Very windy conditions here in Shetland over the last few days. 80mph last night - the roof blew off our chicken house!
So, as you can imagine, no House Sparrow ringing for a while. I'm awaiting a reply from the BTO about my application to run this project as a RAS (Retrapping Adults for Survival) and Colour-Ring project, so not ringing isn't too much of an issue at the moment. Ideally, I'd like to start colour-ringing as soon as I next start ringing, but can't do that without the approval of the BTO.
The good news is that I'm in discussions with the Shetland Amenity Trust about some possible funding for the project.
Anyway, for now it's just a case of feeding the birds (I'm now just ground feeding, as anything I put in the hanging feeders just blows away), and waiting for a combination of no wind and BTO approval.
Wednesday 30 January 2013
Tuesday 15 January 2013
Wrong Species?
Well, a nice frosty morning here in Walls. I opened one net in the hope of making a proper start on the House Sparrow project.
There were about 40 spadgers in the garden, under the feeders, but somehow they all managed to completely avoid the net, resulting in a grand total of ZERO birds added to the project database.
7 Starlings did find the net however (perhaps this should have been the Shetland Starling Project?), as well as one female Blackbird (5F - 5 indicating it hatched last calendar year, F being female) so it was a worthwhile exercise regardless of the spadgers not playing.
Also of note in the garden:
1 Robin (a local rarity)
1 Moorhen (another local rarity)
16 Rock Doves (as common here as Woodpigeons are anywhere else)
There were about 40 spadgers in the garden, under the feeders, but somehow they all managed to completely avoid the net, resulting in a grand total of ZERO birds added to the project database.
7 Starlings did find the net however (perhaps this should have been the Shetland Starling Project?), as well as one female Blackbird (5F - 5 indicating it hatched last calendar year, F being female) so it was a worthwhile exercise regardless of the spadgers not playing.
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| Male Starling |
Also of note in the garden:
1 Robin (a local rarity)
1 Moorhen (another local rarity)
16 Rock Doves (as common here as Woodpigeons are anywhere else)
Monday 14 January 2013
Possible ringing tomorrow
Looks like tomorrow could be a goer for a ringing session.
The forecast is good, with calm conditions likely for Shetland, so I've checked the feeders are full at my main ringing site, and hopefully will get a couple of hours in at the nets in the morning.
If it goes to plan (you never know!) I'll post details here tomorrow.
The forecast is good, with calm conditions likely for Shetland, so I've checked the feeders are full at my main ringing site, and hopefully will get a couple of hours in at the nets in the morning.
If it goes to plan (you never know!) I'll post details here tomorrow.
Sunday 13 January 2013
Too windy for mist netting
Another windy day in Walls, Shetland.
30 - 40mph winds with occasional rain and hail showers means yet another day where mist netting for House Sparrows just can't happen.
I did a count in our back garden today though. Good numbers of Sparrows, Starling and Rock Dove making the most of all those full feeders:
Our garden birds today:
House Sparrows - 142
Starling - 95
Rock Dove - 15
Blackbird - 3
Moorhen - 1
So, not much variety there, but then you wouldn't expect there to be in Shetland at this time of year.
For now, I'll keep the feeders going at my ringing sites, ready for when the wind stops, or at least leasens a little.
Watch this space!
30 - 40mph winds with occasional rain and hail showers means yet another day where mist netting for House Sparrows just can't happen.
I did a count in our back garden today though. Good numbers of Sparrows, Starling and Rock Dove making the most of all those full feeders:
Our garden birds today:
House Sparrows - 142
Starling - 95
Rock Dove - 15
Blackbird - 3
Moorhen - 1
So, not much variety there, but then you wouldn't expect there to be in Shetland at this time of year.
For now, I'll keep the feeders going at my ringing sites, ready for when the wind stops, or at least leasens a little.
Watch this space!
Tuesday 8 January 2013
Full feeders
Had a short ringing session this morning at one of my sites in Walls.
There were about 60 House Sparrows feeding on the new feeders I got from Plantiecrub yesterday, along with 30-odd Starlings. Also on the same site 8 Rock Doves and a Moorhen pecked around for food.
Rain soon stopped play with the bird ringing, but not before I had 6 Starlings caught, weighed, measured, ringed and released. No House Sparrows though, which was a shame.
Later, I popped round to the other good ringing site in Walls to put up a couple of the feeders there. A pair of Great Tits and a load of Starling soon found the feeders, so hopefully when I return to have a go at ringing at the site, in better weather, the House Sparrows will be there too!
There were about 60 House Sparrows feeding on the new feeders I got from Plantiecrub yesterday, along with 30-odd Starlings. Also on the same site 8 Rock Doves and a Moorhen pecked around for food.
Rain soon stopped play with the bird ringing, but not before I had 6 Starlings caught, weighed, measured, ringed and released. No House Sparrows though, which was a shame.
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| Walls, and one of my ringing sites |
Later, I popped round to the other good ringing site in Walls to put up a couple of the feeders there. A pair of Great Tits and a load of Starling soon found the feeders, so hopefully when I return to have a go at ringing at the site, in better weather, the House Sparrows will be there too!
Saturday 5 January 2013
A look back at 2012
Before we get too carried away with this new project here on Shetland, I thought I'd have a quick look back at the my ringing achievements of 2012.
There was quite a broad spread of species last year, thanks to my starting the year off in Suffolk at Wyken Hall, then moving for the summer to the Isle of Canna in the Inner Hebrides, then making the final move up to Shetland in October.
The ringing totals below take all of this in to account. The only birds that are not part of these totals are the seabirds that I did with the Highland Ringing Group on their visits to Canna. These included Shag, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin. Kittiwake, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, and Storm Petrel.
