A summary of 2013

Last year saw some big changes in my life, new projects, ambitions, friends, birds, jobs etc. After working away for 2 whole summers in 2011/12, I decided this year I would work the majority of the summer in Blackpool, start a trial CES at my local nature Marton Mere and just enjoy the British summer. The CES went quite well with nothing unexpected other than a Cannabis farm to show for the long hours of bush whacking. Fewer birds than expected were caught due to poor weather presumably not aiding the breeding season whatsoever.

Below is a table of what the CES sessions yielded.
 

Species	April	May	June	July	Total
Great Spotted Woodpecker	0	0	1	1	2
Wren	0	4	1	2	7
Dunnock	0	4	2	1	7
Robin	0	0	1	1	2
Blackbird	1	4	3	0	8
Cetti's Warbler	1	1	0	0	2
Sedge Warbler	0	12	5	3	20
Reed Warbler	0	11	10	6	27
Lesser Whitethroat	0	2	0	0	2
Whitethroat	0	1	1	0	2
Blackcap	0	5	3	0	8
Chiffchaff	3	3	1	1	8
Long-tailed Tit	0	5	0	3	8
Blue Tit	0	1	0	1	2
Great Tit	0	1	0	0	1
Chaffinch	0	0	0	1	1
Greenfinch	0	6	0	0	6
Reed Bunting	3	1	0	0	4

 Worryingly small numbers of common birds were caught during the season and maybe that can be placed down to the net placings or a bad breeding season? Or is the site struggling under lack of management and over disturbance? At this stage we can only guess, but future observations will certainly help in pulling together a better picture of the sites diversity and I am looking forwards to carry on working the site.

Fylde Ringing group efforts for the year were great considering the amount of hindrance from the weather and wind. The group ringed 3245 individuals of 62 Species. Noteworthy amongst them were Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) (Ian chasing one into a wetland I believe.) 761 Swallow (Hirundo rustica) (Mainly taken at roost, though with increased man power we believe this number could have improved.) 100 Sedgies (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), 108 Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), 132 Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) *. 56 Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) due to a huge effort by Phil Slade at the farm during a bumper Autumn/winter for the Northern finches. 79 Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) and 33 Siskin (Carduelis spinus)were also captured during the year but the undoubted species of the year comes in the form of a Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla). The Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) project was carried on and colour-rings began to be re-sighted, thus far they seem to be all from the Fylde coast during the winter, but I expect some Inuit post box somewhere is full of sightings waiting to be delivered.

The autumn after Gedser was a no go for me as I started Nottingham Trent University in October (Studying Wildlife Conservation Bsc) and my thoughts mainly involved beer and accruing debt. 5 Months on and I am loving it, the course is increasing in pace and beginning to flow really nicely. With the spring and exam period just around the corner it's time to bird really hard and revise just enough, my parents might argue the toss, but hey-ho.

2013 was good to me on a whole. 2014 is shaping up to be a decent year too, all that needs to happen now is for a Summer job to fall into place. In the mean time, I'll keep me fingers crossed and me bins on.

 * 132 Willow warblers is a fantastic total given the lack of breeding evident in the Northwest. Fleetwood Bird Obs recorded a great spring passage during April.

My bird of the year, caught at Gedser fuglestation in September 2013, during a mega migration week which I was able to share with great friends and birders. Louis and Gert. The below, Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva).

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva) - Adult Female. Photo: Craig Brookes

 Thanks for reading, I'll hope to update my blog fortnightly if not more often, please check back.