Moth-ing?

Is that what is called? Mothing?

Apparently, noting down nearly all the birds I see isn't enough list based activities for me and I've now decided to take the plunge with moths. After thinking about it since returning from my field trip in Malham, it was chatting to some invertebrate people at a stall at Creswell Crags that finally tipped me over the edge. That night I borrowed a light bulb from my Granddad, a white sheet from my Mum, two bricks and some bike handle bars and created this masterpiece of moth attraction!

The pinnacle of moth catching.

However it transpires that there are either a lot less moths in my garden than I anticipated, or that I'm going about the wrong way to catch them. Over two nights I only managed to attract two "macro"moths (that is, proper moths), and if numbers continue at this rate then my moth... attractor (?) may need to undergo some serious evolution.

Heart and Dart

Riband Wave

A ringing demonstration... without much ringing

As part of the RSPB's big wildlife weekender at Creswell Crags this past weekend, Sorby Breck ringing group was asked whether we would be able to do a ringing demonstration over both days. As we were the closest people to the site and had already ringed there before, it was entrusted to us to provide the public with a snap shot of the bird ringing experience. Thanks to Eleanor's hard work, the BTO had sent us enough promotional material to recruit a small nation. The groups nest recording had meant we had enough old nests to use in a "Guess the Nest" quiz, whilst Mary's feather collection provided a brilliant "Match the Feather to the Bird" quiz.

It was a good job we had so much other stuff going on because the birds were not playing ball. As many of you may know, feeding station ringing is generally a no no in the summer, whilst ringing into the afternoon often doesn't turn out much results either. Extreme heat isn't something that's great for bird activity either and, you guessed it, we just so happened to fall on the two hottest days of the year so far. Add those to negatives together and you get a total of 12 birds for the Saturday (many of them ringed before the actual event opened at 11am) and only 4 birds for the Sunday... Including one retrap from the day before. The species we caught were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Nuthatch, Chaffinch with our efforts to bag a Moorhen flawed despite having one run into the bottom shelf of the net only to free itself and escape. It has to be remembered though that every bird caught is fascinating to those members of the public who are interested as it is unlikely that they've seen wild birds so close, and it was great to talk to them about what we do and give them information about the birds.

It's rock art of an Ibis... only upside down

The staff at Creswell Crags and the RSPB were fantastic all weekend and continuously offered us water and snacks. The Crags staff also let those interested go on the two cave tours that they run to see Ice Age rock art or to explore a cave and learn about the Ice Age people. Free cave tours wasn't something I expected to be given when I signed up as a bird ringer, but I enjoyed both greatly! Stick a top class cafe in the mixer and you've got a brilliant site and altogether brilliant weekend.

Perfect end to the weekend

Buzzard ringing, my first Swift, twitching a Melodious Warbler and Turtle Dove

 So in the three weeks since returning from my field trip, a lot has happened.

Any chance of post Malham blues were quickly eradicated by having Buzzard ringing on the agenda two days later. However I decided to go down to the wood a day earlier to check up on the literature defying Blackbird who had not only laid six eggs but had also built a nest one foot off the ground and in barely any cover.
Unfortunately it was as feared, an empty nest far before it should be. The culprit could be anything from a Stoat or Weasel, Jay or even someone's dog but hopefully now she's learned her lesson and will choose to have a second brood elsewhere.

But back to the Buzzards whose nests in the wood have been ringed for a few years now and the number of nests seems to be rising with each year. The chances of us having any Buzzards to ring at all would be greatly reduced if it wasn't for the help of Mary Marsden, who spends a vast amount of time in the wood and finds the majority of the nests.
With 3 found this year, we met early Sunday morning (is there any other time for bird ringing?) with a climber, who'd gratefully agreed to go up and get the chicks, and set off into the wood.

Fledging will be no mean feat from down there!

