Adding to the list

This post will be fairly picture heavy as I go about recapping various birds that have been added to my year list so far.

Before I get started with bird watching though, I'll start with a lifer bird for me in regards of bird ringing.

Any guesses?

If any of you have managed to guess what they are based on the above pictures then I am remarkably impressed and you may need to consider spending less time knee deep in rivers wading around under bridges. That clue should have really given it away - they are Dipper chicks. 

We'd previously visited them a few days earlier and they were too small to ring but we judged the days and size they would get too accurately and came back when they were more the correct size. Only one had been lost over the 5 days that passed and if a healthy brood of four fledges then it will be judged a pretty good success. Fingers crossed they all make it!

Now, back to the bird watching.

A visit to Lound Gravel Pits a couple of weeks ago turned up the first House Martins of the year as well as Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Oystercatcher and Ruff making it a very worthwhile trip. It was probably a bit early for Turtle Doves (although I didn't really have a good look) but I was able to spot the other specialty of the site that remains present all year round; Red Crested Pochard. I didn't realise until recently that the majority of the UK population are escapes, I just thought they were native but only very localised. As this population is fairly large and present all year round then I assume it must have been founded by captive birds some years ago.

Finally I visited the RSPB's Old Moor a couple of days ago with my grandparents where we decided to take the track that skirts round the edge of the reserve rather than visit the hides as we usually do. It proved a very nice walk and with sightings of two Black Necked Grebe on Bolton Ings, I can't complain at all. After finishing the walk me and my Grandad decided to head into the reserve to do an hours quick blitz to target some new species for the year. We chose to go for the main path on the reserve to aim for Mediterranean Gull and Gargeny over the path that possibly offered Green Sandpiper and Bittern and, although we missed the Gargeny, we were successful in our hunt for the Mediterranean Gull as well as hearing our first Cuckoo of the year.

Can you see it?

There were hundreds of Black Headed Gulls screaming and wheeling round as well as the countless birds nesting on all the islands, making the search for the Med. Gull a needle in a haystack job where the needle is also straw coloured. A site like Old Moor is really a site where telescopes come into their own and after a scan across the colony the Med Gull was located. You can tell the difference as they have a darker head that is black rather than chocolate brown of the Black Headed Gull and the black covers much more of the head on the Med Gull. It's bill is also thicker and a much more vibrant red. Still, a pretty pleasing spot if I do say so myself!

Not a brilliant picture, but you can see the jet black head.

Yellowhammer overload and a migrant bonanza

Spring is in full swing with migrants on the wing that are doing much to lift the spirits in tune with the rising temperature. Bird ringing has been a joy in the past two weeks, with a wide variety of species coming from the scrub land site at Bondhay. In particular its been Yellowhammer that have continued to flood into the feeding station despite the warm weather. The total for the site in March and April are only 16 shy of the overall group average annual totals as we currently stand on 62 for the year.

Interestingly, after finding a Reed Bunting with only one leg the week before, one of the Yellowhammers also appeared to be worse for wear in the limb department with a missing lower leg. The damage seemed to have occurred some time ago as the leg had completely healed (or it may have been born that way) and the bird didn't seem to be too adversely affected. Both birds were missing the lower leg below the joint which is an unusual place for both to sustain traumatic injuries as a coincidence... There may be some kind of limb losing epidemic sweeping across the site!

I managed to bag my first Swallow of the year today as well as hearing my first Whitethroat singing along with a couple of Willow Warblers. There's a Phylloscopus Warbler at the Crags that I've got my eyes on that sings outside the visitor centre with a mixture of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff song and I wonder whether it could be a hybrid. Its been there for at least two weeks which would make it an early Willow Warbler, but with the way this season is panning out that should come as no surprise!

Finally, here is the earliest Grasshopper Warbler ever caught on Bondhay which was caught today. There population was at an all time low last year, so here's hoping they are on the up this year!