Ringing update 23 & 30th November

During the first week, Dave Riley, John Blundell and Mike Baron were out on No1 bed on the Thursday when they caught 61 birds, with the 29 new including 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 4 Lesser Redpolls, amongst the retraps were a Reed Bunting originally ringed on No3 bed, with a second, originally ringed on No1 on 13th April 2007. On the Sunday, Dave was joined by visiting Surrey based ringer Sam Bailey, just 18 birds were caught during the slow morning but the 7 new included 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Redwing and 1 Lesser Redpoll. Sightings during the two sessions included 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Woodcock, 3 Water rails, 40 Jackdaws and 50 Redwings (all 20th), 1 Tawny Owl, 315 Starlings (in small flocks of up to 150 birds), 60 Fieldfare, 700+ Pink-footed Geese (5 skeins), 20 Lesser Redpolls, 100+ Lapwings, 51 Jackdaws, 2 Goosander, 2 Snipe, 6 Mistle Thrushes, 40 Goldfinches and 1 Siskin (all 23rd)

During the second week, Dave and Mike were out on the Sunday when 65 birds were caught with 30 new, including single Redwing, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, and Lesser Redpoll, amongst the retraps were a Robin, originally ringed as an adult on 15/05/2010 and a Willow Tit, originally ringed on 14/08/2009. sightings during the session included: 40 Lesser Redpolls, 4 Snipe, 1 Woodcock, 1 Tawny Owl, 5 Water Rails, 55 Redwings, 54 Jackdaws and 5 Fieldfare.

On No3 bed, ringing took place on the Thursday when Mike Miles caught 11 birds with the 7 new including the 4000th bird to be ringed on the bed this year. On the Saturday, he was joined by Kieran Foster, Margaret Rawlins, Jason Atkinson, Chris Piner and Sam Bailey, they caught 93 birds with the 56 new including 1 Mallard, 3 Moorhen and 15 Teal, with the catch of the latter species the largest ever for the reserve, amongst the other new birds were 2 Redwings, 2 Goldcrests and 4 Chiffchaffs. Amongst the retraps were a Blue Tit originally ringed on 4/11/11 and a Long-tailed Tit ringed on 22/10/10. Sightings during the sessions included 15 Snipe and a Buzzard.

During the second week, Mike was out on the Friday morning when he caught 66 birds with the 34 new comprising mainly of Chaffinches and Greenfinches. On the Saturdayhe was joined by Margaret and Kieran and they caught 53 birds, 29 new including a further 13 Teal, 3 Redwings, 1 Lesser Redpoll and 2 Chiffchaffs, including a ‘Tristis’, only the third Woolston record (photo below, courtesy of Dave Spencer on 29th November record).

A group of about 30 Redpoll was feeding in birches on the canal track whilst on No.3 bed a Sparrowhawk was bathing in one of the small pools. A pleasant surprise was a late Peacock butterfly on the south bank.

Pleasant couple of hours in the winter sunshine. Sightings included a pair of Pintail and a small group of Wigeon, plus this busy Grey Wagtail on the scrape.

Brian and Helen Burnett

A fairly quiet day today but at least it stayed dry! Mallard numbers continue to increase and the majority of a total of 226 were at the eastern end of the reserve. A total of 18 Bullfinches included a flock of 12 on the south bank of No.2 bed. 6 Goldeneye at the weir included 2 males and there were 3 Black-tailed Godwits on No.3 bed, together with a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel. 5 Little Grebes were on the river between Nos. 2 and 3 beds and Great-crested Grebes totalled 5.

This morning’s Siberian Chiffchaff. Taken with my phone hence the picture quality.

The highlight of this morning on No.3 bed was a nice Siberian Chiffchaff, caught and ringed by Kieran Foster and the ringing team. This is only the second to be ringed on the Reserve. They also ringed 13 new Teal, making 28 in the last two sessions. Other sightings included: 5 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Water Rails, 2 Snipe, 400 Teal, 60 Gadwall, 2 Wigeon, 40 Linnets, 60 Greenfinches, 20 Goldfinches, 80 Chaffinches, 14 Redwings, 10 Reed Buntings, 1 Goldcrest and 8 Bullfinches.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Brian Martin, Al Warford, Les Jones and Diane Shepherd)

On a pleasant, sunny morning we started and ended on No.3 bed, completing a Common Bird Survey on No.4 bed inbetween. Highlights were: 27 Snipe, 230 Teal, 128 Chaffinches, 135 Linnets, 6 Wigeon, 1 Grey Wagtail, 4 Goldcrests, 4 Sparrowhawks, 145 Gadwall, 15 Bullfinches, 2 Willow Tits and 3 Reed Buntings.

