No recent Banding Sessions but some Pulus have new bling

 Although we have not had any organized sessions recently we have managed to band a number of youngsters.

Little Owl - Two banded in a nest box at the Cashmere Rd site These were eggs when we banded their mother a month or so ago.

One of the Little Owls held by a very Happy Bloke.

Starling - Three youngsters banded in a neighbour's nest box. They fledged on Christmas Eve, the second brood from this box this year.

Kingfisher - A brood of five banded at a property across the road from the Halswell Quarry. They also have fledged.

There was a huge difference in the development of the Kingfisher chicks, from well feathered to only just bandable.

Redpoll - Four were banded this morning at the Quaifers Rd Wetland.

Halswell Quarry, Japanese Garden - Thu 9 Dec

 On Thursday we had another session at the Quarry amongst the cherry trees in the Japanese Garden. This is the same site we were at last week which is not always a good idea as there is usually a drop in numbers in the second week. But as most of the fruit is now consumed we thought we would try.

We had a group of school children come and have their lunch near us and they showed a lot of interest in what we were doing.

Ruud doing what he likes best, Entertaining & Educating kids

It was a reasonably successful morning with 24 birds of 6 species processed, 20 were new with 4 recaps.

Species caught were -

Blackbird - 3 (1) a big drop from last week indicating that Blackbirds might not be as stupid as we think.

House Sparrow - 10 (2) a bit of an increase probably due to some wheat being scattered around in the previous few day, One of the recaps was banded Oct 2018, so a reasonable age.

Our first juvenile Sparrow for this spring/summer.

Greenfinch - 3 (0)

Silvereye - 2 (1) the recap was banded last week.

Song Thrush - 1 (0)

Dunnock - 1 (0)

Fantail - 1 (0) this was colour banded by Laura as part of one of her studies.

The Fantail getting its bling

The fantail with its bling plus a little royal purple

Halswell Quarry Thu 2 Dec - A wet start then some good banding.

 We had a session planned at the Quarry this morning to try to catch birds feeding on small cherries that have formed on flowering cherry trees in the Japanese Garden section. Upon sticking my head out the door found, contrary to the forecast, it was raining steadily. When I arrived at the Quarry it was still raining, not hard but too hard for mist netting. A few others had also arrived so we decided to check some nest boxes, and banded 3 young Starlings in one so it wasn't a complete waste of time. While standing around talking the weather decided to clear up. Up went some nets and we were underway an hour and a half later than planned.

In the next couple of hours we processed  32 birds of 8 species with 26 new and 6 recaptures.

Species caught were - (recaps in brackets)

Blackbird - 9 (4) the first 2 caught both had pox on their legs which is in my experience unusual in Blackbirds. One also had a crusty/scabby area on its belly around the vent and I am not sure what is was. These 2 were the only birds caught with any problems.

The Blackbird with the large Pox on its leg.

The one with a small pox and a crusty bottom.

Song Thrush - 1

Dunnock - 1

House Sparrow - 6 (2)  one of the recaps was banded April 2018 and is now the oldest Sparrow we have recaptured. It was banded only about 100m from where it was recaptured.  In contrast the other recap was banded at Ruud's place about 1km away.

Greenfinch - 2

Goldfinch - 3

Two of the Goldfinch, probably a pair. Caught together and banded in a short ceremony.

Silvereye - 1

as well as the 3 Starling nestlings from the nest box.

A Little Owl in a box and a few others.

 A bit of a late post I am afraid as our internet was out for a couple of days. On Tuesday, 23 Nov Ruud and I checked out some of the Little Owl nest boxes we have erected during the last six months. The first one we checked had a Starling's nest with 3 bandable chicks which were duly given some bling. The next was empty except for the possible start of a nest, again probably Starling. This box was the original one that we banded a couple of chicks in last year. But the third was occupied by Mrs Owl well I presume it was female as all the books say it should be. But then again not sure that Owls read about what Owls should be doing. She was sitting on two fresh looking eggs, as we had checked this box a couple of weeks ago and found it empty this was a bit of a pleasant surprise. This is the first box of the eight boxes we have erected that has been occupied by an owl. She was duly banded and returned to her duties.

