Nant Ffrancon - 1st May 2013

 Male Lesser Redpoll

Female Wheatear.

This morning, Kelvin and I tried to start off the summer colour-ringing/radio tracking project on Twite in the Nant Ffrancon. During the morning we saw 8 Twite in total including a couple of singing males and best of all a colour-ringed bird. This bird was ringed by Matt, Ros and I at Flint in February.

Birds that we did catch were 2 Lesser Redpolls (breeding pair) and 2 Northern Wheatears. The male weighed 45g and was packed full of fat (Fat 5/6). He was enourmous!

We also managed to get lovely views of 4 Ring Ouzel and a singing male Common Redstart.

It was a shame we didn't get any Twite, but it does mean I actually get to have a rest over the next couple of days before the inevitable field work that will separate the men from the boys!

Wheatears and Radio Tags - 30th April 2013

This afternoon, Matt and I joined Rachel in our Twite valley to train with the radio tracking receivers for the up and coming field work of my Masters project.

There was quite a lot of standing around waiting for people to get in position and various prolonged moments when we were acclimatising ourselves with the various technologies we will be using during the fieldwork.

As a result, we set up a few spring traps as there were Wheatears everywhere! Almost every 100 metres through the valley, there was pair 'tacking' away. We were able to catch 3 adult male birds and two of these were ringed by me. This is a new species for me in the hand and they're just lovely!

Really excited for the field work as it will be so beneficial for the future of Twite in Wales and the future of my career! It will be very hard work, but nothing in life worth having comes easy.

5 of the 6!

 Common Lizard

 Slow Worm

 Grass Snake

 Adder

 Adder

Adder

Today I took part in a field course for my Herpetology module at Uni and did some reptile surveys at 2 sites in North Wales. We had really great views of the 4 species above (inc 28 Slow Worms) as well as 4 fantastic Sand Lizards at one site. I didn't get any photos of the Sand Lizards as we were trying to minimise disturbance, so I was just pleased to get great views of 2 males and 2 females.

A really enjoyable day and nice to see two UK first for me! - Grass Snake and Sand Lizard.

No deer were harmed in the making of this post!

I haven't quite mastered digiscoping yet...especially when I'm all shakey with excitement!

On sunday, when I was packing the car in Preston, ready to head back to Bangor after the Easter break, I checked Facebook (because I have no life and require Facebook as a life-support!). I noticed that Rob Smallwood posted that there was a Killdeer at Alston Res, Longridge!

I instantly dropped the packing and got into the car to drive the 5 miles to Alston! I got a phone call half way there off Bill Aspin to tell me the bird had flown off! I stopped off at Grimsargh Res to quickly check in case the bird had dropped in, but failed to find anything that would even remotely harm a deer! As a result, I continued to Alston with the hope that it would come back.

Upon arrival, the 15 birders present were running around like headless chickens, so I parked the car and sprinted to the nearest viewing screen. The bird was back!

A superb bird that really showed off during my time viewing the bird. It showed the characteristic double breast band, and when it took flight, it showed the striking orange rump and startlingly white wing bars which reminded me of the inside of a Cream Egg! The call was also very striking and sounded like a cross between a Lapwing and Golden Plover. It was remarkably loud and you could hear it calling even after it departed the wetland at 11.50 (ish...)

Gavin Thomas must be the luckiest man on the planet currently after finding a Killdeer in Ireland 10 days prior to finding it the same/another bird on his local patch in Lancashire! This is a first for Lancashire and a real deserved award for dedicated patchers of Alston (Gavin and Tony Parnell)

My personal thoughts are that the Irish bird and the Alston birds are different after looking at photos of the two birds, but I will leave that to the 'higher ups' to decide.

A session of AA's - 4th March 2013

'collybita' Chiffchaff

This morning, Matt and I did a spot of overwintering warbler ringing and came out with a catch of a collybita Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest and 3 Long-tailed Tits.

Not an amazing catch, but we put the net in the wrong place, I think, but the site itself is incredible for migrants!

Blackbirds - 25th February 2013

Matt and I met at 04.15 this morning and caught 4 Blackbirds at various sites around Bangor

AH - The first bird was an adult male caught within 10 seconds of the net being up by Aldi carpark
AI - The second bird took a bit of effort on upper Farrar Road but eventually the male landed in the 2nd pocket
AJ - As with the first bird, this adult male was in the net within 15 seconds of putting the net up right in front of Memorial Building!
AK - This was the first, and currently only, female Blackbird that we've caught so far. She was seen fighting off a male in University Gardens and flew straight into our net and is now sporting a lovely orange darvic.

