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

Mist netting 7/9/24 & the Uplyme Summer Show

A number of sessions have been cancelled recently either due to bad weather or a lack of volunteers, but today a session went ahead around the Willows area near to the Discovery Hut. The session had been advertised, and a number of people eager to learn more about bird ringing joined us for the morning. 

It was fairly quiet, but the rain kept off until the very end of the session, and we caught a nice variety of birds, with 22 birds of 11 species. Only one bird had been ringed previously, a Great Tit that had been ringed on 30/6/2 at the Wetlands. 

Sarah explaining the ringing process to our visitors

The beady eye of a Woodpigeon

The 'necklace' of dark spots on this Sedge Warbler indicate that it's a juvenile

A juvenile Reed Warbler

	New	Retrapped
Blackcap	3
Blue Tit	1
Chiffchaff	7
Dunnock	1
Goldcrest	1
Great Tit	1	1
Reed Warbler	1
Robin	3
Sedge Warbler	1
Song Thrush	1
Woodpigeon	1
	21	1

Sue Murphy

UPLYME SUMMER SHOW

On 3^rd August Mike Tyler and I attended the Uplyme Summer Show where we had a stand showcasing the AERG. Our stand included exhibition boards showing the ringing activities that we undertake together with a good collection of bird’s nests and Mike’s bird skull collection which always proves popular, particularly with children. The event was a good opportunity to engage with the community and to make connections with people who otherwise might not know of our existence and the work that we do.

Robin Pearson