Durlston Country Park Ringing Report 2020 by Ian Lewis

DURLSTON COUNTRY PARK RINGING REPORT 2020 BY IAN LEWIS

DURLSTON COUNTRY PARK RINGING REPORT 2020

This is the tenth report on Stour Ringing Group’s (SRG’s) activities at Durlston National Nature Reserve/Country Park. For simplicity scientific names of birds have been omitted. Vernacular names follow the BOU British List although the order of the species in the tables may not follow the BOU’s most up to date sequence. A considerable amount of genetic research has been carried out in recent years showing that the earlier ‘Voous sequence’ traditionally used by the BTO is incorrect. It would be very labour intensive to rearrange all our tables, however tables derived from material on the migration website Trektellen do follow a more modern sequence.

Management of the Site

2020 was the tenth year that Stour Ringing Group (SRG) carried out bird ringing operations at Durlston Country Park As in previous years, group members found that work, family and travel commitments reduced the amount of time available for ringing.

Ringing in 2020 was again restricted to the ‘Garden’ and the adjacent ‘picnic nets’. Up to eight nets can be erected at the site, 6x18m within the Garden and 1x12 and 1x9m at the ‘picnic site’ just outside the Garden. The latter nets are only operated between dawn and around 0900 due the fact that they are accessible to the public, but they proved very useful in catching warblers and crests, especially the late autumn. The number and choice of nets operated on any given day was dependent on the number and experience of the ringers present, the direction and strength of the wind, the chance of rain occurring and the likely number of birds present. As the ringers are now familiar with the avian dynamics of the area there were only a very small number of occasions when nets had to be furled because of the large numbers of birds that were being trapped. In addition, on occasions two 12m two-panel nets were erected around the pond. These proved to be very useful for catching hirundines and goldfinches. In addition some bird feeders were placed between ‘hide’ and ‘fence’ nets and these helped us to catch Goldfinches and other species in the late autumn.

During the autumn migration sound lures were used to attract birds to the catching area. Sound lures are not used more than an hour before first light or during the breeding season for locally-breeding birds in line with BTO guidelines.

Training of ringers

During 2019 six trainees attended ringing sessions at Durlston, most of them on multiple occasions. Learning to handle a large number of birds and the identification, sexing and ageing of a wide variety of passerine species was of great value in their progression towards a ringing licence, indeed one trainee has just received his permit and another is currently in the process of apply for his ringing licence largely as a result of ringing at Durlston. A total of 15 ringers attended sessions at Durlston in 2019.

Trektellen

Daily totals of birds ringed at Durlston were uploaded to the internet site Trektellen immediately after ringing. See http://www.trektellen.nl Numbers of all birds ringed from 2011 onwards have been uploaded to the site, allowing for detailed analysis of the data. Note: there are some minor discrepancies between the numbers of birds shown on Trektellen in Table 4 and those submitted to the BTO due to transcription errors when uploading data to Trektellen. Detecting and correcting these in retrospect would require a large amount of work and would not change the overall picture. The figures submitted to the BTO (as shown in Table 3) undergo rigorous crosschecking and are therefore the correct value.

Review of the year

During the year we ringed 3840 and retrapped 226 birds of 48 species. This is the fourth-highest annual total but well above the ten-year annual mean of 3387. The total number of birds ringed at the site is now close to 34,000. Two new species were added the Durlston ringing list, a Kestrel ringed on 12th October and a Siskin ringed on 4th September. The total number of species ringed at Durlston is now 71. Since the publication of the last report in summer 2019 we controlled six birds of five species, all from the UK and we have received notification of 16 of our birds of nine species from elsewhere, four from France, one from Portugal and the rest from the UK. Although only nine individuals were 2 controlled/recovered these involved seven species, a notable increase in variety compared to 2019. Details are given in Table 5. The term control refers a bird ringed elsewhere and subsequently retrapped by the ringer concerned. Note as the 2019 report was prepared later in the year than this report, a few controls and recoveries received from the BTO in early 2020 may have been published in the 2019 report as well.

First winter period.

In the period January to late March Mick Cook sometimes rings at Durlston on his own, especially prior to his duties as a Durlston volunteer, which commence at 1000. This year due to bad weather and other commitments Mick was only able to ring on two dates, 23rd and 25th January, when a mere four new birds and five retraps were captured. These did however include a retrap Firecrest and the only Jay of the year to be ringed.

Spring

Just as spring ringing was about to get underway in late March the government announced the first national lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The BTO followed with a ban on all ringing away from your own personal property. As a result for the first time since ringing started here in 2011 no ringing occurred in spring. Whilst this probably had a relatively small effect on the overall totals, most years only around 200 birds are ringed in spring, we did lose the opportunity to retrap migrant breeders such as Common and Lesser Whitethroats on their return from Africa. Deter- mining the site fidelity and longevity of these sub-Saharan migrants is a valuable aspect of our ringing program.

‘Autumn’ The national lockdown was lifted in early June, however we felt this was too early to commence ringing at Durlston due to the presence of nesting birds and instead commenced in at the beginning of July. Throughout June and much of July national guidelines stipulated that only two ringers could work together, however this soon lifted and up to six people could meet (a total of between three and five is the optimum for ringing at Durlston, fewer and it can, on occasions be very busy). This situation continued until early November when we were once again restricted to just two people. Although ringer availability through the autumn was high, (after all we weren’t allowed to go on holiday) the weather throughout the period was very variable, so hopes that the increased attendance of ringers would result in a bumper year were thwarted by long periods of wind and rain.

