Mist netting 17/10/2023

Four members of the Group were joined by Fiona, a Countryside Assistant with Wild East Devon, for a session in the 'Willows'.  This area, which is quite close to the Discovery Hut, hasn't been ringed for quite some time. Severn nets were set, including one across the small brook which runs along the edge of the area, and a ringing base was set up in the pond-dipping shelter. 

Ringing underway in the pond-dipping shelter. 

It was rather windier than ideal, although better than had been forecast, and quite slow going with just a few birds each round. A Long-tailed Tit already wearing a ring turned out to have been originally ringed as a newly hatched bird on  9/8/21,  by one of the Group present at this session, and to have been subsequently re-trapped on 18/11/21 & 19/1/22. The typical lifespan of a Long-tailed Tit is 2 years, so it's already doing fairly well, although it has a long way to go before reaching the maximum known age of 8 years & 11 months. 

Long-tailed Tit first ringed 9/8/21

The undoubted stars of the show were two Grey Wagtails, caught in the net over the brook. The Group has only previously caught nine Grey Wagtails, the last one having been ringed in November 2019. Both birds were hatched this year. The birds were aged using the difference in colour between the Median Coverts, which had been moulted during the Post-juvenile Moult & were dark black, and the duller brown Greater Coverts, which were grown in the nest. 

The first Grey Wagtail.

Feature used to age the Grey Wagtail as having been hatched this year (age code 3)

Second Grey Wagtail

Underside of Grey Wagtail 

	Ringed	Re-trapped
Blackbird	1
Chiffchaff	3
Dunnock	2
Great Tit	1
Grey Wagtail	2
Long-tailed Tit	4	1
Robin	1
Wren	3
	17	1

A successful wader catch 13/9/23

It was in the pre-covid era that the last wader catch on the Axe took place, so there was much trepidation and excitement between ringers as we set up on Colyford Marsh. Teal, Curlew and Little Egret were all noted in this period, and their flight patterns influenced our placement of nets. 

Wader footprints on the mud at Colyford – a promising start. (Photo: T. M. Mylett)

Mist-netting for waders requires a different approach to our monthly passerine sessions; whilst the former group is best targeted from the early morning, it tends to be more successful to catch waders as they come into roost. We set up 5 60ft nets (and herded cattle) across the tussocky terrain from 4:30-6pm, while Adrian kindly marked a clear pathway for us to use once darkness set in. Without the white bamboo canes to follow, there may have been a few too many You’ve Been Framed moments. 

Setting up nets. (Photo: Robin Pearson)

Watching the nets was at first frustrating, as a small troupe of Ringed Plover gallingly fed underneath the nearest shelves. After some time, however, our first bird was caught – a magnificent Curlew – and from there, the evening really took off. 

Robin and Mark measure the wing of a Curlew. (Photo: Mark Wills)

Per BTO guidance for Curlew and Dunlin, and for the sake of parity, we measured tarsus and bill length of all birds caught. This proved a good opportunity to refine our skills in these areas, generally not used for the smaller birds we catch during our monthly crop field sessions. In Curlew, these measurements can prove useful to identifying the sex; females are, on average, altogether larger. In Dunlin, the same measurements can prove indicative of different subspecies. 

A total of 5 Dunlin were also ringed. Because these were caught within the same net round, we were able to compare them during processing, which proved a valuable lesson in identification and ageing. Much conversation was had regarding the slight differences in plumage, and the guidance given by Jeff Baker and Laurent Demongin’s texts. The latter had a point of particularly pertinent advice preceding all discussion of the species – ageing may prove ‘very difficult’. Indeed. 

A Dunlin in the hand (Photo: Mark Wills)

In simplified summary, Dunlin can be aged based on the overall colour of their feathers. More warm, golden-brown birds are younger, and those with greyer hues are older. The below picture shows all 5, which comprised of 4 immature birds and 1 adult (at the left of the circle).

Comparing Dunlin. (Photo: Mark Wills)

Other appearances were made by a Common Snipe, 5 of (presumably) the 6 cheeky Ringed Plover mentioned earlier, and 2 Common Sandpiper. The Ringed Plover were another treat, as they are the first the AERG has ever ringed.

