Easter bunny has been busy

Last year I monitored Pied Flycatchers at Aber. This species is very helpful by using nestboxes, which have kindly been provided for them for many years by Geoff Gibbs.
Now, this year I'll be doing similar work but on their Swedish cousins, so I've had to pass the reins on to others. Unfortunately, with Easter being rather later this year, the students have all made the most of no classes and gone home, right when we needed them to start checking the boxes! So on Tuesday, 2 days before flying to Sweden I went for a final check of my side, and the first official visit of the season. I was joined by Mark, who will be responsible for making sure the new recruits know what they're looking for.
Compared with our previous visit at the start of April, where we did some repairs to the boxes and checked them all for any early nest building, the woods were a lot quieter. The relative lack of birdsong was quite eerie and combined with the misty conditions, I was glad to have some company! We've discovered that by doing the boxes "backwards" it seems to take less time - walk to the top first and work your way down instead of working your way up and round. Most of the upper boxes were untouched but I was surprised to find four boxes with eggs in! All Great Tits, as each box was being guarded by a noisy parent, but three of these boxes had been empty on the last visit, so it just goes to show how quickly the breeding season can move when they decide the time is right! Unfortunately, so obvious signs of Pied Flycatchers yet, but I did spot a male around the boxes so fingers crossed they choose to use these cosy little homes. I also pointed out a few likely looking holes which may also be used, so the team will be able to keep an eye on these if the nest boxes aren't looking very productive.
Hope the guys have had a good break from Uni, and wishing you best of luck with the site this year. Will be thinking of you from Sweden and looking forward to hearing updates about my babies!

AFON & BTO Young Birders Workshop

I have been a member of A Focus On Nature since September 2013 and have gained a lot from them. I was invited to the New Networks for Nature "symposium" last November and really enjoyed the 2 day event networking with people from around the UK who work in the Nature field, including researchers, guides, wardens, photographers, artists, writers and conservationists. After asking for some binocular advice, I was offered a pair by Opticron, who sponsor AFON members, and am looking forward to using these in Sweden.

When I heard about the Young Birders Workshop, I knew I had to attend! It was held at the BTO head office in Thetford, which is a LONG way from Bangor! So I arranged to stop over with Matt (from ringing) who now lives in Rugby and was one of the "young" birders speaking at the event. Matt was also giving Ed a lift, so it was good to spend the evening speaking to him about his photography and writing, which I have enjoyed looking at through the AFON facebook page. 

An early start to get down to Thetford for 9.30 was hampered slightly by missing the intended junction and taking a detour down the motorway. Following Sat Nav seemed to be taking us a long way, so I cracked open the road map and found a better route, even enabling us to stop for McDonalds breakfast! I hate Sat Nav, so was quite happy to be playing navigator.

We arrived about 9am, which gave us some time to network before the event started. I was busy chatting to Peter about AFON when I got slightly (well, 3 seconds worth) star struck because Andy Clements, Director of the BTO came over and joined in our conversation! He asked where I had come from (picking up on the slightly Scottish twang) and when I said Bangor, he said that he had studied there. When he asked what I did, I said I had 2 days left at Asda, then I was off to Sweden to monitor Pied Flycatchers for the summer. He then told me about watching them in Aber when he was a student, and was very interested when I mentioned that I'd monitored them there last year. Someone then called him over, and we were told to take our seats for the start of the workshop. Andy opened with a quick welcome, and he name dropped me, which I consider a bit of a claim to fame... wonder if he'll remember me when I drop him an e-mail in a couple of months asking about a job?

The workshop started with a 4 minute introduction by some BTO staff explaining about their jobs and how they came to work for the BTO. I found this very informative as many had not followed what I considered the the traditional path of University, post grad with a few years in the ornithological field before getting the job. I was surprised by how many had come from IT background, but guess I shouldn't have been considering that I am one of the thousands who use the various programs and databases the BTO use to collect data from around the country (Birdtrack, IPMR etc). 

