Start of the winter Chiffs

It's not often we start our winter sewage works ringing in December, but a couple of weekends of cold weather recently gave us the chance to venture out to a couple of sites.

Gwennap is often our most productive site and a few hours last weekend saw us catch 101 birds, including 59 Chiffchaffs. Of these, just four were birds ringed in previous winters, predictably all at the site. The highlight though was a smart Grey Wagtail which was already carrying a ring, but not one of ours. It had actually been ringed as one of three chicks in a nest in Budock Water in April, 9km from Gwennap.

The Grey Wagtails in the nest (Sam Pitt Miller)

This last weekend we were then able to get into Brew sewage works, near Sennen, right down in the far west. It needs a calm day to net this exposed site, so we have to make the most of the chance. A short morning produced 61 birds, of which 45 were Chiffchaffs. Being so close to the autumn ringing site at Nanjizal, several of these were already ringed, which gives a nice insight into the arrival timing of wintering birds (more on that later). Most were from this same autumn, but four were ringed at Nanjizal in autumn 2022, so were returning birds.

Brew is also our best site for Siberian Chiffchaffs (tristis race) of which we caught two, both of which were quite subtle birds (as below), not the cold grey birds we sometimes see.

New Year, old Chiffs

It seems to be New Year tradition now that the Cornish weather turns cold enough and calm enough to warrant a visit to the local sewage works. Today was no exception and thankfully the hail showers stayed away long enough to allow a couple of hours mist-netting at Gwennap Sewage Works. There were a LOT of Chiffchaffs around, picking insects off the tanks and from the bushes and small trees surrounding them. My estimate of 80 birds was probably rather conservative.

It only took two nets around a settling tank to keep me pretty busy, catching 81 birds! Of these, an impressive 56 were Chiffchaffs, including seven ringed in previous winters. Four had been ringed on 1st January 2020, with others ringed on 19th January 2020, 4th January 2019 and 5th January 2017. The latter bird (HHB667) was caught again in December 2017 but not since, so in its fourth winter at the site is remarkably site faithful. The national longevity record for Chiffchaff is only 7 years 7 months, so HHB667 is quite exceptional for a wintering bird.

In amongst the 'nornal' Chiffchaffs were several paler, eastern Siberian Chiffchaffs (tristis race) and I was lucky enough to catch four, including an exceptionally pale frosty bird. These eastern visitors normally make up 10% of our wintering birds, so the four caught is about the norm.

Some of the 'bycatch' was interesting as well, including Firecrest, three Grey Wagtails, Pied Wagtail, three Bullfinch and Meadow Pipit. With the weather set to stay cold and calm next week, we'll hopefully have more to report soon.

New Year, new Chiffs

It's been a long time since we've blogged, but what better time to change that than New Year. Today was a rare calm day and despite not being very cold we decided to have a couple of hours at Gwennap Sewage Works anyway. The vagaries of ringing at sewage works is that we often only use the smallest size rings (AA) and today was no exception. In the two hours (and just three nets) we ringed 28 Chiffchaffs, including this very smart tristis Siberian Chiffchaff. Unfortunately we didn't recatch any ringed birds from last winter (when we ringed 44 Chiffchaff here), but once the colder weather arrives I'm sure we'll be catching more.

There were well over 40 Chiffchaff on site (and two Yellow-browed Warblers), so plenty more to keep us occupied on the next calm day. The bycatch wasn't too bad either: Firecrest, two Long-tailed Tits and the obligatory Wren.
 

Spring is in the air

It hasn't really felt like spring the last couple of mornings, with frosty cars and freezing cold metal poles! But once the sun was up, Dunnocks and Chiffchaffs were singing and Goldcrests displaying to each other at the sewage works, so things are definitely getting going.

But there's still plenty of signs of winter around, with this rather subtle Siberian Chiffchaff one of the last birds ringed this morning at Carnon Downs STW. It showed quite a lot of green tones to the upperparts and tail, but was nice and plain underneath and also had the distinctive long supercilium we see of some Sibe Chiffs. There was also a remaining Yellow-browed Warbler, but even this was darting round wing-fluttering at a Goldcrest!

In fact the last bird of the morning could be a sign of winter of a sign of spring, as this male Blackcap could wel be a wintering bird, but the fact it had a good amount of pollen on its forehead might indicate it was travelled from points south recently. We did look around for any pollinating trees nearby but even the local catkins weren't producing much pollen yet.

But the fact that we only caught three Chiffchaffs at Carnon Downs STW this morning and just one at Gwennap STW yesterday is perhaps a sign that birds have already started to move north, or at least have other things on their mind...

Returning Sibe Chiff kicks off 2018

In the first mist-netting venture of the year, it only seemed right to head to the sewage works. So just two of us braved the early morning frost to get a few nets up at Gwennap Sewage Works. It took a while for the sun to stir up the insects enough to get birds moving, but once they did (and with the addition of a 'sewage mix' on the MP3) we didn't do too bad, ending up with 62 birds.

