Hunting Asio

Buntings still much in evidence at Buckton today, 20 Lapland, 125 Corn, 45 Reed and 200 Yellowhammers, The highlight was a hunting Short-eared Owl around the main dell.

Back to front

Two different views taken from 41 The Leys in recent days.

Woah, woah, for the wings of a dove !

Spent the early morning helping Steve Akers with his very rare garden visitor, the Oriental Turtle Dove in Chpping Norton. The bird showed very well at times and we managed to get about 200 birders in the house in small groups for a couple of hours. Everyone was really well behaved and donated to the Birdlife Malta 'stop the slaughter campaign'. A great bird, raising money for a great cause, thanks to Steve and his family.

The only way is Essex, again.

A quick dash to Rainham produced the Slaty-backed Gull, I arrived just in time, watched it for 6 minutes on Wennington Marshes before it took to flight and vanished in the direction of the tip. In this very distant image it is the bird flying left high centre, honest !

Reed Warbler from Norway

Just got the recovery details back from the BTO for the 1st winter Reed Warbler that I retrapped at Buckton last September. It was originally ringed at Borrevannet, Horten, Vestfold on August 10th 2010, 870 km in 49 days. Borrevannet is a large lake just inland of Oslofjorden, about 40 miles S/SW of Oslo. This represents about the 6th ever UK Reed Warbler from Norway. Next time a Blyth's Reed please !

Redpoll recovery

Caught this 1st winter Redpoll (X429619) on the morning of February 8th and was pleasantly surprised to find it was already ringed but not by me! Enquiries have revealed it was initially ringed by members of the Birklands Ringing Group near Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire on November 13th last year. This site has produced catches of over 150 birds, so others are out there waiting to be caught. Interesting that it has left what is a great Redpoll area to move south to the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border which is not blessed with a substantial area of forestry, perhaps suggesting nomadic behaviour or dwindling food supplies. The bird is a first winter, probably a female and with a wing of 71mm, so at the top end of the range for a female Lesser Redpoll (67-71mm). The bird obviously has broad white wing bars and a prominent white nape collar and white supercilium. Does it show enough features to be a Common, well its subjective isn't it and its not a classic bird with a big wing and pallid plumage, so probably best left, still great though. Really fired for Redpolls now and cant wait for more birds soon!

Thanks to Andy Lowe for the information on behalf of the Birklands Ringing Group.

The Daddy !

There is no doubt about the latest bird to be caught, a classic first winter male Common Redpoll! This bird had a wing of 76mm and was considerably bulkier than an accompanying Lesser Redpoll. Its wings bars and tertails are broadly tipped white and its rump bleads white on to the lower back and flanks. The single undertail covert streak constitutes the only mark visible on the lower underside of the bird. If they were all as easy as this one !

Redpoll studies, 1st winter female Common Redpoll

I have been nurturing an ever increasing flock of Redpolls in the garden for the past two weeks after taking out a niger seed direct debit. After a little bit of vegetation management and a well placed 30ft net, birds were soon in the hand. So far 29 have been ringed and have proved as educational as ever. When in the hand, wing length of Redpolls provide a useful aid to identification and seperation of Lesser (cabaret) and Common (flammea) Redpolls.

(Common Redpoll - male 70-78mm, female 68-76) (Lesser Redpoll - male 68-73.5, female 67-71).

As a reference tool, I have taken several photographs of each bird I have caught, focussing on key aspects of their features which assist with identification. With so many Common Redpolls and an increasing number of Arctic Redpolls present in the UK during this recent influx it is also offers an opportunity to potentially catch some interesting individuals. The above bird has so far been the most definitive Common Redpoll caught. Firstly with very sharp pointed tail feathers it is clearly a 1st winter bird (adults have broad and rounded tail feathers), secondly it lacks any trace of red on its throat, breast or rump indicating it is female. Next comes the wing length, at 74mm it is 3mm greater than the range for a female Lesser Redpoll. Ok, so ignoring all that, it has pallid grey upperparts, strong white wingbars, a pale broad supercillia, a pale white streaked rump which bleads white in to the surrounding flanks and lower back - all features indicative of Common Redpoll.

What follows are pictures of other birds I have handled and a bit of discussion regarding their identification. Just remember Redpolls are in a very active evolutionary phase !

Another 1st winter female Common Redpoll

This individual is another 1st year female with a smaller wing (69.5mm) than the bird above, falling in both the upper Lesser and lower Common range, so it can not be clinically identified on wing length alone. However, its overall pallid appearance, white mantle braces and prominant white wing bars all suggest it is a Common Redpoll.

Another 1st year female Redpoll

This is yet another interesting individual, it is also a 1st year female and has quite a frosty appearance however its wing length (67mm) is at the lowest end of Lesser Redpoll and 1mm off the start of the female Common Redpoll range. At a push, on plumage I think this probably is a Common Redpoll but maybe better left...

Adult male Redpoll spp.

This adult male bird has a wing length (74mm) which is only 0.5mm outside the maximum range of Lesser Redpoll but is 4mm within the range of Common Redpoll, therefore possibily suggesting it is a Common Redpoll. However, it is a rather brown backed individual with brown wingbars and a largely brown rump suggesting Lesser Redpoll. Just to add more confusion, some Common Redpolls can be brown, so without a definitive wing length approaching the maximum of Common (say 78mm) then probably best not to speculate. Mmmm.

1st winter female Lesser Redpoll

A classic 1st winter female Lesser Redpoll. A very brown individual with brown washed wings bars, heavily streaked flanks and little white on the rump and mantle. The wing of 69mm just overlaps with the lowest end of Common Redpoll but identification as a Lesser is provided on plumage characteristics.