Some more banding Here & There

In the last few days I have done a bit banding at Houghton Bay and Hornsey Rd

Hornsey Rd

Did some trapping down the road at Bridie's on Friday afternoon and here this morning (while watching the America's Cup, which is going to be a great time waster for the next week or so). Didn't catch a big number of birds. The combined tally was -

Blackbird - 4 (2) the oldest recap was banded May 2010

House Sparrow - 1 (5) the oldest recap was banded Feb 2009

The band on the oldest Sparrow is staring to show signs of wear

Greenfinch - 3 (2) see below for details of one of the recaps

Starling - 2 (0)

Houghton Bay Stream

Spent a couple of hours at the stream this afternoon catching a total of 21 birds of 6 species.

Blackbird - 1 (0)

House Sparrow - 3 (0) all males

Chaffinch - 1 (0)

Greenfinch - 2 (1) the recap was banded here at Hornsey Rd a month ago and was recaptured here this morning. Not a huge movement but perhaps indicates that birds move some distance to the stream for their refreshment.

Silvereye - 9 (1) 2 of the new birds were in primary wing molt.

Two of the Silvereyes were molting outer primaries.

Tui - 3 (0) all males.

For the first time at this site I heard Parakeets, they were probably Red-crowned from either Zealandia or Matiu/Somes Is. where they have been reintroduced. Hopefully the day will come when we catch some.

N I Robin Transfer - Kapiti Is to Wainuiomata

Several of our group were involved with the recent Toutoutwai/North Island Robin transfer from Kapiti Island to the Wainuiomata Mainland Island. After being postponed 3 times it finally took place on 24 & 25 August, in perfect weather. Unfortunately having been available for the first 3 attempts I was unable to make the successful one but they did very well without me.

The journey - From Watery Island to Mainland Island

The "Team" catchers, runners and banders
Photo Dave Cornick

The birds were caught with Clap Traps and despite having only five catchers, (plus Nikki for some of the time), 63 robins were caught in one day. Three were rejected: one with a crossed bill, one with avian pox and one being underweight.  The remaining 60 birds were kept overnight and transferred by helicopter the next day.

Geoff (Wellington OSNZ R R) & Nikki (Greater Wellington Regional Council) carrying Robins in "Cat" boxes.
Photo Dave Cornick 

The Robins being farewelled.
Photo Dave Cornick

Into the helicopter they go.
Photo Dave Cornick

  

They all seemed in great condition when released and Nikki spent the next 2-3 hours in the forest observing them. He identified 22 individuals and was pleased to see them behaving fairly normally & foraging well.

He also witnessed the first recorded interaction between a Morepork and a Robin in the Rimutaka/Orongorongo ranges. In one of those ‘don’t know whether to laugh or cry’ moments, he flushed a Morepork from the track with a small feathery bundle in its claws and when he checked where it had flown from sure enough there was a pile of freshly-plucked robin feathers on the ground.  

  

This was the second of two transfers. After the first transfer last year very few of the 60 birds were re-sighted; therefore it was decided to try to train the birds, before the transfer, to associate an audio cue (clapping) with food, to try to improve their detectability in their new home.

This has worked very well, and 40 individuals have been seen in the first 10 days, most of them more than once. None of the birds are particularly hungry, indicating that they've adapted well to their new home and are having no problem finding food.

None of them have settled into territories yet and they will continue to disperse, some of them over long distances (last year one was seen near the top of the Rimutaka Incline). So if you or your friends are walking in the bush, do keep your ears and eyes open, and you may be lucky enough to see a Robin. If you want a refresher on what they sound like, check out NZbirdsonline  http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-robin#bird-sounds. Check out the tomtit too, just to be sure!

  If you see or hear a Robin in the greater Wellington region (not including in or near Zealandia), please let me know, with the date and location, and whether it is banded or not. If you are able to read the band combination great: bird’s left leg- top, bottom; right leg- top, bottom (like reading a book – left to right, top to bottom).

A photograph would be good too. There have been a few reports over the last year or so and there may be quite a few Robins around by now as there have also been several transfers by MIRO to the bush around Eastbourne, and some of the birds will have bred successfully.

Some More Banding Here and There

I have done a little bit of banding at a couple of sites in the last week; here at Hornsey Rd and at the Houghton Bay Stream.

Hornsey Rd

Set the funnel traps here on a couple of days catching mostly Greenfinch with 12 new and 13 recaps. Most of the recaps were recently banded birds with 1 from the Zoo, another was banded at Houghton Bay last Feb. Also caught was a new Chaffinch and 1 new and 2 recap House Sparrows. One of the Sparrows was banded in Island Bay which although not a big distance is one of our longest.

Also set the trap at Bridie's one afternoon but only caught a pair of Starlings. I am in the process of rejigging the trap to see if the catch can be increased there. The 10 year old Blackbird we call "White Eye" although not caught is still there, very much alive and looking healthy.

