Chiff-ful start to the nesting season

Over in Cambridgeshire there’s been wonderful sunshine, but accompanied by overnight frosts. Thankfully this hasn’t put off the resident birds at the National Trust’s Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, where members of the ringing and nest recording group are getting ready to ring the first broods of Blackbirds. Also, our first Coot brood has just hatched, Long-tailed Tit clutches are about to hatch, Blue Tits and Great Tits are laying, and we’ve started monitoring our first finch nests: an almost fully-built Chaffinch nest was found a week ago and a pair of Goldfinches were spotted building last Thursday.

Water birds such as Coot (pictured) and Moorhen commonly hatch their first broods in mid-April

As for summer migrants, arrivals have been stalled by strong north-westerly winds, according to the BTO migration blog, and indeed Blackcaps at Wicken have been singing on territory for only a week and Willow Warblers still seem thin on the ground. One short-distance migrant, though, has been getting off to a flying start this season and keeping our nest finders very busy: Chiffchaff!

During Easter weekend we saw plenty of male Chiffchaffs singing from tree tops but no birds skulking lower down (a tell-tale sign of a female getting ready to build). Last Monday, things had got busier: males were singing back-to-back and chasing each other off territories and ‘hueet’ contact calls could be heard everywhere. Then, on Tuesday 14, we caught our first glimpse of a bird with a beakful of long grass—a building female! Early next morning we spotted another bird building and then on Thursday 16, Anne, our main nest finder, found five more nests, some almost fully formed (a characteristic domed construction). By Monday 20, we had found 11 nests, two lined with feathers, and that morning we found nest number 12 at an early stage, the female pinging back-and-forth with large bits of material.

Chiffchaff nest at Wicken Fen in 2014. Built just above the ground, the nest is dome shaped, made from reeds and some finer grasses, and lined with feathers. c.200 Chiffchaff nests are monitored across the country for NRS each year.

So what to expect this weekend? Those lined nests will probably have eggs, though females may still be building on other territories. Nest recorders elsewhere have begun reporting Blackcaps on eggs, Whitethroats and Willow Warblers building, and Chaffinches on full clutches.

How far along are nesting birds on your patch? Help the BTO collect vital data on nest productivity and timing of breeding by taking part in the Nest Record Scheme.

Real birds at the Birdfair

Things are now getting back to normal here at the BTO, after the long weekend at the Birdfair (posted previously). There was a nice buzz around the BTO stand in Marquee 3, with lots of people coming to find out more about the work of the BTO and in particular the Nest Record Scheme.

The mystery nest competition went down well. The nests were from Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Willow Warbler, Wren, Blackcap, Long-tailed Tit, Dunnock and Robin. Of all the correct answers Mick Sherwin from Sheffield was first out of the hat. Your Field Guide to Monitoring Nests is on it's way.

Mystery nest competition

The ringing demonstration attracted a lot of visitors again this year. A total of 232 birds of 20 species were processed. Some of the notable species being Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Song Thrush and Whitethroat. There were several Reed Warblers caught that had been ringed in previous years, and now have clocked up quite a few miles during their life by going to Africa and back. Once we had processed all the birds, our attention was then switched to ringing people. If you were 'ringed' with one of our wrist bands, check our website to see what happened to you.

Chris Hughes showing the process of ringing a bird

The theme of the Birdfair this year was protecting the world's seas and oceans, so we also had some of our new technologies like geolocators and satellite tags which can be used to study seabirds whilst out at sea.

Thanks to all the volunteer ringers who helped on the ringing demonstration and to everyone who came to say 'Hi' at the demo or the main BTO stand. Looking forward to seeing you next year.

Nest records are escalating at the Nunnery

The Nunnery Ringing Group have been busy this spring, finding and monitoring nests of the local thrushes, Robins and Dunnocks but things are starting to move up a gear.

As you can see from the pins in the map below, we have already found quite a few nests this year from all over Thetford, the majority located on the BTO reserve (the long strip running south-west from Thetford). Many of these nests have progressed to the nestling stage and some are just about to fledge chicks, including several Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Robins, Dunnocks and Chaffinches.


And it's not just the resident species that have begun to nest - our short distance migrants are getting in on the act too. While it might seem like they've only been back for a few weeks, we have already found one female Chiffchaff sitting on six eggs (below), with several more busy building. Not far from our site, another BTO staff member has found a Blackcap already laying its first clutch. If the weather stays warm and dry, you can be sure that the long distance migrants won't be far behind.


Thanks to Dave Leech for the photo of the Chiffchaff nest.

Nunnery Nest bonanza – Birds Get Busy in Thetford

Dave Leech said:

Braving the slight drop in temperatures after a sunny week, The Nunnery Ringing Group nest recorders roamed Thetford’s green spaces and the BTO reserve in search of breeding birds. Concerns of a slow start to the season voiced by the more pessimistic members of the group proved to be unfounded as the weekend’s activities significantly increased our totals, thanks largely to a star turn by Rachel Portnall who found 12 nests in just two hours on Saturday morning.

The thrushes have really started in earnest now and we’re currently monitoring 17 Blackbird nests, of which two have large chicks, four are on eggs and the rest are ready for laying. We’ve also found three Song Thrush, all currently on eggs (see photo below),

our only Dunnock is likely to hatch mid-week, and two of our three Robins are currently on eggs. Sunday also saw the first Long-tailed Tit egg of the year (see photo below), with several other nests ready for eggs and a couple more being rebuilt after being ripped open by predators (who, being a fortnight premature, received nothing for their troubles). The pigeons are at it too, with two Woodpigeons and two Collared Doves currently sitting, and the Mallards and Greylag Geese on the reserve have also started to lay.

So, now is a great time to check bushes and trees for nesting birds and submit your data to the BTO. The Nest Box Challenge is an entry-level scheme, designed for people monitoring one or two nests in their gardens. If you wander further afield and record larger numbers of nests in local woods or farmland, then you can register for the Nest Record Scheme.