Wednesday 22 January 2014

2013 Ringing Review (part 1)

Well, this is my first blog! There are many reasons for why I've decided to start keeping a blog, but the main one is to keep track of my birding and share it with other interested parties.

It's been just over 12 months since I started as a trainee bird ringer in North Wales, and what a year it's been. My trainer is Stephen Dodd, and I've been so lucky with the opportunities he's given me to learn more about birds. Between him and Rachel Taylor, I think I am in VERY capable hands, and am already looking forward to what 2014 can throw at me (secretly hoping for less tits!)

So, here's a rundown of my bird ringing highlights of 2013:

Total birds ringed - 777
Total species ringed - 50
Ringing sessions attended - 23
Hours put in - Lost track!

2013 started with winter mist netting on a farm outside Caernarfon. Having attended a few SCAN sessions towards the end of 2012, I already had 89 birds on my records, but these being mostly waders (Oystercatchers and Redshank). Arthurs farm always gives a great variety in species, and I started off the year with Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits, House Sparrow, Goldcrest, Chaffinch and Blackbird.

My next session was the last SCAN session of winter 2012/13 and we went after Sanderling at Kinmel Bay. I work Saturday's at 4.30 so can only attend these sessions with a guarantee from Steve that I will be back in time. "Yeah, no problem. We only had about 60 when we did the recce so you should be back by lunch" - this was the day I learnt to ignore what Steve says about catches. Turned into a 200 bird catch of Sanderlings and Ringed Plover and I barely got back in time to start my shift (thankfully they don't poo much so the usual shower was not as necessary as other sessions!)

April saw the start of CES, or Constant Effort Site Scheme. The scheme involved visiting the same site 10 times over the breeding season, using nets in the same locations and ringing the birds caught. Our site at Malltraeth is mostly reedbeds, which attracts a good mix of warblers from around the world. Due to the very cold start to Spring, the first few visits were slow, but over the course of the season my identification skills improved greatly, especially when everything started off being an LBB (Little Brown Bird) ... we'll see how I manage next season!

Can you tell I'm nervous about "letting go?"
Alongside the CES site, we also visited a farmland site near Llangaffo, which also had ponds and woodlands. I must say that I loved setting the nets on this site, with the birds just waking up, dew covering the cobwebs and thistles and a slight mist drifting off the ponds. Must try and go there when not birding with the camera sometime. Anyway, this is a site I will remember for a long time, as I ringed my first bird of prey here. Steve and I were setting the nets in the woodlands, while Rachel set nets with Ros and another ringer near the ponds. On our way back to the truck, Steve got a call from Rachel, and his side of the conversation was intriguing..."Well, that's exciting... and it's gonna hurt!" I was convinced we'd got a woodpecker, so when Rachel got back to the truck cradling a Sparrowhawk, my eyes probably did pop out of my head a little. Being the newest trainee, I was expecting Ros to get to ring it, but she'd already done a few, so it was mine! EEEKS! While Steve carried on with the other birds, Rachel watched me like a hawk while I tried to get round ring a bird that just wants to grab your hands with its talons. The key is DON'T LET GO of the feet! With a little help, we got a ring on her and took the necessary measurements, then it was time to let her go... wait, I just said don't let go! Yeah, I was pretty nervous of this, especially with her eyeing me up during the processing. Before we allowed her to go on her way, I got my first photo with a bird, and I know I upset many fellow birders with a slight amount of bragging, especially as I escaped with no blood loss! Definitely worth getting up at 4am for!

