Controlled Blue Tit.

I've had details back fro the BTO of a Blue Tit I controlled in the garden recently. Quite a good local movement for a Blue Tit and interesting that its breeding locally.

Here she is:

And here are the ringing details received from the BTO:

Here are the details of a ringed bird you have reported.

Species:	Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)	Scheme:	GBT	Ring no:	L406788

Ringing details

Age: 3 Sex: F Sex meth: U P.ringed: 0 P.alive: 0 Condition: U

Colour marks added: - Metal marks added: N Act1: U Act2: U

Ringing date: 08-Oct-2015 14:30:00

Reg code: WOO Place code: 001 Site name: Woolston Eyes, Warrington, Warrington, UK

County code: GBWAR Grid ref: SJ6588 Accuracy 1 Co-ords: 53deg 23min N -2deg -31min W Accuracy 1

Hab1: B7 Hab2: --

Biometrics: Wing: 62 mm. Weight: 10.4 g. Time: 14:30:00hrs

Remarks:-

Ringer: Merseyside RG, 9058

---

Finding details

Ring not Verified Age: 5 Sex: F Sex meth: U

Colour marks added: - Metal marks added: - Act1: U Act2: U

Finding date: 12-Jun-2016 10:00:00

Reg code: -  Place code: BACCRO Site name: Backford Cross, Cheshire, UK

County code: GBCHE Grid ref: SJ3873 Accuracy 0 Co-ords: 53deg 14min N -2deg -55min W Accuracy 0

Hab1: F2 Hab2: --

Biometrics: Wing: 62 mm. Weight: 10.1 g. Time: 10:00:00hrs

Finding condition: 8:20 Movement: 9

Controlled Intentionally Taken

Remarks: -

Duration: 248 days Distance: 32 km Direction: 238deg (WSW)

Finder: P S Woollen, 3093 

Reference 23062016DISC

BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU. Tel 01842 750050 e: recoveries@bto.org w: www.bto.org/ringing

Registered Charity No 216652 (England & Wales, SC039193 (Scotland) Registered in England and Wales No 357284

I wasn't far out when I guesstimated 30 km! 

I've now controlled a total of 5 birds in the garden - 2 Long-tailed Tits, Great Tit, Redpoll and now this Blue Tit. I've also had two of my birds controlled - 2 Siskins earlier this year. 

Wader passage.

There were some cracking waders off Hilbre recently with Steve picking up a number of colour ringed Sanderling. There were god numbers of Dunlin and Ringed Plover that gave good photo opportunities as they roosted over the high tide. They've all headed north now to their tundra breeding grounds but it won't be long before they're making the return journey. Every year we check them for a possible rarity but we found nothing more unusual than a couple of Curlew Sandpiper. In previous years the N Wirral shoreline has scored with Semi-palmated Sandpiper, a possible Western Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper and Broad-billed Sandpiper! Anythings possible.........

Holly Blue.

The recent fine weather has meant quite a few butterflies locally. Star turn being a single Painted Lady that flew past me at high speed without settling as I was looking for Bee Orchids at a site near home.

More accommodating was this Holly Blue that turned up on our patio, funnily enough, on a holly bush!

I've been busy ringing a few pullus locally and Swallows see mot have had a late start but are now doing quite well. Our garden Robins have hatched and four young have been ringed. Its lovely watching them being fed from the comfort of the sofa!

The first juvenile Goldfinches, Greenfinches and House Sparrows are visiting the garden and I've caught a few. A big surprise was a controlled Blue Tit - I know where it was signed which his quite surprising as it seems to have travelled about 30 km! Until I've submitted it to the BTO and got a response I'll not mention where it is incase someone complains that I've not submitted it through the proper channels.....................

Huffing and Puffing on Puffin.

The weather was kind to us on our latest visit to Puffin Island. We had a few short showers which made the terrain very slippery underfoot. Seabird colonies are smelly places at the best of times but add a bit of rain into the mix and they simply become the seabird researchers equivalent to Glastonbury but probably smells a lot worse.

Meeting up at Beaumaris the team consisted of a number of newcomers including visiting ringer Vivain from mid-Wales and Liverpool University researchers, Alice, Harriet & Fed. Amelia is a SCAN trainee but hadn't been out to Puffin much before and there was Ian and myself who, after a number of years, have got used to the routine.  The team were ably led by Steve.

The focus on this trip was to ring as many Shag and Razorbill pullus as we could find within the allotted timescale. After the introductions we headed towards the jetty and our transport. The trip out was uneventful with a couple of Black Guillemots showing near Beaumaris pier and, as we got closer to the island, swarms of auks & Shags.

After being transferred to the island we changed into our oldest clothes. Steve gave a safety briefing and explained what the aims were and got to work. The birds seem to be doing very well this year and there was a lot for us to do.

