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)