NGBs on Bardsey 2015

Bardsey Bird Observatory Trip Report 2015

"22nd of August saw the first four members of NGB making their way across to Bardsey Island. The weather was not your usual weather for August, but then again it is Wales! Between the rain and the wind the four members (Dan, David, Ephraim, George) split up and began birding. The first day was a quiet day where it was mainly exploring the island for the best birding spots and getting to know the names of the areas, which quickly went out the window as new names where then appointed: e.g Solfach was transformed to Solvent. 

The Sunday was a much better day for birding, despite the rain again. We set up my scope in a little alcove by the entrance to the Common room so we didn't have to go out into the rain. We collected a number of common species such as Common and Arctic tern. It was my turn to do some sea watching, after glaring into a misty sea, a tern caught my eye and after watching it come out from the mist, I could finally tell what it was: Black Tern! Sunday quickly turned into a Tern-kind-of-day with two hours later whilst down the hide at Solfach, Steve picked up on a Roseate Tern!" Dan Rouse

"The rest of us (Josie, Aidan, Jammy, Ben and I) came over to the island on Monday, after Birdfair, and it seemed that we brought the sunny weather with us, as it ended up being a very pleasant week, which was a huge relief after looking at the weather forecast a few days before and seeing day after day of rain! After a calm crossing and meeting the others, we soon started birding, with the notable birds of the day being a Mediterranean Gull and a Common Sandpiper, and of course the great birds we got used to seeing daily like Manx Shearwater, Chough, Wheatear, Raven and Common Scoter. Every evening we gathered in the common room to help with log, when one of the observatory staff would input all of the day's bird and other wildlife records into a laptop. After log on Monday evening, we ventured to the North end of the island in search of Manxie chicks. where we were able to see these amazing birds close up, and the ringers in the group got to ring a few. The Storm Petrel nets were also put up, and 4 birds were caught, so we all stood in awe at this superb bird, which was a lifer for many of the group. It was truly magical standing in the dark watching a Stormie in front of us (and selling it!) with Manxies calling overhead, and a Little Owl calling in the distance. 

On Tuesday, among the usual stuff we had a Whitethroat, Grey Wagtail, Peregrine and Purple Sandpiper, and whilst sea-watching from the observatory we had 3 Gadwall and a Teal fly north incredibly fast (good birds for Bardsey!). We also had a Great Skua, and there was a lot of excitement and the frantic setting up of scopes when a juv Long-Tailed Skua was called. The bird kindly flew at a leisurely pace reasonably close in, so everyone present at the time could get onto the bird and have good views, and it was a lifer for some of us.

Wednesday was quite a quiet day bird-wise, but we did see a Razorbill resting on the sea while on the beach at Solfach. Thursday was quite the opposite though, with some good waders seen whilst sea-watching from the Obs. I spotted a mixed flock of waders flying south, and soon Steve  had identified them as 9 Whimbrel, 8 Knot (first for the trip), at least 2 Bar-tailed Godwits (first for the trip) and a Grey Plover (the only one of the trip). In fact, Grey Plover is a scarce bird on Bardsey, with only 3 records from 2013, and my bird was only the second record for this year, so not a bad find! Ringed Plover, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Turnstone were the other waders seen that day. In the afternoon we headed up the mountain slightly in search of Manxie chicks to ring, and even the non-ringers in the group, Ephraim, George and I, were able to ring these incredible birds under the guidance of Steve, an A permit holder, which was a real privilege and an unforgettable experience. 

That evening all the NGbs, obs staff and birding visitors to the island gathered in Steve's house for the bird quiz, where we split into two teams each with a fair distribution of older birders and Ngbs. It was great fun, with questions about rare bird records, identifying and ageing birds, and some general bird-related questions, and in the end it was very close between the two teams.