Common Snipe (Photo: Sue Murphy)

A Ringed Plover in the hand. This bird hatched this year – According to Baker and Svensson, in adults, the beak would also be bright orange contrasting to a well-marked black tip, and the legs would be of a similar orange, unlike the yellowish tarsi this bird has. (Photo: Sue Murphy)

Alan processes a Common Sandpiper, Demongin to hand. (Photo: Mark Wills)

Common Sandpiper (Photo: Robin Pearson)

The session proved to be the largest catch for the site, with 14 birds of 5 species caught. It was a great turn out with 10 ringers from Devon and beyond attending. All birds were newly ringed, and there were no retraps (bar 1 Dunlin, who seemingly enjoyed being processed so much the first time they hopped back into the net around 10pm). 

Species	Total ringed
Common Sandpiper	2
Common Snipe	1
Curlew	1
Dunlin	5
Ringed Plover	5
	14

Dismantling the nets in the deep jurassic dark proved a final challenge, but, as always, many hands made light work. The marsh is a mucky site to navigate and most of us had a liberal splash of Colyford mud on our gear and hands by the end of the evening. Final comments between the group included a humorous quip from Allan regarding how our own earthy covering could rival Gweneth Paltrow’s own ‘Goop’ range. We’ll leave the marketing of that idea to him… 

-T. M. Mylett

And in other news.....

On 3/9/23, the Group set up a display stand at the annual Seaton Wetlands Wildlife Day. The event was rather quiet, possibly due to the fact that it was a gorgeous day & everyone was on the beach, and the holiday-makers were on their way home as the school term was about to start. 

A couple of days prior to the wader session, on 11/9/23,  4 members attended Colyford Common for the more usual passerine ringing session. 35 birds were caught and processed, which included 4 re-traps. 

	Ringed	Re-trapped
Blackbird		1
Blackcap	6
Blue Tit	7	1
Cetti’s Warbler	1
Chiffchaff	5
Dunnock	3
Goldfinch	1
Great Tit	2
Greenfinch	1
Reed Warbler	1
Robin	2	2
Whitethroat	1
Wren	1
	31	4

Mist netting 15/8/2023

After a spot of cow herding, 8 nets were set around the Colyford Common end of the reserve. It was the best turn out for some time, with 8 ringers attending. The first couple of rounds we had more ringers than birds, and it looked like there would be a lot of thumb-twiddling during the morning. However, at around 9:30 it livened up and we had an excellent session, catching 74 birds of 18 species.

Whilst birding, Willow Warblers &  Chiffchafs can be quite difficult to tell apart unless they're singing. However, a pair of young birds caught together show how different they can be.

Chiffchaff in complete juvenile plumage on the left. Young Willow Warbler on the right.

In the hand, a close look at the wing can differentiate between the species, even in birds that have the same general appearance. A Chiffchaff will have the outer 6 primary flight feathers emarginated, but a Willow Warbler will only be emarginated to the 5th feather. 

The wing of a Willow Warbler as only the outer 5 feathers emarginated
(feathers 1 & 2 partly obscured in this photo)

We caught 15 Blackcaps, all of which were this year's youngsters, although they had been hatched at various times & were in different stages of their post-juvenile moult; some were still in complete juvenile plumage, some were part way through their moult, and one had finished. 

Blackcap undergoing post-juvenile moult, still with juvenile head feathers.

Blackcap wing showing greater coverts in various stages of growth, this bird having lost the greater coverts grown in the nest. 

16 of the 17 Goldfinches caught were juveniles which hadn't yet completed their post-juvenile moult to acquire their red faces.

Juvenile Goldfinch

The star of the show though was the Marsh Tit, a first for the site!

Marsh Tit

Part of the Team!

	Rung	Re-trapped (original ringing date)
Blackbird	2	1 (22/5/23)
Blackcap	15
Blue Tit	1	1 (13/7/23)
Chiffchaff	2
Dunnock	1	2 (12/6/23 & 2/11/21)
Goldfinch	17
Great Tit	1
Greenfinch	9
House Sparrow	6
Linnet	1
Marsh Tit	1
Reed Warbler	1
Robin	6
Song Thrush	1
Stonechat	1
Swallow	1
Willow Warbler	2
Wren	1	1 (22/5/23)
	69	5