At the start of July the Durlston ringing total for 2020 stood at a mere four birds. The first ringing session was on 3rd July and there were nine ringing sessions that month. In general the weather was good, initially locally bred birds were ringed but from mid-month a reasonable number of migrants arrived. Weather remained calm and sunny with some cloudy spells. First week of August was a mixture of sunny spells and drizzle, then there was a hot spell followed by a period of dull, misty and often foggy conditions which put an end to migration. From 19th to 26th there was an episode of very wet and windy weather which preventing any ringing. The last few days of the month varied from still to windy. There was a notable reduction in the numbers of certain species in the month – the best word to describe August was disappointing. September started with generally still and settled conditions and migrants were ringed in substantial numbers. Fatigue rather than weather became the limiting factor to the number of sessions attempted. A periods of windy weather from 17th-20th and 23rd – 27th prevented ringing but two productive sessions occurred at the months end. October provided reasonable conditions early in the month and seven sessions occurred, but bad weather in the latter part of the month meant that there was no ringing at all after the 19th. In No- vember Mick and I managed three sessions early in the month, then there was no ringing from 11th – 21st due to bad weather and a further six before the end of the month to take advantage of a large, if late Goldfinch passage. Mick ran three solo sessions in December.

In total there were 57 ringing sessions in 2020, all but five of them between July and November.

5000 4682 4500 4112 3927 4000 3840 3500 3500 3075 3191 2925 3000 2541 2500 2080 2000

1500

1000

500

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 1 Birds ringed at Durlston 2011-2020.

Figure 2 - Birds captured/calendar week at Durlston in 2020 (blue), 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

The total lack of any ringing in spring is clear in Figure 2 as is the lower than usual numbers in August and higher than usual numbers in mid-late November. The fact that ringers were available all through the autumn period is shown by the relatively small number of gaps (those that did occur were due to adverse weather) so in general the autumn of 2020 was well covered, but numbers of birds ringed was lower than in 2018 or 2019.

Table 1 – comparison of the number of birds ringed each season and average number per session from 2011 -19

Total num- Spring Autumn Mid Nov- Days Number of Number Average Number ber of mid- Jul-mid Dec & Jan- excluding birds ringed ex- / session of species ringing March- Nov mid Mar winter ringed cluding excluding ringed days May periods winter winter

2011 49 14 39 0 49 3075 3075 62.6 47 2012 45 12 32 1 44 2080 2079 47.2 45 2013 72 12 45 15 57 3500 3485 59.9 50 2014 64 14 39 11 53 2925 2814 53.8 40 2015 47 7 39 1 48 2541 2540 52.6 44 2016 72 10 61 1 71 4682 4681 65.9 45 2017 64 9 49 6 55 3927 3921 70.9 48 2018 55 12 40 4 52 3191 3187 60.4 40 2019 68 16 45 7 61 4112 4115 67.4 48 2020 57 0 52* 5 52 3840 3835 67.3 47 10yr - 59.3 10.6 44.1 5.1 54.4 3387 3373 60.8 45.4 mean

The small number of birds ringed in the winter is excluded in the average/session totals as this will skew the results during the all-important migration seasons. The number of birds ringed, 3840 was the fourth best total ever and well above the nine-year mean of 3387. The average number of birds per session, 67.3 was almost identical to 2019 and the third best ever and the number of species ringed, 47 was joint-third highest ever. Both were above the ten-year mean of 60.8 and 45.4 respectively. The number of ringing sessions in autumn was the second best ever.

*Note in 2020 due to the ongoing migration in late November the autumn period is extended until the end of the month. Migration usually ceases in mid-November and I hand over the ringing equipment to Mick Cook for the winter period. However this year we both continued until the end of the month due to the ongoing Goldfinch passage.

Table 2 – Comparison of the number of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs ringed annually in the month of September

Visits in Blackcaps Blackcaps Chiffchaffs Chiffchaffs Year September ringed per visit ringed per visit

2011 7 259 37.0 485 69.3 2012 12 327 27.3 311 25.9 2013 13 436 33.5 419 32.2 2014 18 715 39.7 416 23.1 2015 9 358 39.8 128 14.2 2016 21 620 29.5 888 42.3 2017 10 131 13.1 416 41.6 2018 14 557 39.8 494 35.3 2019 7 400 57.1 278 39.7 2020 14 697 49.8 557 39.8 10-year mean 12.5 450 36.7 439 36.4

The purpose of this table is to highlight that an increase or decrease in visits is not the only factor to determine the number of birds ringed. The variation of bird density from year to year can be seen by looking at the numbers of the two most commonly ringed species, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. These two species exhibit a similar migration pattern (both breed locally, so mainly local adults and juveniles are ringed in July and August, the bulk of the migration takes 5 place in September, dropping off in October, with a small number of overwintering birds arriving towards the end of the month) and as such these two species are readily comparable.

The number of Blackcaps ringed was the highest ever but the number ringed per session didn’t match that of 2019 however as that was only seven sessions it’s possible that we just happened on the better dates.

Chiffchaff numbers were the second highest ever but well below the extraordinary total of 2016. That however was down to the very high level of ringing effort and a month of settled weather. The numbers per session was above the 10-year mean but exactly the same as the mean for the years 2016-2020.

All this proves is that multiple visits naturally increase the numbers ringed, but this can be overshadowed by a good breeding season for a particular species, by weather conditions that induce a fall of migrants or, as may be have been the case in 2011, sheer luck. In many respects September 2020 was a pretty standard year for Chiffchaff but a very good one for Blackcaps which seems to reflect an increasing breeding population in the UK.

Table 3 –Willow Warblers ringed per session compared to the number of Chiffchaffs ringed per session 2011-2020

Visits Willow Willow excluding Warblers Warblers Chiffchaffs Chiffchaffs Year winter ringed per visit ringed per visit 2011 49 560 11.4 744 15.2 2012 44 401 9.1 407 9.3 2013 57 630 7.3 873 15.3 2014 53 410 7.7 701 13.2 2015 48 389 8.1 363 7.5 2016 71 942 13.3 1468 20.7 2017 55 613 11.1 911 16.6 2018 52 436 8.4 660 12.7 2019 61 750 14.4 854 14.0 2020 52 354 6.8 966 18.6 10-year mean 54.7 548.5 9.8 794.7 14.3

Table 3 shows that Willow Warblers had the worst annual total yet. Although there was a spell of adverse weather in the peak migration period in latter part of the August the numbers per session was also the lowest ever, even lower than the figures for 2012 and 2014 when less ringing was carried out in August than is nowadays. One possible explanation is that it was a poor breeding season, due to Covid results from the national breeding bird surveys are not available, but what data there is indicates that adult numbers were high but breeding productivity was low. Another explanation is that the hot dry spell in early August allowed the birds to continue their migration without stopping on the south-coast.