A rather startled looking Little Owl

A vey happy chappy with a rather bemused looking bird.

Photos courtesy of Ruud, "the Bug Man"

 

We later visited a nursery where we had banded a brood of Welcome Swallows last year. Although they had moved the nest position it had a couple of large chicks which we duly banded.

All in all a couple of successful hours.

Halswell Quarry Fri 5 Nov - Another pleasant morning at the Quarry

 We had a session at the Quarry this morning. The nets were put up at a new site which is several hundred meters from previous sites. Jan suggested this area and although I had some misgivings we gave it a go. We ended up with 24 birds of 6 species processed with 17 new and 5 recaptures. The number of recaptures was a pleasant surprise and it shows the benefit of nets in a new position.

Species caught were - (recaps in brackets)

House Sparrow - 9 (0) the first 5 were Males and then we got a couple of girls.

Coralie displaying one of her boys.

Blackbird - 4 (1) all the new birds were Juveniles but the recap was an old girl, banded in May 2018 it is now at 1260 days from banding our oldest Blackbird.

The old Blackbird

Starling - 1 (0)

Song Thrush - 1 (0)

Dunnock - 1 (1)

Silvereye - 1 (3) one of the recaps was banded Feb 2018 and is at 1373 days from banding our oldest recap of any species.

Hazel & Ruud sharing a joke - perhaps about the size of their birds?

Cashmere Rd Thu 21 Oct. - A quiet but enjoyable session.

 We had a session at our Cashmere road site this morning, I hadn't expected to catch a lot of birds which was the case. With only 10 birds processed it was fewer than I had thought, but with 6 species at least there was a bit of variety. All birds were new except for a Blackbird recap that had been banded a couple of months ago.

New birds were - 1 each of Silvereye and Chaffinch, 3 House Sparrows, 2 Starlings and 2 Goldfinch, the first we have caught for some time. 

Vanessa was able to band her first ever Chaffinch and Goldfinch. which made her day.

Thursday 7 Nov. at Ruud's Place - after a damp start an enjoyable morning

On Thursday morning we had a session at Ruud's place on Kennedys Bush Rd. This is just outside the Halswell Quarry boundary and very close to Jan's, where we have recently had a couple of banding sessions. Initially we were delayed by a period of light rain but once that cleared we had good conditions, very little wind and cloud cover. 

We processed 29 birds of 5 species with 25 new and 4 recaps. Species caught were -

House Sparrows - 17 (2) both the recaps were banded at Jan's over the last couple of months.

Blackbird - 3 (1)  The recap was banded at this site in July last year.

Greenfinch - 3 (1) the recap was originally banded in the Conservation area of the Quarry in Sept 2019, it was recaptured at Jan's July 2020 and now at Ruud's.

Dunnock & Chaffinch 1 new bird of each.

Today's team Left to Right - Alice who is expecting a new arrival in a few weeks. Ruud chief coffee maker and Host for the day, Jan - chief assistant, Helen first time with us but a pretty experienced bander and Della.

Halswell Quarry Thursday 30 Oct - an enjoyable morning

We had a session in the Conservation area of the Halswell Quarry on Thursday morning. Although we didn't catch a lot of birds we got some interesting ones and there was a bit of variety. 

For the first hour or so the weather was marginal with patches of light rain threatening to become more persistent. Fortunately it held off and eventually cleared. Twenty birds were processed with 11 new and 9 recaptures. 

With 7 species there was some variety Species caught were - (recaps in brackets) 

Starling - 1 (0) 

House Sparrow - 3 (1) 

Dunnock - 0 (2) both were reasonably old birds with the oldest banded in Feb 2019 and is now the oldest recap for the species.

