Sunday 27th.June 2010

A new experience for me today , bird ringing . One of my Surrey Hedgelaying colleagues , Roger Taylor , a licenced bird ringer , has a site on Crossness Nature Reserve on the banks of the Thames , almost opposite Ford of Dagenham . We arranged for me to help out , before the end of the last hedgelaying season , and that came to fruition when the alarm went off at 0245 this morning . When I arrived on site at 0400 , Roger was waiting , and although he had put up some nets , there were more to do . Roger explained that the site was a 'constant effort' site , meaning that 12 visits during the breeding season were necessary , with the same nets in the same places and for the same length of time on each visit . By the time the last nets were erected , and we had got soaked through from the waist down by the dew on the over head high Fragmites Reeds through which we had to walk between nets , it was time to make the first round of visits . there were birds in all of the nets , 8 - total length 520 feet , on this visit , and I was amazed to see how unphased the birds , probably 90% juveniles , were to their predicament . Roger deftly removed the birds and placed them in bags , which we secured to carrabinas strung around our necks , one being used for each net visited , and once in the bags , little movement came from the birds . Having visited all nets , we returned to a table and two chairs by the parked cars , and started to process the first batch . Whilst Roger attached the rings , sexed , and weighed each bird , I recorded all the information that he called out . Finally the birds were released back into their world , looking none the worse for the experience . Roger joked how a released bird might meet a another and tell the story of how he was flying along , minding his business , when something stopped him . Then a big thing put him in darkness , before doing experiments on him , before letting him go . Sounded like a script for a sci-fi film .
We made four rounds of the nets , the first two being the most fruitful , the third and fourth less so as the sun got higher and the nets were more obvious to the birds , but even the fourth provided some excitement . I have heard from Roger since with a summary of the days results .
122 birds were trapped , 89 of them being first timers and 33 being re-traps , having already been ringed here or on other sites . The birds covered 18 species , the most numerous being Common Whitethroat (25) , This one still in situ in the nets .closely followed by Reed Warbler (20) and Great Tit (17) , Blackcap (10) , all brown headed juveniles apart from one male adult .
Smaller numbers of other common species , but a few notable finds were ,a juvenile Kestrel which provided the excitement of the last round . This was one of 3 newly fledged birds from a nest box in the middle of the site , and flew off to join the rest of the family group when released .
The noisiest trapping was this juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker . A juvenile Reed Bunting from only a couple of pairs on the site .A super cock Linnet .And finally one of a handful of Sedge Warblers .

I have to mention the ignominious weighing of the birds . As seen below , they are placed head down in a cup with a small hole in the bottom . This Reed Warbler , and all the others stayed perfectly still whilst doing their headstands , including the GSWoodpecker and the Kestrel , but they did have larger cups ! All flew off strongly when released from the cup .

Apart from the birds , a couple of Buff Tailed Bumble Bees managed to get entangled , which also required Roger's dexterity not to get stung . Being a reedbed , there were plenty of biters about , and repellant was the order of the day . The worst of these was this big Horse-fly-Tabanus bromius , several of which managed to get snagged up in the nets . Another job for Roger . By 1200 the temperature was about 29/30C , and it was time to take down the nets and pack away . At least the vegetation was bone dry by then , as was our previously sodden clothing .

Given the habitat very few Odonata were seen , with difficulty above those Reeds . Small Tortoiseshell , Red Admiral , Comma , lots of Large Skipper and Large and Small White were all recorded on the butterfly front .

All in all , a very enjoyable morning , and I thank Roger for giving me the experience and the chance to get up close to many species , usually seen at the other end of optics .

Shame I can't say the same about the afternoon , watching the football !