Chiffchaff (top) and Willow Warbler (below) can be hard to separate in the field but are easy in the hand.

Table4 - Birds ringed annually at Durlston Country Park 2011 – 2020

Species 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Total Mallard 1 1 Sparrowhawk 6 4 4 2 3 1 3 23 Woodcock 1 1 Woodpigeon 2 1 2 2 1 8 Swift 1 1 Tawny Owl 1 1 Nightjar 9 9 7 11 36 Wryneck 1 1 2 Green Woodpecker 3 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 3 16 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 1 2 4 Kestrel 1 1 Woodlark 2 2 Sand Martin 18 7 3 7 1 15 3 54 Swallow 133 139 316 19 49 164 54 384 13 169 1440 House Martin 18 51 9 4 6 53 2 123 2 17 285 Tree Pipit 41 8 28 12 62 25 112 19 17 42 366 Meadow Pipit 4 2 35 158 4 220 38 36 49 60 606 Pied Wagtail 2 1 3 Grey Wagtail 1 1 2 Wren 22 18 26 26 33 41 35 21 45 35 302 Dunnock 41 28 43 32 21 13 24 21 37 31 291 Robin 59 79 56 74 64 102 72 64 96 95 761 Nightingale 2 1 3 Common Redstart 16 14 17 12 7 15 19 7 8 11 126 Black Redstart 2 2 Whinchat 1 1 1 1 4 Stonechat 2 2 1 1 1 3 7 17 Wheatear 1 1 2 1 1 6 Blackbird 42 58 16 30 25 18 28 19 29 17 282 Song Thrush 10 34 13 13 15 19 17 19 20 12 172 Redwing 22 1 6 17 52 41 9 12 24 184 Fieldfare 1 1 Grasshopper Warbler 27 9 10 11 21 102 208 80 72 54 594 Sedge Warbler 18 13 29 21 13 65 45 46 60 36 346 Reed Warbler 8 7 10 7 6 20 25 17 28 8 136 Melodious Warbler 1 1 2 Barred Warbler 1 1 Lesser Whitethroat 18 5 10 15 20 15 13 11 19 11 137 Common Whitethroat 228 70 112 124 88 139 114 85 150 140 1250 Dartford Warbler 1 1 2 Garden Warbler 58 46 90 71 35 66 72 68 152 70 728 Blackcap 464 401 645 860 500 851 509 716 853 925 6724 Chiffchaff 744 407 873 701 363 1468 911 660 854 958 7939 tristis Chiffchaff 1 1 7

Species 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Total Willow Warbler 560 401 630 410 389 942 613 436 750 351 5482 Yellow-browed Warbler 1 2 6 2 1 2 1 15 Goldcrest 40 90 29 54 445 123 368 81 337 96 1663 Firecrest 6 12 4 4 29 10 26 6 40 22 159 Spotted Flycatcher 1 2 3 1 2 2 8 3 4 5 31 Pied Flycatcher 13 3 1 1 2 1 4 6 7 38 Long-tailed Tit 36 15 7 28 39 23 42 33 27 31 281 Marsh Tit 1 2 1 4 Coal Tit 1 1 2 2 2 7 3 5 23 Blue Tit 109 35 24 13 26 17 52 54 64 48 442 Great Tit 63 26 28 20 28 22 36 41 56 42 362 Nuthatch 1 1 Treecreeper 2 1 1 4 2 10 Jay 2 2 1 2 1 1 9 Magpie 1 1 2 Carrion Crow 1 1 Starling 1 1 1 3 House Sparrow 2 2 7 4 1 1 10 11 24 62 Chaffinch 19 9 27 7 19 8 15 19 18 20 161 Hawfinch 1 1 Greenfinch 30 15 50 12 18 5 5 14 14 163 Goldfinch 169 36 326 139 147 40 289 63 99 362 1671 Linnet 7 9 10 12 1 30 3 100 32 204 Lesser Redpoll 24 1 3 2 18 12 60 Siskin 1 1 Bullfinch 19 16 10 15 24 20 42 12 33 24 215 Yellowhammer 2 2 4 Reed Bunting 1 1 1 1 1 3 8 Cumulative total 3079 2115 3525 2925 2540 4682 3927 3193 4112 3840 33939

The total number of species ringed in 2020 was 47.

The following species were ringed at Durlston for the first time – Kestrel, Siskin

The following species were ringed in record numbers in 2020: Nightjar, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stonechat, Blackcap, Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

The following regular species were either not ringed in 2020 or ringed in surprisingly small numbers compared to previous years: Green Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler.

Table 5 – Birds ringed/retrapped per month in 2020 plus date max present, % days present and first and last dates.

Note – to read the Trektellen entry for any date marked in orange, click on the date whilst holding the CTRL key.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Newly Retraps Maximum Presence Presence First Last Species ringed (%) (days)

1. Sparrowhawk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 3 0 1 (2 Sep) 5 3 2 Sep 29 Nov

2. Woodpigeon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (13 Sep) 2 1 13 Sep 13 Sep

3. Nightjar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 0 0 0 11 11 0 3 (27 Aug) 12 7 27 Aug 22 Sep

4. Great Spotted W’pecker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 2 (4 Nov) 2 1 4 Nov 4 Nov

5. Kestrel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 (12 Oct) 2 1 12 Oct 12 Oct

6. Jay 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (25 Jan) 2 1 25 Jan 25 Jan

7. Blue Tit 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 7 6 6 62 3 96 47 49 22 (22 Nov) 54 31 25 Jan 31 Dec

8. Great Tit 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 8 8 8 34 7 80 42 38 13 (22 Nov) 56 32 25 Jan 31 Dec

9. Sand Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 3 0 2 (8 Sep) 4 2 8 Sep 28 Sep

10. Swallow 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 168 0 0 0 170 170 0 49 (28 Sep) 21 12 9 Aug 29 Sep

11. House Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 17 17 0 8 (28 Sep) 9 5 7 Sep 29 Sep

12. Long-tailed Tit 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 14 5 8 22 0 52 31 21 12 (13 Aug) 23 13 3 Jul 27 Nov