 

Greenfinch - 4 (0) 

Chaffinch - 0 (1) it was banded in Sept 2018 and is the oldest Chaffinch recaptured at the Quarry and the 2nd oldest of any species.

 

Silvereye - 2 (5) with the warmer weather Silvereyes seem to have moved on and it is rare for us to catch more recaps than new. 

Grey Warbler - 1 (0) This bird was colour banded by Laura as the first bird of her new study to identify individual Grey Warblers by their song. Its an fasinating project and we will follow progress with interest.

While entering the data from the morning's banding I had a phone call from Jan reporting a death at her place. It was a banded Silvereye which had been banded at her place on 3 Oct 2019, and recaptured on 10 July 2020 still at Jan's place and now it has died there. 

Banding at Jan's Thursday 23 Sept - A pretty quiet morning.

We had a session at Jan's place on Kennedys Bush Rd this morning. The site is next to the Halswell Quarry although at the opposite end from where we usually band. There was only a trickle of birds with a grand total of only 12 processed. All but 1 bird was new with the recapture banded back in June also at this site. Four species were represented, 5 House Sparrows, 4 Silvereyes plus the recap and 1 each of Dunnock and Song Thrush.

One of the Silvereyes had an unusual lump on its eye, possibly connected to the upper eyelid. Barbara, a member of our group is currently down in Fiordland assisting the capture, banding and fitting of transmitters onto Kaka which are certainly much bigger than anything we catch around here.

Cashmere Rd, Thursday 16 Sept - A good morning

We finally had a session at the Cashmere Rd site this morning. This was after having to cancel the last planned one due to going into lockdown a couple of days before. It was good to get some banding done especially with very good conditions after a light frost. There was a good turn out of banders with a wide range of experiance. We tried an experiment with an Owl model, putting it up near a net hoping birds would mob it - a complete failure.

The total for the morning was 55 birds of 6 species processed with all but 2 being new. As is usual at this time of year most were Silvereyes with 42 new and 2 recaps. Two of the new Silvereyes had what I term Scaly Foot. Not sure what causes this but I hope to find out.

The recaps were banded back in July at our first session at this site. Other species were 3 newly fledged Song Thrush, 4 House Sparrows, 2 Dunnocks and last but not least a Bellbird.

Thursday Morning at Jan's - An unusual session

 We had a session at Jan's place on Kennedys Bush Rd on Thursday morning. In contrast to most mornings in this area there were very few birds about and for the first hour or so we caught only a couple even though the conditions appeared good. It wasn't until about 10am that birds started to arrive, firstly in a trickle and then in increasing numbers. By the time we took the nets down about midday there were heaps about. 

While things were slow Ruud entertained us with a creepy crawly display and Vanessa conducted a Quiz. She claimed that it was guaranteed to bring in birds and it worked.

Our new bag holding contraption - actually a piece of wood bolted to the table with a row of hooks screwed into it. It actually worked. 

In all we processed 58 birds with Silvereyes the dominant species, with 50 new and 4 recaps. Others were  1 new House Sparrow and a recap and a new Greenfinch and Starling. The oldest recap was a Silvereye banded about a year ago and the H Sparrow was banded recently down in the Quarry about 2 km away.

The Starling was sexed as a female with a pale eye ring and pink base to its bill.

Cashmere Rd. A new Site

We have had two sessions at a new site on Cashmere Rd, about 3k from the Halswell Quarry. The site is a large private property where passerines are regularly fed. It is hoped that we will eventually find some movement between here and the Quarry. The first session was last Thursday and we set a couple of nets up under threatening conditions. Unfortunately rain set in after half an hour and we had to abandon any banding for the day. Even so it was a busy 30 minutes with over 20 birds processed.