Cheers David (with David Spencer, Brian Baird, Helen Allan, Diane Shepherd and George Dunbar)

Ringing Update W/E 16-11-2014 Dave Riley was on No1 bed on the Saturday morning, Redwings were moving in reasonable numbers and 5 new birds were caught out of a total of 43 processed. The other 19 new included 2 Chiffchaffs and 4 Goldcrests. Dave was joined on the Sunday morning by John Blundell and Mike Baron and a further 71 birds were caught including another 7 Redwings and a late, presumed migrant, Blackcap, which had a fat score of 6 and weighed 23.7 grms. Other highlights among the 46 new included only the third Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year for the bed, 5 Goldcrests and 8 Long-tailed Tits. Sightings during the two sessions included 1 Tawny Owl, 5 Water Rails, 2 Teal, 56 Jackdaws, 7 Skylarks, 60 Fieldfares and 153 Redwings (all Saturday) along with 33 Pink-footed Geese, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Raven, 50 Jackdaws, 212 Fieldfares, 70 Redwings and 120 Goldfinches.

Michael Miles was joined by Tony Wilkinson on No3 bed on the Saturday morning when he caught 22 birds with 13 new including single Redwing and Goldcrest. Sightings included 70 Chaffinches in the seed crop.

Ringing Update W/E 09-11-2014 Dave Riley was on No1 bed on the Sunday when he caught 24 birds with 17 new including 4 Chaffinch, 4 Reed Buntings, 3 Goldcrests (plus one UK control) and a Lesser Redpoll. Sightings during the morning included a Sparrowhawk hunting before dawn, no doubt trying to surprise one of the many Robins and thrushes that were about then, 3 Pink-footed Geese, 5 Water Rails, 130 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, 1 Mistle Thrush and 25 Skylarks.

Mike Miles was out on No3 bed on the Saturday morning until the rain arrived at 09.30, he caught 30 birds with the 25 new including 1 Redwing and 15 Chaffinches. Sightings included 100 Chaffinches, 50 Greenfinches, 10 Goldfinches and 10 Linnets, all on the north meadow, while a Goldeneye landed briefly in front of the Morgan Hide.

It was a very pleasant day for mid-November - dry with some sunshine. Mallard numbers are beginning to increase and a reserve total of 158 was my highest for some time. 64 Gadwall, mostly on No.3 bed was a good count for the time of year and there were over 100 Chaffinch on the winter seed crop and 40 Greenfinch at the feeders. Willow Tits were heard calling on Nos.1 and 4 beds and a Peregrine was on the viaduct. The path to the north of the river to the east of the viaduct appears to have reopened and I walked as far as the fish refuge taking care not to walk too close to the river as parts of the bank still look unstable. There is still a lot of pondweed on both No.3 bed and the loop of No.4 bed. Brian Martin and I took a sample; see photo. If anyone can identify it please let us know!

Pondweed identification Chris Newman has suggested the weed could be the Mosquito fern Azolla. Any confirmations would be appreciated. John Blundell WECG 24/11/2014

Rob McHale also considers the weed to be Azolla species which can be aggressive blanket covering plants. The identification will be reviewed at our December committee meeting. John Blundell WECG 30/11/2014

Pochard at the weir

Wag tail today

We had a lovely few hrs at the reserve today glorious sunshine.Had a walk to the weir where we saw pochard.tufted ducks, two male goldeneye and lots of cormorants on the river aswell as two shovelers.A passerby said he had seen two female goldeneye but we didn’t see them.A little quiet on the reserve snipe ,shovelers herons,tufted ducks and a grey wagtail to name a few.We left there and called at Marbury park on the way home 18 great crested grebe a few tufted and mallard the feeder was busy with black coal and blue tits.No sighting of the bittern Gill and Roger

Is this a Sparrow hawk in disguise ? The Magpie chased the poor little Greenfinch, ploughed into the bush and emerged with his kill.

Bracket Fungus today near the Ringers station. No idea about the species.

Cooking hint

Place in a pot with a brick and boil for 24 hours. Discard the fungus and eat the brick.

No.3 bed was alive with finches this morning moving all around the bed but particularly concentrating on the winter feed area and the John Morgan hide. c80 Greenfinches and c20 Chaffinch were visiting the hide feeders and the first Brambling of the winter period was found amongst the Chaffinch. c130 Chaffinch were found in the winter feed area together with c120 Linnet. Mid-morning another 100 Linnet flew in from No.4 bed. A second Brambling was heard calling from the feed area and a small number of Goldfinch and Redpoll were observed. Other birds noted were, 1 Cetti’s Warbler ( heard briefly at dawn from the John Morgan hide}, 30 Snipe, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Water Rail, 2 Shelduck, 4 Willow Tits, 10 Redwing and 233 Fieldfare.

cheers David (with Dave Steel, Les Jones, Al Warford, Paul Hazlehurst, Brian Baird, Helen Allan, Diane Shepherd, George Dunbar and Kelly Ainsworth)

Ringing Review w/e 02-11-2014 Dave Riley was on No1 bed on the Wednesday and Thursday, catching 72 birds over the two sessions with the 58 new including 2 Redwings, 4 Chiffchaffs,19 Goldcrests and 9 Reed Buntings. Mike Baron had a two hour session on the Friday morning, catching sixteen birds with the ten new including another 3 Goldcrests and a Song Thrush. Sightings during the session included a Sparrowhawk hunting during the dark (there were plenty of thrushes and Robins on the track), 11 Pink-footed Geese, 50 Skylarks (all 29th), 134 Redwings, 41 Lesser Redpolls, 70 Starlings (leaving a roost), 1 Siskin and 1 Raven (all 30th), 2 Tawny Owls, 110 Redwings, 4 Fieldfares and 11 Skylarks (all 31st).