It's called Puffin Island for a reason!
My next venture was the start of a hectic 2 week period and involved lots of blood loss, and POO... Puffin Island has always been somewhere I longed to visit, with someone in my family tree having been stationed there way back when it was inhabited. As it is now an important breeding colony for seabirds, the SCAN group organise a few trips during the breeding season to ring chicks before they head out to sea. I was looking forward to handling some cute, fluffy babies and exploring the island a bit - in reality, baby seabirds are not overly cute, only slightly fluffy and not really something you'd want to cuddle with! We started by rounding up some Cormorants for colour ringing - these guys are slippery, with snake like necks that extend a LOT further than you expect and surprising grippy feet, especially onto your hands! Their favourite trick is to puke up their last meal (or 6) while you're attempting to ring or measure them! Definitely tested the gag reflexes on us "newbies". After successfully colour ringing 50 Cormorants, we headed across the grassy clifftops, ringing gull chicks as we went. Next was a decent down the cliffs to the Auk colonies. Now, I'm not great with heights, and certainly get slightly nervous around rocky edges. However, with adrenline pumping, there was no way I was going to miss out, so down I scrambled. I almost wish someone had photos of me clinging to the cliffs, as my brother (who is a keen rock climber) still doesn't believe that I went down there after birds! As it was, after lunch I decided to let the more experienced people go down the "chimney" while I stayed up top and took photos of the birds. There were plenty of Puffins around, but they had evaded capture until we were heading back for the boat. Steve decided to have one last go at a ledge and caught the only new Puffin of the day - MINE! I was so happy to ring one of these comical birds, and was careful not to be too overcome by their cuteness - apparently they're mean buggers! Mine was lovely though, and once released it joined the throngs of Razorbills and Guilliemots flying round above our heads, all wondering what the new bling was for, no doubt!
Oh yes, blood! Well, it's difficult to say exactly where each cut, gauge and bruise came from, but I definitely got a Cormorant claw hole between my fingers, and an adult Razorbill gave me a parting "kiss" by slicing a finger open. Welfare of the birds is far more important than ours and when I was passing birds on I had to explain "No, the bird is fine. That blood is mine!" After a day on Puffin Island, I was straight in the shower when I got home, and despite washing my hair 3 times, and scrubbing myself with soap, shower gel and a nail scourer (OUCHIES!) I still stank of fish for at least a week later! So worth it though, and I can't wait to get back on the island next year!

Following this trip, we had 2 CES and another trip to Llangaffo, which had started to pick up with the breeding season in full swing and many juveniles leaving the nests and flying into nets. You would think they might learn, but catching the same bird 3 times in one session is not uncommon, and results in some frustrating pep talks to said bird after it's third time! 4 sessions in 8 days resulted in 180 birds for me, which really boosted my yearly total after missing several sessions due to other commitments earlier in the breeding season.

Slow start to 2014...

Well, the recent weather in Wales has been typically... Welsh! Wind and rain do not make for good ringing opportunities, so I was determined not to miss the recent SCAN weekend (18/19th January). Recovering from a cold, I wasn't sure whether I'd manage both days, especially as I have to work the Saturday evening, but I needed a fix, so went along.
Saturday we were planning on catching some Dunlin, which had been roosting around the old Dickies Boatyard in Bangor. I helped set this net with some of the team, while the rest set our back up net for ducks at the other end of the harbour. Once set, some of the team dispersed to track down these little grey waders. The local Oystercatchers decided that the Dickies beach was perfect for a snooze, and we ended up with a few hundred on there, which we really didn't want to catch (due to having already caught Oystercatchers on 3 previous sessions this winter). Unfortunately, the Dunlin were absent from all their regular haunts that we were aware of, so we decided to let the Oyks sleep and go after the ducks.
Me with "Shelley"
BANG! We ran down the steep "path" to the beach to discover a catch of Shelduck and Wigeon, enough for one each, which was excellent as the main flock had moved to another area. So I started off my 2014 ringing with a tick - a lovely female Shelduck. Once they were all processed and released we moved onto the smaller Wigeon, and I managed to pull out the only retrap (we had previously caught some at the same site last year on a Redshank catch), a stunning male. While the last few birds were being processed, I double checked the keeping cages to find we'd missed a Shelduck, which was quickly claimed by Richard.

