English Gold

I write this having just returned back to Scotland from a nice wee weekend down in Manchester with Chris & Kane. It was a varied weekend which included a couple of new ringing experiences for me.

On Saturday morning we got up early and set up the mist net in Kane's garden with the aim of catching the visiting Goldies. We caught 8 new Goldfinches that morning along with a Long-tailed tit and a couple of obligatory Blue Tits. Goldfinches are by far my favourite garden bird to both observe and to ring, so bright and cheery and always puts a smile on my face!

One of the stunning male Goldfinches of the morning

After the morning's mist session we headed over to Dunham Massey to help Steve Christmas ring a brood of 3 Mute swan cygnets, each recieving a dark blue Darvic along with a standard BTO metal ring. This was my first time doing a swan brood. When ringing a swan brood you have to tie their wings and feet to prevent them from escaping before the ringing process is complete. Previously I have only ever used jackets at Abbotsbury to restrain the swans and it was nice to use a different technique. The Abbotsbury swan catch 2011 will be on BBC1 tonight at 7pm and there's a good chance that I might appear!.

DN6 - all ringed and ready to go.

Whilst at Dunham Massey the guys managed to catch a few Canada geese which were great to ring (bringing back fond memories of The Llangorse Catch ). It was great being taught how to age the Cangos, something of which I missed out on at Llangorse.

Kane ringing one of the Cangos

We then headed off to some Coots sites to add some more willing Coots to the project. By the end of Saturday I was covered in cuts and scratches - I had forgotten how feisty the English Coots can be, especially compared to the relatively placid Scottish ones. Weirdly I always thought it would be the Scottish ones that would be the real fighters!

After getting back to Kane's and cleaning all of the Coot 'you know what' off we decided to go out dazzling. This was the first time I had been dazzling and Chris lead the way. Unfortunately after roaming around the dark Lancashire countryside for several hours we can up blank and so headed back.

Ever the optimists! 

On Sunday we again mist netted in the garden, catching more of the English golden beauties. We then went off in search of some more Coots. In total we Darviced 4 new Coots and  7 recaps.

Whilst out searching for Coots Kane ran into an old friend in the form of L06072 - a Canada goose which he ringed back in 2006! On Sunday night we had one last try with dazzling and discouragingly we came up blank again. I'm sure with a little bit of tweaking and technique perfecting we will one day mange to successfully dazzle - never say never! Once again a really great weekend was had and thanks goes to the guys and Steve Christmas, roll on next weekend!

...and don't forget if you see any colour marked Coots you can email Kane at kanebrides'@'gmail.com and if you see any other colour marked wildfowl then you can email your sightenings to colourmarkedwildfowl'@'wwt.org.uk. 

Introducing The New Scottish Team Coot

This weekend saw the formation of Scottish Team Coot. After all of the planning and hard work it was finally time to colour mark some Scottish Coots.

On Friday I picked up Chris & Kane from the train station in Linlithgow and took them down to the my favourite Coot site: Linlithgow Loch. I have been counting the Coots at Linlithgow Loch over the past few months, watching the numbers gradually grow up to 350+ last week and it was great to finally be able to mark a sample of the population.

Scottish Darvics - coming to a Coot near you.

It wasn't long before I grabbed the team's first Bonnie Coot which received a lovely new Darvic along with the standard BTO metal ring. The day's total came to 20 new and 1 recap, not a bad start to the project.

CAA - the very first Scottish marked Coot

We noted a few metal ringed Black-Headed Gulls whilst there and so attempted to catch a few. We managed to catch this Swedish control.

Swedish control - photo stolen from Kane Brides

After Linlithgow and introducing the guys to some traditional Scottish cuisine (deep fried pizza) we ventured over to my 'local patch' of Stirling University and Airthrey Loch. The Coots on the loch decided that they didn't want any new Darvics so we decided to catch this beautiful male Goosander instead - my first Goosander!

What a stunner!

This stunning beauty has now overtaken my previous favourite (Water Rail) and has become my new favourite bird to have ringed, what a beauty and so lovely to hold. Massive gratitude goes to Kane for catching him and by hand no less!

My new favourite bird!

After meeting up with some more Dinsmores for a cuppa we were off the The Scottish Ringer's Conference up in Aviemore (one of my favourite places in Scotland). We had a superb couple of days at the conference and enjoyed many talks, personal favourites were talks by Ewan Weston, Raymond Duncan, Tony Fox  and Euan Ferguson.

