A ringing tick and lifer in one day!

Once again on Sunday I visited Knepp Estate to do some bird ringing. After a 25 minute drive we arrived there at 5:00. Once we had looked at some possible net rides we set the nets up, 3 in total with 1 on the edge of the reedbed.

Overall we caught around 50 birds. I ringed quite a number of Whitethroat as well as young Great Tits, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blue Tit and Long-Tailed Tit. The highlight for me was extracting and ringing a Reed Warbler for the first time.

Even though we had a hopes up for something different such as a Reed Bunting, surprisingly even though it was perfect conditions for the net next to the reedbed it only caught 2 wrens!

Another excitement, whilst walking to the nets, was seeing and hearing my very first Turtle Dove! Although I didn't get any photos of it I got a good view through my binoculars as it sat on a branch of a dead tree (Thanks to Penny Green for helping me spot it!!)


Reed warbler

Reed Warbler fault bars




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half Term Birding and More...

Image
After almost a week back at school, I have finally got round to writing a blog post on what I got up to in the holidays!

One of the days, after hearing that a Great Grey Shrike was showing well at the Old Airstrip at Ashdown Forest I persuaded my mum to take me (and my dog) there. We arrived quite late, at about 10 o'clock. Surprisingly it was still quite misty and as we walked down the path the view was blocked by it.

 After asking a few people where a 'muddy pond' was I finally found it. There were a few birders there, armed with their scopes and cameras, which helped me locate the bird. It was perched on a tree quite a distance away, but with my Opticron scope I got great views. It would perch on a branch or bush for a minute and then dive down and behind the trees, presumably to catch its prey. Once I saw it mob a Wren!

Great Grey Shrikes are also know as Butcher Birds because, unusually, they keep their prey in a makeshift larder. 



Happy with the views I had we walked …
Read more

Definitely a Waxwing Winter!

Image
Yesterday morning, after a rather quick change of plan we headed to an industrial estate in East Grinstead to hopefully see my first Waxwings, a slight change from Pulborough Brooks which we were heading to!

It had been the first time for quite a few years, that I can remember anyway, that a substantial flock had been reported in Sussex so I couldn't miss this opportunity. We arrived and straight away I saw the flock of around 31 which were all perched on a single tree. Their distinctive tufted head silhouetted against the harsh light.

I grabbed my camera and binoculars and went to meet up with the other birders who were stood watching these beautiful birds. The Waxwings then all flew down onto a small rosehip as they gorged on the ruby red berries. Unfortunately the light wasn't great so I didn't get many good pictures.


They then flew onto a large oak tree and were flying down out of view, presumably feasting on some more berries. 
Waxwings are a brightly coloured bird, s…
Read more

First ringing session this year and my first goldeneye!

Image
The weekend before last I went up to Cissbury Ring for my first ringing session of the year. It was very foggy and you couldn't see into the fields that surround the main path!


Walking up the path I managed to see a glimpse of a Yellowhammer which was surprising as I normally just hear them singing. It was quite a quiet morning however catching a Redwing was a surprise as it was only the second for the site this Winter. Also 2 Long-tailed Tits were nice to see up close in the hand.


Overall we caught 18 birds, consisting of 15 new birds (un-ringed birds) and 3 retraps (ringed birds). Moving on to this weekend, I went for a walk at the Old Lodge Nature Reserve in Ashdown Forest. It was a lovely walk and I saw 4 Stonechat, a Kestrel, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Redpoll.


After seeing the sighting on social media on the way back I stopped off at Weirwood Reservoir to see the drake Goldeneye that had been seen there. With help from a fellow birder I managed to see the Goldeneye, a lifer fo…
Read more