Highland highlights before the Caribbean

Back in San Jose on our way to the Caribbean coast and time for a look back at the last few days of ringing and birding at Madre Selva in the Highlands of Costa Rica.
Birds have been coming to our garden feeder. Flame-coloured Tanagers are the most common.

Tropical Kingbird the most unusual and never seen in the garden before in 5 years.

Clearly the best garden bird was this adult male Slaty Flowerpiercer, a retrap originally ringed by Richard a couple of years ago. See this blog from 2014 showing the same leucistic feathering

Equally sought after for its unusual bill structure was this Peg-billed Finch, not caught in the garden but in one of our standard nets adjacent to Highland dairy pasture.

This pasture edge scrub is also home to Flame-throated Warblers, one of our less common Highland Warblers.

The migrant Thrushes haven't started returning yet but the first returning Warblers have been caught in small numbers.
Black and White Warbler

and Wilson's Warblers

 We are just seeing our first young resident Catharus Thrushes, both Black-billed Nightingale-Thrushes

and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrushes. The pattern of the growth bar in the tail supporting the ageing of this juvenile

We expect to catch our first migrating Thrushes within hours of arriving in Tortuguero on Tuesday.

Back in Costa Rica...CES style

Wendy and I are back here in Costa Rica - standard banding with CRBO -  Costa Rica Bird Observatories. A couple of days in the Highlands, and some birds to show for our efforts...

 Collared Redstarts  are as common here as Chiffchaffs are in the UK at the moment.

We have spent time with some members of the Scientific and General Boards of  CRBO who were staying here with us in Madre Selva.

Saying goodbye this morning to Greg Butcher, C.John Ralph US Forest Service and CJ's wife Carol. It was a real pleasure to spend time with CJ again, having first met him at Long Point Bird Observatory and hear of the early days of setting up the current CRBO sites.

....deep in conversation with Greg too

The first migrants are with us, Louisiana Waterthrushes and Wilson's Warblers caught,  Black and White warblers seen.

Today has been great for endemics (to Highland Costa Rica and Panama) including this Large-footed Finch.

Not an endemic but ..a great name....Streak-breasted Treehunter.....

Bird of the Day....Barred Becard. ..!!

This an adult female caught during standard banding at our Home site this morning. The first that I have caught in 5 years.
Recaptures today included 2 Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrushes, a Black-cheeked Warbler and a Yellow-thighed Finch - all were juveniles when we ringed them last Sept /Oct.

Back in Wales, some of the group are now visiting Mwnt, Linnets, Meadow Pipits, and general migrant birds the targets. Some numbers soon.

(photos by Wendy )

Summer on the Teifi - a round up

CES 2016  - birds we don't catch annually...but we did this year....!

Magpie,

 Pied Flycatcher,

 Willow Tit,

 Grasshopper Warbler,

Otherwise CES was generally poor for numbers of most species. Now the CES season is complete, the BTO will soon publish a summary of national and regional results.

Over the last month we have been active on Poppit beach at night, passage waders are the target. Chris has introduced mist netting elsewhere to complement our lamping. This has improved our Dunlin totals considerably, with c50 caught this month and a Redshank.

 Ringed Plovers are more scattered on the beach and more successfully caught with hand net....

as was this Bar-tailed Godwit..!
 

A brief look at stats for June, July and August in the Teifi Marsh reed beds (not the CES site).....
Birds ringed included
301 Sedge Warblers, and 1 foreign control.
208 Reed Warblers, - great for our RAS project.
7 Cetti's Warblers, - maybe below average...
22 Reed Buntings - poor for our RAS project.
and 9 Kingfishers - above average.

We have already had recoveries of 2 of the August Sedge Warblers.
S322035 was ringed on 5th August by Tristian and controlled at Westdown Plantation, Wiltshire by the North Wilts Ringing Group 9 days later, 208km on the 14th August.
S161775 was ringed on the 15th August, also by Tristian on the 15th August and caught 9 days later at South Milton Ley, Devon 208 km on the 24th August.

News back from the BTO of ringing details of the 2 French ringed Sedge Warblers we caught this summer. One was ringed at Tour aux Moutons, Loire Atlantique on 28th August 2015 and caught on the Teifi Marsh on 5th May 2016. The other was ringed also ringed on the west coast of France at Braud - et- Saint Louis, Gironde on 13th August 2015 and caught by us on the 21st July 2016

During the Autumn dispersal and migration of TRG members, ringing will still be ongoing. There will be  ringing sessions on the Teifi Marshes and at Mwnt for Linnets and general migration.
Keep an eye on the blog for news from near and far.