A quick wander round Bangor has revealed a lot of unringed birds, but between Matt and I, we have now seen 4 ringed birds in the field and they are very easy to notice, but take a little bit of practice to be able to read the rings. Hopefully, other observers will have enough patience to give ring-reading a go.

Ringing Ringed Plover at Rhos! - 23rd February 2013

Matt and I woke up early this morning and were set up by 4.20am near Bangor Police Station. We caught two Blackbirds this morning which are now sporting bright shiny colour-rings.
At 6.45, I was picked up at ASDA in Bangor and we headed off to Rhos-on-sea where we had set 2 nets for Turnstone. They weren't exactly playing ball and we eventually fired the net on 6 Ringed Plover including the above adult (probably male) which was rather stunning indeed! This is a new species for me in the UK in terms of ringing, so I was pretty happy! I also managed to see my first 2013 Purple Sandpiper and catch up with some ringing friends I haven't seen for a long time!

An enjoyable, albeit cold, morning.

Fflint Twite...a few more snaps!

I couldn't resist a few more photos from Tuesday's trip to Flint Castle, so hope you enjoy.

 Sunrise on the Dee

 The frustration of up to 7 Twite sat on the shelf strings of the nets evading capture!

 The flock was very obliging indeed sometimes coming as close as 20 feet in the food-rich marshy edge.

Bangor Blackbird Project - 21st February 2013

In conjunction with BTO Wales, I have started a colour-ringing project on Blackbirds in the grounds of the University and anywhere between. This is to monitor the longevity of the birds, to see if breeding birds are resident or summer migrants, as well an being able to territory map the singing males. We fit an orange darvic ring on the left leg with 2 black digits e.g. AA, A3. This morning we headed out at 04.45 as males were already feeding and attempted to catch a few. Around Bangor, we saw many, but we only managed to catch 3. I say 'only', but I was really pleased with the catch and it's going to be very exciting to wander around the university campus and see colour-ringed Blackbirds!

 AA - Nice adult male that flew straight into the net as we walked away from setting! Hopefully he'll do well as he's our flagship!

 AC - This 2cy male had a superb orange bill that I don't think I've seen in the hand before.

At the last site we tried, we caught a Redwing and a Chaffinch, but the Blackbirds were having none of it!

More Twite in Flint! - 19th February 2013

This morning, Matt, Ros and I ventured to Flint on the train at dawn to attempt to catch more of the accumulated Twite flock.
It took a while for the flock to come into view as they were further up the marsh towards Chester for the start and eventually we caught the first bird, which happened to be a Goldfinch! This wasn't the target, but it was new for Ros and the first Goldfinch to be ringed with my rings.
After this we managed to catch a single juvenile female Twite, a single adult male Twite and then a 2 bird catch of an adult female and juvenile male Twite.
A really successful morning and Twite are fast becoming one of my favourite birds. They are just superb little things with an enchanting call.

Bangor Mountain - 17th February 2013

Another short session up Bangor Mountain yesterday morning saw 2 Wren being caught along with 1 Blue Tit, 2 Robin, 2 Dunnock, a Coal Tit and a Great Tit.

Birds starting to move overhead, so should hopefully catch some migrant finches etc soon.

Afternoon on Bangor Mountain - 16th February 2013

 22nd Coal Tit ringed with my C-permit.

I spent an afternoon on Bangor Mountain today taking advantage of the Spring sun and the rare lack of strong wind in North Wales! It feels like forever since I got out ringing by myself.

It wasn't an outstanding catch, but 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Dunnock and a Great Tit made for a nice relaxing afternoon in the sun.

Llinos y Mynydd Twite! - 15th February 2013

 Colour-ringed Twite

Flint Castle

With Twite now on the move back to breeding habitat, birds are moving along the Welsh Coast from the Dee, so we went to Flint today where there was a superb flock of c40 Twite gathered on the high tide. It was great to see the birds so well as it's a bird I rarely see and certainly rarely see well. We managed to see 4 colour-ringed birds including: Orange above Metal, White above Yellow, which was a bird that isn't from the known Welsh population which was great.
The highlight was of course catching and ringing a lovely 1st winter bird that was duly colour-ringed. A new species for me in the hand, and a taste of the near-future as I will be taking over the N.Wales project for a Post-grad degree.