13. Willow Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 133 160 64 0 0 0 357 354 3 42 (26 Jul) 46 26 13 Jul 16 Sep

14. Chiffchaff 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 27 566 359 3 0 975 966 9 122 (28 Sep) 68 39 11 Jul 22 Nov

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Newly Retraps Maximum Presence Presence First Last

Species ringed (%) (days)

15. Yellow-browed Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 (19 Oct) 2 1 19 Oct 19 Oct

16. Sedge Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 11 15 0 0 0 36 36 0 9 (4 Sep) 30 17 13 Jul 28 Sep

17. Reed Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 0 8 8 0 2 (16 Jul) 12 7 13 Jul 14 Sep

18. Grasshopper Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 19 32 0 0 0 54 54 0 14 (4 Sep) 28 16 16 Jul 22 Sep

19. Blackcap 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 85 704 113 18 1 934 920 14 86 (11 Sep) 75 43 3 Jul 12 Dec

20. Garden Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 38 10 0 0 0 72 70 2 10 (30 Jul) 39 22 23 Jul 29 Sep

21. Lesser Whitethroat 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1 0 0 0 11 11 0 3 (27 Aug) 14 8 16 Jul 16 Sep

22. Whitethroat 0 0 0 0 0 0 47 55 46 0 0 0 148 140 8 16 (7 Aug) 49 28 3 Jul 21 Sep

23. Firecrest 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 15 4 0 24 22 2 7 (12 Oct) 19 11 23 Jan 23 Nov

24. Goldcrest 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 59 26 0 104 96 8 18 (12 Oct) 35 20 25 Jan 29 Nov

25. Wren 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 9 6 9 7 0 41 35 6 4 (5 Oct) 42 24 11 Jul 27 Nov

26. Tree Creeper 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 1 (13 Jul) 5 3 13 Jul 1 Aug

27. Starling 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 (26 Nov) 2 1 26 Nov 26 Nov

28. Blackbird 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 2 2 11 1 24 17 7 3 (9 Aug) 32 18 23 Jan 12 Dec

29. Redwing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 16 6 24 24 0 4 (10 Nov) 19 11 12 Oct 12 Dec

30. Song Thrush 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 6 1 12 12 0 2 (4 Nov) 18 10 13 Aug 31 Dec

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Newly Retraps Maximum Presence Presence First Last

Species ringed (%) (days)

31. Spotted Flycatcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 5 5 0 1 (13 Aug) 9 5 13 Aug 16 Sep

32. Robin 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 29 30 18 15 4 113 95 18 8 (5 Oct) 82 47 11 Jul 31 Dec

33. Pied Flycatcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 0 7 7 0 2 (29 Jul) 7 4 26 Jul 16 Aug

34. Redstart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 0 0 0 11 11 0 2 (13 Aug) 14 8 13 Aug 13 Sep

35. Stonechat 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 7 7 0 3 (21 Sep) 9 5 10 Aug 10 Oct

36. House Sparrow 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 2 2 1 11 1 28 24 4 7 (10 Nov) 25 14 23 Jul 7 Dec

37. Dunnock 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 8 9 7 8 2 44 31 13 3 (29 Jul) 51 29 11 Jul 12 Dec

38. Grey Wagtail 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (8 Sep) 2 1 8 Sep 8 Sep

39. Meadow Pipit 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 57 1 0 0 60 60 0 37 (22 Sep) 14 8 23 Jul 1 Oct

40. Tree Pipit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35 7 0 0 0 42 42 0 9 (13 Aug) 19 11 3 Aug 21 Sep

41. Chaffinch 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 6 2 3 2 20 20 0 2 (16 Jul) 25 14 16 Jul 7 Dec

42. Bullfinch 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 7 7 1 10 0 33 24 9 3 (13 Aug) 35 20 11 Jul 29 Nov

43. Greenfinch 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 1 0 2 0 14 14 0 4 (23 Jul) 16 9 11 Jul 5 Nov

44. Linnet 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 9 14 0 32 32 0 9 (12 Oct) 25 14 23 Jul 30 Nov

45. Lesser Redpoll 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 1 0 12 12 0 5 (16 Oct) 7 4 28 Sep 23 Nov

46. Goldfinch 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 32 33 34 251 0 367 363 4 92 (22 Nov) 67 38 3 Jul 29 Nov

47. Siskin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (4 Sep) 2 1 4 Sep 4 Sep

Table 6 - All ringing recoveries and controls involving birds handled at Durlston Country Park (DCP) 2011 to Dec 2020

M – male 2 – age unknown F – female 3 – hatched in the year in question J - still in juvenile plumage 4 – hatched any year other than the year in question X - found dead 5 – hatched in the year before the year in question 1 – pullus (nestling) 6 - hatched any year except the year in question or the previous year