Some Shags were still on eggs whilst other nests had very small young but there were still plenty of good sized pulls for us to ring!

Reaching the boulder fields and ledges where the majority of the Razorbills breed we turned our attention to ringing this species - including some feisty adults.

 Alice ringing an adult Razorbill

 Amelia with a young Razorbill

Harriet ringing a young Razorbill a bit older than the bird above and probably soon to fledge.

Like other auks Razorbills fledge before they can fly and launch themselves of the breeding ledges within a few weeks to join the parents at sea. I can't really blame them - they'll probably do anything to get away from the smell! As well las plenty of youngsters there were also a number of birds still on eggs and we'll go back and ring these on the next trip.

Auk 'rings' aren't really rings at all but 'clips' with a special technique for closing them which is easiest done using engineering pliers rather than large ringing pliers. We also managed to ring a few Guillemot pulls but the main trip for these will be in a few weeks time. It was great seeing all the activity around the seabird colonies and I never get tired of it. The ledges were  full of breeding auks,  Shags and Kittiwakes whilst higher up on flatter ground gulls were either incubating or feeding young. We ran the gauntlet of the gulls on several occasions with one particular Great Black-backed Gull managing to hit me and almost knock my cap off.

Some of the the team taking a bit of a breather.

A great day and a good number of birds ringed ! A smelly, tired and generally happy team departed the island around 1630 for the boat rip back to Beaumaris where we saw a party of Manx Shearwaters shearing ahead of us.  A lifer for Federico who's more used to the Mediterranean species in his native Italy.

Ahead of me was the drive back to Cheshire where the first thing I did was stuff all my clothes, rucksack and boots int the washing machine on a hot wash! A shower followed and then a curry before I relaxed in front of the TV to catch up with the rugby. I woke up at 5.30 am Sunday morning still on the couch with half a bottle of beer in my hand! Deciding it wasn't worth going to bed I retired to the conservatory with a cup of tea (the beer was flat) and the previous days newspapers where I promptly fell asleep again before finally getting up around 08.00 stiff as a board and with a cricked neck.

Amazing Razorbill record.

I got an email back from Steve Dodd the other day about one of the Razorbills I'd photographed on Puffin Island recently. We were already pleased to have one old bird with an 'M' prefix ring that was ringed in 2000 but according to IPMR (ringing data base) K27458 was first ringed as a pullus (chick) in 1987 and re-ringed a few years ago when the old ring became virtually unreadable!

That makes K27548 29 years old!!! It may sound old but the longevity record for a Razorbill is 41 yrs 11 months & 28 days making Razorbills the 2nd longest living species in the UK after Fulmar.
But still a venerable old bird.

Jackdaws!

I got an invite recently to help ring Jackdaw pull at a colony in N Wales. What a fabulous place! The Jackdaws were nesting on holes in the wall of an old farm building and reaching them necessitated the use of a long ladder. Its a good job `i'm not worried about heights.

A great way to spend a few hours before a family barbecue on a Bank Holiday weekend although I did need a shower before joining the family fun. In total 21 Jackdaw pull were ringed which is apparently down on previous years. The feeling is the Jackdaws, like many other birds, have failed to nest due to the poor condition of the adults. As well as the Jackdaws we found a bonus Blackbirds nest with 5 young which we also ringed.

Jackdaws have there most amazing colour eyes and the youngsters are no exception. Despite their noisy gregarious behaviour the youngsters are very quiet and just open their bias and gape at you without making a sound.

First Puffin Island trip of 2016. Ring reading.

What a beautiful day to spend among the seabird colonies on Puffin Island. An advance part from SCAN & Liverpool University travelled to the Island to continue colour ringing Shags and try to record as many Razorbill ring numbers as possible. Last year we experimented with me photographing the rings in the field to ensure they were all read correctly. It worked pretty well so this trip I did the same again. The idea is to read as many rings and confirm them with photographs as part of the RAS (re-trapping adults for survival project) -see BTO website here.

The sun was shining and the birds were very active with gulls, auks and Shags all nesting or feeding young. Walking from the beach to the main colonies we came across numerous gulls nests with eggs or small young.

 Herring Gull nest with eggs 'chipping' - you can just see the egg tooth of the yang bird on the top left egg.

Most  Guillemots and Razorbills were o eggs but we did find a few small Razorbill chicks.

Photographing the Razorbill rings is frustrating but rewarding. I've found the best method is to sit quietly on top of the cliffs and let the birds come to me. However, a lot of the time they're suspicious and sit facing you so you can't see the ring number so a little patience is required in waiting until more birds arrive causing a bit of shuffling around. Star bird was the one that was ringed in 2000!

There are many distractions on Puffin Island and I couldn't resist a few photographs of Puffins, Razorbills and Shags.