Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond

Today’s visit to Somerford Common rounded off a series of visits covering all of our Braydon Forest woodland sites within the last three weeks.  It has been an interesting period, with our winter visitors arriving and the residents in their winter flocks taking advantage of the feeding stations that have now been set up.

Feeding stations offer an interesting quid pro quo: the birds have a source of supplementary feeding during bad weather and we can set fewer nets for more birds caught.  This one was set up on Tuesday afternoon, and topped up on Thursday afternoon.  It needed topping up, so I was confident of a good catch at the site.  I was joined today by Jonny Cooper and Annie Hatt.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast for a dry but overcast morning proved false: we were afflicted by intermittent rain showers all session.  It made conditions a little uncomfortable but it wasn’t hard enough to compromise the nets or the welfare of the birds.  However, at 10:30 the rain became heavier and more persistent, so we shut the nets and took down.

That was a shame because the first round was excellent: five Marsh Tits extracted. Two were new birds (one adult and one juvenile) and three retrapped birds.  These two keep adding to the total ringed this year so far: we are now up to 26 ringed, plus 23 individuals retrapped over the year.  This really is turning into a very encouraging year for this species.  However, species of the day was Coal Tit. We caught 14 in total: five new birds and nine retraps.   The oldest of them, D837097, was ringed as a juvenile in November 2013.  However, the oldest bird of the day was a female Bullfinch, D056791, ringed as an adult five years and one day ago in Ravensroost Woods.  Typical lifespan is two years, so she is surviving well at six years old.

The list for the day was: Great Spotted Woodpecker (1); Nuthatch 2; Blue Tit 7(1); Great Tit 7; Coal Tit 5(9); Marsh Tit 2(3); Robin 3(3); Blackbird (1); Bullfinch 1(1).  Totals: 27 birds ringed from seven species; 19 birds retrapped from seven species, making 46 birds processed from nine species.

The variety was slightly lacking, with just nine species.  For some reason the usually dependable Redwing lure did not work its magic and the regular Lesser Redpoll failed to appear. In fact, we are usually confident of getting both Goldfinch and Chaffinch in catches at Somerford and they were nowhere to be seen this time either.  Perhaps if we had managed a full session they might have arrived.

I had planned to run a session in Webb’s Wood on Wednesday, but the weather was awful: high winds and rain, so I rescheduled for Sunday.  The delay meant that the feeding station was set up on Monday, topped up on Thursday and Saturday, and delivered a nice catch on Sunday.  Jonny was available to join me for the session.  We were conservative with the net setting: just three nets near to the feeding station and a further five set along the main path.  The feeding station nets were busy, the path nets were notable for the number of interesting birds flying just over the top (two Buzzard; Jay; Lesser Redpoll).

The highlights of the catch were our first ever Goldfinches for Webb’s Wood.  They were a bit of a fluke: I had intended to put on a lure for Lesser Redpoll but picked up the wrong box, which was Goldfinch, so played that instead.  In the very next round Jonny extracted our first Goldfinch for Webb’s Wood.  We debated about whether or not to ring the bird: its left leg has a fully healed fracture, but we know that people opposed to ringing would claim that it was damaged as a part of the ringing process.  I took the decision that the healed fracture is not obvious and there is potentially more information to be gained from ringing it and, hopefully, recatching it in future and seeing whether or not it is thriving.  In the next round we extracted another two Goldfinch.

The first bird of the day was a new Marsh Tit.  This is turning into a significant year for this species in the Braydon Forest: our 24th bird ringed so far.  Webb’s is an example of how things seem to be picking up for this species: in 2013, the first year we ringed here, we ringed two individuals. Then, in 2014 to 2016 we ringed only one new bird each year: so far in 2017 we have ringed six new individuals in Webb’s Wood. Also, we have retrapped four individuals in the wood this year, whereas in previous years it has been just one individual in each of the previous years.

My feeding station at Ravensroost for the last three years has been set up in compartment U1.  This area has been fully coppiced this autumn, leaving the bird table completely exposed, so I set up several feeders along ride 38, to be this year’s feeding station.

This proved to be a less than suitable location.  After significant rain during the week, the underfoot conditions were nothing short of quagmire and, unfortunately, the squirrels have found and destroyed the two seed feeders.  Nevertheless, we did have a reasonable catch.  I was joined by Jonny Cooper, Annie Hatt made a welcome reappearance and Steph Buggins accompanied by Lillie and Rosie (on her first visit) completed the team.

Because of the conditions and the weather (it was very cold), we only set 5 nets, along the length of R38.  The catch for the day was: Nuthatch 2; Blue Tit 8(9); Great Tit 1(2); Coal Tit 2(6); Wren 1(1); Robin 3(3); Redwing 2; Goldcrest 3(2); Bullfinch 1. Totals: 23 birds ringed from nine species; 23 birds retrapped from six species.

The only remarkable thing about the catch is that it was split equally between ringed and retrapped birds.  There was a degree of frustration though: at one point we had four Redwing in the net, but three of them managed to extricate themselves before we could secure them.