The first nest had two large chicks in followed by two nests with a single chick in each all of which seemed in great condition. We usually ring Buzzards a couple of weeks earlier in the year, but with the late spring we made the right call to push it back. Evidence of the springs late showing was found in the nest boxes that we checked along the way to each nest, as well as this natural Great Tit nest I found in a tree hole. The way this season has unfolded has been so extraordinary that we still had Blue Tit chicks in one of the nest boxes on the 1st of July!





The following weekend it would have been sensible for me to take a miss on bird ringing on Sunday morning. After all I had just completed a 41 mile, 16 hour charity walk the day before and had feet so blistered they resembled the air cushion of a hovercraft.

An evolutionary masterpiece

However the need to pick up my health and safety pass for Severn Trent sites and the lure of sewage works ringing was enough to rouse me from bed for a half hour stint of sitting in a chair and having birds brought to me. I could really get into that kind of ringing, being doted on hand and foot, getting up at half 8 and still ringing some top birds!

I got Swift and House Martin (2 new species) in that half an hour, as well as adult Swallow which I had only ever previously ringed as chicks. After proclaiming my affections for the humble Willow Warbler in my last post, I'd now like to turn my attentions to the Swift. As my joint favourite bird (alongside the flamboyant Golden Pheasant), the Swift is a bird of remarkable facts and statistics. It eats, sleeps, mates, drinks and bathes all whilst in the air and the first flight a young Swift will ever make can last 2-3 years, whilst traveling to Africa and back every year. They have tiny feet with all four toes pointing forward to grip onto hard, sheer surfaces. And man do they grip.

As though the needle sharp claws and vice like grip isn't bad enough, they also come in a buy two get one free deal with flat flies, a parasitic fly that live off the blood of the bird. If these flies are flat then I'd hate to see the bigger ones, these guys are huge. I was told stories of how ringers have found them in various body locations later in the day when getting ready for bed or having a shower but luckily, after a thorough search, I declared myself a flat fly free zone at the days end.

Lesser in name only

 The nature ladled three weeks rolled on the following day with the annual Nightjar walk with the Clumber Park bird group. The weather was cold and windy, with the Nightjars not being the only things having second thoughts about being out. We eventually saw one, briefly, as well as a number of Woodcock but a return journey will be made now the weather has picked up to try and get the spectacle that I've seen in the past.

Whilst at the Nightjar walk I was told about a Melodious Warbler that was being twitched about half an hour from where I lived. Come the following Saturday, me and my Grandad were heading off to find this Mediterranean castaway. It was pointed out to us as soon as we got there, singing from within a conifer plantation. It has a fantastic song, which is a good job as after two minutes in disappeared within the conifers and didn't show again in the 45 minutes we were there.

Determined to try and get a picture of the bird having seen photo's of it belting out its song from the tops of the pines, I decided to return the following Monday. I went out ringing on the Sunday without much luck. We totaled 15 birds that morning with the help of a Swallow nest with 5 chicks but the poor summer looks set to continue. The disappointment was put on hold by my second ever Lesser Whitethroat which managed to brighten up the mood somewhat.

There's a Turtle Dove there... honest.

Come 8 o'clock Monday morning I was setting off back to the Melodious Warbler site at Tiln in order to try and catch it singing in the open. Unfortunately for me what followed was 30 seconds of song and an hour of staring at a conifer plantation with a group of stoney faced birdwatchers.

Having left by 10, I visited Lound gravel pits, which is managed as a nature reserve by the local wildlife group. It's always a good place to pick up a good tally of birds with its range of wetland, open ground and woodland habitats and I managed to see 40 species in a couple of hours. The main reason I had gone was to see Turtle Dove, as it's the only reliable breeding site I know of in any proximity to me, and I'm happy to report that I clocked a stunning male singing from a dead tree. Unfortunately I had left the proper camera in the car so only had my phone camera to try and take the picture. With self explanatory results.

And so we come to the end of this three week catch up session. Hopefully I'll be updating more frequently now so as not to give you another novel to read in three weeks time.

Until next time!