Friday was the day of the bird race between the NGBs and the rest of the birders on the island (the warden and assistant wardens; Steve, Mark and Steffan, and two birders Kevin and Jess). The race technically started at midnight; when we all still in Steve's house after the quiz, and it ended at 7:30pm for log. In the morning out team split into pairs to cover the island, with Josie and I staying at the observatory to sea-watch, But before everyone else was up, George saw a Grey phalarope out to sea, the only one seen on the trip so a great tick, however it couldn't be counted in our race list as 2 people had to see every species. I managed to find a Pomarine Skua (the only one of the trip) and a Golden Plover (also the only one of the trip) but unfortunately in order to identify any birds found whilst sea-watching we had to alert 'the enemy', so the birds went on their day list too. In the end the NGBs saw 59 species, and the other team saw 60, painfully close! However, it could be argued (and we did) that the obs staff cheated, as they went to the East Side (where we weren't allowed to go because it's too dangerous) and played a Stormie tape into a Stormie burrow (that only they knew was there) and they heard the bird call back and ticked it-cheats! Also, during the day a couple of  Barn Owl feathers were found, so after log Jammy, Ephraim and Ben went out to find the owl, and they were succesful (albeit just a 3 second view), but that couldn;t be included in our bird race total as it was after 7:30, so technically I think we can say that the NGBs won!" Sorrel Lyall

"The ringers of the group got to experience a variety of species! The mist-nets in the garden in the obs provided the usual species for some of us, such as; Goldcrest, Robin, and Wrens. On the Saturday, one of my favourite birds appeared in the nets; Spotted Flycatcher! Once, Ben arrived on the island, we went down to the beach at Solfach to set up the portable Heligoland trap in the hopes of catching some Rock Pipits. The idea was a success with a few Pipits caught, however, the trap provided some very exciting birds such as a Dunlin which Josie ringed and a Redshank which I had the pleasure of ringing. We tried numerous times to trap the Turnstones that were strutting up and down the beach, but despite trying different methods it wasn't a success. On the last day, Steffan brought Steve some Goldfinch pulli which myself and Josie ringed, these little birds were tiny and just adorable to ring." D

"On Saturday afternoon we got the boat back to the mainland (after leaving Jammy on the island for another week!) and saw some close Manxies from the boat and a Guillemot on the water. 

From Saturday to Saturday NGBs and the obs staff saw exactly 100 species, and from Monday to Saturday NGBs saw 94 species, meaning we beat the Skokholm crew in the NGB Islands Bird Race by 10 species. So all in all a fantastic week!" S

- By Sorrel Lyall & Contribution by Dan Rouse

Sorrel Lyall Website

Sorrel's Twitter 

Dan's Blog

Dan's Twitter

Ringers Report June 2015

Ringers Report, June 2015

Dan Rouse - A Rocha Bird Observatory, Portugal

Been a great week out in Portugal at the observatory, despite having gone to Portugal a number of times it was only this time did I actually do some ringing. The heat was the biggest issue of the day, the first bird pulled out the bag was a Juv House Sparrow and the birds continued to be less interested until there was one bag left, one of my favourite birds of Portugal: Azure Winged Magpie! As much as I love them, they don't half hurt when they get you good. More common birds continued to fill the nets until a Sardinian Warbler flew into the net in front of me and then a Short-Toed Treecreeper were both major highlights for me!

Zac Hinchcliffe & Jonnie Fisk - Spurn Bird Observatory 

Jonnie Fisk had the pleasure of ringing a Marsh Warbler at Spurn. Zac, having managed to avoid them so far controlled a Sparrow Hawk which was first ringed at MigFest at Spurn the year before.

Josie Hewitt - Hampshire

In my garden, June saw the arrival of lots of fledged Starlings. I hadn't really done many Starlings before now so my aim was to catch and ring as many as I could. Using one potter trap over 3 weeks in June I managed to trap 26 Starlings, both adults and juveniles. I think their eyes are fascinating and there is so much variation with them that I decided to take some photos so that if I re-trap any of them as adults then I can see if the iris colour is any indication of sex. I decided to do this because I have been told conflicting things by different people as to whether you can or cannot sex juvenile Starlings based on iris colour. Hopefully I'll re-trap some of the birds once they've done their post juvenile moult and so I can use other criteria to try and sex them.