A really enjoyable day thanks to Kelvin and Matt.

Oystercatcher Colour-ringing Project - North Wales

In coordination with Bangor University and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), a colour-ringing project has been set up on Oystercatchers in the Lavan Sands area. The aim of the project is to observe longevity, site-faithfulness, juvenile feeding dispersal e.g. fields rather than sands etc as well as a mark and recapture technique of counting the how many birds are in an estimated flock size. Several counts like these will be sufficient to estimate the population size of the important wintering population of this impressive pied-wader.
The rings are as shown above: Green ring with a white engraving and an orange ring above.

If you are to come across any birds, whether it be a full ring code, partial ring code, or just a count of ringed birds in an estimated flock, please email: oystercatchers 'at' fidhw.com

German colour-ringed Curlew near Bangor!

 I hope Mike Watson won't mind me borrowing his image, and 'adding' colour-rings on Paint!

The bird is a German breeder and happens to winter on the Lavan Sands of N.Wales!

On 13th January, Matt and I walked to Llanfairfechan and back via the Spinnies/Aber Ogwen for my first trip out for the Foot It list. Whilst waiting for the birds to arrive at Spinnies at high tide, I scanned the Curlew flock that were roosting right in front of the hide, which was excellent for checking for rings! There were lots of metal ringed birds (on the tarsus) which were probably birds ringed in the area by SCAN, but I then noticed a red metal ring on a birds left tibia, as well as a metal ring on the right tibia. This was no doubt a foreign bird and really exciting. Sadly, it would appear to have dropped a couple of rings as there are no schemes with a single red ring.
A bit more searching and I spotted yellow and black! This bird showed a full combination or Right Leg: Green above Metal (tibia) and Left Leg: Black above Yellow (tibia).
This was a sufficient combination to send off and get the details of...

History:
Ringed on 28.02.2009 by Sean R.G. at Abergwyngregyn, near Bangor (FH 14979)
Colour-ringed on 16.05.2010 at Syen-Venn, county Nordhorn, Germany on territory. (returned to territory until 2012)
Resighted on 13.01.2013 by me at Aber Ogwen NR, Gwynedd

I was astounded to find out that the bird was originally ringed only a couple of miles away!

A really interesting bird!

Walking to the edge - 26th January 2012

At the start of Footit, I think you it's natural to wonder how far you are prepared to walk from your house, and the initial estimate isn't very big at all. On the first day, Matt and I decided to push the boundaries that little further and walked all the way to Llanfairfechan and back, which as the crow flies, is 7 miles from my house, but is actually more like 8.5 after cutting out Porth Penrhyn.
As a result, we decided to draw a circle around Bangor with the same 7 mile radius as this could easily be done. Ideas started to flow when we saw what sort of habitats we could cover and today, I woke up at 4am and set out alone to Malltraeth Marsh, right at the edge of my circle. The walk saw me arrive at Malltraeth at 6.45 after a 9.2 mile walk in complete darkness.
As the sky started to get lighter, I started hearing the first birds and these were mainly Snipe and Redwing. I noticed a large heron flying over the reeds in silhouette, but I just couldn't be sure it was a Bittern, so this really frustrated me. It wasn't long before I got my first Footit Tick in the form of a Water Rail shortly followed by a flock of 6 Pink-footed Geese flying over the marsh. Shortly after this, I started walking to a body of water that held over 300 Coot as well as several Gadwall and Pochard which were both big surprises! I then caught the familiar song a Cetti's Warbler which again was real quality and a bird we could only get here.
As the sun came up, I knew that that Heron sp was probably my missed opportunity for Bittern, which was disappointing, but this soon went away as a male Marsh Harrier flew low over my head!
The next two birds that I ticked off were two birds that I was incredibly surprised I hadn't got by now and birds I should have gotten on my very first day! These were Reed Bunting and Pheasant! I jumped in the air when the Pheasant first called!
I was extremely tired at the point and I think I knew that I wasn't likely to get that much if I stayed any longer, so I decided to walk the 9.2 miles home to complete the 18.4 mile journey! After covering the majority of the journey home, I noticed some geese in a field which all turned out to be Canada Geese! Another bird that I probably should have got by now, but these are really hard to come by in the Bangor area and I only remember seeing them 2 times before today!