Houghton Bay

Had two short sessions at the Houghton Bay stream. Once in the morning and the other session in the afternoon. All birds caught were new, and it was a bit disappointing not to get any recaptures. Birds caught were - Blackbird 2(both AM), Chaffinch 4 (all PM), Greenfinch 1(AM), House Sparrow 3 (all PM), Grey Warbler 2 (1 each), Silvereye 7 (6 PM, 1 AM) and 4 Tui (all PM). Although only a small sample there appears to be a difference in what time of day species are caught.

We also received a Greenfinch recovery report of a Greenfinch banded at Houghton Bay and found dead in Roseneath. At over 5 km it meets the Banding Office criteria of a significant recovery.

Zoo Saturday 24 August - Very few birds

We had a session at the Zoo today with very poor results catching only 16 birds. Had a quiet first net round with 6 birds and from then on it got quieter and quieter. Finally gave up just after midday. Conditions were not ideal with a northerly wind and bright sun but the main reason for the poor catch would appear to be very few birds about, possibly caused by the recent mild weather causing birds to think of other things. There was a good turn out of people with a number of younger folk getting involved, and it was just a pity we didn't have more birds for them to handle.

Species caught were - (Recaps in brackets)
Blackbird - 0 (1) a bird banded in July 2011
Greenfinch - 6 (3) all the recaps were banded here at Hornsey Rd, 2 recently and the other in Oct last year.
House Sparrow - 3 (0)
Song Thrush - 1 (0) with the nest that was being built last month now containing 4 eggs with a bird incubating hopefully we will be able to band another 4 birds in a week or so.

The Song Thrush nest with 4 eggs

The Song Thrush incubating - the same nest site as used by a Blackbird last year.

Starling - 1 (0)
Yellowhammer - 1 (0)

Kate with her first Yellowhammer

Silvereye - 0 (0) Except for the one in the photo below none were even seen and only a couple heard, a big change from the close to 100 for the last couple of months.

The only Silvereye of the day, a model made by Stanley

A bit of Banding Here and There

Hornsey Rd

I set the funnel traps here this morning (Tue 20 Aug) and caught very few birds. Birds caught were 2 new House Sparrows, 2 new and 3 recap Greenfinch and 2 recap Blackbirds. One of the Greenfinch recaps was banded at the Zoo in Aug 2012. There appears to have been a drop off in Greenfinch numbers although I did not have the traps set for long, and there was a cat about which probably made the birds wary.

Houghton Bay

This afternoon I put nets up at the Houghton Bay stream. With the recent rain I did not expect to catch much and that was the case. At least with 6 species I had some variety, in fact, the first 6 birds caught were all different species. Ended up after about an hour and a half with a tally of 17; 14 new and 3 recaps.

Species caught were -

Blackbird - 1 (0)

Chaffinch - 1 (0)

Greenfinch - 2 (0)

Silvereye - 9 (2) one of the recaps was banded at the Zoo 3 weeks ago and 1 of the new birds was undergoing primary wing feather moult.

Fantail - 1 (0)

Tui - 0 (1) a bird banded as a newly fledged Juv in Jan 2012.

Te Papa Car Park Roost 

In the last week I had 2 attempts to catch birds going to roost near Te Papa with very limited success. Plenty of birds coming in but with the trees having increased in height they were mostly flying too high. In the 2 attempts caught 21 birds, all new; 14 Sparrows, 5 Greenfinch, 1 Yellowhammer and a Tui.

Hornsey Rd - More Greenfinchs

Usually I set the funnel traps in the morning but this morning was a bit on the wet side so I waited until it cleared and set them this afternoon. Caught 26 birds most being Greenfinch with 9 new and 13 recaps.  All the recaps had been banded over the last couple of months and included a further one from the Zoo. The other birds were 1 Blackbird recap, banded June 2011 and 2 new and 1 recap House Sparrow.The recap was banded Jan 2011 as a Juv.

No Silvereyes were caught or seen but if we get a spell of fine weather will check the Houghton Bay stream to see if there are many there.

Hornsey Rd - Greenfinch but no Silvereye

I have done some banding here in the last few days, both with the funnel traps and mist nets. Almost all the birds caught were Greenfinch with 44 new birds and 21 recaptures. Most of the recaps were banded recently including 2 from the last Zoo session. The oldest one recaptured was  a bird banded at Houghton Bay in Sept last year. The only other species caught were; 1 new House Sparrow and a new Blackbird and 1 recap. The new Blackbird had its right leg missing from above the knee but with a wing length of 129 mm and weight of 92 g it appears to be getting along fine. The recap was banded in Nov 2010.

There was a total lack of Silvereyes; they seem to have moved on completely. They have departed from here the first week in August for the last 2 years.

I sighted a colour banded Tui yesterday which was banded at the Zoo in June 2006 and at 2350 days from banding is now our oldest Tui either re-sighted or recaptured. We have had 1 bird recovered dead at an older age.