Before the next session I will  be finding an alternative, dry, position for the feeding station: preferably one where I can effectively squirrel-proof the feeders.

Getting to Red Lodge is a bit of a pallaver at the moment.  With the B4696 closed for ten weeks whilst they change the road layout to try to reduce the mortality rate at the Braydon crossroads, what is normally a five minute journey for me is now a fifteen minute trek.  Wanting to maximise the return from the site, on Thursday I set up a feeding station and, once again, had to re-erect the bird table that the local vandal has, for the umpteenth time, pulled out and dumped. At least they didn’t chuck it in the pond this time.  It is hard to fathom the mindset.  I decided to dig it in out in the open on the corner of the pond, so that when the Forestry Commission put in the covert surveillance, we can get some nice pictures of the perpetrator.  Given that it escalated to theft of the hanging feeders last year, I set them up in a location a decent distance away from the table, and away from the path to and from the dwellings and the farm; on the basis that the vandal is almost certainly a local from the Red Lodge complex.

Arriving on site just before 7:00 I was a little surprised to find that the seed feeders were completely empty: the birds must have found them very quickly.  I refilled them and  decided to set just four nets: two making a dogleg along two sides of the bird table and then two running between the hanging feeders.

I was joined for the session by Jonny and Ellie: and it was good to have my two most experienced lieutenants with me, as we had a busy morning.  We only managed two-and- a-half hours of ringing before the rain arrived, three hours early, but we processed 101 birds in that time. The list for the day was: Nuthatch 2(1); Treecreeper 1; Blue Tit 29(14); Great Tit 19(12); Coal Tit 3(6); Marsh Tit 1(3); Long-tailed Tit 1; Wren 1(1); Robin 1(1); Goldcrest 3; Chaffinch 1; Lesser Redpoll 1.  Totals: 63 birds ringed from 12 species; 38 birds retrapped from seven species, making 101 birds processed from 12 species.

As normal, the majority of the birds caught were Blue and Great Tits.  Blue Tits, in particular, seem to have made a good recovery from two poor years in the Braydon Forest.  30 of the 43 caught were birds fledged this year.  Last year adults were outnumbering juveniles.

Whilst processing birds from the second round, we were approached by a couple who had been jogging through the wood, to find out what we were doing. They asked if they could bring their children over to see the birds, so we did another of our impromptu ringing demonstrations to an appreciative and young audience.

Our highlights of the day were: our second catch of Lesser Redpoll on the site, the first being November last year.  This was a lovely adult male:

We caught another Marsh Tit: our fifth of the year at this site, twenty-fourth of the year in the Braydon Forest; and retrapped three of them, our twenty-first recaptured individuals (32 retrap events) in the Forest this year.

After producing a report on the Natural History observations made whilst playing at Erlestoke Golf Course over the last three years, Paul Fox and myself were kindly granted permission to set up a feeding station in a secluded area of mixed woodland on the course.

The natural progression was to obtain ringing permission, which was kindly granted in October this year. Obviously, after only three visits, it is very early yet to produce any worthwhile analysis, so this is purely a record of numbers involved so far.

To date 110 birds of 8 species have been processed as follows: Blue Tit 64, Great Tit 26, Long-tailed Tit 7, Coal Tit 6, Robin 3, Goldcrest 2, Dunnock 1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1.

Looking at the age ratio of the two common Tits, from a total of 64 Blue Tit captures, 47 have been birds of the year (code 3) as opposed to only 17 aged older (code 4). With Great Tits conversely only 9 birds of year and 17 aged older.

As an ‘old timer’ I was most interested to note the updated Greater Spotted information in the revised 2016 Non Passerines Guide stressing the unreliability of ageing on primary tip spots and unmoulted primary coverts which means some birds must be left unaged (code 2). A good lesson in keeping up with current information!

Finally we would both like to thank the owner and staff of the Course for their interest and assistance in allowing us to operate. We look forward hopefully to some Siskin and Redpoll in the coming months.

Rob Turner   Paul Fox

Last month’s visit had to be cancelled: two dates were rained off and the third was made impossible because Countryfile decided that they would be filming where I usually set my nets. For this month, we were lucky with the weather and, with no film crews to get in the way, I got on site as scheduled.

Dave Turner, as usual, was on hand to help set up the nets and provide the essential bacon sandwich at 8:30.  He has got breakfast down to a fine art: the House stops serving at 8:15, so a trip to the kitchen at 8:20 sees the staff being extremely generous with their servings, as they want to use up any excess.  Waste not, want not (waist yes)!

The ringing was solo and pretty busy.  I only set three short net rides, adjacent to the feeding stations. As usual, the woodland feeding stations were only topped up the day before, so they caught but weren’t that busy.  However, the garden feeding station is kept topped up and is a magnet for all sorts of birds (but mainly titmice).