Ringers Report: May 2015

 

Ringers Report!

'Ringers Report' is a new blog series where the ringers of NGB can showcase all that they have ringed and what has turned up in the nets over the past month. June's 'Ringers Report' will be going up on the first week of July, reminder will be posted in the 'Young Ringers' Facebook group.

Daniel Wade - Kvismaren Bird Observatory, Sweden.

Though currently my role at the observatory is mainly census and survey based I have been getting hands on with some ringing in relation to a couple of ongoing projects including the colour ringing of 2 Savi's Warblers, 2 Ortolan Buntings and a female Great Reed Warbler. It's been great to experience some new species in the hand and learn about more scientific practices such as blood sampling for DNA and RNA analysis. We also controlled a Gdansk ringed Robin a couple of weeks back, which was very welcome!

I can only anticipate what fun lies. Ahead as I enter my last fortnight at the observatory!

Dan Rouse - Gower Ringing Group, Wales

No rarities to report in the nets but amazing numbers have turned up at our CES site, Lesser Whitethroat and Mistle Trush being highlights so far this year. At our Oxwich site, which I have shamefully on been to once this month, we've had great numbers of finches and warbler with Cetti's, Reed, Gropper and Sedge all being present. Again, another Mistle thrush rocked up making that the group's 6th of the year! In Wales last year there were only 10 caught (2 pulli), so we're off to a great start with the species!

Amy Robjohns - Farlington, Hampshire

I've been ringing a couple of times in May down at Farlington Marshes (Hampshire). Some sessions have been rather quiet with a few birds ringed although our latest session (20th May) yielded almost 50 birds. We've mostly been ringing warblers, particularly reed warblers, whitethroats and blackcaps. Highlights this month have been a skylark, great spotted woodpecker, lesser whitethroat, and more recently fledglings!

Jonnie Fisk - Spurn
Just got back a control Blackcap I ringed 16/-4/15 found dead (hit window) 163km away in Beccles 02/05/15. Spurn to Suffolk in 16 days.

Meet the Committee!

Meet the Committee

Meet the Chairman:

Jonnie Fisk

"I'm 19, from North Yorkshire (though I had the misfortune of being born in London, Thus my first bird- heard only- was probably a Ring- necked Parakeet, a devastating reality). By day I work as a field officer on a N Yorks wet grassland reserve and by night in a restaurant kitchen. In my spare time I enjoy the music of Halls & Oates and googling pictures of hepatic Cuckoos. Don't believe there's more to life than birding."

Meet the Vice Chair:

Josie Hewitt

" I've had an interest in nature for as long as I can remember but in the last 6 years this has developed into a full on passion and one that I hope to make a career out of! I am a very keen birder, dedicated patcher, occasional twitcher and qualified bird ringer. I go out birding or ringing whenever I can and more recently have tried my hand at nest finding, as part of the BTO NRS scheme, however it's safe to say much more practice is needed to home my skills!"

Meet the Trip Officer:

James Shergold

A man of few words..

" My names James. My hobby is birdwatching, I live in the Midlands. Yes I'm interested in birds. As stated above it's my hobby."

Meet the Bird Development Officer:

Jake Gearty

" I'm Jake, 21 years old. I'm currently studying Adult Nursing (2nd year) at the University of East Anglia, I originate from the seaside city of Brighton & Hove, however spend most my time in Norfolk now. I've been a part of this crazy train known as NGB from the start, even before NGB when it was formally known as Young Birders! I've always been a 'birder' per say, my inspirations for the hobby came from my granddad who would take me out birding to the local nature reserves and point out the basics, a few years later I'd be teaching him stuff! My most memorable birding experience was when I first heard the wonderful song of the Nightingale, it still is to this day my favourite bird and was sort of the defining moment that I knew I was probably going to keep at this hobby for many years to come!"

