Swannery update

Over the past two days habitat management at the CES site has taken place.  The most important  side of this is the regular coppicing of the withy bed.  Important to keep the vegetation height down - nothing over three metres and also to prolong the life of the sallow and willow stools.  A further beneift is the flooding of light  into the ground around the stools which promotes plant growth and provides opportunities for nesting birds.

Coppiced sallow and willow stools

To further enhance the condition of the reed beds certain areas of reed have been cut by the Swannery staff. This promotes good healthy new growth. Some years the reed is burnt after cutting and this removes all the rubbish at the base of the reed bed and helps maintain a good healthy environment.

Recently cleared reed bed

Of course during all this work the nets were opened where they could be.  The first Chiffchaffs have been trapped for the year and also a few odds and ends.  Just on finishing a Blue Tit was extracted from the net-  a fine male with an interesting plumage variation. Clearly it had been visiting nearby daffodil flowers.

The first Chiffchaff of the year

During the coppicing considerable evidence was found of the presence of the Lunar Hornet Clearwing moth. In one instance the saw just missed this larva stage

Lunar Hornet Clearwing larva in situ

Whilst working on another stool a fabulous excavation was seen

Larva excavation

Over the next few days the CES site will be brought back to  optimum conditions with the usual annual  management.  Then we will be ready for the returning Reed and Sedge Warblers in the reeds and the more usual fare in the withy bed.

A wagtail diversion

Although not all Abbotsbury Swannery there has been a recent interest in the wagtail project.  Diane, a local wagtail enthusiast,  forwarded some recent photographs of birds seen in Weymouth an then a recent email from Jack Winspear regarding a wagtail sighted at Sutton Poyntz kick started the wagtail project. 

This was followed  by a welcome telephone call from Matt at the Weymouth Port to say that the wagtail roost had returned to the harbour. The roost had moved earlier this winter and could not be found. The returning roost at the harbour presented a challenge to set a net but on the past two evenings nearly 40 birds have been caught including two retraps from previous years.

Recent birds have been colour ringed with full colour rings as below

Previous colour rings involved bicoloured rings which were not easy to see in the field. As shown below on the retrapped bird this evening.

Details of recent colour marked birds are;

L055800 ringed Weymouth Harbour 6th Feb 2010 and sighted at Sutton Poyntz 15th Feb 2012
L055761 ringed Weymouth Harbour 1st Feb 2010 and retrapped there 19th Feb 2012
L041798 ringed Weymouth Harbour 28th Dec 2009 and sighted in Weymouth Town 15th Feb 2012
X889811 ringed Abbotsbury Swannery 23rd Sept 2009 and sighted in Weymouth Town 15th Feb 2012
X889921 ringed Abbotsbury Swannery 12th Oct 2009 and retrapped at Weymouth Harbour 17th Feb 2012
X108053 ringed Abbotsbury Swannery 5th Aug 2011 and sighted in Weymouth Town 15th Feb 2012

Do keep  a lookout when out and about please.

Luke scores.............

As Luke has mentioned on his blog earlier this week we finally caught a Woodcock this winter. The conditions were almost tropical. It was +10C as we wandered around the water meadows. No crunching about in the frosty grass and no rock hard mud. A few more pictures of these magnificent birds. They really are a treat to have in the hand.

We always ring and process the birds over the net. That way you do not walk off afterwards  leaving the pliers or the rings in the grass in the dark. A tidy way to work and cost effective. A colder weekend is forecast so hopefully Luke and his net will work up some more magic!

Another painful morning!

The first calm morning this year was not wasted. An invitation to Doug from the Axe Estuary Ringing Group to join in proved to be a useful morning.  No exotics and the woodpeckers were there but  they turned shy on  seeing my guest. Even the Treecreepers teased us by feeding on the trees adjacent to the nets but not actually connecting with them.

Plenty of Blue and Great Tits at the feeders and also good numbers of Greenfinchs. A small highlight was trapping one of Lukes Greenfinchs from nearby Clouds Hill.

Blue Tit joining in where the  last woodpecker left off!

Even the Great Tit joined in!

A placid Dunnock

A couple of Goldfinch were also trapped. Not too many of these are trapped at the Swannery so these were a couple of good birds for the morning.

Male Goldfinch

Male Greenfinch

The morning ended assisting Dave with feeding the Mute Swans. Pochard and Tufted gleamed in the morning sunshine. Following on from this 'duck' link is the visit to Seaton Sunday morning when the next cannon net session will take place.  Luke and I are hoping for Godwits but expect Shelduck will  prevail. At least they have blunt bills!

A good night for stars!

When the temperature gauge in the car shows the flashing frost symbol then it is a good time to go out looking for Woodcock. These evenings are best when no moon is showing. At Abbotsbury Swannery the sky is so dark that the stars are spell binding. This evening was no exception. We set off for our first Woodcock of the winter. In the second field Luke's lamp found a Lapwing. With great stealth the Lapwing was netted and ringed. These are  fabulous birds in the hand.

First year male lapwing

In the third field the lamp picked up a Woodcock. The bird was perhaps a little too alert and despite Lukes careful approach it shot off just a fraction of a second before the net dropped down onto it. The bird flew off into the dark of the night. Next time it will leave with a ring on it!

Hopefully we will get a few more evenings in next week before the moon is 'wrong' again.

A day off and no wind!

The combination of no wind and a day off was too much to resist. Setting up after lunch for a few hours was a must.  Always a chance for an afternoon Dusky Warbler. The withy nets were set first and then two around the feeders. Although not bristling with birds the tops of the Alders were busy with finches and goldcrests. First bird out of the nets at the feeders was a feisty female Great Spotted Woodpecker. Each woodpecker should come with an EU  health warning. Maybe the risk assessment should be updated. My hand had several leaks

During the painful extraction Steve G and Dave looked on smiling. The rest of the session produced several more new Chiffchaffs and the party of Long-tailed tits made contact just after 15.00hrs which boosted the total a little. New Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Robin, and Blue Tits helped. The best bird of the afternoon was a Grey Wagtail caught deep within the withybed. Possibly the wet mud had attracted it as it flew overhead  and it dropped down. Not many Grey Wagtails are caught here at the Swannery

Grey Wagtail

The stunning underparts of the Grey Wagtail

Long-tailed Tits

The session finished as it has started with a Great Spotted Woodpecker. This bird though was a male and had been ringed 9th september 2008. The ring was still as shiny as the day it had been put on. The longest retrap Great Spotted for the Swannery to date. Just under 40 birds at this time of year in two hours wasn't too bad.

News from the BTO

Today news was received of a Willow Warbler controlled at the Swannery back in August and also of two Sedge Warblers ringed there in July

Willow Warbler AYX919
Ringed at Murroes in Angus, Scotland on 25th July this year and controlled at Abbotsbury 20th August.  26 days
This was the first Willow Warbler control at Abbotsbury since 1995 when we started.

Sedge Warblers  Y230119 and Y230132
Two Sedge Warblers- one  ringed at the Swannery 23 July 2011 and the other 30th July 2011were both controlled at Saint Joachim, Loire- Atlantique in France. One 7days after ringing and the other 12 days after ringing. The later ringed bird got there first!  In recent years we have had other Sedge Warblers controlled here.  We do not seem to get so many pass through Etang du Trunvel in Finistere as we used to. Luck of the draw most likely.