The total included 23 Chiffchaffs, two of which were Siberian 'tristis' Chiffchaffs. Interestingly, one of these was already carrying a ring, having been ringed at Gwennap in December 2016. This is only the second time we've recaught a tristis in a subsequent winter, adding to the evidence that these are returning wintering birds, not lost vagrants.

Of just as much interest was the recapture of the bird below, originally ringed in September 2016 in North Norfolk! This was presumably a recent autumn arrival in Norfolk when ringed, so was presumably from points north/east.

Just to round off the day nicely, and very typical of this autumn/winter, we ringed an impressive NINE Firecrest, which is a good winter total, never mind from one morning.

First Chiffchaffs of the winter

Mist-netting has been a bit slow of late, but with the weather finally turning cold and the wind amazingly light we took the opportunity to make our first visit to the local sewage works. First stop was Gwennap, where as many as 65 Chiffchaffs were feeding in low hedges and bushes around the site, so with just two nets we were able to catch 35 birds, including a single 'tristis' bird and also two birds ringed last winter (both on 5th January). We only caught five adults, so two ringed was a reasonable ratio!

Next stop was Carnon Downs, where there were fewer Chiffchaffs (perhaps just 25), but they were all now in the tops of the trees in the warmer afternoon, so we only caught a single bird. But we did see another 'tristis' bird and also a ringed bird, so we'll be back again as soon as the wind and weather are favourable.

Apologies for the lack of photos, but we were a bit busy ringing birds to take photos...

Wonderful Waste Water Works

After a very busy Chiffchaff morning at Carnon Downs works, now seems like a good time for an update. Perfect conditions this morning allowed an amazing catch of 73 Chiffchaffs, including no fewer than eight tristis race birds! Our catch also included two controls from Nanjizal (45km as the Chiff flies), including a tristis ringed on 1st December. Equally interesting was the recapture of a bird ringed at Gwennap works on 5th January; the first time we've recorded any bird moving between two sewage works sites! It may only be 4.5km between these sites, but for all the time we've netted at various sites this is a notable first.

After such a big catch, we then decided to work out our Chiffchaff totals for the year. It turns out we've ringed 151 Chiffchaffs, including 14 tristis birds. This is a bit artificial though, so the more sensible totals are for the whole winter; 211 Chiffchaff ringed, of which 22 were tristis! These totals really do go to show how important these sites are for wintering Chiffchaffs. Just for fun, below are a few of the recent tristis birds, some taken in apparently poor light...

Two very different-looking tristis

Two tristis, with a collybita for comparison

Continental Coal Tit (?) and more Sibe Chiffs

Another calm week gives us the opportunity to get back into our sewage works sites, with this morning seeing us at Gwennap works. The cold weather meant that good numbers of Chiffchaffs were taking advantage of the abundant insects on site, and our 58 birds caught included an impressive 33 Chiffchaffs. Of these, five were 'Siberian' Chiffchaffs (tristis race), some more distinctive than others.

But the highlight was this rather interesting Coal Tit, which we're pretty sure was of the nominate Continental race. Whilst it didn't have the classic peaked-crown appearance, the blue-grey mantle and very extensive bib do seem to point towards this race. We're keen to hear other opinions though...

The five tristis Chiffchaffs also gave us the opportunity to compare the extremes of the race, with two birds being of the classic cold grey appearance, whilst the others showed varying degrees of olive/yellow in the plumage. Below is one of the least obvious examples, but DNA identification of such birds does always comes back as tristis.

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.

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...

Sibe Chiffs meet nesting Dippers

Well apparently yesterday was the last day of winter, so it was fitting that we had a day out that saw us cooing over the remnants of winter along with looking forward to the summer.

Whilst failing to put up a couple of Dipper nestboxes, we peered over the fence at one of our local sewage works (Constantine) to find the bushes there heaving with small stuff. At any one time there were at least 25 Chiffchaffs buzzing round fly-catching, and in amongst them were at least five Firecrest and two Siberian 'tristis' Chiffchaffs.

So that was the last gasp of winter, and the first signs of spring came in the form of a nest-building Dipper (where we were trying to put a box!) and also 39 Cormorants sat on nests on Mullion Island. Once again they've moved location, this time preferring the landward side of the island. There were also some signs of spring at Rinsey, with several Shags starting to nest-build and the first Kittiwakes also back on ledges, including CA (below), ringed as an adult in 2013.

Dutch-ringed Chiffchaff (and 28 others)

With a carload of the group out of county cannon-netting ducks and waders with the Axe Estuary Ringing Group, I was on my own at Gwennap sewage works today. With just two nets, a couple of hours produced a very respectable 41 birds, including 29 Chiffchaffs!

