Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh - 25/2/12

This morning was a public demonstration session, part of the EDDC's Winter Bird Festival.

Throughout the morning a good number of onlookers watched the group process a small number of birds caught either through mist nets set on Stafford Marsh and Colyford Common, or the Abberton Traps on Colyford Common.

Weather: Dry but overcast, light west wind, very mild.

Only 4 new birds were ringed, but in total 18 birds of 8 species were processed;

4 Mallard (2 retraps)
4 Moorhen (all retraps)
2 Blackbird (retraps)
1 Dunnock (retrap)
1 Wren (retrap)
3 Blue Tit (2 retrap)
2 Long-tailed Tit (retraps)
1 Goldfinch

No pictures I'm afraid! Plenty more in the next post though I promise...

Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh - 21/2/12

This seemed like the first mist netting session for a long while, although the five hours spent in the field may have shown why! Despite the good mist netting conditions, the total was poor.

Weather: Dry and mild, cloud cover varying from 30%-70%, light west wind though the odd noticeable breeze, good visibility.

Five nets were set in all, most along the Stafford Brook, with single mist nets also on Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh. Right from the start it did 'feel' quiet, but it is always worth a go - you just never know! Not long til the Spring now though...

11 birds of 8 species were processed;

2 Blackbird
1 Song Thrush
1 Robin (retrap)
1 Dunnock
1 Wren (retrap)
1 Long-tailed Tit
3 Greenfinch
1 Bullfinch

Bullfinch 5m - Stafford Marsh Feb '12 (c) Steve Waite

Wren wing (aged 6) - Stafford Marsh Feb '12 (c) Steve Waite

The rarest sight of the day, the blogger actually ringing a bird! - Stafford Marsh Feb '12 (c) Adrian Bayley

Cannon Netting on Seaton Marshes - 29/1/12

Thanks to a Peregrine looking for breakfast over Seaton Marshes early on Sunday, and an imminent arrival of a mass of corvids, the team had to make do with a smaller catch than the norm.

Weather: Damp, 100% cloud cover, cold wind.

As well as the cannon net catch, a single Mallard was caught in one of the Abberton traps on Colyford Common afterwards. In all, 33 birds of 3 species were processed;

29 Shelduck (19 retraps)
3 Mallard
1 Wigeon

The team - Stafford Marsh Jan '12 (c) Mike Tyler

Cannon Netting on Seaton Marshes - 08/1/12

The first ringing session of the year, a cannon net catch on Seaton Marshes. The whole session was almost called off though due to a couple of wildfowlers trespassing and shooting on the reserve a couple of evenings prior to the catch day. If you do or have witnessed any illegal wildfowling on the valleys nature reserves, please report it to the Police and the countryside department of the EDDC.

Weather: Dry, 60% cloud cover, light west wind, excellent visibility.

There was a smaller team than last time, maybe because the catch was expected to be a rather small one.

The extraction team waiting for the go in half life - Seaton Marshes Jan '12 (c) Adrian Bayley

It was indeed a smaller catch than the last cannon netting session, probably due to the aforementioned disturbance. Although probably also something to do with the continuing mild weather. 33 birds of 5 species were processed;

27 Shelduck (15 retraps)
1 Moorhen
2 Crow
2 Rook
1 Jackdaw

Terry measuring a Shelduck - Stafford Marsh Jan '12 (c) Adrian Bayley

A quick photo of the newly fitted colour-ring - Stafford Marsh Jan '12 (c) Adrian Bayley

Corvids are often seen feeding in the catch area, but if there are too many the cannon cannot be fired due to licence restrictions. Luckily only five were in the catch area so the cannon could indeed be fired.

Crow and Rook - Stafford Marsh Jan '12 (c) Adrian Bayley

So, although it was wasn't one of the most productice cannon netting sessions, the team were more than happy with the first 17 birds ringed of 2012 for the Axe Esuary Ringing Group.

