movements. Saying this, some Black-headed Gulls have returned already from their breeding grounds.

There are still large numbers of moulting Canadas on the main lake (on the grass if you're out very early) and the Mute Swan flock continues to feed on the much unsolicited pondweed; 91 of each were counted on Sunday. Quotations have been sought to tackle the weed problem.
On Sunday, I conducted what is likely to be my last guided walk. Checking out a lone crow flying overhead, I scored a Rook instead. Most of the birdsong activity was coming from either Blackcaps or Song Thrushes; in contrast the Reed Warblers were very quiet this week.

During the week, we caught two juvenile Garden Warblers, which were moulting their median coverts. This is about as far as they go, preferring to finish their main moult on the wintering grounds in equatorial Africa.

One couldn't help noticing the young Jackdaws. Their squawking could be heard whereever you were in the conservation and new meadow areas. They mostly sat up in the trees between the Kramer hide and the old dipping platform, waiting for mum or dad to come back with food. Meantime, they "chatted each other up", as they do.

Another bird that was conspicuous was the Common Whitethroat. The males gave their short, scratchy song from the bush tops as they moved around looking for insects for their broods. The early birds are already going about having a second brood after sucessfully rearing their first.

We had a short early morning ringing session where we retrapped a female Blackbird. She had a broken tail as a result of a lack of food at a critical point in the moult cycle last autum. She had originally been ringed as a juvenile female five years previously - to the day.

Spring bird walk

One of EN's Robins singing in the Rough

A fine sunny day but with a cool if light NW wind. Good to see Stan on his feet, making an erudite return.

First up, 3 Common Terns over the main lake, plus 2 Lesser Black-backs. 3 pairs of grebe "hugging each other", least ways, not stirring far away. There were Coots sitting on eggs, still laying eggs, still building and others still wondering what to do. The female swan, of the No.1 pair, was sitting proud on her nest, high on the southern end of the island. However, we found a pair of interlopers tentatively setting about nest-building beside the main path (just before the spit).

The birdsong in the spit area was made up of Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Chaffinch and, of course, Dunnock. From the end of the spit we could see 3 Gadwall in breeding array, and we watched a female Gt. Spot. for a short while. We wandering round to the 'dead seat', enjoying Robin song, more Blackcaps and Chiffs, busy Blue Tits, mewling Bullfinch and an elusive Willow Warbler.

As we were about to enter the 'new meadow', we heard the call of a male Cuckoo, somewhere over towards the sewage farm, moving along Kingsmead perhaps. This is a site first for 2010, and is 2 days ahead of the mean date for the last decade (DK) and 4 days ahead of the 'nineties. Great and Blue Tits were keeping close to their individual boxes as we walked the 'long hedge. At the 'concrete bridge', another rather elusive Willow Warbler.

We meandered through the 'woodland walk', arriving at the 'navigation. Here we were given an excellent opportunity to watch 3 Sedge Warblers, singing and not taking much of a liking to each other. Over the bridge, there was little to excite except, perhaps, a pair of Lapwing in the near distance. We concluded today's walk back along the New Cut, listening to various Blackcaps, Dunnocks and Chiffs. A Green Woodpecker was glimpsed following its give-away "laugh". "Back at the ranch", we tried to tie down the singing Willow Warbler near the centre, but failed miserably to get other than a fleeting glimpse of it.

Next walk - 4:30 AM on Sunday 9th May for the 'dawn chorus' followed by coffe and bickies!

Another days ringing

For the second consecutive day we put the nets up. It was as good as the day before ... and we didn't trap any birds from yesterday! That makes 72 new birds and 30 re-traps, all told.

Todays tally was: Wren 1 (1), Dunnock 1 (2), Robin 3 (1), Blackbird (3) [all males incl 1 from Oct '03 & 1 ad. from '07], Blackcap 3 (2) [incl a male from June '07 - as adult] , Chiffchaff 9 (1) [an ad. fem. we caught on 2nd April], LTT (3) [2 birds from August '07], Blue Tit 5 (3), Gt. Tit 4 (1), Chaffinch 1, Bullfinch 1 (2) [a new ad male and an ad. fem from Sept '07].

It was great to catch 15 new Chiffs and 5 new Blackcaps over the 2 days; these will be 'on passage' and feeding up on the berries and insects before departure. These birds had been piling up on site during the windy weather, but most left overnight Thurs/Fri. before we had a chance to go ringing again.

Nearly forgot. The fox was mouching about in the brambles again, another close encounter, and a Jay from the meadow to Fingers.

Fri 18th Sept

Decided on an "all-day" ringing session. Set up at 7am and had first catch at 8 o'clock. 55 birds in all with just 11 re-traps. Only 5 adult birds, the rest juvs in various stages of growing up.

New (retraps): Gt. Spot 1 [young male], Wren (1), Dunnock 2 (3), Blackbird 1 (2), Blackcap 2 [1m, 1f], Chiffchaff 6 [2m, 4f], LTT 4, Blue Tit 8 (2), Gt. Tit 13 (2), Chaffinch 1, Greenfinch 2, Goldfinch 4, Bullfinch (1).

DK picked up on a Spot Fly but he was between it and the net! We also had 16 House Martins taking an interest in the male Sparr as it sallied across the Rough. Later, I had 2 Spot Flicks in a tall Elder in the Long Hedge but too high up for the nets. When I had a look at the dipping platform midday, I spooked a Moorhen, a Kingfisher and a Redstart - all making a hasty exit!

Might be back tomorrow (as the weather looks good) for more Chiffs and Blackcaps.

Ringing on Thurs 2nd April

After all the habitat management work, it was time to put up the "summer" nets and see what was about. This was despite the cold and damp morning with a chill easterly wind. This counts as an 'extra visit' for CES purposes. We cannot ring the CES site now until the end of the month (CES rules), i.e. visit No 1.

We did manage to catch 3 Chiffchaffs (1M, 2F), 3 Blackbirds (1M,2F), 3 Great Tits (1 pr + 1M), a poss pr of Bullfinches, 3 Wrens (1M, 2F) and single Dunnock and BlueTit. Interestingly, the female Blackbirds were a third heavier than the same-sized male!

Up to five Swallows kept early company and we could hear three male Blackcap within easy earshot. The Woodpigeons were "at it" for quite some time and the Magpies were showing off their new home. A Squirrel dained to look for a free meal - but the feeders are now empty and will remain that way until October/November!

See IRG blog for Bullfinch with Knemidokoptic mange.