Following this, we got to choose 3 45 minute workshops to attend, each one highlighting a different area of the BTO's work. I chose to learn about Nest Recording from Dave Leech, who ensured us that when he first started he knew virtually nothing about nests. It was great to learn some tips about finding "wild" nests from him, although I must admit I quite like that many species will nest in boxes that we provide for them! We got a quick test on bird songs, as this can be used to help locate nests, and I was disappointed only get 1 out of 4 correct - definitely something I hope to improve over the summer! We then went outside into the grounds to find a few nests. I was surprised that the Chaffinch nest looked so much like a Long Tailed Tit nest, and that the female was definitely not going to leave her clutch of eggs. The Song Thrush left her nest, allowing us to see her clutch of three eggs using a handy mirror on the end of a pole. Dave then took us to a Blackbird nest and being a Ringer, he took a chick out of the nest to show us briefly the aging characteristics that are inputted to IPMR. 

Marsh Tit

I then joined an Introduction to Bird Ringing workshop, run by Jez Blackburn and assisted by Jacquie Clark (both of whom are very well known to Ringers) They had 4 bags waiting for us, and I liked trying to guess what was in the bag! The first bird was a "life tick" for me, as I don't recall ever seeing a Marsh Tit before. I've recently followed a few discussions about identifying the differences between Marsh and Willow Tits, but one of the main features is that Marsh Tits have a pale line running along their bill, which Jez showed to everyone in the audience. I was slightly jealous of Harry, who got the chance to release this lovely specimen as he was the only person who had not handled birds previously. I had guessed that one bag had a Blackbird in it due to the bouncing around, and we had two male Blackbirds and a lovely male Blackcap to finish the session with.

The last workshop I chose was Better Birding by Nick Moran, who I had spoken to at New Networks for Nature. His talks are always interesting and it was mostly a discussion on ways to improve your birding, whether that is by learning birdsongs, taking part in surveys such as WeBS, BBS, NRS, CES or RAS, keeping more records and submitting them to Birdtrack, reading more journals or publications or having some friendly competition and motivation by birding with friends. 

After lunch, which involved lots more networking, we sat down to hear from some Young Birders. It was amazing hearing about their experiences so far, and how they got involved with birding. Many have parents or other family members to thank for their passion for birds, and it was great that many of the parents had come with them too. As Lucy pointed out at the end, those of us who are currently looking for jobs in the field need to watch behind us with these youngsters snapping at our heels!

Following this, there was a discussion about Young Birders. There were some concerns raised about isolation and sometimes bullying by other youths towards birders. I understand where they came from, but my advice is simply to do what you love. If others don't understand why you spend your weekends out in all weathers looking for birds, then try and engage them. My friends quickly accepted that I had very different hobbies to them, and any friend worth keeping will have to deal with this. We also had a bit of a discussion about acceptance by the older generation of birders, including hide etiquette (something I must admit doesn't interest me much as I'm not a twitcher).

The day ended with more networking before the long journey home to Bangor. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and hope to visit Thetford again when I return from Sweden. Massive thanks to Lucy, AFON and BTO for organising a great day, and to Matt for driving down and back, and putting up with my "feedback" on his talk!