During an afternoon break the three of us took a trip to Loch Garten to try and see some Crested Tits (of which myself and Kane have never seen before). We took a short walk to some woodland bird feeders and were lucky enough to observe many Crested Tits close up but as we arrived at the bird feeders someone else stole the show - the resident Coal Tits. The Coal Tits were incredibly tame and would land on our hands, heads and even phones - what an experience, sorry Cresties!

There's a Coal Tit on my head!

I really enjoyed myself at the conference, getting to swap stories, talk to many of the people I have been pestering with ringing emails recently and meeting lots of new people and networking. I especially enjoyed hearing about the gull grabbing antics in Aberdeen and getting an offer to ring at Bobby Smith's famous Sand Martin wall next season, can't wait! Well done to the Grampian Ringers for hosting the conference and entertaining us for the weekend., I especially loved the videos and would love to help out on some of the groups projects if they'll have me!

We had to leave the conference early on the Sunday as Kane was giving a talk at my uni. I really enjoyed the talk and Kane did a fantastic job of inspiring the students to get out and start looking for colour marks.

Fly By Night

On Monday we visited my other Coot sites and ringed 13 new Black-Headed Gulls including my very first hand caught one, which was shortly followed by a couple more. I really love catching and ringing Black-Headed Gulls, I don't know why there is just something special about them.

My first hand caught Black-Headed Gull

In Edinburgh Kane, once again, showed off his amazing hand catching skills by catching me this beautiful Tufted duck, another new species for me and such a bonnie wee duck to hold and admire at close quarters.

A Bonnie Tuftie - mega thanks to the hand catching master Mr Birdes for this one!

Throughout our catching trips Kane was teaching me how to take biometrics so that one day (hopefully soon) when I have my C permit I will be able to go out and add some Coot data to the project on my own. It was interesting to note that the Scottish Coots seem to be a bit heavier than the English ones, although as only 20 were caught it is too early to confirm. I'm also learning from the master about improving my hand catching techniques and manged to catch quite a lot Coots over the weekend. I think I'm starting to learn the art of Coot mind reading!

Reading this Coot's mind I could tell he was about to poo on me!

I had such an amazing weekend and cannot wait until the next time Scottish Team Coot comes together - hopefully with some more members on the next trip. I want to thank you all of the ringers and land owners who have given us their permissions to ring at their sites, to my sister Elaine for letting us invade her flat for the night and of course I want to say a huge thanks to the new Scottish Team Coot for a class weekend and some top banter as usual - you guys made my weekend : )

Scottish Team Coot

If you see any colour marked Coots in the UK then please email your sightings to kanebrides'@'gmail.com

New Faces, New Species

Today I made the journey up to Barry Mill near Dundee to meet up with some of the members of The Tay Ringing Group for one of their social gatherings. This was my first time meeting the group and it was great to finally met many of the ringers I have been emailing for a while.

The morning was spent chatting away, getting to know new people and of course some light ringing. There was a nice mix of species during the morning including: Dunnock, Coal Tit, Robin, House Sparrow, Great Tit and of course plenty of Blue Tits!

Coal Tit

A personal highlight of the morning was getting to ring my first Woodpigeon, a species I have been wanting to get my hands on for while. So many times I have seen them bounce out of nets or avoid them at the last second...not today!

At last a Woody!

Another highlight was witnessing a huge skein of Pink-footed Geese flying over the site, the biggest flock I have seen this winter by far!

Pinkies!

I want to say a big thank you to The Tay Ringing Group for being so welcoming and especially to David Douglas for inviting me along.

Ring Reading for Rewarding Recoveries!

Due to improvements in technology in cameras and optics more and more ring re-sightings are being reported from members of the public. It is through re-sightings such as these that we are able to find out so much about birds and it provides key information about as revealing their movements. Ring reading is therefore a very important and rewarding hobby and so I decided to give it a go.

Although it can be difficult at times to read rings, especially the standard metal rings, it is so satisfying when you manage to read them and send the information in. The wait to hear back from the relevant sources is quite exiting and the information that comes back is very interesting and rewarding. So far I have read a variety of rings from different species and below I have included a few particularly fascinating recoveries.

LYC

                                                                                                            

I first met this Mute swan at Gartmorn Dam, Alloa when I first read his Darvic - LYC. 3 weeks later whilst hand feeding the resident male Goosander at uni I spotted a Darviced mute swan amongst the resident swans, none of which hold rings. I read the Darvic LYC and instantly this sparked in my mind and I knew that I had seen this swan before. As soon as I got back to my computer I looked through my photos and sure enough there was LYC at Gartmorn Dam 3 weeks previously.