Dis- Species Ring No C/R Date ringed Place Ringed Age Date C/R Place Controlled/Recovered Age Time tance Co-ordinates Notes of distant local- DCP = 50 35' N 01deg 57' W Sex Sex days km ity Willow W’bler BTJ494 C 10/08/2011 DCP 3 14/08/2011 Squire's Down, Stalbridge, Dorset, 3 4 52 50 58' N, 02 22' W Chiffchaff DTJ567 C 30/07/2011 Castlemorton Common, Worcs 3 29/09/2011 DCP 3 61 165 52 03' N, 02 19' W Blue Tit V222959 C 20/02/2010 Woolsgarton, Dorset 5 26/08/2011 DCP 4 552 9 50 38' N, 02 02' W Whitethroat L517457 C 10/08/2011 DCP 3J 17/08/2011 Lytchett Bay, Poole Harbour, Dorset, 3 7 19 50 44' N, 02 03' W Chiffchaff DVH779 C 17/08/2011 Thornton, York, 3J 07/04/2012 DCP 5 234 376 53 54' N 00 52' W Chiffchaff CBA564 C 19/09/2012 Kenfig, Bridgend, Wales 3 27/09/2012 DCP 3 8 163 51 31' N, 03 45' W Goldfinch Y351971 C 09/09/2012 Martinstown, Dorset, England 3J 18/11/2012 DCP 3 70 42 50 42' N 02 31' W Chiffchaff BTJ791 C 15/09/2011 DCP 3 31/03/2012 Portland Bill, Dorset England 4 198 37 50 31' N, 02 27' W Chiffchaff EBA004 C 21/09/2012 DCP 3 28/09/2012 Sandouville, Seine-Maritime, France 3 7 203 49 29' N, 00 19' E Blackcap Y450068 C 04/09/2012 DCP 3M 18/09/2012 Icklesham, East Sussex, England 3M 14 188 50 54' N,00 40' E Greenfinch TL69905 R 11/02/2013 DCP 6 18/07/2013 Barnham, West Sussex, England x 157 97 50 50' N 00 38' W DEAD Chiffchaff CLR421 C 29/09/2011 DCP 3 18/10/2011 Guadalix de la Sierra, Madrid, Spain 4 19 1099 40 46' N, 03 40 W. Sparrowhawk EL78261 C 03/09/2011 DCP 3F 19/07/2013 Christchurch, England x 285 22 50 44' N 01° 46' W Willow W’bler ADV110 C 06/07/2013 Eskmeals, Cumbria 3J 27/08/2013 DCP 2 52 429 54 20' N 03 26' W G’den W’bler L878234 C 12/07/2013 Roydon Village Mariner, Essex 4 19/08/2013 DCP 3 38 190 51 4' N 00 01' E Blackcap Y450212 C 08/09/2013 DCP 3 16/05/2013 Herberg, Utsira, Rogaland, Norway 4 F 250 1042 59 18' N, 04 05' E Chiffchaff ELP764 C 19/09/2013 DCP 3 22/09/2013 Haseley Manor, Arreton, IOW 3 3 52 50 40' N, 01 14' W Goldfinch D463534 C 07/11/2013 DCP 4M 10/12/2013 Braytown, near Wool, Dorset, England 2 33 23 50 40' N, 02 14' W Chiffchaff HBL197 C 05/10/2013 DCP 3 07/10/2013 Warren Glen, East Sussex 3 2 185 50 52' N, 00 38' E Chiffchaff HBL442 C 14/10/2013 DCP 3 08/11/2013 Portland Bill, Dorset 3 25 37 50 31' N, 02 27' W " " R " 3 01/06/2014 Milford Haven, Pembrokshire, Wales 3 230 249 51 42' N, 05 02' W **** Chiffchaff EKL396 C 22/09/2013 Low Newton-b’-t’-Sea, N'berland 3 13/10/2013 DCP 3 21 547 55 30' N 01 37' W L’ser Redpoll D463118 C 13/10/2013 DCP 3 14/01/2014 Ferndown, Dorset, England 5 93 25 50 48' N, 01 53' W Chiffchaff EBA513 C 17/08/2013 Lytchett Bay, Poole, Dorset 3J 26/09/2013 DCP 3 40 19 50 44' N, 02 03' W Chiffchaff HDH114 C 21/08/2013 Wakefield, W Yorkshire, England 3 01/10/2013 DCP 2 41 339 50 35' N 01 57' W 12

