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

Mist netting 3/6/24

This session took place in the willows and along the Stafford Brook quite close to the Discovery Hut. A total of 28 birds were caught comprising 10 species. The highlight, and the first bird to be processed, was this reed warbler which had been ringed in France. It was a female and had a well developed brood patch which suggests that she may be breeding nearby. 

French ringed Reed Warbler

The bird was ringed on 3/6/2020 in Noyant, Soulaire-et-Bourg, Maine-et-Loire, France, and was  at least a year old at the time.  The bird is therefore at least 5 years old, and although the maximin known age of a Reed Warbler is 12 years & 11 months, as the typical lifespan is only 2 years, it's doing OK. It's 397km from where the bird was ringed to where it was re-trapped, and it may have done that journey every year to breed. 

Location of ringing & re-trapping.

Robin Pearson

Mist netting 20/5/24

A small group of members took part in a mist net session at the crop field. Nineteen birds were caught which included a good selection of juveniles. The juveniles of a number of species, such as this robin, blackbird and stonechat, are easily recognised by their spotty plumage. 

             Juvenile Robin

   

Juvenile Blackbird

                                                                                                                                                         

Juvenile Stonechat

This juvenile house sparrow shows bare patches of skin under the wing and on the legs where fully formed feathers have yet to grow.

Juvenile House Sparrow

This male house sparrow is not a juvenile but was aged as a 5 which is a bird that was hatched in the previous calendar year. We can see this in the median coverts, which are the band of white feathers running just under the ringer’s thumb in the photo below. The median coverts have a distinct dark black base to them in this individual which is characteristic of age 5. In an adult bird the median coverts would show only a small dark mark at their base. 

Median coverts on male House Sparrow

House Sparrow showing HIS ringer's grip.

We also caught some migrants including this whitethroat which we aged as an adult (age 6) because the outer tail feathers are white rather than the buff colour of a bird hatched last year (age 5). 

Whitethroat

Whitethroat tail

When we caught these two male reed warblers they were less concerned with being held by us than in seeing each other off – something that they continued to do in the reed beds after release.

Arguing Reed Warblers

Robin Pearson

Mist netting 2/4/24

On 2nd April, the group were hosts to a visiting group of students from University Centre Reaseheath College, Cheshire. The group has a long-running association with the centre, and has delivered demonstrations for them on multiple occasions. It was therefore a privilege to have them back on site in East Devon.

It was a grey start to the day as the team assembled at Seaton, before collecting kit and heading to base at the cropfield. The usual nets were set across the area, hoping to catch a range of species between them. The site boasts thick hedgerow, scrub, green pasture and thickets, so when nets are spread across the whole area, some variety of catch is near-guaranteed.

The morning got off to a good start with 4 warblers – 3 Cettis, a Chiffchaff and a nice, seasonally fitting, Willow. This proved a good chance for the team to examine the various identifying features of these three related species.

Cettis Warblers – a relatively new resident to Britain, following widespread breeding in 2012 – are unlike most of our other warbler species in the fact that they are largely resident all year. They also have 10 tail feathers, unlike all other passerines, which have 12.

The university group arrived around 9:30am, just as we were processing a net round’s worth of catch. Half of the group stayed to watch this process, while the rest were guided round the site by Mike. Once the birds had been processed, the rest of the team answered questions on catching and measuring techniques, as well as discussing the importance of ringing from a conservational standpoint. Meanwhile, some of the local birds showed nicely around the viewing point, including a handsome male Stonechat.

The university group surveying the site. 

(Robin Pearson)

‘Chiffs’ and Willow Warblers are a familiar duo of similar species that ringers of all guises will be well used to distinguishing in the hand. Nonetheless, it’s always worth 

taking the time at the beginning of the season to re-aquaint ones’-self with the bird’s differences. This bird was first thought to be a Willow based on its overall colour – while not a steadfast diagnostic by itself, most Willows are altogether yellower than Chiffs. A further check of the emargination score (E=5) confirmed that we had caught the former

Willow Warbler (Fiona Coope)

There was, as is so often the case when ringing, a morning lull that lasted for some time – this proved an opportune moment to explain the way in which no two days are the same for ringing, and that, regrettably, sometimes birds don’t read the script! Being ecologically minded students and staff, they were very understanding (a quality which we were very grateful for).

However, after a couple of dud net checks, a single Chiffchaff took pity on us and neatly pocketed itself in the net. This allowed students to view the extraction, as well as the full task of processing, back at base. Finally, the bird was released – perfectly – by a member of the visiting troupe. All just in time for them to head back to their coach. A very good morning

Counting the emarginations of a chiffchaff 

(Robin Pearson) 

Following the visitors’ departure and our dismantling of the nets, we had a final couple of good birds – an (obligatory) Blue Tit, a stonking male House Sparrow (quite seasonal here) and a lovely female Goldfinch – identified by the presence of lighter nasal ‘whiskers’ around its upper mandible. This bird proves the way in which the extent of red on the bird’s head is not always a reliable characteristic to sex this species on – with this individual, the red front does indeed extend just behind this bird’s eye, which, if looked at alone, could be interpreted as an indicator of a male bird. But, the colour of the whiskers suggested otherwise.

Female Goldfinch. (Fiona Coope)

Visiting students & staff (Robin Pearson) 

The ringing team (Fiona Coope) 

Toby Moran Mylett 

Public session at Borrow Pit

Seaton Marshes and the Borrow Pit are not so popular as the main public area of the Wetlands, but the Axe Estuary Ringing Group are still responsible for monitoring migrant birds at the site. This year, the Group in partnership with East Devon Countryside Team, have arranged for two public demonstrations at the Borrow Pit, one in early May and the second in August. At the May session five members of the public attended and found the ringing activity interesting and encouraged some to show an interest in the Group’s activities. Seventeen birds were ringed of nine species which gave the observers a wide range of birds found at the Borrow Pit.

  

Mike Tyler 

Mist netting 21/3/24

 A small team assembled for a mist netting session around the willows & Stafford Brook. We set up a base in the pond dipping shelter, and finished setting the six nets at about 8am. It was a very quiet morning, despite the perfect ringing weather. We managed to catch 14 birds, 11 new and 3 retraps from previous sessions on site.

Whilst we were processing a pair of Chiffchaffs, a Mallard wandered into the shelter. With the aid of a few crumbs of bread, Neil managed to entice the duck close enough to grab.

Neil with the obviously male Mallard

Neil helping Fran to ring the Mallard

It was aged as an adult due to the size & shape of the black tips of the greater coverts.

Fiona, a Countryside Assistant with the Wild East Devon team joined us for the session, and ringed her 1st birds under Neil's tuition. 

Fiona taking hold of the Great Tit in the ringer's grip. 

Putting the ring on...Great Tits can take one of two sizes of ring depending on the size of the bird's leg

Ageing the bird: this was an adult as the colour of the primary & greater coverts was the same 

Later, two Blue Tits were caught together. The male was a much brighter blue & had a longer wing (65mm) compared to the duller female with a shorter wing (59mm). 

Male Blue Tit (left) and  female Blue Tit (right)

A very pleasant if somewhat quiet morning!