Autumn at Portland....but in the sun !!

We've just spent 3 Days at Portland Bird Obs. over the week-end.
Wendy and Dawn ringed the first Redwings of Portland's autumn, nice to find in the nets amongst the Robins !Not all autumn though, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 7 Blackcaps, 6 Chiffchaffs and a very nice to weigh 24.g Garden Warbler..
Raptor movement was nice too..
10 Common Buzzards soaring above the Bill was record- breaking on the Saturday, and the Kestrels, Sparrowhawks and Short-eared Owls kept the finches diving for cover and into nets.
Shorties peaked at 18 Owls over the Top fields on the Sunday.

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Another windy day so admin jobs instead of ringing!

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Chiffs, Chaffs, and very long bills......!!

Apologies for the late posting,.....A Western Bonelli's in the county caused a delay to the admin for Wendy and I..!!

Saturday at the CES site;-
8 new Chiffs & 35 new Chaffs, along with new Great Tits and Song Thrushes seemed to mirror coastal passage through the county and islands...
(74 new 18 retraps)

Sunday, a TRG first !! and very pleasing, two of our other migration hotspots, were ringed simultaneously. Little to report from these hotspots though today....
So off !! Wendy, Dyfed, Karen and I go......
Off to Kidwelly and further depths of Carmarthenshire.
Long-billed Dowitcher, Glossy Ibis, Spotted Redshank, and 4 Curlew Sandpipers by rotating our 'scopes....from Kidwelly Quay wall.

Back to ringing in the morning.

Africa to the Teifi......via Icklesham again !!

6 movement details received in the last 48 hrs;-
Constant Effort Session (CES) and Mallard, the Teifi Marsh sites.

Common Whitethroat;-
Our first, L399822 ringed as a juvenile, presumably on passage - Icklesham 5th August 2010,
controlled at CES, a female with a brood patch, - 19th June 2011.

Sedge Warbler;-
Typical movements, presumably ringed on passage.
L018186 ringed as a juvenile - Icklesham 14th August 2010,
controlled at Mallard, a breeding bird ? - 9th & 30th June 2011.
L447220 ringed as a juvenile - Farlington Marsh 8th August 2010,
controlled at Mallard 24th June 2011.

Reed Warbler;-
R424229 ringed as an adult - 12th May 2011, Kenfig Pool, continuing it's Westward movement,
controlled at CES - 19th June 2011.
L598209 ringed at CES site, presumably on passage - 5th September 2010,
controlled Llyn Ystumllyn, Gwynedd - 2nd June 2011.
R336063 our oldest favourite !!
Ringed at Penclacwydd, 22 September 2002, last recaptured 9th July 2011, now 3212 days later.
Only 8 times to West Africa and back so far....

Ringed above the knee -- though not a semi - p !

We now ring Ringed Plovers above the knee - see latest Ringers News. No help to read in the field or by digiscoped photograph !
We also learnt yesterday whilst ringing Curlew on the Severn (see below for our adventure)...that we were to put the rings on upside down. On the leg, wear is greatest on the lower part of the ring, the number being more important than the address, so upside down they are. Again no help to field readers.

So on to toes and lack of webbing.

Only 2 Ringed Plovers caught tonight, (3 more on 30th Sept) with checking webbing rather topical at the moment...... !




We are big Ringed Plover ringers !! In 2009, of 287 full grown ringed in UK...50 (17%) were ringed by us.

Cardiff ringers tell the story...

A change from the Teifi!
A couple of us went over to the Severn Estuary to help catch some Curlew for a colour ringing project.
We had travelled up the day before to help set up the cannon net at this site. Being my first experience at this method of catching it proved to be a worthwhile and educational few hours. Thanks to all the team.
Have a look at the Cardiff Ringers blog, cardiffringers.blogspot.com. for some nice pictures and description of our morning.
A ringing trip away has to include some birding too so we tried to find the Spotted sandpiper at Lydney without success but better luck at Goldcliff lagoons, Newport on the way home where the American Golden Plover flew over calling. Also 8 Ruff, 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 4 Avocet and a Yellow Wagtail.

A brief respite from the wind...

A window of opportunity was forecast so the nets at Mallard were open at dawn. Now that the acro passage seems to have slowed down or even finished, we have cut down to just 2 X 60 foot nets in the (very wet, thigh deep in places) reed bed and a couple of 2 shelf nets around the pond edge.
Some movement overhead was promising including Snipe and Skylarks. 13 new Reed Buntings and 2 retraps including one that we had not seen since June 2010 was good. A retrap Cetti's Warbler too was welcome as our numbers of these this year is well down.
But look what turned up next! -
Our first Water rail at Mallard. The only previous one was Aug 2009 at our CES site. This first winter female wandered into the 2 shelf net while I was extracting a Blue Tit from the other end!
The other highlight of the morning was a male Migrant Hawker in the net.
(Photos Dawn)
And then the wind stopped play yet again.....