The No3 bed team were out on the Saturday morning, catching 61 birds with 45 new including 14 Redwings, 12 Chaffinches and 7 Goldcrests with the star bird being their eighth Cetti’s Warbler of the year. Sightings during the session included 9 Black-tailed Godwits and 3 Skylarks.

Managed to squeeze in an hour’s birding between two meetings this morning. From the Morgan Hide, 2 Goldeneyes, 2 Water Rails, 9 Wigeon, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and 12 Snipe were the main sightings. Interestingly, maybe due to the shallower water levels in autumn, there have been more Black-headed Gulls this year, staying and feeding after the breeding season. A group of 25 was co-operatively plunge-diving this morning.

Photo taken looking east towards the footbridge.

Cheers David

Photo taken in No.3 bed this morning

The tower hide, early morning - photo by Paul Hazelhurst

This morning’s sunrise from the John Morgan hide - photo by Paul Hazelhurst

We made the best of this morning’s clear skies, covering from No.3 bed to Bollin Point and back before it started to drizzle. Highlights were: 588 Fieldfares, 312 Redwings, 540 Starlings, 400 Teal, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Goldeneye, 2 Siskins, 6 Lesser Redpolls, 35 Linnets, 14 Goldcrests, 1 Willow Tit, 1 Peregrine, 2 Water Rails and 4 Sparrowhawks.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Al Warford, Paul Hazlehurst, Brian Baird, Helen Allan, Les Jones and George Dunbar)

A glorious day and I was hoping for some late butterflies but none were seen! There were some interesting counts of wildfowl including 11 Pochard of which 9 were at Bollin Point together with about 120 Tufted Duck and 18 Coot. Reserve-wide totals included 118 Mallard, 82 Gadwall and 43 Shoveler. Three male Goldeneye were on the river to the north of No.2 bed. Robin numbers were significantly lower than in recent weeks with only 35 counted. Photo; Birch trees on Butchersfield Tip.

A pleasant couple of hours on No.3 bed this morning, with a short flurry of excitement when a gull, showing characteristics of Ring-billed, touched down briefly before flying west. Noticeably stockier, longer-winged and paler than an adjacent Common Gull, it showed a pale iris and strong bill-band. Didn’t have time to check all fieldmarks, so it’ll have to stay as a “possible”. Otherwise, 15 Golden Plover flew over to the east, along with 50 Fieldfares and 23 Skylarks, with 7 Black-tailed Godwits still present.

Cheers David (with David Spencer)

A pleasant couple of hours on No.3 bed this morning, with a short flurry of excitement when a gull, showing characteristics of Ring-billed, touched down briefly before flying west. Noticeably stockier, longer-winged and paler than an adjacent Common Gull, it showed a pale iris and strong bill-band. Didn’t have time to check all fieldmarks, so it’ll have to stay as a “possible”. Otherwise, 15 Golden Plover flew over to the east, along with 50 Fieldfares and 23 Skylarks, with 7 Black-tailed Godwits still present.

Cheers David (with David Spencer)

Went onto No.3 bed on a nice, sunny morning, intending to do a bit of photography. Pink-footed Geese were passing over, with c.1,450 heading east in an hour. 14 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Snipe, 2 Water Rails, 210 Teal, 25 Shoveler, 40 Gadwall and 2 Goldeneyes (reported by David Spencer at the Weir Pool) were the early highlights. Then went to the Linley Hide, where I was surprised to see a Woodcock feeding out in the open. Grabbed my camera to find that my battery was flat, as was my spare - typical!

300-400 Starlings came in to roost this evening. Also 7 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 immature male Goldeneye at the weir basin

No.3 bed on a fine,sunny morning.13 Black-tailed Godwits,10 of which flushed by a male Sparrowhawk. 4 Little Grebes together in front of the Linley hide. Two butterflies seen one unidentified and the other a Red Admiral sunning itself on the footbridge. About 150 Teal but only 20 Gadwall and a few Shoveler.

Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus)

Comma (Polygonia c-album)the only butterfly I seen.

Shaggy Scalycap (Pholiota squarrosa)

The Buzzard that put the Shoveler to flight.

A small group of Shoveler put to flight by a Buzzard

A rewarding session of Visible Migration watching from the top of Butchersfield Tip this morning. Clear skies and unseasonally warm temperatures made for good visibility, with just a slight haze over towards Winter Hill. Highlights were: 5,000 Starlings, 4,176 Woodpigeons, 635 Fieldfares, 487 Redwings, 505 Pink-footed Geese, 88 Skylarks, 2 Siskins and 10 Redpolls.

Photo of a Buzzard from this morning.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Paul Hazlehurst, Brian Baird, Helen Allan, Les Jones and George Dunbar)