Bird Ringing Session

I invited birding friend and ringer Mike Collard, to our garden for a ringing session as we were getting good numbers of common birds visiting our feeders.  We erected the net and waited some time and only caught one Blue Tit.  So we moved the net to a different position which was closer to some trees and waited.  Nothing much happened for a time but then a mixed flock of Tits came in the garden and very soon we had ten birds in the net!

Blue Tit - The most caught bird with 12 individuals. 
The bird shown has unusual brown tinges to some of the feathers.  It is thought to be due to diet.

Long-tailed Tit - Four were caught at the same time.  All were released together.

Great Tit - Two were ringed.

Nuthatch - A regular visiter to our garden.  It was lovely to see this bird in the hand.

Coal Tit - One ringed. Probably one of our regular bird.  Has been seen several times since.

Dunnock - The first bird caught. 

Several of the ringed birds have been seen in the garden since looking none the worse for the interruption to their daily routine.

Spotted Crake at Eton Wick

Just after 8am news came in from Mike Wallen of a Spotted Crake at Willen Lake.  Having already committed to other things for much of the day, it was not possible to get there in the time available.  Having already seen one at Willen Lake (in 1995!) I was not over concerned and thought I might go the following day.

However rather amazingly another Spotted Crake was found, this time at Eton Wick, just into Berkshire.  Being much closer I was able to get over there late afternoon with Mike and Rose Collard.  There was about five birders already there and watching the bird.  It was in view most of the time for the next 45 minutes or so.  It was rather distant but I did manage a couple of record shots.

Rather amazingly there was a Spotted Crake also at Eton Wick/Dorney Common in October 2000, which I also saw.  The site was only about 150 metres from todays sighting!

Spotted Crake

Colour Ringed Gulls

An evening visit to Little Marlow GP was somewhat uneventful.  There was clearly a passage of Swallows, Willow Warblers, Chiff Chaffs and a single Common Sandpiper, plus 10 Teal was an increase on recent days.
On checking the gulls, a mixture of Black-headed, Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, I came across two colour ringed birds.  Both of these are Little Marlow regulars.

Lesser Black-backed Gull "Yellow H.581"

Lesser Black-backed Gull - Two rings on tarsus.  Black on right and White on left with letters "WO" in red letters.

Yellow H.581 was ringed on 23.07.2009 at Düne, Helgoland, Germany / :- It was subsequently seen at:

01.08.2009 Helgoland / Düne: 

07.08.2009 Helgoland / Düne: 

22.11.2009 ESP - Madrid, Colmenar Viejo: 

16.12.2009 ESP - Madrid, Pinto: 

05.01.2010 ESP - Madrid, Colmenar Viejo: 

02.05.2010 ESP - Madrid, Pinto: 

08.05.2010 ESP - Madrid, Pinto: 

27.09.2010 GB - Surrey, Badshot Lea: 

07.10.2010 GB - Glos, Bishop`s Cleeve: 

11.10.2010 ESP - Coruna-Provinz, Valdovino: 

03.06.2010 Helgoland / Düne: 

11.07.2011 Helgoland / Düne: 

20.01.2012 ESP - Madrid, Pinto: 

25.01.2012 ESP - Madrid, Manzanares River: 

03.05.2012 Helgoland / Düne: 

03.05.2013 GB - Buckinghamshire, Marlow: 

22.08.2013 GB - Buckinghamshire, Amersham: 

Then at Little Marlow GP on 

20.09.2013

21.03.2014

27.10.2016

05.08.2018

11.08.2018

12.08.2018

25.08.2018

White WO  was ringed as a 4cy+ male at Maasvlakte (Yangtzehaven), Zuid-Holland, Netherlands on 12/05/2012.
Previous sightings are at Little Marlow GP on 03/08/2012, 15/08/2012, 17/08/2012, 11/09/2012, 28/07/2013, 06/09/2013, 06/10/2013 and 19/07/2014.  Seen every year since then with many sightings between August and March.