A really really tiring day that the blisters on my feet are reminding me about, but with 19 new species in 48 hours, you really can't complain!

Joining the Footit100 club! - 25th January 2013

Wonderfully dark-headed Common Gull that momentarily gave me a fright!

Setting off before first light this morning, Matt and I decided to walk to Llanfairfechan and back as part of our Footit challenge. Matt went a couple of days ago and picked up lots of birds that I need and we couldn't allow that!
We arrived at the Spinnies/Aber Ogwen NR just outside Bangor for dawn and almost the first bird I picked up on the sea was a Smew! This is a redhead that was present over the Christmas period that Matt managed to get when he came back to Bangor after the New Year but hadn't been seen since so I was really worried I wouldn't get it on the list. I was very very happy to get this!

Golden Plover was a bird I really didn't think I would get on my Footit list as they are certainly not common on the NW.Wales Coast

The walk between The Spinnies and Abergwyngregyn, I picked up three footit ticks in the form of 10 Golden Plover, 2 Grey Plover and a candidate for the best bird of the day which I noticed calling behind us as we were scanning the Curlew flocks. It was obviously a crest, but it just didn't sound right for Goldcrest as it got 'more excited' as the call progressed. It was in fact a Firecrest! Fantastic! A great bonus for patch and Footit. Matt almost managed to 'grip back' Skylark off me as we were watching and listening for the crest.

1 of 4 Stonechat seen at Morfa Madryn NR. Another bird I didn't think I'd get, so a real bonus!

Walking from Morfa to Llanfairfechan, I picked up Stonechat for my Footit which I also believe to be a patch tick as I can't remember ever seeing one along this coast.
Seawatching off Llanfairfechan, we picked up lots of Red-throated Divers, Razorbill, Fulmar which were all ticks as well as 4 Slavonian Grebe.

After seawatching at Llanfairfechan, we walked back via the sewage works near Morfa Madryn. It's a place I've never birded before, but what a little gem! There were just 100's of birds around such as Redwing, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Robin, Dunnock, Wren and Goldcrest all feeding on presumably invertebrates on the sewage plant. In the surrounding bushes, there was a hive of activity with lots of crest flocks. All of a sudden, I caught sight of a very angry little face and was amazed that I was looking at my 2nd Firecrest of the day! We saw the bird on and off throughout the 30 minute stay, but we were pretty sure there was a second, but with the speed that crests can move, we couldn't be sure. Possibly the highlight of the day came in the form of a warbler and this was a Chiffchaff! I spotted a fantastically green bird in the bushes that I was confident to be a 'collybita', but 5 minutes later, I spotted basically a white blob in the bushes at the back of the plant. Frantically getting my scope on it, I was very shocked that it was a Chiffchaff and a bloody cold one at that! It has an obvious supercillium, very cold breast and belly with slightly darker wings and when it flapped it's wings, I noted a lemony wash to the underside of the carpal and front auxiliaries. I was pretty confident this was a Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff, so I fired off a few shots to at least get a record. The photos are horrible, but they at least show the coldness of the bird.

A fantastic day for the two of us and we are both now on 103 for our patch/footit list.
My 'Footit ticks': Smew, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Firecrest, Stonechat, Razorbill, Red-throated Diver, Fulmar, Chiffchaff
Matt's 'Footit ticks': Firecrest, Skylark, Razorbill, Fulmar, Chiffchaff.

Another of Chris's Siskins! - 20th January 2013

During revision, I have been writing up practise questions at Matt's house and checking the 30ft mist-net I erect in his garden. It's a nice relaxed for of ringing as the birds are quite sporadic.

The above and below male is actually a control. Not an incredible control of many kilometers, but a bird that was ringed in Matt's garden last year (different to the one he lives in now). This was ringed by Chris Bridge and is the 2nd control of his that I've caught so far. Really nice to see the same birds returning!

It was reasonably windy throughout the morning, so I fear the birds may have seen the net, as we only caught 10 birds, but it was nice and relaxed and what better way to spend your Sunday morning, revising!?

We caught 4 female Blackbird (+1 recapture male), 4 Siskin (inc. 'control') and a single male Chaffinch.

Once the colour-rings arrive, I will do a full blog post about the Bangor Blackbird Project which we are in the process of setting up.

Next Generation Birders

I along with many other younger birdwatchers have become good friends over facebook and we have decided to create a joint blog where we all share our trip reports, ideas and opinions.
We consider ourselves the 'Next Generation' of birdwatchers so if others have the same thoughts, they might be interested to know what we all get up to on a weekly basis.