Blackcap Y759778 C 22/08/2013 Doncaster, S Yorkshire 3M 08/09/2013 DCP 3M 17 345 53 37' N 00 53' W Goldfinch D463133 R 13/10/2013 DCP 3 09/03/2014 Laval, Mayenne, France x 147 293 48 04' N, 00 46' W DEAD Chiffchaff HBL048 C 01/10/2013 DCP 3 01/04/2014 Dywyll, Neath Port Talbot, Wales 4 182 165 51 33' N, 03 44' W Blackcap Y822379 C 07/09/2013 DCP 3M 12/09/2013 Beachy Head, East Sussex, England 3M 5 156 50 44' N, 00 15' E Chiffchaff ELP539 R 04/09/2013 DCP 3 04/09/2013 Smallridge, Devon, England x 287 78 50 48 N, 03 00' W DEAD Dunnock TT45221 R 13/08/2014 DCP 3J 16/11/2014 Swanage, Dorset, England x 95 0 50 35' N, 01' 57' W DEAD Chiffchaff HBL482 C 15/10/2013 DCP 3 04/05/2014 Kenfig Pool, Bridgend, England 4M 201 163 51 31' N, 03 45' W " " C " 3 16/05/2014 " 4M 213 " 51 31' N, 03 45' W Blackcap Y254210 C 29/09/2011 DCP 3F 17/03/2014 Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain 2 900 1581 36 39' N, 05 57' W Willow W’bler ELP210 C 10/08/2013 DCP 3 04/05/2014 Ballynafgh, Kildare, Ireland 4 267 448 53 38' N, 06 47' W " " " 3 30/05/2014 " 4 293 " 53 38' N, 06 47' W " " " 3 14/06/2014 " 4 308 " 53 38' N, 06 47' W " " " 3 22/07/2014 " 4 346 " 53 38' N, 06 47' W " " " 3 28/07/2014 " 4 352 " 53 38' N, 06 47' W Blackcap D215129 C 14/08/2014 Beachy Head, East Sussex 3J 05/10/2014 DCP 3 52 156 50 44' N, 00 15' E Willow W’bler ELP 551 C 07/09/2013 DCP 3 04/05/2014 Bardsey Island, Gwynedd, Wales 4 293 311 52 45' N 04 48' W Blackcap D463166 C 14/10/2013 DCP 3 23/09/2014 Stanford Reservoir, Northants 3 348 212 52 25' N 01 07' W " " C " " 3 27/09/2014 " 3 352 " 52 25' N 01 07' W Chiffchaff HBL788 C 09/09/2014 DCP 3 12/09/2014 Squire's Down, Stalbridge, Dorset 3 3 52 50 58' N, 02 22' W Chiffchaff AVW893 C 22/07/2014 Millwater, Crewkerne, Somerset 3J 01/09/2014 DCP 3 41 70 50 53' N, 02 49' W Blackcap D715641 C 08/06/2014 Rochester, Medway, England 3J 06/09/2014 DCP 3M 100 200 51 27' N, 00' 33' E Chiffchaff ELP635 C 07/09/2013 DCP 3 12/03/2015 Jew's Gate, Gibralter 4 544 1629 36 08' N, 05 20'W Chiffchaff HBL759 C 08/07/2014 DCP 3 01/03/2015 Jew's Gate, Gibralter 5 174 1629 36 08' N, 05 20'W Tree Pipit L517885 R 21/08/2011 DCP 2 01/05/2015 Rhandirmywn, Camarthanshire x 1349 209 52 04' N 03 47' W DEAD Swallow Y822670 C 23/09/2013 DCP 3 10/09/2015 Hook Park, Hampshire, England 4F 717 54 50 50' N 01 18' W Willow W’bler HBP721 C 15/04/2014 Lundy, Devon 4 11/08/2015 DCP 4 483 202 50 35' N 01 57' W Reed W’bler Z846429 C 03/09/2015 Beddington Sew’ge Farm, London 3 08/09/2015 DCP 3 5 155 51 23' N 00 09' W Goldcrest HRH233 C 09/11/2014 Newtown Park, Hampshire, UK 3F 08/1102015 DCP 2F 364 37 50 46' N 01 31' W Goldcrest ELJ172 C 15/10/2015 Bawdsey, Suffolk 3M 28/10/2015 DCP 3M 13 281 50 35' N 01 57' W Song Thrush BLB.24Z56942 C 02/10/2015 Nijlen, Antwerpen, Belgium 2 02/11/2015 DCP 3 31 469 51 09' N 04 40' E Blackcap ESI.3L22170 C 16/11/2013 Pantano Minilla, Seville, Spain 4M 25/10/2015 DCP 4M 708 1501 37 23' N 05 57' W Blackcap Z581236 C 08/08/2015 Slapton Ley, Devon, England 3F 10/09/2015 DCP 3F 33 125 50 17' N 03 39' W Goldfinch Z806147 C 25/10/2015 DCP 3 28/10/2015 Lytchett Matravers, Dorset 3 3 22 50 45' N 02 04' W Robin D462606 R 13/08/2014 DCP 3 17/03/2015 Bas-Lion, Lion-sur-Mer, Calvados, France x 216 185 49 18' N 00 19' W DEAD Goldcrest HBN711 R 08/11/2015 DCP 3M 13/03/2016 Milton Abbas, Dorset, England x 126 36 50 49' N 02 18' W CAT Chiffchaff HLL355 C 12/10/2014 DCP 3 25/03/2016 Longis Pond, Alderney, Channel Islands 6 530 98 49 43' N 02 10' W Willow W’bler HBN440 C 02/09/2015 DCP 3 27/09/2015 Arneiros, Querenca, Faro, Portugal 3 25 1567 37 10' N 08 00' W 13

