I took a trip down to Derbyhaven early afternoon following recent reports of a Red-necked Grebe and a Little Auk. There was no sign of either of them following a thorough search of the bay but I did come up trumps with some other sightings.
On checking the flock of Light-Bellied Brent Geese I saw that one had colour rings on, grabbing my scope I was able to confirm the bird was the returning female "J4", first seen at Derbyhaven in November 2007 the bird has overwintered at Derbyhaven each Winter since. The bird was originally caught and ringed in Iceland in May 2007 as an adult female by the Irish Brent Goose Research Group.
On moving to Fort Island (officially known on maps as St Michaels Isle) I noticed 2 Divers close inshore and before raising my bins to them I presumed they would be the 2 Great Northern Divers that have been reported from this location for the last week or so that I hadn't manage to catch up with yet. However on getting my bins on them I immediately identified both of them as Black-throated Divers. A very rare sighting of this species of Diver in Derbyhaven Bay. I gave both birds a good grlling in the vain hope of one being the Isle of Man's first ever Pacific Diver and was able to prove that yes, neither of them were!
There were 8 Black Guillemots feeding in the bay, all in their cracking Winter plumage. They have to be one of my all time favourite birds, in either of their cracking plumages. A scattering of Eiders were feeding in the Bay too, some cracking adult males amongst them.
A quick check of the Gulls feeding on the shoreline produced nothing more than the usual mix of Black-headed, Herring and Great Black Backed. I had hoped there might have been a Little Gull present given the good numbers seen in the North West of England/North Wales recently.
Nothing to report on the ringing front, there's good numbers of finches coming to the garden feeding station and a Sparrowhawk has settled into a daily routine of hurtling through the garden! Here's looking forward to some calm winds...
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Dazzling gear/methods
I've had a few queries about dazzling over the years so thought I would write about the gear I use and some of the tips I've picked up over many years of dazzling birds in different habitats
.
Being in the Isle of Man we are lucky in that we suffer very little light pollution so when the moon is set at night or in the New moon phase then nights really are dark over here! Add some hefty cloud and just a light breeze with some drizzle and you have the perfect dazzling conditions.
The torch I have always used is a Nitech Xcell Handlamp (800H) model with the N500 bulb giving the B.T.O. max allowed output of 100,000 candlepower.
These torches are a bit pricy but you will never need to buy another battery in your lifetime and you can drop them in the sea/water and they will float beam up (and yes they are waterproof)!
I always wear a backup headtorch with a red LED option as this keeps your night vision and doesn't spook other birds nearby. This is ideal for ringing larger birds "in-situ" rather than bagging them to return to the ringing base.
The net I use is just a standard fishing landing net - about 70cm diameter on a lightweight aluminium or carbon fibre 2-3m pole.
In windy conditions the net can become a handful to keep under control given you are holding it with just one hand (the other holding the torch) so I have in the past used a home-made net using stiff, fencing wire to form the rim of the net and strong, soft garden netting for the net itself. This gives a much more lightweight net and the larger holes in the netting give much less wind resistance.
Once a bird is caught and bagged I clip the bag onto a caribina on a cord around my neck and tuck the bag inside my coat - my dazzling coat is a size too big for me to make sure there is plenty of room! This keeps the bird dry and out of the way so I can continue working the area.
I have learnt that different species require different techniques in order to be succesful, however one common factor amongst all species I have found is not to scan the beam too far ahead of you. I usually scan between 10-30ft distance from me, any further then non-roosting birds generally either fly off or run off!
For Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper, Knot, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Snipe then I find that pointing the beam directly at the bird usually makes them stay still or even come towards you. If the birds start moving away then bring the beam off the bird and nearer to you, this will usually result in the bird following the beam in your direction.
For Sanderling, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank, Terns and Gulls then pointing the beam directly at the birds will usually just flush them, instead keep the bird in the perifery of the beam right up to the point of dropping the net on them. For most of these species you have to sometimes run after them too as they rarely stay still until you get very close.
As far as weather conditions go then I find just a gentle breeze is ideal, any more than that and the wind makes controlling the net difficult and it also makes the birds more flighty. Calm conditions make approaching the birds very difficult as they hear every footstep. A bit of rain always helps to keep birds on the deck too but I have had some of my best nights dazzling in no rain at all. The most important factor is to have total cloud cover, the thicker the better.
I use the US Naval Observatory website to work out the moon phases and moon rise/setting times - http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php as it's generally pointless trying to dazzle if the moon is out.
Lastly, I always make sure I let the local Police know where I'm going and roughly what times. Trying to explain to 2 bobbies at 2am in a remote beach car park that I was doing something completely legal and licenced whilst carrying a large net, big torch and several birds jumping around in bags under my coat was a little bit difficult given they had been called out to a report of someone "poaching Salmon"!!! Still, they went away very happy and educated in the ringing scheme having watched several Turnstone, an Oystercatcher and a Sandwich Tern being ringed.
