Monday 4 February 2013

A Spoonbill Great Tit and So Much More

Morning Ringing With Scouse Ringer...

The day started off reasonably well, with 3 Robins firstly out of the net. Soon afterwards we were joined by a few Blue Tits and quite a few Great Tits. You would never guess what I held in my hand today; a "Spoon Billed" Great Tit, I mean who would of thought it.

We caught this Great Tit during the morning ringing session.


Birds bills can occur like that sometimes, and how it has fed I will never know, but it appeared to be quite healthy (at least it didn't give me a painful bite). The BTO have a page on their website about deformed beaks called the Big Garden Beak Watch


There was quite a bit of Coal Tit action going on today, probably one of my favorite tits.


We were joined by a special guest from Anglesey today called Kathy James. She joined us in the roost session; she seemed really enthusiastic about bird watching and ringing. Kathy's website is called Nature Bites.


Lunch at Hightown

After the first session of ringing we were told we were meeting Kathy at two o clock, which gave us time to have lunch and do a bit of wader bird watching at Hightown. On the far side you can see Common Redshank.


This big flock of gulls and waders was disturbed by a rather scruffy Peregrine Falcon.


Probably one of my favorite waders, Redshank were everywhere on the mudflats. 


Some very lazy Shell Duck were sat motionless on the mud, however as we approached they soon fled.


 There were plenty of huge ships cruising across the water.


I am getting kind of excited because this gull looks a bit like a Ring Billed Gull, could someone please help identify it for me? I know Ring Billed Gulls are usually found in North America, but this bird is puzzling and some have been seen in this country in the past. It had the black tipped wings and the end of it's beak was black like the juvenile Ring Billed Gulls. I know it might just be a 1st Winter Common Gull, but it seemed to stand out a bit.


Evening Roost Ringing

As we started on our evening roost, one of the first birds we had was a Tree Creeper.


They are truly remarkable birds. Just look at those feet for climbing. I felt it's tail which is really stiff which helps it to wedge in to trees.


And guess what, I got to ring one!!!


In the end we caught two, I rung one and Kathy rung the other.


Another perfect Scouse Ringing day.....


Don't forget it's my Good Question Quiz tomorrow night.

18 comments:

  1. That's my local patch from when I was your age Finn. Great place to go birding.
    Nearly lost my bike in quicksand once!!!

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

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  2. Very impressive work. Great to see a Tree Creeper from such close quarters. The spoon-billed tit is very interesting too.

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  3. Another great post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. It must be a fantastic experience getting to hold, and ring, all these birds Finlay? and you're learning so much...it looks like you've got a good teacher? And a Spoonbill Great Tit?...hmmm!..can't seem to find that one in my books!! Excellent post...[;o)

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  5. Great post and what an excellent day you had Findlay! To ring a Tree Creeper AND get excellent photos of it in hand, I'd be smiling from ear to ear! As for the gull, I don't think it is a Ring-billed Gull. They are common over here in the US but the white patch on the wing tip of your bird is too large for the Ring-billed which only gets that field mark in its third year as it becomes an adult. The other field marks of the Ring-billed are a pale yellow eye and yellow legs. I wrote a post on them with good views here.

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  6. Cute birds, perfect post for WBW!

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  7. Great birds and another very interesting day ringing all those birds.

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  8. Hi Finlay...Do you know what a lucky kid you are : )!!
    There are a lot of us birders that would love a day like this.
    I am so happy for you!! To bad that the cute Coal Tit has that odd beak!!
    Grace
    Thanks so mush for you comment on my post : )

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  9. Finlay, what a great place for birding and your ringing. I love the tree creeper shots. Great post and photos. Happy birding!

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  10. Sounds like a fantastic day, Findlay! Those are such great shots of the birds being banded, and I love the gulls in flight at the beach.

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  11. Thank you for a really informative and interesting post! The pictures are just wonderful! The spoonbill is something I haven't seen yet.

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  12. another wonderful birding outing for you Findlay; great photographs to show us the events and fabulous opportunities for you to practice ringing; well done; great post!

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  13. Strange looking beak - makes you wonder how it feeds - but it does look healthy, and given the winter you have had (are having?) you would have thought it would have been long gone if it had a real problem.

    Would be a great bird to turn up as a retrap / control in a few years.

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW.

    Stewart M - Melbourne

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  14. Looks like a grand day, once again and sad about the little Tit, but as you indicated, it seems to be doing well. I adore those wee little Tree Creepers. We have Brown ones, but hardly ever get to see them, they blend in so well~

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  15. Great series! How wonderful to be able to work so closely with those birds!

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  16. I have to agree with the comment just before mine. It must be wonderful to work with the birds everyday. I really loved this entire series of shots. Everyday must be a grand adventure where you live...especially with the birding!

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  17. Great series and a very interesting day you had.

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