Blackcap Y822762 C 25/09/2013 DCP 3F 19/04/2016 Longis Pond, Alderney, Channel Islands 6F 937 98 49 43' N 02 10' W Blackcap D463814 C 01/09/2014 DCP 3F 17/04/2016 Chew Valley Lake, Somerset, England 4F 594 95 51 19' N 02 37' W Reed W’bler Z677833 C 18/06/2016 Chew Valley Lake, Somerset 1 06/08/2016 DCP 3 594 95 51 19' N 02 37' W Willow W’bler JTA193 C 06/08/2016 Billinge, Merseyside 3 14/08/2016 DCP 3 8 329 53 30' N 02 43' W Pied Fly Z537624 C 13/06/2015 Kentmere Hall Plantation, Cumbria 1 18/08/2016 DCP 3 432 429 54 24' N 02 50' W Whitethroat Z806088 C 17/07/2016 DCP 3J 14/08/2016 Needs Ore, Hampshire 3 28 43 50 45' N 01 25' W Blackcap Z809913 C 21/09/2016 DCP 3M 24/09/2016 Brook Farm, Reculver, Kent, UK 3M 3 236 51 21' N 01 11' E Blackcap S413557 C 14/08/2016 Brandon Marsh, Warwickshire, UK 3J 08/10/2016 DCP 3M 55 202 52 22' N 01 26' W Chiffchaff HBC760 C 24/08/2016 Cam Valley - Cameley, Somerset, 3J 08/10/2016 DCP 4 45 93 50 35' N 01 57' W Blackcap EH85378 C 11/10/2015 Utsira, Rogaland, Norway 3F 08/10/2016 DCP 4F 363 1061 59 17' N 04 52' E Chiffchaff JER085 C 22/10/2016 Ely, Cambridgeshire 2 29/10/2016 DCP 3 7 257 50 35' N 01 57' W Chiffchaff HBN783 C 14/04/2016 DCP 4 30/08/2016 Longis Pond, Alderney, Channel Islands 4 138 98 49 43' N 02 10' W Sedge W’bler Z806245 C 28/07/2016 DCP 3 15/08/2016 Sandouville, Seine-Maritime, France 3 18 203 49 28' N 00 19' E Sedge W’bler Z806206 C 23/07/2016 DCP 3 30/07/2016 Donges, Loire-Atlantique, France 3 7 364 47 19' N 02 04' W Chiffchaff HLR112 C 01/08/2016 DCP 3J 03/10/2016 Dungeness Bird Observatory, Kent, UK 3 63 208 50 54' N 00 57' E Redwing RF34947 R 30/10/2016 DCP 3 08/02/2017 Saint-Merd-les-Oussines, Corrèze, France x 101 625 45 37' N 01 58' E SHOT Chiffchaff JRD067 C 09/10/2016 DCP 3 03/04/2017 Buckton, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK 4 176 414 54 08' N 00 11' W Willow W’bler HLR741 C 09/08/2016 DCP 3 27/04/2017 Portland Bill, Dorset, UK 4 261 37 50 31' N, 02 27' W Bullfinch S392623 R 11/05/2017 DCP 5M 07/08/2017 Osmay Rd, Swanage, Dorset, UK X 88 0.5 50 49' N 02 18' W SPAR Willow W’bler JPC714 C 25/08/2016 Queen Mary Reservoir, Surrey, 3 16/08/2017 DCP 3 356 139 51 25' N 00 28' W Tree Pipit S648050 C 06/08/2017 Clow Bridge, Lancashire, UK 3 16/08/2017 DCP 3 10 353 53 44' N 02 16' W Reed W’bler S351386 C 06/08/2017 Squire's Down, Stalbridge, Dorset, 3 14/08/2027 DCP 3 8 52 50 57' N 02 22' W Reed W’bler S912309 C 05/08/2017 Tidmoor, The Fleet, Dorset, UK 3 14/08/2017 DCP 3 9 41 50 35' N 02 30' W G’hopr W’bler S477214 C 11/09/2016 Titchfield Haven, Hampshire, UK 3 31/08/2017 DCP 4 354 56 50 48' N 01 14' W Chiffchaff HXP818 C 22/09/2017 : Amisfield, Haddington, E Lothian 2 12/10/2017 DCP 2 20 599 55 56' N 02 45' W Chiffchaff KKT647 C 08/10/2017 Hasfield Ham, Gloucestershire, 2 19/10/2017 DCP 3 11 152 50 35' N 01 57' W Goldcrest KJA 917 C 12/10/2017 Ballard Down, Dorset, UK 3F 27/10/2017 DCP 2F 17 5 50 37' N 01 56' W L’ser Redpoll S994812 C 07/10/2017 Crabtree Hill, Gloucestershire, UK 3 30/10/2017 DCP 3 23 143 50 35' N 01 -57' W Blackcap 15124885 C 22/09/2017 Brecht, Antwerpen, Belgium 3F 02/11/2017 DCP 3F 41 470 51 21' N 04 39' E Long-t’ Tit HBN962 R 07/09/2016 DCP 4 31/10/2017 Swanage, Dorset, UK x 419 2 50 36' N 01 57' W DEAD Goldfinch S138344 C 31/10/2017 Weymouth, Dorset, UK 3J 09/11/2017 DCP 3J 9 37 50 35' N 01 57' W Chiffchaff KJB819 C 01/11/2017 DCP 3 15/11/2017 Eastleigh Sewage Farm, Hampshire, UK 3 14 59 50 57' N 01 20' W Goldcrest KJB526 C 17/10/2017 DCP 3M 18/10/2017 Nanjizal, Lands End, Cornwall, UK 3M 1 273 50 02' N 05 42' W Great Tit TT45096 C 01/11/2017 DCP 3F 04/12/2017 Bay View Caravan Park, Swanage 3F 33 1.5 50 36' N 01 58' W Goldcrest KAJ872 R 12/10/2017 DCP 3F 02/01/2018 Le Bas Courteille, Beaufay, Sarthe, France x 82 318 48 08' N 00 21 'E CAT Willow W’bler HLR335 R 06/08/2016 DCP 3 30/04/2017 Hilbre Island, Wirral Merseyside, UK 4 267 332 53 22' N 03 13' W Sparrowhawk DD08414 R 25/09/2013 DCP 5 26/04/2018 Swanage, Dorset, England x 1647 3 50 36' N 01 59' W DEAD 14