The catch for the day was: Great Spotted Woodpecker 1; Jay 1; Blue Tit 17(2); Great Tit 7(2); Coal Tit (1); Wren (1); Dunnock 5; Robin 1(1); Blackbird 1; Goldcrest 2; Chaffinch (1).  Totals: 35 birds ringed from eight species, eight birds retrapped from six species, making 43 birds processed from 11 species.

I had a regular stream of visitors to my ringing station during the morning, staff, visitors, volunteers and residents all delighted to see birds up close.  The Goldcrests, Jay and Great Spotted Woodpecker were the main attractions but the feisty nature of Blue Tits, as they are busy biting me whilst I show them to people, always amuses an audience.

It has been quite a while since we have managed to get onto this site: and yesterday’s continuous rain and an iffy forecast for the Sunday put it in doubt again.  Fortunately, the rain relented earlier than forecast on Sunday morning and we could start setting nets at 6:30.  In preparation for the session, I had set up a feeding station on the previous Thursday, knowing that it would mean we would be rather overrun by titmice, but always hopeful of something more interesting dropping in.  In the event, it was one each of the Blue and Great Tits that provided the interest, although retrapping Marsh Tit at this site is hugely encouraging, with them having been scarce here between 2012 and the end of 2016.

I was joined for the session by Jonny and Steph; and Steph’s partner, Stuart, came along to see why she leaves him early on a weekend morning.

D056608 is a Blue Tit ringed as a juvenile at a private garden site on Wood Lane about 1km away from its recapture at the Firs.  It was first captured and ringed on my second ever solo ringing session on the 1st September 2012.  Since then, it moved from the garden to the Firs sometime between February and November 2013, where is seems to have established itself.  With this capture it is the sixth time it has been processed.  Now, at the age of 5 years it has certainly exceeded the average life expectancy of this species (3 years) but it has another 5 years to go before it beats the oldest known recorded Blue Tit.

VZ11939 is a Great Tit, ringed as a second year bird in Ravensroost Woods on the 16th February this month, and recovered in the Firs yesterday.  I don’t get many movements between Ravensroost and the Firs.  Both Blue and Great Tits have been recovered within the Braydon Forest that have moved between sites, but they are usually between the Firs, Webb’s Wood and the Wood Lane garden site, or between Ravensroost and Somerford Common.

The list for the session was: Treecreeper 2; Blue Tit 11(12); Great Tit 3(7); Coal Tit 4(4); Marsh Tit (2); Long-tailed Tit 2; Wren 2; Robin 2(2); Goldcrest 3.  Totals: 29 birds ringed from eight species; 27 birds recaptured from five species, making 56 birds processed from nine species.  With nearly a 50:50 split between new and retrapped birds, this underlines the value of consistent ringing practices within an area, giving solid information for management of the site and valuable conservation data for the national database.

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Geoff Sample (great name for a sound recordist – nominative determinism at its finest); Jean C La Roche and the Latvian love song, no Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch or Redwing troubled our nets.  The site lived up to its local nickname of the “Braydon Bog” – with some of the muddiest conditions we have seen for a long time.  Despite the lack of variety, we had a good morning and the opportunity for comparing juvenile and adult birds for tricky species, like Coal and Marsh Tit.

Simon Tucker

Steph, Lillie and I were joined by Andrew Bray for a session at Ravensroost Woods this morning.  With no feeding station in place, and only three rides set up (2 x 54m, 1 x 72m), I wasn’t looking for a large catch.  In the event, we did better than expected.

Initially I put on lures for Redwing, Lesser Redpoll and Marsh Tit and, at 10:30, Goldcrest.  The Redwing and Lesser Redpoll, to see if they have arrived for the winter (Redwing yes, Lesser Redpoll no).  I don’t lure for Goldcrest first thing in the morning and not at all when the weather turns cold.  They weigh only 5 to 6g and I am always mindful of the bird’s well-being and need to feed.  As they can turn up to a lure in very large numbers, I will only do it on a warm day.  One other interesting point about Goldcrests: very often their wing length in millimetres is the same as 10 times their weight in grams. We caught seven today, three of those conformed to this little peculiarity: 50mm wing x 5.0g weight; 52 x 5.2 and 54 x 5.4.

We caught our first Blackcap of the winter:

The list for the day was: Treecreeper (1); Blue Tit 9(1); Great Tit 3(3); Coal Tit 4(1); Marsh Tit (1); Long-tailed Tit 12(2); Wren 2; Dunnock (1); Robin 1(1); Redwing 3; Blackbird 2; Blackcap 1; Goldcrest 6(1); Chaffinch 1; Bullfinch 2.  Totals: 46 birds ringed from 12 species, 12 birds retrapped from nine species, making 58 birds processed from 15 species.

Once we had packed up and were leaving site, I found that another “responsible” dog owner has, most likely, been responsible for stealing my notices asking them to keep their dogs on a short lead.  What do these people not understand about Ravensroost Woods?  It is a nature reserve not a park, there are no public footpaths but permissive paths, which the landowner, the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, requires that people using them should keep dogs on a short lead.  Their self-righteous, misplaced, anger has turned them into common thieves.

Simon Tucker