Evening out

Great hour out with Kev this evening

 Birds ringed

2 Turnstone

1 Dunlin

and a new bird for me

 a Sanderling

Biometrics being taken

Machrihanish Twite still here

I went back to the Point of Ayre this morning looking for Wheatears from  2 hours spent none seen.

I drove down to the woosh net site and 15 Twite were feeding so i thought might as well set up and see what a can get. 9 birds in the first catch 3 Twite retraps from January and 1of the Machrihanish controls 

i caught in December.  2 Linnet retraps  1 ringed in November 1 ringed in March and 3 new Linnets.

Chris from Manx Birdlife turned up to do his survey of the gravel pits, we had a quick chat and off he went.

When Chris returned i had just caught another 5 so he grabbed the pliers and processed the birds.

3 more new Linnets 1 retrap from December and another retrap Twite from  January. 

Machrihanish Twite

Spring has sprung

I spent a couple hours up at the Point of Ayre this afternoon.

1 Female Stonechat ringed

and

1 Female Wheatear ringed

Linnets hit 500

On Wednesday i met up with Kev, all day was spent at a few sites hoping for some Rock Pipits before they all disperse, when we set up it looked like they already had. We also had a couple of birds bouncing out the nets to our disappointment

I can see the net

1 Chough above looking at what it has just flopped out of

also a Ringed Plover bounced,  we did manage to ring 1 Mute Swan Castletown

This week 33 new Linnets were ringed at the Point of Ayre with 3 retraps 2 from 24/08/2010 and 1 from January this year. This brings the total for new Linnets i have ringed since August to just over 500.  Also a Twite retrap from January this year, a few are still coming into seed with the Linnets 

This morning was spent at the reed bed site, only two hours with one 60ft net up and 

8 new birds ringed

4 Chaffinch

2 Goldfinch

1 Gt Tit

1 Female Reed Bunting

West Yorkshire to the isle of Man

We moved here a year ago last weekend from the west side of Calderdale to the Isle of Man.

While i was in Calderdale i was involved with the Calderdale Bird Conservation Group.

A big part of there work is trying to look after Raptors that breed on the Moors around Halifax.

A lot of Raptor persecution goes on with nests being robbed and birds being poisoned. 

CBCG has invested in cameras for nests and even tries to get the nestlings ringed.

I was checking out the Isle of Man ringing data on the BTO website last night and was 

amazed to see that the remains of a raptor was found on the Calf of Man on the 12 October 2010

 by the warden.

The ring number was sent to the BTO with species unknown 

They came back with 

Female Peregrine ringed as a chick on 06/06/2007 

in, 

wait for it 

Calderdale about 6 miles from where i used to live and know the site very well.

Juvenile Peregrines at nest site in West Yorkshire
pictures taken with a schedule 1 photo licence

Shame about the state of the bird but a good bit of movement

First day of spring

I was out with Kev this morning up at the Point of Ayre. 1 Meadow Pipit ringed . Not a finch on the seed at the woosh net site in 4 hours. But a cracking Male Wheatear turned up for an hour my first one this year. 

Better order some more meal worms.

cracking photo by Kev Scott  

This week

Male Linnets now showing breeding colours

Chris Sharp from Manx birdlife told me on Tuesday that he had seen a Good flock of Linnets and Twite up 

at the Point of Ayre on Monday. I had not been feeding for the last 4 weeks as i had spent a lot of time with nothing coming in at all , so i shot up there on Wednesday and put a load of seed down.

Yesterday 

25 birds caught

20 new Linnets and 2 Retraps 1 from August 2010  

1 Goldfinch

2 Retrap Twite  from January

Today

12 Birds caught

5 New Linnets

2 new Twite 2 retraps 1 from January  1 from December 2010

 1 Goldfinch

and 

2 Meadow Pipits

Yellow Hammers isle of Man

   

I bought a new camera body the other day the Canon EOS 5D MK2

A 21.1 Full frame sensor and HD video as well so took it out

yesterday and had a play well pleased so far

Port Lewaigue/Dog Mills

I went down to Port Lewaigue on Sunday. The weather was great no wind so i put two 60ft nets up. 

Being only half a mile from my house Niki walked down and met me with a bacon bap  and flask of coffee

and took over the scribing 

24 Birds caught

New birds

2 Gt Tits

5 Blue Tits

3 Long Tailed Tit

5 Chaffinch

1 Coal Tit

2 Dunnock

1 Greenfinch

1 Goldfinch

4 Retraps

1 Gt Tit  first ringed  12/05/2010

2 Blue Tits   26/04/2010 and  30/08/2010

1 Chaffinch  first ringed  10/04/2010

Monday i was back at Dogmills very quite only 7 birds ringed

4 Goldfinch

1 Song Thrush

1 House Sparrow

1 Robin

Today

Down at Dogmills today 25 birds ringed the first bird out of the nets was a female Brambling very nice,

birds caught

10 Chaffinch

1 Brambling

5 House Sparrow

2 Gt Tits

2 Blue Tits

2 Goldfinch

1 Dunnoch

1 Robin

1 Blackbird female 

T1TT

Niki left for work this morning and 20 seconds later i got a phone call of her saying a Herring Gull with 

a colour ring was sat in the middle of the road 100 meters away. I ran up there and grabbed hold of T1TT

there was no signs of any obvious damage all wings ok and no blood. The bird was very light so i took it home and placed it in the back garden. He ate some bread and some cat food much to the disgust of the cat scowling out the window at it.

As i watched the Gull the head seemed to be an odd shape maybe something going on underneath the surface, it cleared the food and walked around the garden.

I went out for the morning when i got back it was still in the garden i walked out and fed it some more which it took. 

20 minutes later i looked out and the Gull had gone . Do Not hold out much hope for it but we will see.

Herring Gull T1TT was ringed in my garden on the 05 May 2010 aged as an adult

and was the secound gull in the project to be colour ringed .

T2TT ringed on same day as T1TT

I was out all yesterday with Kev after a few sites not delivering we went to the Sulby site and caught 

64 birds (47 new birds and 17 retraps)

Last night i got a great email from Kev saying  he had put the nets up in his garden when he got in from ringing and only caught 1Blue Tit. 

But the Blue Tit was a Control from my Garden at the other end of the island Fantastic 

Thats where all my garden birds have gone 

See kev blogs for details.

March starts off well

With an awful February now behind us the wettest on record for the isle of Man  and only 73 new birds ringed March got off to a better start.

I met up with Kev and we decided after a short visit to one of the plantations and no birds that we would go down to Niarbyl and try for Rock Pipits.

A beautiful day with 5 birds colour ringed 4 were new birds 1 was a retrap from the 05/08/2010.

We placed up to 9 spring traps about and were surprised to see  2 of the Rock Pipits jump up on to the perch traps which we placed in the deep seaweed on short poles.

So we will be trying them again.