Adders and ravens

For my 30th birthday earlier in the week I took a trip with friend Jo to the Forest of Dean, hoping for some spring migrants. I wasn't disappointed and caught up with a most stunning male pied flycatcher singing and checking out a nest site at the RSPB's Nagshead reserve, http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/n/nagshead/index.aspx. Nearby a male wood warbler was singing while the muddy signs of wild boar were evident!! A family of 20 piglets (or are they called boarlets!) had apparently been in the muddy pool a little early. You could see where mum had rubbed her muddy body against an oak tree. We tried to follow their track but to no avail!

We then popped over to New Fancy View and spotted 7 or 8 female fallow deer and found a basking adder! My second ever and this time I didn't try to pick it up!!

Later in the week I organised two climbers from the British Mountaineering Council www.thebmc.co.uk
to visit a raven's nest in the Avon Gorge with thanks to the National Trust, www.nationaltrust.org.uk. There were two chicks in the nest, around three and a half weeks old. They had unique ID metal rings put on their right legs and were then safely put back into their nest. They should leave the nest in two or three weeks time.

This morning I've just got back from leading a birdsong identification walk for Mandy Leivers and the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project, http://www.avongorge.org.uk. Last night I was showing images and playing birdsong as preparation for then going out today and putting it all into practice. Blackbirds, songthrushes, robins, blackcaps, dunnocks and chiffchaffs were all singing away. Highlights included a treecreeper and a male roe deer sprinting across the Downs!!

Colour-ringing robins for the BBC One Show

What an amazing morning!! After a late evening getting back from scuba diving training, it was an early start today to be on site in Westbury on Trym, Bristol, to catch and colour-ring robins for the BBC One Show and help promote the British Trust for Ornithology. While everyone was getting ready with the filming gear I was getting traps set and mist nets up with one of the researchers Sophie. It was a slow start and by 8am we still hadn't caught anything. Then, one robin went into a net in a garden followed by some great tits, a coal tit and a dunnock. The robin was successfully colour-ringed and filmed, with friend and presenter Mike Dilger. It was then released, ready for studying who's who in robin world of this neighbourhood. We then moved to another garden where a robin quickly became interested in robin song (we were playing) and a decoy, stuffed robin we had next to the CD player. The robin was right by the net, feeding under cover. In the end the decoy and some mealworms were just too tempting and the robin made a dash straight into the net. Robin number 2 was successfully colour-ringed and released. Before midday we caught another two robins which was brilliant, four robins in total - we return on Wednesday and Friday to catch some more. Eight colour-ringed individuals would be ideal for the neighbours to look out for and to build up a picture of what territories are where.

Robins for the One Show

All set for colour-ringing robins as part of an experiment for the BBC's One Show to be shown before Christmas. We're seeking to find out more about the soap opera of robins living in a suburban neighbourhood in north Bristol - who knows what we might discover! Under my licence with the British Trust for Ornithology I'll be catching some robins in a mist net and Potter traps (small cages) and then carefully putting colour rings on their legs so we can identify them as individuals. They will then be released to carry on their lives as normal. Hopefully we can find out who's who, what territories are being set up and where, who may be passing through and how many are visiting the gardens. The unset traps are in place to allow the birds to get used to them in the gardens. Hopefully they will use them when we film on Monday - we're hoping to ring at least 6-8 robins if not more.