Big Campus Summer Ring (24th/25th July)

Here are the totals from the Big Campus Ring (re-traps in brackets).

This session involved closing off the path between the UEA broad and the river. Numbers were well down on previous years. We ringed 81 new birds, with 21 re-traps. Not too many, but everybody got to do a decent few birds. 23 species isn't a bad tally, either.

2 kingfishers, 2 jays, and a magpie were the highlights. Also nice to see a couple of great tits with B rings on them, courtesy of the group's nest box ringing team.

All 5 Acros we ringed were adults -  typical of this years "breeding" season, if you can call it that!

Woodpigeon    2 

Kingfisher    2 

Wren    13 (1)

Dunnock    1 (3)

Robin    7 (2)

Blackbird    5 (4)

Song Thrush    3 

Cetti's Warbler    1 

Sedge Warbler    4 

Reed Warbler    1 

Whitethroat    2 

Blackcap    9 (2)

Chiffchaff    4 

Willow Warbler    3 

Long-tailed Tit    7 (3)

Marsh Tit    1 

Blue Tit    9 (2)

Great Tit    0 (2)

Treecreeper    1 

Jay    1 (1)

Magpie    2 

Greenfinch    2 (1)

Goldfinch    1 

    

Total:    81 (21)

Whitlingham still produces (5/7/12)

Despite our CES, and CES's across the country producing poor numbers, Whitlingham was as usual, nice and busy. It was our first session 'post breeding' and we were shocked by the amount of ride clearance that was necessary as we put up the nets. The amount of rain this summer has produced plant growth like I've never seen before down there - literally (the proper use of the word literally)10ft high nettles, 12ft high umbelifers and bramble patchs that have grown several feet higher than normal years - one things for sure, its gonna be a good blackberry year!

Anyhoo, to the birds. 9 nets (410ft of net) produced 115 birds - 99 new (damn we should have stay on for 5 more minutes, or not dropped that chiffchaff... Will) and 16 retraps (a couple of which were caught and ringed, as it happens, exactly a year ago (5/7/11). Sorry too busy and nothing of particular interest to photograph.

Retrap History

Whitethroat - one ringed as a 3J (juvenile of that year) in 2011
                     one ringed as a 4 (adult) male in 2011
                     one ringed as a 4 female in 2011
                     3 more ringed in 2011.

Dunnock - one ringed as a 3J in 2010, caught again in 2011
                 one ringed as a 4 male in 2008 (4 times), then twice in 2011
                 one ringed as a 4 in 2011
                 one ringed in 2011

Long-tailed Tit - 2 ringed in 2011

Great Tit - caught as a 4 in 2010

                 ringed in 2011

Blackcap - 2 ringed in 2011

Totals

	Full grown	Retraps	Total
Wren	6	0	6
Dunnock	7	4	11
Robin	2	0	2
Song Thrush	1	0	1
Sedge Warbler	4	0	4
Whitethroat	14	6	20
Blackcap	13	2	15
Chiffchaff	16	0	16
Willow Warbler	3	0	3
Long-tailed Tit	2	2	4
Marsh Tit	2	0	2
Blue Tit	16	0	16
Great Tit	6	2	8
Linnet	6	0	6
Bullfinch	1	0	1
Total:	99	16	115

Broads CES and Kestrel Pulli

3JJJ's

A very early morning (03:30) in the broads found us attempting to catch cuckoo's for the BTO's Cuckoo Project, not far from our CES. We opened the CES at 04:30 as usual, though a poor show from the birds resulted in about 30 birds (totals uploaded later) and no cuckoos. A couple of 3JJJ's (recently fledged Jays - no post juvenile moult) were the highlight.






This afternoon a fellow Norwich and former UEARG ringer Danny Thomas very kindly invited a couple of us out to ring some Kestrel pulli (chicks) in a box on the outskirts of Norwich. 4 Pulli were ringed. These were my first Kestrels, after having several adults bounce out of mist nets and never doing any pulli before, so many thanks to Danny.

CES Sessions

CES Norfolk Broads


CES 5 (21st June)
The longest day was definitely not the best day and the day also finished with a washout. Despite good conditions early on, overcast and still, the birds weren't moving (or weren't there!) A total of 7 birds - a few Sedge Warblers, a gropper, a juv Robin... Rubbish!

CES 4

A narrow window of good weather saw the wind drop to acceptable levels and a trip to our CES in the Broads. The weather was too good really with sun glare on the nets from about 7am. Catches were about as expected or slightly lower than in previous years:

Catch (retraps in brackets)

Grasshopper warbler  1(2)  both from previous 2012 sessions

Sedge warbler 9(4)  1 was a 3J in July 2011 at this site and the rest from 2012 previous sessions

Reed bunting 7

Great tit 7(1)  First caught  as a 5m June 2010.

Robin 3

Willow warbler 4(2)   one first caught as a 4F June 2011

Reed warbler 3

Long tailed tit 4

Bullfinch 2

Treecreeper 2

Whitethroat 2

Marsh tit (1)  first caught May 2011

Cettis warbler 1

Chiffchaff 1

Blue tit 1

Total  47(10)

We also ran a moth trap- few species and low numbers compared to last year with just 20 specimens of 14 species

Eyed hawk moth 3

Poplar hawk moth  2

Elephant hawk moth  1

Drinker  1

buff tip  1

buff ermine  1

flame wainscot  3  * notable A

brown rustic  1

Oblique Carpet 1  * BAP species 

Silver ground carpet 2

Aethes cnicana 1

Clepsis spectrana 1

Agriphila straminella 1

Donacaula forficella  1  * notable B

CES 3

                        New            Retrap

SEDWA            7             2

GRAWA            2

REEWA             1             1

WILWA             4             2

BLACA              2

GRETI                1

TREEC               2              1            (2 new were 3JJ’s)

WREN                2

BULLF               1

CETWA             1

BLUTI                               1

Total                  23            7

MUTSWA            1 (extra)

A better day at Waxham

Following two flunks at Waxham over the past few weeks (catching about 5 birds a trip), yesterday was much more successful. As well as quite a few new birds it was nice to get a good number of returning willow warblers and whitethroats caught in previous years. We also spring trapped a wheatear and a nice male stonechat. While attempting to spring trap wheatears we also found this nice juvenile Pallid Harrier flying over the ringing site!

Total 36 new (19 retraps)

First summer Pallid Harrier over Waxham.

Wheatear 1
Stonechat 1
Blackbird  1
Robin (2)
Dunnock 3 (1)
Wren 1
Blackcap 3
Whitethroat 12 (4)
Willow Warbler 4 (6)
Chiffchaff  5
Great Tit 1 (2)
Blue Tit (1)
Long-tailed Tit  (3)
Goldfinch 4
Chaffinch 2

More Horsford and more swans

An in the field update from Horsford...

1 Goldcrest
5 chaffinches
2 Bramblings
1 wren
And a load of tit.

So far

At Whitlingham yesterday we again failed to catch anything other than those pesky swans, 10 more before we ran out of rings.

Horsford session

A fairly average session at Horsford Woods was brightened up by a stunning male Sparrowhawk and another Brambling.