If anyone has any other tips and tricks on dazzling I would like to hear of them, particularly on dazzling wildfowl as this is something I have not done much of.
.
Being in the Isle of Man we are lucky in that we suffer very little light pollution so when the moon is set at night or in the New moon phase then nights really are dark over here! Add some hefty cloud and just a light breeze with some drizzle and you have the perfect dazzling conditions.
The torch I have always used is a Nitech Xcell Handlamp (800H) model with the N500 bulb giving the B.T.O. max allowed output of 100,000 candlepower.
These torches are a bit pricy but you will never need to buy another battery in your lifetime and you can drop them in the sea/water and they will float beam up (and yes they are waterproof)!
I always wear a backup headtorch with a red LED option as this keeps your night vision and doesn't spook other birds nearby. This is ideal for ringing larger birds "in-situ" rather than bagging them to return to the ringing base.
The net I use is just a standard fishing landing net - about 70cm diameter on a lightweight aluminium or carbon fibre 2-3m pole.
In windy conditions the net can become a handful to keep under control given you are holding it with just one hand (the other holding the torch) so I have in the past used a home-made net using stiff, fencing wire to form the rim of the net and strong, soft garden netting for the net itself. This gives a much more lightweight net and the larger holes in the netting give much less wind resistance.
Once a bird is caught and bagged I clip the bag onto a caribina on a cord around my neck and tuck the bag inside my coat - my dazzling coat is a size too big for me to make sure there is plenty of room! This keeps the bird dry and out of the way so I can continue working the area.
I have learnt that different species require different techniques in order to be succesful, however one common factor amongst all species I have found is not to scan the beam too far ahead of you. I usually scan between 10-30ft distance from me, any further then non-roosting birds generally either fly off or run off!
For Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper, Knot, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Snipe then I find that pointing the beam directly at the bird usually makes them stay still or even come towards you. If the birds start moving away then bring the beam off the bird and nearer to you, this will usually result in the bird following the beam in your direction.
For Sanderling, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank, Terns and Gulls then pointing the beam directly at the birds will usually just flush them, instead keep the bird in the perifery of the beam right up to the point of dropping the net on them. For most of these species you have to sometimes run after them too as they rarely stay still until you get very close.
As far as weather conditions go then I find just a gentle breeze is ideal, any more than that and the wind makes controlling the net difficult and it also makes the birds more flighty. Calm conditions make approaching the birds very difficult as they hear every footstep. A bit of rain always helps to keep birds on the deck too but I have had some of my best nights dazzling in no rain at all. The most important factor is to have total cloud cover, the thicker the better.
I use the US Naval Observatory website to work out the moon phases and moon rise/setting times - http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php as it's generally pointless trying to dazzle if the moon is out.
Lastly, I always make sure I let the local Police know where I'm going and roughly what times. Trying to explain to 2 bobbies at 2am in a remote beach car park that I was doing something completely legal and licenced whilst carrying a large net, big torch and several birds jumping around in bags under my coat was a little bit difficult given they had been called out to a report of someone "poaching Salmon"!!! Still, they went away very happy and educated in the ringing scheme having watched several Turnstone, an Oystercatcher and a Sandwich Tern being ringed.
If anyone has any other tips and tricks on dazzling I would like to hear of them, particularly on dazzling wildfowl as this is something I have not done much of.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Garden Ringing
Finally got the nets open in the garden today, the first time in over a month!
Caught a total of 34 in the 2 hours - 28 new, 4 retrap and 2 controls (both ringed at the Calf Bird Obs).
Goldfinch 11 new, 1 control
Great Tit 6 new, 1 retrap, 1 control
Blue Tit 4 new, 4 retrap
Coal Tit 2 new
Chaffinch 1 new, 1 retrap
Robin 1new
Dunnock 1 new
The retrap Chaffinch was originally ringed in the garden as a 5 (i.e. definitely hatched previous Spring) Female on 6th Feb 2007, making it 3.5 yrs old. It had not been retrapped since.
I don't have the details of the 2 controls from the Calf yet (although I know that the ring sequence is one issued to the Calf).
A Male Sparrowhawk came belting through the garden at one point, but unfortunately it didn't go near the net.
Not much else to report on the birding front as I've not had the time to do any! However, I did have a cracking view of a Barn Owl flying over the road just down from home last night.
Caught a total of 34 in the 2 hours - 28 new, 4 retrap and 2 controls (both ringed at the Calf Bird Obs).
