26th August

Light NE winds with a clear sky there was a hope for a few more migrants than yesterday.  It started off well with a few willow warblers trapped.  Jason was netting in the nature reserve again but there was few birds there.  He did trap a sparrowhawk which got out of the nets twice yesterday and a reed warbler.   Best bird of the day was kingfisher which turned up in a net in the Big Mound!

Other birds in the area included a greenish warbler at Marsden Quarry and a second in the gardens on the northern edge of Shearwater Estate.  A red-backed shrike turned up in the nature reserve but agin evaded the nets.

Ringing totals were 11 willow warbler, 7 goldfinch, 3 robin, 2 whitethroat, wren, dunnock and greenfinch, reed warbler, blue tit, pied flycatcher and kingfisher.

kingfisher (c) Dougie

kingfisher (c) Dougie

25th August

After yesterdays barred warbler I had high hopes for todays catch.  It was a very quiet day with very few migrants trapped.  The best trapped bird of the day was a spotted flycatcher.  Elsewhere in the coastal park a wryneck was located in the nature reserve but evaded the nets.  An icterine warbler was in the gardens on the northern edge of Shearwater Estate.

24th August

The day started off with heavy rain.  When the rain stopped it was a murky afternoon.  However it didnt last very long and light rain turned into more heavy rain.  The light rain dropped a few migrants including a handful of garden warblers and a barred warbler, both species were trapped and ringed.

barred warbler © Steve Eggleston

23rd August

Nets were opened prior to sunrise. Ringing was slow until the afternoon when migrants started to appear.

The days ringing totals were 18 birds and consisted of:
5 willow warbler, 4 blackbird and blue tit, 2 whitethroat, and singles of pied flycatcher, wren and chaffinch.

22nd August

Its been a while seen the blog was updated but we have started the autumn ringing season so the blog should be updated more often now.

The weather forecast for the bank holiday weekend looked good for ringing with the possibility of some easterly winds.  Nets were set in the afternoon and the catch consisted of 3 chaffinch and blackcap, 2 wrens and a single robin.

Recent Recoveries from across the North Sea

As with many east coast ringing sites we ring many continental blackbirds during the autumn.  Although we know they are from the continent we do not know exactly where from, however in a batch of recent recovery reports from the BTO we had a report of one of our blackbirds that was ringed on the 8th November 2011was taken by a cat in Vastervik, SWEDEN on the 13th May 2013!! Although no surprise this is the first bird from Whitburn that has been recorded in Sweden.

Summer adventures

Summer at Whitburn can be very quiet so we go off ringing around the local area and occasionally get over to Cumbria and up to Scotland. Owls seem to have faired badly this year with tawny owls down on last year but NO long-eared owl nests have been located this year.  A single brood of two little owls and the adult female were ringed.  Raptors have also done poorly with small brood sizes.  Seven peregrine chicks were ringed in Cumbria.  A total of 21 Kestrels were ringed in and around the Sunderland area.  A weekend trip to Scotland to ring golden eagles ended well with a single male chick ringed however two sites that produced young failed.  Small broods and many failures seems to have been reflected in the Aberdeenshire population too.

peregrine © Adrian George 

Waders seem to have done well this year with quite a few chicks being found and ringed.  Below are a selection of chicks found so far.

oystercatcher © Adrian George 

snipe © Adrian George 

lapwing © Adrian George 

 

lapwing © Adrian George 

curlew © Adrian George 

curlew © Adrian George 

As part of some recent work I have been required to find nests.  Along with the waders above I have located several meadow pipit nests and two skylark nests, one of the later shown below.

skylark © Adrian George 

A friend in Scotland has an excellent burn for catching dippers and kingfishers.  We managed to catch the adult male kingfisher however the female knew the score and has repeatedly avoided the net.

Kingfisher © Adrian George