Good Question 6

It's Quiz Night Tuesday!

And tonight's question is, can you ID this bird?

I will post the answer tomorrow night, good luck.

And the answer is:

A leucistic Brambling that we caught and ringed on Sunday.

The BTO's description of leucism is:

In leucistic birds, affected plumage lacks melanin pigment due to the cells responsible for melanin production being absent. This results in a white feathers, unless the normal plumage colour also comprises carotenoids (e.g. yellows), which remain unaffected by the condition. Although leucism is inherited, the extent and positioning of the white colouration can vary between adults and their young, and can also skip generations if leucistic genes are recessive.

The notes on Scouse Ringers blog say "One of the last Brambling out of the nets was this leucistic bird. Capturing birds with leucistic features is not uncommon, in most cases it is single feathers but in this bird it was more extensive and, interestingly, it was symetrical across the body."

I really like Scouse Ringer's new name for it, a Snowling!

Triple Figures

Sundays for me are great as I get to go ringing. I am ringing nearly every weekend and learning so much. It was a very early start to the day yesterday when some of you were still fast asleep.

The first net round brought us some Lesser Redpoll, Brambling, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit.  I was really pleased with the second net round as we got a female Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I was lucky enough to ring this bird... 

 This bird was just as loud as the one at the bird fair at Martin Mere.

 Phew, I did double check that all my fingers were still there after I let it go

Next bird up, a Geenfinch, probably one of my favourites because they don't wriggle about and peck you as much as all the other birds.

Here we are comparing two Greenfinches, adult on the left juvenile on the right.

They are really easy birds to handle.

 These Brambling are starting to get there beautiful black heads back, a cracking male below.

My first ever female Bullfinch in my hand yesterday, brilliant birds, just look at the powerful seed cracking beak.

Almost as beautiful as the male Brambling, Lesser Redpolls were coming out of the net every few seconds.

 One of the first ever species of bird I ringed, this wonderful Willow Tit was caught at feeding station Two. 

A great bird to end the day..

In the end we caught 15 species of bird, 51 ringed, 63 re-traps a hundred plus birds all together.

Thank you once again Peter, I have had a brilliant ringing day.

Wild Bird Wednesday

Good Question 5

Good evening and welcome to Quiz Night Tuesday. Tonight's question is:

What do sea birds drink?

I will post all your answers and my answer at 8:30pm even though there is a big match on tonight!

And the answer (which loads of you got right) is sea water.

Sea birds have developed special salt secreting glands which are located above the eye. They get rid of the salt into nasal passages and the salty liquid drips from the beak. The gland removes salt really, really well. For example a gull given a tenth of it's body weight in sea water can secrete about 90% of the salt in 3 hours and thus allows seabirds to drink the water they live in.
Fact taken from Manual of Ornithology - Avian Structure & Function

Jedi Training With Obi Wan Kenobi

 Yesterday I went to a whole new ringing place I have never been before in Lancashire with Scouse Ringer, Moxey and James. Here's Peter below explaining important bird facts.

The bird that was one of the first out of the net was a bird I have been waiting to ring and have in my hand for ages, the beautiful Nuthatch. 

This Nuthatch is a female, and I will explain why in a minute.

Right then, if you look closely you can see the flanks of this male Nuthatch below are a real dark chestnutty colour, however the female above would not have such a deep colour.

I think it was the second to last net-round we ended up catching two Treecreeper one adult one juvenile (Treecreepers are one of my dads favorite).

Peter said I could only ring the Tree Creeper if I could remember how to tell if it was a juvenile or an adult. Oh yes, I got to ring it.

 For some reason sometimes I feel under pressure when I ring a bird. It has to be perfect.

As the day started to come to an end, we caught a beautiful male Goldcrest.

A few Goldfinches had discovered the feeders Peter had put up.

This Coal Tit obviously liked me, since as I released it from the weighing pot it sat in my hand.

And to end the day a beautiful ringed Kestrel appeared out of no where.