The highlight was the bird below, which I thought was a British control (AAH203 - actually a Wren ringed in Cumbria in 2003) until I noticed the ring address which read 'ARNHEM HOLLAND'. Dutch-ringed Chiffchaffs aren't very regular in the UK, with fewer than 30 previous records. This isn't the first to be found in Cornwall though, as one was retrapped at Brew, near Sennen, in May 2007. Oddly this bird had been ringed just nine days previosuly in The Netherlands, so a very odd movement!

Another interesting bird was this Siberian Chiffchaff. Not the classic bird, lacking all olive and yellow tones, but a more subtle type. But it still showed very washed out plumage tones, along with a slightly flaring supercilium behind the eye and jet black legs.

Bit of sunny weather on a cold day was all it took to
bring out the insects and hence the birds

The 'bycatch' of the day wasn't too shabby either, including one of two Yellow-browed Warblers and one of three Firecrest present at the site.

Last few Chiffchaff of the year

Barring calm enough winds tomorrow to net a few garden birds, today saw the last mist-netting of the year for the group. A morning start at The Lizard caught a few Goldfinch, Greenfinch and House Sparrow, and we then headed on to Gwennap Sewage Works. The cold start to the day had brought reasonable numbers of birds into the works, but the afternoon sun meant the insects were up in the trees, so most of the 20 Chiffchaff and three Siberian Chiffchaff there were too high to catch. But enough were milling round the site that we still managed to ring seven collybita Chiffchaff and one tristis Siberian Chiffchaff.

The tristis Chiffchaff (left) stands out against the 'standard' bird on the right, lacking olive-green or yellow tones on the plumage. Seems odd, but tristis Chiffs always seem to fluff up...

Travelling between the two sites today, we stopped off to check a dead bird on the road for rings, but by the time we'd turned round it had miraculously recovered and was stood in the middle of the road! After narrowly being missed by a passing car, we managed to scoop up a stunned adult Water Rail and take it with us. After a short while in the bag we normally store our nets in (and a nice portion of Sardines we bought for it) it recovered and was quite feisty. So it was duly ringed and released into the more salubrious setting of the new reedbed at Gwennap.

More Sibes at Nanjizal

Thinking we'd have a busy thrush day at Nanjizal, a few of us headed out to Penwith in anticipation, but it wasn't to be. The curse of Grantham struck again, and our catch total of 39 new birds (and a scattering of retrap Wrens) was a bit on the low side...

But it did include a couple of nice Siberian visitors, in the shape of a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Siberian Chiffchaff.

Very hazy, burned out but unedited photo of the Yellow-browed

I thought I'd leave it unannounced in a bird bag as a little surprise for Guill McIvor, who runs the Exeter University Jackdaw project around Stithians and Penryn.

See left the slightly bemused look on his face on taking something small out of a bird bag, before the lightbulb moment happened and the resultant childlike grin below developed!

Bit hard to see in this photo, but this bird was carrying plenty of fat (4/8 on the ringing fat scale), and weighed in at over 8g. Doesn't seem like much, but it is if you're a Yellow-browed Warbler

Our second Sibe of the day was a rather smart Siberian Chiffchaff (tristis). It wasn't calling unfortunately, but the general lack of olive tones (it did have a green wash over a lot of the upperparts), gleaming white underparts and striking face pattern did make it stand out amongst the five more typically olive local Chiffchaffs (collybita).

Cornish weather can be a bit unpredictable, so you've got to use only the best storm ties!

Yellow-browed-tastic!

Finally the weather calmed down enough this morning to allow us to dash out an get some nets up. We still had to dodge the rain showers at Ponsanooth Sewage Works, but it was worth it with plenty of birds buzzing round the site. Whilst our total of 38 birds wasn't stunning, this was more than made up for in quality. The total included 13 Chiffchaffs, two of which were classic tristis Siberian Chiffchaffs, another was a bird we ringed at Ponsanooth in January 2013 and another had originally been ringed in Devon in September 2010. This was a juvenile when ringed so may have been on passage and may well have wintered in Cornwall each winter since then. Whilst we'll never know, it's a good age already so might even last another winter.

This Siberian Chiffchaff had a slightly funny eye (slight infection?), but didn't seem
to be inconvenienced by it, being a reasonable weight

After catching our first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year (but not the first of the winter of course), we then heard a bird calling just outside the site and when we finally tracked it down we noticed it was unringed, so we briefly put a playback call on and it was soon in a net. The first bird may well have been an adult, but these are quite hard to age confidently, but the second bird had a very pointed tail and was probably a first-winter.

Just to add to the above, we also ringed a single Firecrest, with another unringed bird around, so not a bad day all told!

Thanks to Emma Inzani for the photos, taken in very dim daylight!