We hope you enjoy the blog (I will keep this blog too and probably post duplicate blog-posts)

Next Generation Birders - www.nextgenbirders.blogspot.com

Bangor garden - 15th January 2013

adult male Siskin

Today I did my first 'C' ringing session in Bangor in Matt's garden. We were set by dawn and despite the garden being rather quiet, I was really happy with the catch of 5 Siskin, 4 Blackbird and a Dunnock.

The Siskin was new to the permit, but the most exciting bird was an adult female which was already ringed! It turns out that it was one from Matt's old garden about 700m away from his new garden where Chris Bridge went ringing last year.

 

2cy male Blackbird

Speaking to Kelvin Jones in the BTO office, we are going to set up a long-term Retrapping Adults for Survival (RAS) project on breeding Blackbirds within the University grounds. My two ringing sites (including a spot on top of Bangor Mountain) are just outside the study area, so we won't be colour-ringing any. Instead, we are catching this generally in the Winter months, so the vast majority are probably migrants, so we are going to be taking full biometrics on these birds to see if there is any obvious biometric difference between the Winter and Summer population of Blackbirds

More on the actual ringing project when we start it properly...

New Years Resolution - Give Blood! - Jan 2013

 My first ever Jay! It left quite an impression!

I have only just been able to get out in 2013 to do some ringing, so I started at my feeding station in the woods. It's been really slow, but I have been able to catch an adult Jay! This is my first ever and a species I have wanted to catch since the start for the simple fact that they are both beautiful and what initially got me into birds in the beginning!
I have also caught quite a good number of tits and Blackbirds as well as 2 new species for my permit in the form of 5 Chaffinch and an adult male Greenfinch

Back to Bangor tomorrow, so will hopefully get some decent ringing done in and around Bangor. Happy New Year to you all!

Waiting for the frankincense and myrrh... - 24th December 2012

Arriving at my feeding station at dawn, I was expecting lots of birds to start of Christmas Eve but the place was devoid of birds! I gave it two hours of nothingness before giving up and heading back to my garden.
Even here the birds appeared to be lacking but eventually I spotted the above juvenile female Goldcrest in the 2nd shelf. A lovely bird to catch in my garden and a nice bird to get on Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers!

New feeding station - 21st December 2012

1 of 5 Long-tailed Tit

I have very recently set up a feeding station in my local woods. This morning I decided I'd have a go at netting it for the first time.
It was surprisingly productive considering how new the station was and I caught 25 birds with the highlight being a group of 5 Long-tailed Tits

Totals
10 Great Tit
5 Long-tailed Tit
5 Blue Tit
4 Coal Tit
1 Robin

First ringing session as a C-permit holder! - 18th December 2012

My C-permit arrived through the door yesterday and I was eager to get out ASAP to have a go for myself. I erected a 30ft net in my garden for just after 1st light and caught a Dunnock before the net was even fully up!
The last bird of the session was a real surprise being a Treecreeper! This is actually a garden tick for me, let alone a great bird to ring on the first day of my permit! I am still in a slight bit of shock!

Totals weren't amazing, but a nice easy session to ease me in:
3 Blue Tit
3 Coal Tit
2 Dunnock
2 Blackbird (inc. 1 retrap from 2011)
1 Treecreeper

Gulls are like buses! - Preston Docks - 17th December 2012

1 of 20 Black-headed Gulls hand caught at Preston Docks

Kane, Gillian and I went down to Preston Docks today to have a go at hand catching a few gulls. When we arrived, the chip van that is usually always there, wasn't. As a result, the gulls were very hungry indeed and were incredibly easy to catch! It didn't take long at all before we suddenly had 6 in the car ready to be ringed. After the first 15, they became a little more nervous to approach us, so the final five took a bit of time, but to hand-catch 20 in just over 30 mins was superb!

We fitted a darvic ring on every bird and we have now reached 2F19. Hopefully we can get a few repeat days like this due to either cold weather, or a lack of food. They really did appreciate the food we gave them today.

I haven't ringed a UK Black-headed Gull since Ireland, back in January, so it was fantastic to get my hands on lots today. One of my favourite birds to catch without a doubt.

My permit has now arrived through the door, so I hope to get out as much as possible in the next week or so, whether that be ringing in the garden, or out grabbing.