After packing up the kit, I had a boring shift at work, then home for a decent night's sleep - 9am meeting for the next day! I should have known better! With my mum visiting, I was ready to leave at 8.50 (the harbour being less than 5 minutes walk away), but she kept me talking til after 9! Thankfully our team had grown with the arrival of some student from Aberystwyth and most of the work was done. We had the same nets set, with the same plan... and funnily enough, the Dunlin also had the same plan! This time we tracked them down to some islands in the Menai Straits, and with the absence of a boat or RC Bird of Prey, that's where they stayed!
Now, I would have been happy with another duck catch, and that was certainly looking promising until a ball chucker for a dog disturbed the whole flock and they disappeared out of the harbour. While we were waiting on what to do next, a ringed Pied Wagtail was spotted on the prom, which led to those with scopes attempting to read the ring number. We also had company from a resident Rock Pipit. The Oyks had returned to the Dickies site, so we moved positions to concentrate on them, deciding to catch on the falling tide. We had some spectacular views from a Greenshank and a Snipe amongst the Oystercatchers, which was great to see at this relatively urban site.
The local football team came onto the field and provided entertainment for us, until the cry went up "Merlin in pursuit"! The next 10 minutes saw us all peering through scopes and bins watching the Merlin chase a Ringed Plover, the gap staying almost the same at every point as they wheeled across the harbour! Eventually the Merlin ran out of steam and flew off down the Straits, leaving the Plover to recover somewhere safe.
By now, it was time to get into position for the catch. We use radios to communicate as most of the team were unable to see anything of beach. Unfortunately, some of the Oystercatchers were very much asleep right where we didn't want them, in the safety zone. Richard moved into almost full view, and got no reaction. Steve jumped around and clapped his hands on the opposite spit, which didn't even get an eye open! In the end, Ros crawled to the top of the beach and threw small stones down the bank, but even this didn't get an immediate reaction. We were all listening and watching from behind a hut, getting more and more frustrated at this one bird that refused to wake up! Suddenly, we heard "it's moved, 3-2-1...BANG!"
Having so many people on the team meant that we extracted the 190 birds very quickly, and I managed to extract a few more than usual. I was nominated to help Rachel colour ring the Oyks, so spent the rest of the afternoon holding rings on legs waiting for glue to set.

Brown bellied Dipper
That evening, I had been invited to visit a Dipper river with Chris and Hamza, with Jamie meeting us there. At the first bridge I realised my welly was leaking... GREAT! However, the evening was a good opportunity to see these delightful little birds up close, even if they already had rings on. Due to me being rather petite and certainly not a strong climber, I missed out a few of the bridges, staying up top, but we didn't find any at those bridges. Chris faced a dilemma when he found a roost of Wrens under a bridge - because they are day flying birds, if we caught them we would have to return them the next day, which would be difficult due to another planned ringing session. We decided to leave them be, with the hope that they would still be there the following night. By 10pm we had caught three Dippers on two rivers, and called it a night.

The next morning was an early-ish start at 6am, travelling to a farm near Porthmadog to use a whoosh net to catch Starlings. Whoosh nets are similar to cannon nets, just without the gunpowder! Basically, they throw a net over the birds, which is released using a pin on string system. We baited the catching area with bread and grain from the farmer, and set up some mist nets alongside the barns, hoping to catch some of the 30+ Chaffinch and House Sparrow that were flying around the farm. While we waited, the farm terrier started digging in a pile of cuttings and was soon shaking his head for the kill. When we investigated, there was a tiny Shrew lying in the hole. It was placed on a fence post with the hope of attracting a Kestrel, but the terrier had other ideas and stole it back!
Eventually the bread attracted a Meadow Pipit, so we got to see the trap in action. When it was brought to the truck for ringing, I was presented with my second tick of the year. Meadow Pipits have incredibly long rear claws, and this is measured to determine if it is a Meadow or Tree Pipit. As we don't catch many of this species, everyone had a good look at the features before he was let go, telling us off as he went!
After a few hours of waiting in the rain for the Starlings to appear, we decided to pack up. And, sod's law, as soon as the kit was back in the truck, they arrived! Nevermind, I got the impression that this is a site we may visit again, so I'm sure I'll be able to add Starling to my list soon.
When I got home my gear smelt of Oystercatcher and manure, so a quick hose down outside for the gear, and straight in the shower for me. Later, with my kit drip drying over the bath I noticed that my Gran had used bleach in the toilet, presumably to hide the natural smells coming from my stuff. I must confess that I actually preferred the Oyk smell and hint of manure to the bleach... is this normal?

Anyway, I'm off to Malta this weekend for a girly holiday with a friend from Uni. When we booked the trip, I had no intention of birding while there, but I have done my packing this evening and found my binoculars and Birds of Europe book fitted very nicely into my rucksack... will keep you posted on what I find!