Last ringing session before I leave

Yesterday I joined Steve and Rachel with Chris and Bethan on Arthurs heath. The earliest start of the year so far (meeting there at 5.30) allowed us to enjoy the full Dawn Chorus as we were setting nets. I helped Steve set four nets, clearing the rides of gorse, brambles and willow branches which had sprouted since last year. It always takes ages to set the nets, but Steve has promised that when I get back he'll do some actual net-setting training with me to work towards my C-permit. The first net round was pretty good with about 12 birds, and it was lovely to catch the first Willow-Chiffs of the year. Having not handled any warblers over the winter, I needed some help remembering the aging processes, but after a while I think I got the hang of it again. I found myself using the Svensson Guide quite a lot, as this will be my guide when I get my C-permit and am working in the field (It is also one of the books I plan on reading while in Sweden!)
About half way through the session Steve and Chris came back from extracting and Chris handed me a bag and said "Don't let it go". I had no idea what it was but Steve didn't think I'd ringed one before. I pulled out a large-ish warbler type bird... Rachel asked me to describe it so I started saying it had a pale, white-ish belly and throat, and was grey-ish brown on the top, but other than that, no distinguishing features... making it a Garden Warbler! We caught one last year on Anglesey but I didn't ring it, so yet another ringing tick for my list! They are really big compared to other warblers, so hopefully I will remember this next time!
It was interesting seeing the different stages of breeding between the birds - we had a few brood patches present on females and many males with a cloacal protuberance, so soon the heath will be full of baby birds!
After the first couple of net rounds, the numbers dropped to just a handful each and as I was going straight to an Agility show afterwards, we decided to call it a day around 9am. I helped take down the nets I'd set with Steve and as we got to the last net, we found Chris and Bethan extracting from it - typically, we caught an extra 6 birds as we were taking down.
Overall we caught 41 birds:
Chiff Chaff - 9
Willow Warbler - 8
Dunnock - 6
Blue Tit - 3
Wren - 3
Goldcrest - 3
Bullfinch - 2
Redpoll - 2
And singles of Great Tit, Garden Warbler, Blackbird, Robin and Long Tailed Tit.

A lovely morning in the sun was a good send off from Wales... hopefully I'll add to my totals in Sweden and come back a bit closer to that elusive C-permit!

Summer in Sweden... why not?

In January I saw a post on the NGB facebook group about a project monitoring breeding populations of Pied Flycatchers in Sweden. I monitored nestboxes in Aber last year, so thought it might be a good opportunity to learn more about this species and to work with researchers and ringers in a different country. After a few e-mails, my place was confirmed and I was left wondering why all jobs couldn't be so easy?
I've always loved travelling, and have never ventured into Scandinavia so a trip to the library for some books was in order. Thankfully, I won't need to know too much about the birds before I get there as we will all be trained in the field to ensure that the data collected complies with the existing methods of the project. However, I have decided that while I am there I will be attempting to read the Ringers Manual cover to cover (something I have not yet managed!), as well as getting to grips with sexing and aging passerines.

Photos from Aber 2013

A female Pied Flycatcher on the nest.

Pied Flycatcher eggs in a nestbox

Hungry little Pied Flycatcher chicks

All snuggled up

Aren't they cute!

Whilst I am really excited to be given the opportunity to do my hobby, in a new country, AND get paid for it, I will be leaving with mixed emotions. Summer is obviously the busiest time of year for ringers, and I will be missing out on most of the CES visits and Puffin Island trips this year. It also means that I have had to pass the baton on for Aber, but I'm sure that Geoff will manage to get this years volunteers organised for visits. I have said that I will do the first visit on the 22nd April (2 days before I fly!), just to check which boxes are showing signs of nest building and which have already been claimed by the Tits (I'm almost expecting to find some eggs given the early Spring and recent warm weather).

I will be returning to Bangor in July, but I'm pretty confident that by then the prospect of returning to retail work will be so unappealing that I will have had another spurt of job applications. Hopefully this experience will boost my CV, leading to a job related to my degree.