The team - Stafford Marsh Jan '12 (c) Mike Tyler

Happy Christmas

Robin - Colyford Common Dec '08 (c) Steve Waite

The Axe Estuary Ringing Group would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Colyford Common and Stafford Marsh - 15/12/11

Today saw the Group's annual festive feast! The last ringing session of the year always includes the bonus of lots of food and drink! This year, due to the weather there was a lot less ringing though, with mist netting only possible during the gaps between the showers. All ringing operations centered around the Field Studies Base, and the Abberton traps on Colyford Common were also used.

Weather; Heavy showers with some dry interludes, 100% cloud cover and a moderate south west wind.

The weather really did interrupt the ringing today. Just half an hour after the nets had been set, they were felled due to a rain shower. So although this was inconvenient for the ringing - it didn't matter as much as usual because there was plenty of food to eat!!

A game was even set up in the classroom by Adrian Bayley. Identify the species by its eye...

Doug having a closer look - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

And the winners were...

Doug and Fraser with the prize, some nuts! - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Back to the ringing, and only 13 birds of 6 species were processed;

2 Mallard
1 Moorhen
2 Blackbird
1 Robin (retrap)
6 Greenfinch
1 Goldfinch

Male Mallard about to be weighed - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

'The boss' keeping his hands in - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Cannon Netting on Seaton Marshes - 11/12/11

Today saw the first cannon netting session of the winter. The first one of the season was due to take place a few weeks before, but due to a lack of duck and water (!) it was called off.

As ever the net was set the previous afternoon by a small team lead by the group leader.

Cannon net set - Seaton Marshes Dec'11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Weather: it remained dry, despite showers before and after the ringing session, 100% cloud cover, light to moderate south west wind, visibility good.

A remarkable 28 people turned up for this ringing session, as usual this total included a good mix of experienced A ringers, C ringers, trainees and helpers.

The team (minus two) - Stafford Marsh Dec'11 (c) Mike Tyler

After a briefing at 7am, the firing team (including qualified cannon netter and group leader Mike Tyler) made their way to the hide, whilst everyone else remained on standby for extraction out of sight.

From the hide, in the early morning gloom it was obvious there were a good number of wildfowl on the lagoon - although this did include about 60 Canada Geese! A small number of Canada Geese were already in the catching area, but with the rest of the flock making a bee line to join them, when all was safe to do so, the net was fired. The time was 07:30.

By 07:40 all birds had been safely extracted from the net thanks to the efforts of the qualified extractors, and experienced helpers.

Canada Geese - Seaton Marshes Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Considering the rather mild weather, and limited number of duck in the valley, the catch was respectable, with 63 birds of 5 species processed;

3 Mute Swan (2 retraps)
13 Canada Goose (1 retrap)
11 Shelduck (5 retraps)
22 Wigeon (2 retraps)
14 Mallard (1 retrap)

The Mute Swans were quickly processed and realeased on site. The decision was then taken to transport the rest of the birds to the new classroom on Stafford Marsh, as there was a very real threat of rain.

It takes two to ring a Mute Swan! - Seaton Marshes Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Once everything and everyone had arrived safely at Stafford Marsh, the group was split in to three teams.

Team Shelduck - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Out of the six unringed Shelduck, five were this year's young (aged 3) - but I wonder if they were born locally or have migrated in from elsewhere?

'Captain Cango' (aka Terry) keeps an eye on Team Canada Goose - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

Team 'everything else' had the Mallards and Wigeon.

Wigeon 4M left and 3M right; wing and tail shots - Stafford Marsh Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley

The two retrap Wigeon were both ringed at Seaton Marshes. One of them was a 6F ringed by Luke Phillips on 8th January this year, but the other was ringed as a 4F by Peter Robinson on 29th November 2008. This just shows that wintering birds are often site faithful.

After all the birds had been safely processed and released, the team returned to Seaton Marshes to pack away the net.

Packing up - Seaton Marshes Dec '11 (c) Adrian Bayley