Late autumn 2016 at Nanjizal - 100 Yellow-broweds and counting

Like many ringing sites in the UK, 2016 didn't seem to be the best of breeding seasons, with the cold, wet spring seeming to have reduced the amount of successful first broods. Compared to 2015, the most noticeable drop in numbers over the autumn was for Sedge Warbler, from over 1,300 ringed to barely 700 this year. This may have been due to the weather and slightly reduced coverage, but the national picture seemed to be show a poor breeding season. Blackcaps were late arriving in September and, like Sedge Warbler, in much lower numbers. The current total of just over 1,450 again compares poorly to the 1,933 ringed in 2015. The only real up sides saw Willow Warbler pretty stable at 469 compared to 473 last year, and Whitethroat actually increased, from 248 to 366.

During September coverage was similar to last year, but increased dramatically in October with extended periods of calm weather. During this later part of the autumn, the most noticeable absentees were the crests. There may yet be more to come, but the total of just 167 Goldcrest is well down on last year's 469. Similarly, just 27 Firecrest ringed so far doesn't compare to the bumper catch of 114 in 2015. The highlight of the autumn though was the mass arrival of Yellow-browed Warblers. After the dramatic increase in 2015 (with 22 ringed), this autumn has so far seen an incredible 105 birds ringed, with 13 ringed in one day alone! Long-distance movements of Yellow-broweds are rare, so we were surprised to catch a bird in 2015 ringed in Lincolnshire the week before. This year, we retrapped a bird on 31st October that had originally been ringed at St Abb's Head, Borders on 9th October, almost 700km to the north.

Other unusual species trapped during the autumn include two Nightingale, four Wryneck, Melodious Warbler, Marsh Warbler, an unprecedented two Paddyfield Warblers, two Dusky Warbler and Little Bunting. With the weather now turning for the worse, it's doubtful we'll get many more days in before packing up at the end of the month, which is a pity as the thrushes have arrived and the ongoing turnover of Chiffchaffs has included numerous tristis, with several 'Siberian' Lesser Whitethroats also turning up, but more on these later...

Perfect timing for a Paddyfield

There are always benefits to being social and this morning I thought I'd just briefly nip down to Nanjizal to say hello to the visiting ringing group who are down for the week and drop off some rings. When they returned from a net round with just half a dozen birds I realised they were having a quiet morning! OK, so they'd just recaught a Dutch-ringed Reed Warbler (the first from there to be found in the county!) and earlier in the week they had ringed Common, Green and Wood Sandpiper, but it was still a bit quiet.

A trio of sandpipers!

 My timing was perfect though as the sixth bird out of the bag was a bit more interesting!

Juvenile Paddyfield Warblers get very worn very quickly, but the smart tertials give away its age

This young Paddyfield Warbler popped up just over two years after we'd caught a much darker one at Nanjizal (see the blog post here), so two at the same site is rather incredible! The first for Cornwall was as recent as 1996, with these two ringed birds being just the fifth and sixth county records.

The 2014 Paddyfield for comparison

If the thought of using more B+ rings then B rings in a week's ringing might tempt other groups to come down for an autumn week, then check out some info on our Nanjizal page.

Early autumn at Nanjizal - and an early Paddyfield

Autumn ringing at the private 'off site' at Nanjizal, near Land's End, has been picking up, with some pretty good numbers of birds ringed over the last couple of months. The totals are all checked now and make for impressive reading...

July - 1,090 new birds ringed

The top three species in July were Sedge Warbler (314), Willow Warbler (120) and Chiffchaff (86), although the supporting cast also included an excellent 45 Grasshopper Warbler and 68 Whitethroat.

Net full of Grasshopper Warblers

August - 1,184 new birds ringed

The top species in August was unsurprisingly Sedge Warbler again (658), taking the number ringed at the site in 2014 over the 1,000 mark (1,079 to be precise)! Second was Whitethroat (166) and then Blackcap (65), though the supporting cast was a bit more varied, including 2 Water Rail, Little Ringed Plover, 8 Tree Pipit, Redstart, 33 Grasshopper Warbler and Cornwall's fifth record of Paddyfield Warbler; a juvenile caught on 31st August.

The long-tailed appearance of Paddyfield Warblers is in part due to their very short wings

The fresh flight feathers age this Paddyfield Warbler as a juvenile bird

Nanjizal will continue to be regularly ringed through the rest of the autumn, and the next couple of months should bring big numbers of Blackcap and Chiffchaff, along with a few surprises (recent highlights include a very smart Red-eyed Vireo). Any ringers wishing to help out at Nanjizal over the autumn are welcome to come along and there is cottage accommodation nearby which sleeps four people. If you fancy coming down to help out then get in touch with us via the 'Contact us' page above.