Mist netting 15/11/24

No mist netting was scheduled by the Group until March, but as there were a few ringers available & the weather was looking good, we set up an extra session.  It was a cold morning, so we were glad that we were able to use the Reed Base again, and set up 8 nets in the reeds and scrub in the vicinity. 

It was quite slow at first, but as soon as the temperature rose allowing us to play tape lures of the smaller birds, we started catching. It actually turned into a good Chiffchaff day, as we caught 12, with one of the first being a bird that was already wearing a ring. The prefix of the ring number didn't seem familiar to anyone, and a quick check on the BTO database DemOn confirmed that the bird was a 'control' ie it hadn't been ringed by the Group. It's always exciting to catch a bird ringed elsewhere, after all, understanding bird movements is one of the main objectives of bird ringing. We'll have to wait to find out where the bird was ringed, although we know that it was ringed on 27/9/24 and was aged '3' ie hatched this year. 

Control Chiffchaff

One of the common means of ageing a bird is to look for a moult limit between different feather generations in the Greater Coverts. Having looked at hundreds of Goldcrest wings over the years hoping to find a moult limit & failing to find one, today was our lucky day! The photo isn't very good, but it is still possible to see the differently coloured feathers. The old outer Greater Coverts have a browner centre & a pale grey-green edge, whereas the newer inner Greater Coverts have a blacker centre & a darker green edge. 

Goldcrest

Goldcrest wing showing moult limit

An 'Age UK' meeting was scheduled to take place in the Reed Base from 1030, led by ranger Penny. We'd arranged to share the hut & demonstrate our activities to the group. They were all enthusiastic & luckily we caught a nice variety of birds to show them. They were particularly pleased to see Cetti's warblers, as they are a bird usually heard & not seen. We caught 5, including the 4 year old bird that we caught at the last session. 

Demonstrating ringing to the Age UK group. 

One of the last birds to be caught was a male Reed Bunting. They're always a bit tricky to age, and as often happens, we consulted the ringing guides, pondered, and then didn't age the bird as it was sending mixed messages!

Male Reed Bunting 

In total we caught 36 birds of 10 species. 

	Ringed	Re-trapped (date ringed)	Control
Blackbird	2	2 (21/10/24)
Blue Tit	2	2 (21/10/24)
Cetti’s Warbler	3	2 (10/10/20, 26/9/24)
Chiffchaff	11		1 (27/9/24)
Dunnock		1 (21/10/24)
Goldcrest	3
Great Tit	2
Reed Bunting	1
Robin	1
Wren	2	1 (21/10/24)
	27	8	1

 

Mist netting 21/10/24

There was a good turn out for today's mist netting session, with 9 members attending. The old 'feeders' area (where no feeders are currently in use), had been cut back by the Wetland volunteers, and Dave, the Wild East Devon ranger,  had strimmed some great  rides in the reeds. We therefore based ourselves in the Reed Base and set 7 nets to make use of the newly cleared areas. It was the first time that we've ringed in this area since September 2022.

We caught 36 birds of 12 species. The star bird was an unexpected Kingfisher, a female that was hatched this year. 

Kingfisher: female as the red lower mandible is >1/3 of the bill length 

The brown tops of the feet indicate it was hatched this year

We caught 2 Blackcaps during the session. This male was hatched this year, as indicated by the small amount of brown in the black cap & the presence of 2 generations of feathers in the wing. The inner 9 Greater Coverts have been renewed since the bird hatched, and have a nice olive-grey edge. The outer Greater Covert is is an old feather, as are the Carpal Covert & Primary Coverts. These feathers are duller with a browner fringe, contrasting with the new Greater Coverts. 

Blackcap male: black cap with small brown tips. 

Blackcap wing 

It was a great session for Stonechats, as we caught 4 around the edges of the reed bed. All 4 birds had been hatched this year, 2 were male & 2 female. The male Stonechat below has no old Greater Coverts, but there is a clear contrast between the new black Greater Coverts & 2 upper Alula feathers,  and the older brown Primary Coverts & lower Alula feather.

Male Stonechat, with black face & white neck

Male Stonechat wing

Female Stonechat

We caught 3 new Cetti's warblers, and re-trapped one that was originally ringed on 10/10/20 as a bird hatched that year, ie it is now 4 years old. He had also been caught on 17/4/21 & 18/11/21.  The typical lifespan of a Cetti's is 2 years, so he's doing quite well, although the maximum known age from ringing is 9 years 3 months & 28 days. Hopefully we'll keep catching him until it reaches a ripe old age! I say 'he' as he could be sexed due to having a very long wing length of 66mm.  

4 year old Cetti's Warbler

Part of the Team in our luxury ringing base!

	New	Re-trapped (date ringed)
Blackbird	3
Blackcap	2
Blue Tit	6
Cetti’s Warbler	3	1 (10/10/20)
Chiffchaff	3
Dunnock	4
Goldcrest	1
Kingfisher	1
Robin	2	1 (27/8/22)
Song Thrush	1
Stonechat	4
Wren	3	1 (26/9/24)
	33	3

Mist-netting 26/9/24

The weather forecast kept changing & we almost cancelled the session due to impending rain showers....but decided to give it a go. We'd originally planned to go to Colyford Common at the far end of the Wetlands, but changed to the Willows area so we'd have the pond dipping shelter for cover if needed. 

We put up 6 nets, and almost immediately caught a Cetti's Warbler. They're quite difficult birds to age, but testing out Robin's new guide 'Identification Atlas of the Continental Birds of Southwestern Europe' by Blasco-Zumeta & Heinze, we aged it as an adult (age code 4). The guide is excellent, using a lot of the photos & information that's been available for some time online at Blasco-Zumeta.com. The bird was aged as an adult due to the lack of a moult limit in the wing, the white tips on the longest Undertail Coverts (arrowed in photo), the broad rounded tail, and the lack of tongue spots. 

Cetti's Warbler

Cetti's wing

Cetti's Undertail Coverts

Cetti's tail

We then had a bit of a surprise as the first proper round produced 21 birds, which included a flock of 6 Long-tailed Tits.  Adult Long-tailed Tits undergo a complete post-breeding moult, and quite unusually, the post-juvenile moult of this years birds is also complete. Therefore, if the birds have finished moulting, it's impossible to age them. This was the case with all 6 birds, although one of them was the only re-trap of the day, having been ringed by myself on 17/10/23 in the same area. At the time, the bird had already completed its moult so I was unable to age it, therefore we only know that the bird is at least a year old. 

There were also 8 Chiffchaffs caught in the round, most of which were immature, having been hatched this year. It's often possible to spot the immature birds using the presence of unmoulted old Greater Coverts as shown below. The outer Greater Coverts which would have been grown in the nest have a paler fringe & browner centre than the newly grown inner feathers which have a brighter fringe & darker centre. Chiffchaff tail feathers can also be used to age the bird as the juvenile feathers tend to be browner, more pointed & tatty than the newly grown feathers. In the photo below, the juvenile central tail feathers have been replaced. 

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff wing

Chiffchaff tail

The last bird of the day was a Robin, which had a much more obvious moult limit in its wing. The outer old Greater Coverts (OGCs) have a chocolatey background colour & large pale 'thorns'. The new inner Greater Coverts are more olive & have no thorns. 

Robin wing

We did have a few minutes of sunshine during the session, but at about 10 the rain started in earnest & we packed up.  

The Team in the sunshine!

	Ringed	Re-trapped
Blackcap	4
Blue Tit	2
Cetti’s Warbler	1
Chiffchaff	12
Long-tailed Tit	5	1
Robin	1
Wren	2
	27	1