Hornsey Rd Silvereyes 29 May

  Set the Funnel Trap for Silvereyes today with considerable success. In all caught 38 with 17 new and 21 recaps. Of the recaps 7 were banded last week, 5 from Mt Albert earlier this year and the rest from previous years including 2 from Houghton Bay. The oldest was banded July 08. This is the highest tally of Silvereyes caught in May for at least 15 years with the previous highest being 30 in May 2003. Whether this is a taste of what is to come over the next few months or just an aberration time will tell.

Inmates waiting to be processed -can't be too bad as several came back for a second go.

I had a tentative go at catching some of the Yellowhammers in Houghton Valley one morning last week with some success. Managed to catch 6 before the sun got on the nets, decided that an afternoon session would be more successful but didn't get a chance to do this as they have now moved on.


Yellowhammer

Also caught a Kingfisher which was a surprise, both for me and the bird.


Kingfisher



Zoo Sunday 27 May

Despite a strong, gusty northerly wind we had a reasonably successful banding session at the Zoo this morning (Sunday). We put up fewer nets than usual with the more exposed sites not used and we took them down late morning when the rain started to threaten. In all we caught 54 birds of 8 species with 38 being new and 16 recaptures. There was a small group of banders today however this was not surprising considering the conditions. We had a good mixture of experience and others keen to learn.

Species caught were – (recaps in brackets)

Blackbird – 1 (0)

Dunnock – 1 (0)

Chaffinch – 1 (0)

Greenfinch – 4 (2) 1 of the recaps was originally banded at the Island Bay site in July 10.

House Sparrow – 3 (2)

Starling – 1 (0)

Song Thrush – 1 (0) our first for some time, still not sure why we don’t catch more there were a number singing when we arrived.

Silvereye – 26 (12) all of the recaps were banded in the last year or so and as well we caught a large number a second and third time

Hornsey Rd & Houghton Bay Tue 22 May

In the last week Silvereyes have started to feed at my bird table, this is almost exactly a month earlier than last year. This morning I set the funnel trap and had reasonable success. Managed to catch 20 Silvereyes with 15 new birds and 5 recaptures, the only other bird was a recap House Sparrow. Of the Silvereye recaps 2 were from Mt Albert and 1 from Houghton Bay.

This afternoon I went down to the Houghton Bay stream primarily to put up a couple of nets so I could make some alterations to make them easier to erect.  Also thought I might catch the odd bird in the process. Actually managed to catch 15 of 4 species with 10 new and 5 recaptures.
Species caught -
Silvereye - 5 (4)
Chaffinch - 1 (1) the recap was banded at the Zoo.
Fantail - 3 (0)
Grey Warbler - 1 (0)

On the way down Houghton Valley to the bay I discovered a flock of about 80 Yellowhammers so might try my luck there in the next day or so.

Island Bay Friday 18 May



Annette, Ros and I had a reasonable tally this morning with a total of 65 birds of 7 species. Even though there was a steady flow most of the time, it was not as many as I had expected. It wasn’t until we were getting ready to pack up that we found out why. The people in the house next door had put out a large amount of food and a lot of “our” birds were going there. We still had an enjoyable morning even though it got a bit cold for a while, especially while there was a lull in the bird numbers. As usual we enjoyed generous hospitality along with a delicious morning tea spread (no tea involved actually - 2 coffees and some warm milk!).

 

Morning Tea arriving - a feast for the eyes as well as good to eat.



Species caught were – (Recaps in brackets)

Blackbird – 3 (0)

Chaffinch – 6 (1)

Greenfinch – 1 (0)

Silvereye – 1 (1)

Starling – 2 (0)

House Sparrow – 42 (7) Most have finished their moult although a few still have a couple of primaries to go.

Both these male Sparrows are in their first year but show considerable variation in plumage.



Tui – 1 (0)

2+ F Tui



Wing of the above bird showing slot in P7



Hornsey Rd Early May

Over the last week I have put nets up several times both around here and also down the road at Bridie's. Have only had limited sucess with a total catch of 19 birds of 6 species with 12 new and 7 recaptures.
Species caught (with recaps in brackets)
Blackbird - 1 (0)
Chaffinch - 1 (0)
Greenfinch - 1 (0)
Silvereye - 1 (0)
Tui - 0 (1) The recap was the resident colour banded female originaly banded in July 08 and has been sighted just about every month since. She raised several broods over the first 3 years with a colour banded male who disapeared and has been replaced with an unbanded bird. I had hoped to catch him but no luck (or is he too clever for me?)
House Sparrow - 8 (6)


House Sparrow originaly banded as a unsexed Juv on 1 March and recatured 11 May, now obviosly a male but still to complete its moult but at a weight of 31.7g might still make it through the winter.



Karori Cemetery Sat 5 May

 We had a very low tally of birds this morning with nearly as many cats about as there were birds. We caught 8 birds; 4 Tui, 2 Blackbirds and a pair of Eastern Rosella with at least 5 cats in the area. We made no recaptures but a colour banded Tui was sighted which had been banded in June 09. 

Net erecting while Gen distracts one of the cats otherwise it would be in the net.

 

The Moggy



The Eastern Rosella Pair



Taking a Tui's Head-Bill measurment

Monica keeping an eye on the dangerous ends of a tui

David and Kate banding a Blackbird (Brownbird?)

Barry and David adding some bling to a Tui leg