Most of Wednesday's team relaxing in the sun

Yesterday with totally different conditions, a light frost then bright sun we had a second attempt. Birds were not as easy to catch as last week but we still had a steady flow. It was a very pleasant day with of course good company, great surroundings and mild weather. 

The combined total of the two sessions was 56 birds processed with 46 Silvereyes, 5 House Sparrows, 3 Greenfinches and 2 Blackbirds. All new, no recaptures.

When we were not busy we had two pair of Harriers displaying overhead to watch and the "Bug Man" Ruud brought out a Peripatus for us to look at.

The Peripatus or Velvet Worm making a dash for shelter

We had the pleasure of the company of Ingrid the Exec Officer of Birds NZ (OSNZ) who is down from Nelson for a few days and is attempting to obtain her Level 2 permit.

Ingrid looking very happy after banding her first Blackbird

I also had a short session at Jan's place on Kennedys Bush Rd with Ingrid on Monday with very marginal conditions, it was blowing a near gale but we managed 1 net in a sheltered spot and caught 20 Silvereyes and recaptured a Bellbird.

Halswell Quarry Thursday 8 July - A belated post

We had a session in the Conservation Area of the Quarry on Thursday morning. After a cold frosty start the day was sunny and calm. There were a couple of last minute defections due to injury so the team was a bit smaller than anticipated. It took us a while to get the last couple of nets up due to processing birds.

There were 45 birds processed during the morning and as is normal at this time of year the majority were Silvereyes, with 31 new and 7 recaps. Amongest the recaps were several older birds with the oldest having been banded 1 Feb 2018 only a short time after we comenced banding at this site. At 1253 days from banding it is now the oldest bird recaptured at the Quarry. Other species caught (recaps in brackets) Blackbird 1 (1) Dunnock 1 (1) and House Sparrow 2 (1)

Jan's Place 23 June - A lot of birds but not much variety

We had a session at Jan's place on Kennedys Bush Rd, Thursday morning. It was a busy morning with 82 birds processed, all but 4 new birds. Almost all were Silvereyes with 74 new and the 4 recaps, the only other species were 3 House Sparrows and a solitary Blackbird. There were plenty of other birds around but due to having to be constantly at the nets extracting Silvereyes other species kept their distance. Three of the recaps were banded at this site within the last year or so but the other was banded in Finlays Picnic area down in the Quarry. Even though we set fewer nets than usual we still needed to furl them at times to prevent getting overwelmed with birds. The weather was marginal at time with light misty rain forcing us to move the banding station into a glass house which was a bit cramped but kept the paper work dry.

One of the first birds caught was a Silvereye with a granular type growth on a foot. We seem to catch a couple or so each year with this condition.

We were shouted to a celebratery cake by Kenny to commemerate his achieving his Level 2 permit.

Akaroa - A belated post 22-23 May

A few of the group were invited to join Laura when she was colour banding Tui around Akaroa. This is a project attempting to check on the progress of the population folowing the species reintroduction to the area a number ofyears ago. Laura's permit only allows her to band Tui and not any bycatch, as the permit that the group bands under most passerine species are bandabe. So the plan was that Laura would colour band the Tui and we would band any bycatch. On the morning of Saturday 22 May we started at a site at Takamatua at the head of the Akaroa Harbour.This proved to be vary successful for us but not so for the Tui catchers. All the the birds caught were adult male Bellbird of which there were incredible numbers, although there were Tui about they avoided the net. We were treated to a fabulus morning tea with great view. Ruud also took the opertunaty to do what he is very good at, both entertain and educate younger folk. In the afternoon and on the Sunday morning most of the group moved on to a site in the Akaroa township. I unfortunatly couldn't join them having to head back to Christchurch. I gather that the catch at this new site was fantastic with a total of 17 new Tui banded plus a few recaps from previous sessions. Bellbirds also proved to numerous, with the total for the trip being 22. There was also a few other species like Silvereye and Blackbird banded.

Jan's Place Kennedys Bush Rd 20 May - at last a bit of variety.