Meet the Blog Editor: 

Dan Rouse

" I'm Dan from the wonderful country of Wales. I'm 19 years old and currently working for the WWT down in Llanelli where I'm a Learning Assistant. I have a huge love for raptors and owls but a soft spot for Wigeon (that call just makes me melt!), I'm a trainee ringer and plan to do a lot more regarding that aswell. I bird mainly Wales, but do the odd bit of twitching thanks to a certain someone and travel to Portugal a few times a year for birding. I love collecting, my collection is mainly pellets, claws and feathers, but I have more books than I need which have formed a collection of their own. I have an interest in reptiles, butterflies and bats! "

Meet the Newsletter Editor:

Jonathan Scragg

"My name is Jonathan Scragg, I am 20 years old and I am currently 2 years into studying Ecology at Lancaster University. I have been a birder for as long as I can remember and my main passion is patch birding, hence why I help to run Patchwork Challenge alongside my work with NGB. Beyond birds I am very interested in butterflies and moths and I currently have a part-time job surveying Bats in the North-West, basically anything that flies interests me!"

NGB Introducing: Dan Rouse

Being dragged across Wales with my father and brother is what really kicked off my interest in birds, we would travel to different places to sit on top of the car to watch the Rally cars do their forest stages which meant a lot of sitting around doing nothing! Despite knowing the ins-and-outs of cars, I never took an interest so instead as a bribe to go with them I was bought my first Bird ID book and a pair of Bins to keep me occupied. I took an instant interest in Birds of Prey and would spend hours watching them especially the Red kites of Brecon. I'll risk sounding patriotic, but Wales is always where my heart will be.

Once I got older I realized that a career involving wildlife is what I wanted and this persuaded me to start volunteering for WWT Llanelli in December 2012, I would mainly do the Saturday activities which included things like Mini Beast hunts and Pond Dipping. Anyone that knows me, knows how obsessive I get over learning, hence why I can speak four languages.. But my need for learning has helped me a lot with my career because in October 2013, WWT offered me a job as a Learning Assistant which means I now teach schools, Universities and lead educational groups for events such as Bat Walks and Dawn Chorus. This year I have entered PWC and so far its proving challenging especially sharing a patch with Laurie who is a rare bird magnet! This is also driven me to learn more about my patch and what birds we get. My patch is WWT Llanelli so I mix birding with work, although all the good birds turn up on my day off. I have a slight obsession with feathers, I wouldn't say I'm into taxidermy for example I wouldn't have a stuffed bird in my house but I do have a few skulls and pellets. I have now started to cast bugs into resin (obviously I find them dead, not killing them!). 

My Inspiration:

David Attenborough has had a huge influence on the way I look at the world, but I grew up being obsessed with Steve Backshall's tv series and have now continued to read about him. But from a more local point of view, the guys of Gower Ornithology Society are absolutely amazing! They do so much for each other and are genuinely lovely people, myself and Emma were invited to do a talk to the society about how to encourage the younger generation of birders into the society and they were so open minded about it all. 

Best birding experience:

The memory that sticks with me was not actually that long ago, It was going to see the Great Northern Diver in summer plumage at mumbles. I had never met anyone from NGB before and decided the day before that I was going to go see it.  I woke up at 7am and got on the first bus into Swansea then to Mumbles where I met Emma-Louise Cole who was so lovely to me and from there we have become good friends, Literally cannot get rid of her.. NGB has provided me with the opportunity to meet some amazing people who share the same interests as me. I've started to bird outside of Wales now, passed my driving test in January and within a month or so I was driving myself, Emma and Espen down to Cornwall on a twitch (I won't mention the Eider incident). I have to mention every birding trip with Emma is an experience in itself mainly because of my near-death experiences in my car or the fact we always end up in a pub. 

Finally, Favourite Bird:

Easy, Black Winged Kite. My love for them is unreal, having these birds fly directly above your head in Portugal is surreal! Most people know my love for Wigeon but Monties, Eagle Owls and well, owls in general are right up there with my favourite birds. Raptors have always been in my life, be it watching them from a roof-rack to surveying them in the Gower."