LYC at Stirling University

So I reported the sightings to Allan Brown who got back to me the same day and told the very interesting life story of LYC. LYC was ringed as a cygnet in St. Andrews in August 2010 and re-sighted on the Eden estuary in September 2010 before being seen on the river Tay in November/December 2010. LYC had not been seen again since my sightings, which just goes to show how important it is to report any ringed birds to www.ring.ac. Without members of the public reporting these ring re-sightings stories such as the one of LYC would never be told and who knows where LYC will end up next on his adventures, only time and reporting will tell!

LYC at Gartmorn Dam

VK29

Upon my first trip to Gartmorn Dam I found a Darviced Black-headed Gull but unfortunately it would not come close enough to allow me to read it. With a lot of persistence (and bread) eventually on my third visit I could get close enough to the gull in order to read it, VK29. I was excited as I knew that it was not British. After getting back home I jumped straight online and onto www.cr-birding.org  (where all colour rings can be reported) and looked up the colour/combination of the Darvic and I soon found out that this bird had come all the way from Denmark - approximately 1,000km or 620miles!  It's amazing to think that any bird you see could come from such places, so get ring reading and who knows maybe your local gull colony may hold a foreign visitor too!

VK29 at Gartmorn Dam

It's a Coot!

Of course no blog post would be complete without a mention of a Coot! On my last visit to check on my beloved Coots at Linlithgow Loch, West Lothian I was able to read the metal ring of a Coot. This was my first full metal ring reading and so I was quite happy even before getting the recovery information back from its' ringer, Mark Cubitt. It turned out that Mark ringed this Coot at Linlithgow in 2006, making this little Coot at least 5 years old who is either a resident at Linlithgow or a winter visitor. Whilst at the loch I also observed a metal ringed Black-headed gull but unfortunately as the ring was upside down and the gull would not stay in any one place for longer than a couple of seconds I could not read the full number - a future challenge for sure!

GN92445 at Linlithgow Loch

Ring reading is now a definite hobby of mine and I would recommend anyone to take it up as it is very satisfying and worthwhile. Thanks goes to the BTO, Allan Brown and Mark Cubitt for providing the recovery information.

An Unforgettable Homecoming!

I'm sorry for the lack of blogging but I have not been able to go out bird ringing since my last post as I have now moved back up to Scotland and am finding it very difficult to find ringing opportunities here.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited out ringing with the Lothian Ringing Group (LRG) at a site in West Lothian  The site is such a beautiful place, rich in wildlife - classic Scotland! The morning didn't look too promising but it turned out to be quite a day, the perfect return to Scottish ringing.

As there was quite a bit of wind yesterday we were only able to set one mist net in a sheltered area of the reserve. The aim of the day was to catch Redpolls as the site is particularly good for this species with large numbers passing through the reserve on migration.

The morning was quite slow which gave me the opportunity to get back into passerine ringing as I hadn't done any in about 2 months, I also hadn't ringed any Redpolls in over a year. Redpolls are charming little birds, always very well behaved in the hand. I love the way they cheep softy as you carry them back to the ringing base in their bird bags.

Adult Male

Unsexed Juvenile

Unsexed Juvenile. Note the contrast in the greater coverts. 

Ringing the Redpoll was a nice homecoming but I was not prepared for what happened next! At one point we heard and then observed a couple of Jays calling which turned out to be only the second record of that species for the site! On one net round as we approached the net, something 'big' could be seem caught in the net - in any ringing session seeing something big means RUN! So we ran through the boggy marsh, trying not to drop my SLR in as I went. We thought that we might have caught a Jay but what should greet us when we arrived at the net...not one but two Sparrowhawks! I have always wanted to ring a Sparrowhawk and have come so close many times with birds escaping the net just as I get to them, so frustrating! Due to the size and strength of Sparrowhawks it is very easy for them to 'bounce' back of the net and so just because one has landed in your net does not mean it is caught!

A very feisty female Sparrowhawk

This kind of catch is quite rare as not only did we catch 2 birds at the same time but neither escaped the net before we could get to them and they were actually a male and a female. It was a very different experience extracting a female Sparrowhawk from the net compared to usual passerine. The whole time I had to try and stay clear of her talons and had her bright yellow eyes starring at me the entire time. I can tell you a female Sparrowhawk is quite the handful and I felt honored to be able to get so close to such a superb hunter.

Female compared to the much smaller male.

Catching both a male and a female together was amazing because we could physically see the differences between them and although I already knew that the female was bigger than the male, I had no idea quite how big the difference was. The difference is so big that while a male takes a D sized BTO ring, the female takes an E ring. Ringing and taking biometrics was challenging as it was like holding a loaded weapon, one false move and you had a talon through your hand! The strength and grip in their talons is immense and you can understand why they are such fierce hunters.