Great White Egret at Little Marlow

I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from Dave Cleal to say that he had found a Great White Egret at Little Marlow GP.  After a bit of a delay I got there to find Dave still there along with three other local birders.  The Egret was fairly distant and often hidden behind overhanging trees on the main island.  It did however move into more open areas from time to time and allow a few photos to be taken.
The last Great White Egret I saw at Little Marlow was in March 2015, so perhaps a bit overdue for this increasing species in the UK.

Great White Egret - Note the Little Egret in the shadows of the overhanging trees.

Common Tern - As no Terns were raised at the lake this year, this has flown in from elsewhere (photo taken on 11th Aug).

Common Sandpipers - 2 of the 3 present on 11th Aug.

Wilstone Reservoir

I don't often visit Wilstone Reservoir but thought I would visit in advance of a U3A meeting there next week.  Plenty of birds to look through including larger numbers of Coot, Canada Geese, Tufted Ducks, etc.  A couple of Little Egrets were nice albeit common these days.  A few Shovelor and Teal were present, no doubt more to arrive fairly soon.  A Kingfisher was perched on a fallen tree in the water near the NW corner but a little distant.  A Green Sandpiper further along was even more distant. There was no sign of the Spotted Flycatchers reported the day before. I went around to the hide, which was empty and scanned around for a while.  Then something caught my eye and to the side of the hide was a stunning Kingfisher.  I rattled off a few photos before it few off.  Nearby a young Grebe appeared and I also took some photos of that.

So not an amazing birding experience but worth it for the Kingfisher alone!

Kingfisher photographed from the hide.

Little Grebe - A juvenile but no sign of any adults.

The Wendover arm of the Grand Union Canal - Work proceeding to restore it to working order.  It has been dry for many years.

Colour Ringed Gulls at Little Marlow

An early evening visit to Little Marlow GP was nice in that the heat of the day gave way to a very pleasant temperature.  The two juvenile Little Ringed Povers were again present along with an adult bird.  Two Common Sandpipers were also present again,  Three Teal have arrived but whether they stay remains to be seen.

Two repeat colour ringed gulls were present, which is somewhat surprising considering the rather small numbers present.  Firstly Black-headed Gull "Black X.A51" which I previously reported on 20th July 2018.  See my blog at this link.  Also present was Lesser Black-backed Gull "Black 9N5".

Lesser Black-back Gull "Black 9N5".  For full list of sightings see below.

Lesser Black-back Gull "Black 9N5" and Herring Gull "Orange N8MT" (this photo from 26th July).  I was rather surprised to see two colour ringed gulls so close together given that very few gulls were present on site.

Full details of the sightings of Lesser Black-back Gull "Black 9N5" follow :-

Date	Location	Country
19/05/2011	Chouet Landfill	GUERNSEY
20/01/2012	Villarrasa Landfill; Huelva	SPAIN
16/03/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
20/03/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
23/03/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
29/03/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
31/03/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
11/04/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
12/04/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
26/04/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
12/05/2012	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
08/03/2013	Chouet Landfill	GUERNSEY
04/04/2013	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
13/04/2013	Chouet Landfill	GUERNSEY
16/04/2013	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
20/04/2013	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
03/05/2013	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
23/05/2013	Chouet Landfill	GUERNSEY
30/05/2013	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
10/03/2014	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
24/03/2014	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
29/03/2014	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
12/04/2014	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
22/04/2014	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
06/06/2014	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
11/03/2015	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
24/04/2015	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
21/06/2016	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
25/07/2016	Grovebury Sandpit; near Leighton Buzzard	ENGLAND
03/08/2016	Farmoor Reservoir; Oxfordshire	ENGLAND
04/03/2017	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
17/03/2018	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
03/04/2018	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
14/05/2018	Chouet Landfill Beach	GUERNSEY
26/07/2018	Little Marlow	ENGLAND