Return to the sewage works

After a long absence we've finally managed to get back access to our sewage works sites for the winter, which is great news. Last week we had out first session at Gwennap works, ringing 11 Chiffchaffs, including one tristis bird.

This morning we headed to Ponsanooth and although it was a bit quiet (to warm) we did have a good morning with a few interesting birds, so below are a few of the highlights (thanks to Jack Burton for the better pics!).

Although showing a few green and yellow tones, we're sure this is also a tristis Chiffchaff

Green Woodpecker showing off it's sticky tongue

The general plumage and length of the first primary indicated this was an adult female,
but one that had oddly retained just one primary covert, on one wing only

A cunningly-placed net managed to intercept one of the two Green Sandpipers
using one of the settling tanks

We often think of Robins with spots as juveniles, but this bird was ringed in November 2014.
The give-away is the fact that the spots get larger towards the outside of the wing,
rather than towards the ody as in a juvenile bird.

Swallow roost bonus

Having seen how much the reed had grown up at our sewage works site at Gwennap (check out the original reedbed in this blog post), last night we opted to see if any Swallows were roosting there. Bit of a long shot, but if you don't go and check you'll never know.

It didn't look too good as there weren't many birds around anyway, but we stuck up a few nets and hoped. We even added a speculative net alongside one of the settling tanks just in case one of the two regular Green Sandpipers there dropped in. So to cut a long story short, the roost only produced six Swallows and a Chiffchaff, but the extra net chipped in with three more Swallows that got the 'balancing-on-the-top-shelf-for-fun' game a bit wrong and also the hoped for Green Sand - the first ever caught by the group.

This was an adult in active wing moult, and apparently adults birds begin their complete moult on the breeding grounds and slowly moult through migration, finishing on their wintering grounds. Some will also suspend moult part-way through migration, continuing it later in the autumn. As in many waders, it is usually the female that departs first, leaving the male to raise the young which will then start to come through the UK later this month. Either way, a very smart bird indeed!

Our bird wasn't too far into the moult of its primaries
and hadn't started on the secondaries yet.