Both birds were juveniles and the lovely heart shapes on the male's front demonstrate this.

The non-ringing highlight for me of the morning was having 46 Pink-footed Geese flying overhead - yes I counted, it's a habit from working for WWT for the past year! Probably the other highlight for the other ringers there was witnessing me fall into not one but two large holes up to my thighs!

It feels great to be back both blogging and ringing again, covered in scratches or badges of honor as I call them! I want to say a huge thanks to the LRG for inviting me out.

An unforgettable experience and the best homecoming I could of  wished for! 

Cooting Brilliant - 28th August 2011

Last weekend Chris, Kane and myself went out Coot catching. It was only my second time out colour ringing Coot but I was determined to catch one myself after having watched Kane AKA Cootman do it so many times, making it look easy...which it definitely is not! Chris was also out to catch his first Coot.

Cootman in action

The first stop was Crompton Lodges where Chris caught his first Coot!

Chris's first hand caught Coot at Crompton Lodge

Next stop was Plattsfield Park in Manchester City Centre. 

Plattsfield Park

Next up was Redsmere where I managed to grab my first Coot! A number of already colour ringed Coot were seen at Redsmere, these birds seemed wise as to what we were up to.

My first hand caught Coot

Next stop on the whistle stop tour of Kane's study sites was Pickmere.

Showing off the new merch!

Last stop was Bottom Flash. In total 19 Coot were caught; 18 new and 1 recap. Each Coot received it's very own shiny new colour ring combination as part of Kane's Coot study.

A newly colour ringed juvenile Coot

Each Coot also had it's biometrics taken; skull, tarsus, wing and weight were all measured.

Skull

Tarsus

Wing

Weight

It was also another great opportunity for me to get my eye in on ageing.

A prime example of an adult Coot with it's bright yellow legs.

The aim of the study is to help us understand more about Coots and their movements. Most people think of Coots as park pond birds that don't travel far (I used to be one of them) but this simply isn't true as the study is proving. If you see any colour ringed Coots then the sighting information would be greatly received at kanebrides@gmail.com. 

A great weekend was had with the guys and I was even taught by Kane how to input the ringing data on IPMR - which is a very important thing to learn for when it becomes time for me to apply for my C permit. Massive thanks goes to the guys for another ace weekend and hopefully it will be repeated soon.

Colourful Coots - 21st August 2011

Last weekend I went to The Rutland Birdfair 2011 with Chris and Kane. It was great to have 'my boys' back from Iceland and hear about their Whooper chasing adventures, see here for Kane's Whooper blog post.

This was my first time at the Birdfair and I must say I really enjoyed myself. There was so much to see and do and so many interesting people to met and talk to. I loved the fair and will definitely be back. The highlight of the fair was meeting my favourite wildlife celeb: Johnny Kingdom, such a great guy.

Me and Johnny

I got to met so many great people including Stephen Moss, Mike Dillinger, Bill Oddie and lots of people from WWT. The WWT had it's own stand at the fair which was promoting the trust, it's work and in particular the current projects on Common Crane, Madagascar Pochard and Spoon-Billed Sandpiper.

Another highlight of the fair was getting ringed! At the BTO stall you could get ringed as Garden Warbler, Osprey or Pied Flycatcher. Each ring was numbered and you could then go online to discover the story behind the bird that you were ringed as: brilliant idea and great fun!

Photo 'borrowed' from Kane

Of course no weekend with my boys would be complete without a spot of ringing so on Sunday we went to Redsmere to kick off the Coot colour ringing season. It was my first time colour ringing and I have to admit I really enjoyed using bright pink rings!

Colour Ringed Coot

Kane was teaching me how to age the Coots and how he takes biometrics on these feisty little birds. It was great to be able to look at the differences in ages and I think I might be starting to fall for Coots with their red eyes, awesome feet and punky attitude!






In total 8 Coots were caught: 6 new and 2 metal ringed controls. The controls were both ringed in Manchester City Centre and travelled a distance of just under 14 miles. Kane is colour ringing Coots in the North West to discover more about their movements. The project is about to enter into it's 4th year and so far has produced some amazing results: See here. If you see any colour ringed Coots you can email your sightings to kanebrides’@’gmail.com where they would be gratefully received.





My first colour ringed Coot

A nice highlight whilst out looking for Coot was seeing and hearing a Green Sandpiper flying overhead.

Thanks goes to the guys for a brilliant weekend and it's so great to have you back : )