A new site, a new challenge

So, last weekend the weather looked pretty miserable, and Steve was not convinced that we would get out for some ringing. Having missed a couple of sessions while I've been galavanting in Scotland, my fingers were definitely missing the fond pecks of those pesky Tits.
Friday evening we got an e-mail saying there might be a couple of hours break in the weather Saturday morning, so alarms set for 6am. It was amazing getting up that early and hearing the dawn chorus, the first time I've really noticed it this year in all it's glory - Spring is definitely here! On my way down to the harbour for pick up, I tried to decipher some of the songs, and managed Robin, Blackbird, Wren, Song Thursh and Dunnock. I actually disturbed a pair of Dunnocks in the act of twitterpation and watched as they sang their annoyance at being interrupted before scurrying into a bush for some more privacy!
We were setting nets at Treborth Botanical Gardens, part of the University. When I was a child (from 6-9), I competed on the Athletics track at the end of the road, and must admit that despite driving past at least once a fortnight, I never noticed the greenhouses or impressive plant collections! Chris had returned for some more mist net practice, and Jaani also joined us for the morning. Chris and Steve set one net and I helped Rachel set the other. I must get some knot practice in with some pieces of string - I'm actually embarrassed by how badly I tie knots!
The first net round was mostly tits, so myself and Chris had plenty to work with. I seem to be having a problem with Blue Tits getting net around their thighs - they're so fluffy it's often difficult to see if the leg is clear before you start clearing the toes. The difficulty is that when they are "thighed" the net is held with a bit of tension to the leg, so you don't have much slack to work the rest of the bird free from the net. This happened a couple of times the last time I was out, and happened a few times this time round. We ringed a few birds then left Jaani with Rachel to do the second net run. As we came round the corner of the buildings, a Jay flew and landed in the tree above a net so we backed off a bit, hoping it would go in. Unfortunately, the feeder was already occupied by a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which somehow avoided the net to get to the tree, sending the Jay packing. After a few minutes, it flew off too, leaving a quiet net round of more Tits.
On our next round, we found a GSW which I was given the task of extracting from the net. In case anyone doesn't know, Woodpeckers are noisy, and I don't mean when they drum against trees. Imagine sitting on a bus while two babies have a screaming match and you're almost there! Grabbing the feet is difficult as they have really short legs for scurrying up trees, so you haven't got much to hang onto. While I was working on clearing the feet, this guy went quiet and I suddenly got rather nervous! Sure enough, that's when the pecking started, but thankfully I was only "got" twice on my thumb, drew a little blood but made a change from being in agony and having nothing to show for it (like with the Tits!) Woodpeckers are also an awkward size for the nets we were using and often (as in this case) get part of the wing through the netting over the carpal joint, making it incredibly difficult to extract. Steve took over at that point and received a few pecks of his own. I then joined Chris in extracting a few of the smaller and less noisy birds. While I was finishing with a Coal Tit, Chris checked the other net and discovered another GSW!

A Male Great Spotted Woodpecker (age code 5)
Photo by Rachel Taylor

Back at the truck, myself and Jaani had one each to ring and age, and it was a lot easier having two males to compare with. My initial thought was that mine was a younger bird, due to a single red feather in the otherwise black crown (juveniles have a red crown), but after looking through the book and following the clues with Rachel to guide us, we determined that my bird was a 6, or maybe an 8 (6 meaning it had done at least 2 complete moults since leaving the nest), while Jaani's was a 5 (meaning that it was hatched last year) We decided on this by looking at the spotting pattern on the wings - younger birds have a white spot at the tip of each primary whereas adults don't. There was a slight variation in the colour of the coverts too, which should be jet black for adults and have a brownish tinge for juveniles. When handling birds, many like to hold onto a finger for some support, particularly Tits and birds that scurry up trees, like woodpeckers. My friend was clinging to my little finger like his life depended on it, successfully driving his talons through my skin and crushing my finger in the process. When I started trying to extract my poor finger, Rachel said "Unless it really, REALLY hurts, you'd be better off leaving that where it is"... ah, the things we put up with for birds!
When I got back onto extraction duty, a Blackcap was heard, so we put on a recording to lure it in - within 10 minutes we had a lovely male, the first one I've seen this year and a lovely example of a usefully descriptive English name!
Shortly after the Woodpeckers and Blackcap, the heavens opened so we quickly finished processing the birds we had and took down the nets. A couple of hours in the drizzle resulted in almost 40 birds, which isn't too bad given the weather.
Once again, keeping fingers crossed for some good weather over the coming weekends! Can't cross my little finger though - resembles being jammed in a door at the moment!