Goldfinch 11 new, 1 control
Great Tit 6 new, 1 retrap, 1 control
Blue Tit 4 new, 4 retrap
Coal Tit 2 new
Chaffinch 1 new, 1 retrap
Robin 1new
Dunnock 1 new
The retrap Chaffinch was originally ringed in the garden as a 5 (i.e. definitely hatched previous Spring) Female on 6th Feb 2007, making it 3.5 yrs old. It had not been retrapped since.
I don't have the details of the 2 controls from the Calf yet (although I know that the ring sequence is one issued to the Calf).
A Male Sparrowhawk came belting through the garden at one point, but unfortunately it didn't go near the net.
Not much else to report on the birding front as I've not had the time to do any! However, I did have a cracking view of a Barn Owl flying over the road just down from home last night.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A Bounty of Black Redstarts
Chris did the Derbyhaven/Langness survey today (whilst I was stuck at work!) and he called me to let me know that he had found not one, but four, yes 4 Black Redstarts.
3 were on Fort Island and the fourth was on the rocks above the shore below the Herring Tower on Langness.
3 were on Fort Island and the fourth was on the rocks above the shore below the Herring Tower on Langness.
In true Blue Peter style - here's one I made earlier (or rather a picture I took a couple of Autumn's ago) of a Black Redstart, cunningly hiding it's red tail, at Ramsey.
Still no ringing taking place due to either work or the weather getting in the way.
Roll on some days off with no wind!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Hen Harrier & Water Rail - Power cable strikes
No ringing or birding this past week due to being busy with work and the bad weather. A new supply of Sunflower Hearts and Nijer seed will hopefully bring some bigger numbers of birds into the garden for when the weather does become suitable for opening the nets though.
On the ringing front, we had a message earlier this week about a female Hen Harrier being recovered freshly dead having hit power lines on a farm near Andreas. It had originally been ringed by ourselves as a pullus (nestling) on 1st July 2008 with ring number FB04434, the only chick that hatched from a clutch of 5 eggs (the other 4 eggs were infertile).
Then today I heard from my Uncle that he had found a dead bird under power lines in his field in the Surby area above Port Erin. On checking the photographs he had taken of it, it turned out to be a Water Rail. It was unringed. Presumably a migrant as the area it was found in is far from typical Water Rail habitat.
On the ringing front, we had a message earlier this week about a female Hen Harrier being recovered freshly dead having hit power lines on a farm near Andreas. It had originally been ringed by ourselves as a pullus (nestling) on 1st July 2008 with ring number FB04434, the only chick that hatched from a clutch of 5 eggs (the other 4 eggs were infertile).
Then today I heard from my Uncle that he had found a dead bird under power lines in his field in the Surby area above Port Erin. On checking the photographs he had taken of it, it turned out to be a Water Rail. It was unringed. Presumably a migrant as the area it was found in is far from typical Water Rail habitat.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Point of Ayre Gravel Pits walk
Chris was leading a Manx Ornithological Society walk around the gravel pits this morning so I tagged along to help him out. It was a well attended event, probably as the site is not open to the public yet, and there have been some cracking records coming from there as a result of the weekly survey carried out by Manx Bird Life.
As soon as I got out of the car at the site I had a flock of at least 250 Redwing flying North, gaining height quickly as they went, there were about 50 or so Fieldfare in with them - great start! Groups of Redwing, Fieldfare and Song Thrush were heard/seen flying over during most of the 2 hours we were on site and probably numbered in excess of 500 in all.
Only about 30 seconds later, still just getting my 'scope out of the boot of the car I heard and then saw a Snow Bunting flying overhead and quickly flying out of site behind the mounds of gravel.
Next onto the list was a Common Snipe coming in from the East, calling. It circled for a short time and then it pointed its long bill down and it plummeted toward one of the old settling pools.
Once we were on site we quickly saw a female Hen Harrier quartering the site, it was seen a further 3 times during the walk around the site, piling into a mixed group of Linnet and Meadow Pipit at one stage.
A Reed Bunting and a couple of Stonechats were in the scrub area to the North of the main pit and Robins, Song Thrush and Dunnock were calling all around us.
Down on the main pit there were a good variety of duck.
Coot, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Pochard made up the bulk of the duck present but were joined by several Goldeneye, 2 drake Scaup, 2 drake Gadwall, 3 female and a drake Shoveler, 8 Teal, c.20 Wigeon and a handful of Cormorant.
A small group of Great Tit and Blue Tit dropped into the willows in front of us at this point, a real rarity on the site and more than likely a "migrant" group.
Five Skylark, several Chaffinch & Goldfinch and a Redpoll were also recorded flying over.
Gulls on site were 15 or so GBB Gulls, several Herring Gull and 2 Common Gulls.
