Banding Among the Vines, Monday 27 Feb.

 Yesterday, 27 Feb we had a session in a Vineyard, where I hoped we would catch some larger birds such as Thrushes and Starlings. This had a twofold purpose, to give some of the trainees practice with banding larger birds as we don't catch many, and to give Chris who in his other life is a scientist with LandCare Research at Lincoln, some targets to collect blood from. He wanted Blackbirds & Song Thrushes to sample for Avian Malaria as part of a study into whether these species carry this pathogen and possibly spread it to vulnerable native species esp. Yellow Eyed Penguins.

Although the catch wasn't as big as I hoped for, we did get some of the target species. No Starlings but 10 Blackbirds and 4 Song Thrushes so Chris was happy to get some samples. The only other birds caught were 2 Silvereyes and a solitary Goldfinch. Interestingly, all Thrushes and Blackbirds were aged as first year birds, apart from 1 Blackbird.

The rows of Grape Vines have recently been covered with protective netting to prevent birds from pecking the ripening grapes. This seems to have been effective as bird numbers have dropped since the netting has been put on.

Chris collecting one of the samples.

Vanessa banding one of the Thrushes.

Alice and Kenny busy at the banding table while Steph brings in another bird.

Raptor Banding - Harriers and Little Owls

 Arrived back from a trip down to Queenstown last evening. On the way south I called in at the NZ Raptor Trust operation in Timaru to assist Jenni and Angie with banding some Raptors that are in Rehab. It was also planned to band a Falcon, but it wasn't available on the day. Seven Harriers and eight Little Owls were banded, with one of the Harriers being a TV star. The folks at the Trust are currently having their busiest year on record.

If anyone has watched the TV series "One Lane Bridge" you would have noticed that a Harrier features prominently in it. The bird in question was injured and taken into care by the Trust. Unfortunately, it did not make a full recovery and has become an advocacy bird, being taught to fly with a handler in control. If it gets into another series, I am not sure how the band will be handled. The Harrier is flown for visitors, especially school groups.

The TV star in the hands of its Handler.
Note the very pale legs. This was due to when it was originally injured it was kept for a period before being brought into the care of the Trust. Unfortunately it was fed an incorrect diet causing the unusual coloration.

Of the Harriers banded the majority were juveniles although there were a couple of older birds including one that was originally in rehab back in 2017. It was identified by comparing x-rays of its healed breaks. 

One of the young birds with it's dark brown eye.

This bird, a yearling male was in wing moult

One of the birds getting its "bling' Angie banding and Jenni holding.

The Little Owls were also mostly juveniles with a couple of older ones. One of the Little Owls was also in wing moult.

Little Owl newly banded.

Jenni banding Angie holding.

Angie banding and Jenni holding.

In the last few weeks we have had a couple of attempts at trapping Harriers. The first was a total failure not catching any. The second was a little better with 2 being caught. One was a recap, originally banded last May only a short distance from where it was recaptured. The other was a new second year male. The birds were caught together in the same trap which I thought was unusual. 

The new bird was another bird in wing moult.

The recaptured bird, still showing a little white on the back of its head but now has the yellow eye of an adult. 

Gill, one of a couple of visitors from the UK, about to release this bird.