We had our first session of the year at Jan's garden this morning. Numbers of birds are slowly building up although there is still a lot of natural food about and it will probably be another month or so until there a big catches.

There were 18 birds of 7 species processed with all but 1 new. The new birds were -

Blackbird 4, Chaffinch 1, Silvereye 2, Dunnock 1, Bellbird 1, Fantail 1 and 7 House Sparrows and 1 recap which was originally banded at this site Sept 2019 then recaptured at Ruud's July 2020 and now back where it started.

The Blackbirds were all Male, two old blokes and a couple of young fellas. 
This is the first two blackbirds caught. The old bird underneath and a young one at the top which must have fledged very late as it hadn't completed its moult.

Ririka and Ruud with the first two Blackbirds.
Ririka has just received her L1 banding permit and this is the first Blackbird she has banded. 

Ririka with her first Chaffinch.

Ruud proudly displaying "his" Bellbird.

Halswell Quarry Thu. 13 May - a reasonable catch but little variety.

 We had a session at the Quarry yesterday morning with nets set around a fruiting Arbutus (Strawberry) Tree with the aim of catching Blackbirds and perhaps a Bellbird or two. Although we caught a reasonable number of birds in total only 1 Blackbird was caught and Bellbirds just sang from the tops of nearby trees. 

Twenty one birds were caught, all new with 1 each of Blackbird, Song Thrush and Dunnock. The rest, 18 were all House Sparrows, interestingly all but 2 were males. If it hadn't been for Alice extracting a bird as we were taking the nets down there would a ratio of only 1 Female to 16 Males.

Alice with the first bird banded for the day - the Song Thrush.
As you can see the morning started out pretty cold.

Most of the team. Left to Right Alice, Kenny, Ririka our scribe, Phil, Laura and William who was observing the joys of bird banding for the morning.

Halswell Quarry, Thursday 22 April.

 We had a session at the Quarry on Thursday morning with beautiful conditions. Well beautiful to be in but a bit much sunshine for banding, making parts of some nets very visible as the sun came on them.

 A good turn out of banders but unfortunately the bird numbers were below expectations. We caught a total of 15, all new. House Sparrows 6, Greenfinch 3, Silvereye 3, and 1 each of Chaffinch, Dunnock and the highlight of the day a Grey Warbler. The first for the year.

Eleanor banding the Grey Warbler. By its eye colour aged as a 1st year

Halswell Quarry Thursday 8 April - an enjoyable morning and a couple of old birds

We had a session at The Quarry this morning, not a huge catch but up to expectations. We set the nets under some old pear trees which had ripe fruit. Caught a total of 18 birds with 16 new and 2 recaptures. The new birds were 5 Blackbirds, 5 Silvereyes, 4 House Sparrows and a couple of Dunnocks. Had hoped to catch a couple of the Bellbirds that were in the area but were unsuccessful. The two recaptures were the most interesting. A Blackbird that was banded in June 2018 was, at 1056 days, for a short time the oldest of any species we have caught at the Quarry. Then we caught a Silvereye that had been banded in Jan 2018 and is, at 1169 days from banding, now the oldest recap of any species. It was originally banded in the Conservation Area at the western end of the Quarry. It has been recaptured twice before today. Firstly at the Arbutus tree in May 2020 about 100m from today's site then it was back in the Conservation Area in June 2020.

Most of today's Crew. Back - Ruud, Archie, Chris,
Front Jan, Ririka and Kenny.

Babs (Barbara) who has handled the rare Black Robin with her first Blackbird
 

We had a couple of new people join us, Chris and Archie, both are Level 3 banders and gave our team a lot of very useful tips and alternative techniques. I especially found the exchange of information and ideas very valuable. 

 Although we haven't done much banding in the last few weeks we haven't been completely idle. The erection of 10 Little Owl nest boxes was an interesting task. We will have to wait at least a few months to see if they are successful.