It was a good mornings birding and hopefully showed the group the potential of the site which will eventually be turned into a proper reserve once the aggregate company have finished with it, allowing the general public to enjoy arguably one of the best birding areas on the Island.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Migrant Snipe
My mum tells me that there have been good numbers of Common Snipe flying over Lower Ballafodda this week, all heading South East.
She has also had big numbers up on the moorland at South Barrule, flushing many groups upto 10 strong.
I'll hopefully get a chance to get up there and try to dazzle some soon.
She has also had big numbers up on the moorland at South Barrule, flushing many groups upto 10 strong.
I'll hopefully get a chance to get up there and try to dazzle some soon.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Control Greenfinch
I opened the garden net again this afternoon once the sky started to cloud over a little.
I caught 3 House Sparrow, 3 Blue Tit (2 retraps), 2 Great Tit, a Chaffinch and a Greenfinch (control).
The control Greenfinch "TA68890" was originally caught on the Calf of Man on 12th Sept 2008 as a first year female and had not been caught since.
When caught this afternoon it was just finishing its full Summer moult, the last primary just having a small amount of sheath left at the base.
I've not heard any Redwing passing over here yet, though I see that birders on the Lancashire coast have had good numbers over the last couple of days and there have been several thousand recorded in various localities in the Scottish Northern Isles and East coast of England. I'll hopefully catch up with some soon.
I caught 3 House Sparrow, 3 Blue Tit (2 retraps), 2 Great Tit, a Chaffinch and a Greenfinch (control).
The control Greenfinch "TA68890" was originally caught on the Calf of Man on 12th Sept 2008 as a first year female and had not been caught since.
When caught this afternoon it was just finishing its full Summer moult, the last primary just having a small amount of sheath left at the base.
I've not heard any Redwing passing over here yet, though I see that birders on the Lancashire coast have had good numbers over the last couple of days and there have been several thousand recorded in various localities in the Scottish Northern Isles and East coast of England. I'll hopefully catch up with some soon.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
"Manx" Greenshank back in Spain
I received an email today from Raymond Duncan of the Grampian Ringing Group.
They carry out a colour ringing project on Greenshank in Eastern Scotland and last April one of their birds was sighted here at Fort Island. The same bird has been resighted back in Spain a few days ago, details below.
Ring Number: DB51358, Colour rings Yellow/Blue Lime/Blue
Ringed 09 August 2007, Montrose Basin, NE Scotland, Age: Juvenile
Resighted:
25th August 2007, Ria de Foz, Lugo, SPAIN
29th August 2007, Ria de Foz, Lugo, SPAIN
19th September 2007, Ria de Foz, Lugo, SPAIN
9th November 2007, Ria de Ortigueira, A Coruna, SPAIN
17th April 2008, Fort Island, Derbyhaven, Isle of Man
21st June 2008, River Axe, Axmouth, Devon
4th October 2009, Ria de Ortigueira, A Coruna, SPAIN
Many thanks to Raymond for the info, he has previously supplied us with information on 2 colour ringed Waxwings seen in Ramsey last Winter which his team had ringed in Aberdeen!
They carry out a colour ringing project on Greenshank in Eastern Scotland and last April one of their birds was sighted here at Fort Island. The same bird has been resighted back in Spain a few days ago, details below.
Ring Number: DB51358, Colour rings Yellow/Blue Lime/Blue
Ringed 09 August 2007, Montrose Basin, NE Scotland, Age: Juvenile
Resighted:
25th August 2007, Ria de Foz, Lugo, SPAIN
29th August 2007, Ria de Foz, Lugo, SPAIN
19th September 2007, Ria de Foz, Lugo, SPAIN
9th November 2007, Ria de Ortigueira, A Coruna, SPAIN
17th April 2008, Fort Island, Derbyhaven, Isle of Man
21st June 2008, River Axe, Axmouth, Devon
4th October 2009, Ria de Ortigueira, A Coruna, SPAIN
Many thanks to Raymond for the info, he has previously supplied us with information on 2 colour ringed Waxwings seen in Ramsey last Winter which his team had ringed in Aberdeen!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Teatime garden ringing session
I opened the nets again late afternoon after returning from Langness.
I caught 7 birds in all, 4 Blue Tit (including 1 retrap), 1 Greenfinch, 1 Goldfinch and a Chaffinch.
The retrap Blue Tit was one which I had originally ringed on 14th October 2008 as a first year bird (i.e. hatched Spring 2008).
I then retrapped it inside the nestbox in my garden on 19th May this year, sitting on 5 eggs, and identified it as a female. She succesfully fledged all 5 chicks from the box the last of which left the nest on the 9th June.
I hadn't caught her since then so it's good to see that "Mum" is still around and will hopefully make it through the Winter to raise another brood next Spring!
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