 Another great day of training with Obi Wan Kenobi.

Wild Bird Wednesday

Good Question 4

It's Tuesday night Quiz night again already.

Tonight I have switched on the comments moderating thing, so all your answers will be show at the same time later on tonight!

What nasty substance (harmful to birds) commonly occurs on peanuts that have been stored for too long?

All your answers and the correct answer will be posted at 8:30pm

Answer

And the answer I was looking for is Aflatoxins which are caused by Aspergillus flavus fungi.

Thank you to Grandpa Peter for also pointing out that Aflatoxin is dangerous to humans too, and some forms of it can be absorbed though the skin.

Green, Gold and Red

Yesterday I went for a ringing session with Peter, Pete, and Dan. I was really glad to be back with Scouse Ringer and hear about his trip to Portugal, and he explained to me about the Yarelli sub species.

One of the first birds out of the nets was a male Bullfinch, Moxey fished this one out, whilst me, my dad, Peter and Dan went to check the rest of the nets. 

 

I hadn't been to Kings Moss for a while, so I really enjoyed holding the Greenfinches, probably one of my favorite birds of the day! I was allowed to take quite a few birds out of the bags yesterday, however when I got the bird out of the bag I had a few peck marks on me.

On this Greenfinch, Peter was explaining to me how to know if it is a young or adult bird, male or female.

I got to ring a few birds yesterday as well, all this experience is making me much more confident in handling and ringing the birds. The next picture shows me closing the ring on a Greenfinch.

We caught a female Goldcrest in the mist-net, a first for me at Kings Moss. 

As the morning came to a close, a good amount of Long Tailed Tits came into the net, (my dad's favorite).

Red Polls also came to the net in a reasonable size, they males are absolutely astonishing, as shown in the picture.

Me and Dan were comparing the two Robins we caught, to see if they were juveniles or adults.

I am surprised that the Robin didn't get feisty. 

My first ever Reed Bunting was in my hand yesterday, you can see it's a male because you can see the white collar.  

And to finish the day off a stunning Yellow Hammer (another one of my dads favorites).

And before I finish this blog I just want to say thank you to Peter who lets me come out ringing and my dad who takes me.

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

Introduction To The New feeding Station

Today I want to tell you all about a feeding station I put up in my local patch I couple of weeks ago, I'll be telling you more about this over the next few weeks but I really hope it is going to be something special.  The friendly farmer who lives not to far away gave us special permission to put up the feeders in one of his private woods. As we approached the feeders today there was a Buzzard getting mobbed by crows.

I got some great footage from a female Sparrow Hawk today, I don't see where she came from, but I suddenly caught a glimpse of her grabbing a Starling. The Starling had joined a Fieldfare and Redwing flock, so I am just glad it didn't catch the the Fieldfare or Redwing. As soon as the Sparrowhawk had caught the Starling, the crows started mobbing the Sparrowhawk.

 You have to go along side a train track to get to the feeders, which gives me a view of a collection of holes which I am pretty sure is a badger sett.

I have put the feeders in a very good place. The feeding station itself is in the canopy of the trees at the top of a steep valley. Beside the feeders there are several dead trees that tower above the feeders, which are really good for woodpeckers. I am doing a special project on Great Spotted Woodpeckers, however Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have been seen here, so in time I hope I manage to see one on my feeder. But more on Operation Woodpecker coming soon.                                      

                 

The birds love the feeders already. There are a lot of Great Tits about, in fact at the moment, I would say there were more Great Tits than Blue Tits.

Today was really about putting all three of my nest boxes up, next time I come (probably tomorrow after ringing) I should really put some more cover on them.

 I wasn't tall enough to put the boxes up, so my dad gave me a helping hand of putting them up for me. Although he did slip and fall and roll done the bank. Mum walked away so dad didn't see her laughing.

The wood seems to be full of Long Tailed Tits, they absolutely adore the nut feeders.

Lovely little birds to watch...

What an end to a busy but brilliant day!