Also not included are the Manx Shearwaters I ringed with Martin Carthy of Mallaig. Martin does a wonderful job rescuing storm-bound Manx Shearwaters that are blown inshore from the Small Isles when they fledge.
So all of the birds ringed below are those done on my own rings, from Suffolk, Canna, and Shetland (oh, and a few from Mull, and Herefordshire too!).
Here goes:
Numbers are for: Adult, Pulli, Retraps
Shag 0,0,1
Sparrowhawk 1,0,0
Oystercatcher 0,4,0
Great Skua 0,3,1
Common Gull 0,6,0
Herring Gull 2,3,4
Great Black-backed Gull 0,2,2
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1,0,1
Swallow 2,15,2
Meadow Pipit 5,4,0
Rock Pipit 2,0,0
Pied Wagtail 3,0,0
Wren 18,0,6
Dunnock 24,0,18
Robin 27,5,10
Wheatear 15,5,1
Blackbird 26,8,12
Song Thrush 2,0,0
Sedge Warbler 10,0,3
Whitethroat 1,0,0
Blackcap 6,0,1
Chiffchaff 4,0,3
Willow Warbler 14,9,2
Goldcrest 5,0,0
Long-tailed Tit 8,0,17
March Tit 6,0,28
Coal Tit 17,0,12
Blue Tit 72,0,66
Great Tit 36,0,43
Nuthatch 0,0,1
Starling 14,0,0
House Sparrow 61,0,1
Chaffinch 43,0,7
Greenfinch 26,0,18
Goldfinch 9,0,1
Siskin 3,0,1
Linnet 26,0,1
Twite 1,0,0
Lesser Redpoll 3,0,0
Bullfinch 1,0,0
Yellowhammer 11,0,1
Reed Bunting 54,0,9
Totals 559,64,273,897
There was quite a broad spread of species last year, thanks to my starting the year off in Suffolk at Wyken Hall, then moving for the summer to the Isle of Canna in the Inner Hebrides, then making the final move up to Shetland in October.
The ringing totals below take all of this in to account. The only birds that are not part of these totals are the seabirds that I did with the Highland Ringing Group on their visits to Canna. These included Shag, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin. Kittiwake, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, and Storm Petrel.
Also not included are the Manx Shearwaters I ringed with Martin Carthy of Mallaig. Martin does a wonderful job rescuing storm-bound Manx Shearwaters that are blown inshore from the Small Isles when they fledge.
So all of the birds ringed below are those done on my own rings, from Suffolk, Canna, and Shetland (oh, and a few from Mull, and Herefordshire too!).
Here goes:
Numbers are for: Adult, Pulli, Retraps
Shag 0,0,1
Sparrowhawk 1,0,0
Oystercatcher 0,4,0
Great Skua 0,3,1
Common Gull 0,6,0
Herring Gull 2,3,4
Great Black-backed Gull 0,2,2
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1,0,1
Swallow 2,15,2
Meadow Pipit 5,4,0
Rock Pipit 2,0,0
Pied Wagtail 3,0,0
Wren 18,0,6
Dunnock 24,0,18
Robin 27,5,10
Wheatear 15,5,1
Blackbird 26,8,12
Song Thrush 2,0,0
Sedge Warbler 10,0,3
Whitethroat 1,0,0
Blackcap 6,0,1
Chiffchaff 4,0,3
Willow Warbler 14,9,2
Goldcrest 5,0,0
Long-tailed Tit 8,0,17
March Tit 6,0,28
Coal Tit 17,0,12
Blue Tit 72,0,66
Great Tit 36,0,43
Nuthatch 0,0,1
Starling 14,0,0
House Sparrow 61,0,1
Chaffinch 43,0,7
Greenfinch 26,0,18
Goldfinch 9,0,1
Siskin 3,0,1
Linnet 26,0,1
Twite 1,0,0
Lesser Redpoll 3,0,0
Bullfinch 1,0,0
Yellowhammer 11,0,1
Reed Bunting 54,0,9
Totals 559,64,273,897
Wednesday 2 January 2013
Our survey area
Just a short note to let you all know that we've now settled on the area of Westside that we're focusing our efforts on for the initial stages of this project.
There's a map to the left of the page showing our survey area, but basically this is from the Bridge of Walls westwards to Mid Walls and south to the coast at Vaila Sound. All initial ringing of House Sparrows will be within this area, but once the summer arrives we may look at the rest of the peninsula northwards to the coast at Sandness, including the known populations as Dale of Walls, and Sandness itself. What would be really great would be to also include the islands of Vaila to the south, and Papa Stour to the north, but that would take a lot more time, not to mention a regular ferry to Papa, and our own boat to get to Vaila, so it's not likely to happen soon.
Another bit of good news is that the rings I currently hold have been transferred to the Shetland Ringing Group so that they can be used for this project. Thanks to Anne Trewhitt at the BTO for sorting this out as speedily as usual!
There's a map to the left of the page showing our survey area, but basically this is from the Bridge of Walls westwards to Mid Walls and south to the coast at Vaila Sound. All initial ringing of House Sparrows will be within this area, but once the summer arrives we may look at the rest of the peninsula northwards to the coast at Sandness, including the known populations as Dale of Walls, and Sandness itself. What would be really great would be to also include the islands of Vaila to the south, and Papa Stour to the north, but that would take a lot more time, not to mention a regular ferry to Papa, and our own boat to get to Vaila, so it's not likely to happen soon.
Another bit of good news is that the rings I currently hold have been transferred to the Shetland Ringing Group so that they can be used for this project. Thanks to Anne Trewhitt at the BTO for sorting this out as speedily as usual!
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