Blackcap S394324 C 26/08/2017 DCP 3M 19/04/2018 Offwell Woodland Centre, Devon 5M 236 88 50 47' N 03 09' W Chiffchaff KAJ137 C 01/09/2017 DCP 3 07/10/2017 Charito - Silves, Faro, Portugal 3 36 1578 37 10' N 08 26' W Sand Martin Z186566 C 11/09/2015 DCP 3 12/04/2017 Sarinena, Huesca, Spain 4 579 991 41 46' N 00 01' W Blackcap S394324 C 26/08/2017 DCP 3M 16/06/2018 Honiton, Devon, UK 5M 294 88 50 47' N 03 09' W Blackcap Z809474 C 13/09/2016 DCP 3F 27/07/2018 Eaton, Congleton, Cheshire, UK 2 682 292 53 11' N 02 11' W Blackcap S460594 C 08/07/2017 Slapton Ley, Devon, UK 3JF 08/09/2018 DCP 4F 427 124 50 17' N 03 38' W Blackcap AHC2825 C 14/07/2018 Swanpool Marsh, Devon, UK 3J 07/09/2018 DCP 3M 55 167 51 06' N 04 11' W Chiffchaff KKY795 C 05/09/2018 West Bexington, Dorset, UK 3 14/09/2018 DCP 3 9 53 50 40' N 02 40' W Reed W’bler AXC3207 C 30/08/2018 Frodsham Marsh, Cheshire, UK 3J 13/09/2018 DCP 3 14 307 53 17' N 02 45'W Chiffchaff JTR952 C 24/09/2018 Tidmoor, The Fleet, Dorset, 2 26/09/2018 DCP 3 2 39 50 36' N 02 30'W Chiffchaff KLJ620 C 12/08/2018 Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion,Wales 3J 30/09/2018 DCP 3 49 251 52 04' N 04 39' W Chiffchaff KTA458 C 27/09/2018 DCP 3 03/10/2018 Sandwhich Bay, Kent, UK 3 6 245 51 16' N 01 22' E Chiffchaff KJB819 C 01/11/2017 DCP 3 03/02/2019 Eastleigh Sewage Farm, Hampshire 6 459 61 50 57' N 01 20' W Chiffchaff KTA103 C 08/09/2018 DCP 3 31/03/2019 Buttercombe Barton, West Down, Devon 5 204 168 51 09' N 04 08' W Blackcap Z809800 C 21/09/2016 DCP 3F 20/04/2019 Thorpe Marsh, South Yorkshire, UK 6F 941 337 53 34' N 01 06' W Chiffchaff KTA420 C 27/09/2018 DCP 3 17/04/2019 Heysham Harbour, Lancashire 4 202 387 54 01' N 01 57' W Blackcap Z186243 C 20/09/2014 DCP 3M 01/09/2019 Houghton Green, Warrington, Cheshire 4M 1715 318 53 25' N 02 34' W Reed W’bler S914090 C 08/08/2018 Squire's Down, Stalbridge, Dorset, 4F 01/08/2019 DCP 4 358 52 50 58' N, 02 22' W Whitethroat AJF4082 C 01/08/2019 DCP 3 16/08/2019 Messanges, Landes, France 3F 15 755 43 47' N 01 22' W Firecrest EYK164 C 03/11/2017 Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth 3M 06/11/2019 DCP 4F 733 20 50 43' N 01 46' W Goldfinch ADJ2240 C 06/07/2019 All Cannings Down, Wiltshire, UK 3J 06/11/2019 DCP 3M 123 90 51 23' N 01 51' W Goldcrest KTX427 C 04/11/2019 Reculver Marshes, Kent, UK 3F 13/11/2019 DCP 3F 9 239 51 21' N 01 13' E Chiffchaff LCP372 R 03/10/2019 DCP 3 07/04/2020 Omskirk, Lancashire, UK x 187 336 53 33' N 02 51' W DEAD Blackcap AHJ1292 C 15/10/2019 DCP 3F 30/10/2019 La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, France 3F 15 495 46 10' N 01 10' W Goldfinch AEA1066 R 26/10/2017 DCP 3J 01/03/2020 Casteljaloux, Lot-et-Garonne, France x 857 715 44 17' N 00 04' E READ Chiffchaff KTA312 C 26/09/2018 DCP 3 24/11/2018 Herdade dos Forninhos, Beja, Portugal 2 59 1527 37 43' N 08 42' W Chiffchaff KTA274 C 25/09/2018 DCP 3 28/04/2020 Upton Towns, Hayle, Cornwall, UK 4 581 247 50 12' N 05 23' W Reed W’bler AEA1696 C 21/08/2018 DCP 3J 08/07/2020 Pilsworth, Bury Greater Mancheter, UK 6M 687 333 53 34'N 02 15'W Blackcap AHJ1128 R 02/10/2019 DCP 3F 12/072020 Southwick, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK x 284 83 51 17'N 02 14'W WINDO Reed W’bler ABE7291 C 22/07/2019 DCP 3 13/07/2020 Chew Valley Lake, Somerset 4 357 94 51 19'N 01 57'W Willow W’bler LPJ111 C 29/07/2020 DCP 3 30/07/2020 Old Rectory, Kingston, Isle of Wight, UK 3 1 45 50 37'N 01 19'W Willow W’bler LVR321 C 26/04/2020 Lundy, Devon 4 27/08/2020 DCP 4 123 200 50 35'N 04 39' W Greenfinch TW94132 R 10/08/2020 DCP M 06/09/2020 Lighthouse Rd, Swanage, Dorset, UK 4M 27 0.5 50 35' N 01 57' W DEAD Blackcap ATD7448 C 01/09/2020 Squire's Down, Stalbridge, Dorset, 3M 13/09/2020 DCP 3M 12 52 50 58' N 02 21' W Chiffchaff LPJ442 C 06/09/2020 DCP 2 15/09/2020 Coleshill, Oxfordshire, UK 3 9 119 51 38' N 01 39' W Chiffchaff KTA244 C 14/09/2018 DCP 3 16/09/2018 Charente-Maritime, France 2 12 571 45 30'N 00 49' W Goldfinch AHJ3106 R 08/092020 DCP 3J 01/10/2020 Durlston Castle, Swanage, Dorset x 23 0.5 50 35' N 01 57' W DEAD 15

Chiffchaff LBH253 C 24/08/2020 Wincham, Cheshire 3J 01/10/2020 DCP 3 38 301 53 16' N 01 57' W Goldfinch ACP7543 C 28/09/2020 South Perrott, Dorset, UK 3 13/10/2020 DCP 3 16 64 50 51' N 02 45'W Blue Tit AEA2881 C 29/10/2017 Ballard Down, Dorset, UK 3 18/05/2019 DCP 6 566 5 50 37' N 01 56' W " " C 3 23/09/2020 DCP 4 1061 5 50 37' N 01 56' W Goldfinch ALK6488 C 13/11/2020 Penrhiw, Conway, Wales, UK 3M 27/11/2020 DCP 3M 14 322 53 15'N 03 47'W Robin AHJ1344 R 15/10/2019 DCP 4 02/12/2020 Upper Bonchurch, Ventor, IOW x 414 55 50 35'W 01 11' W CAT Blackcap AHJK3033 C 07/09/2020 DCP 3M 16/09/2020 Moutiers en Retz, Loire Atlantique, France 3M 9 395 47 01' N 01 58 W Dunnock TT45004 R 17/07/2016 DCP 3J 25/11/2020 Swanage x 1592 <1 50 37' N 01 56' W WINDO

NOTES 1) Birds found dead without specific cause stated are marked ‘DEAD’, killed by a cat as ‘CAT’, died after hitting a window WINDO, and hunted as ‘SHOT’. 2) The Bullfinch marked ‘SPAR’ was found decapitated below a bird feeder and was thought to be the victim of a Sparrowhawk attack. 3) The Goldfinch marked READ had its ring number read in the field. 4) The Chiffchaff marked **** was ringed at Durlston on 14th October 2013, controlled at Portland Bill on 18th November 2013 before being caught by hand in the wheelhouse of a tug and released alive in Pembrokeshire on 1st June 2014, a most unusual set of circumstances. 5) C denotes a control. A control indicates a bird ringed by others and retrapped by us, or a bird ringed by us and retrapped by other ringers. 6) C with a yellow background indicates movements between Stour Ringing Group sites. 7) R denotes a recovery. This refers to any bird ringed by us and found by members of the public, usually dead.

This Whitethroat can be identified as an adult by the pale iris and white, not buff, outer tail feather and as a male by the grey head. 16

Table 7- Numbers of birds ringed 2011 – 2020 at Durlston compared to the total number recovered/controlled

Recov- Num- Total UK UK UK % of Overseas location Species with >50 indi- ered ber recov- number viduals ringed 0- 10- outside ringed ered >100km ringed CI = Channel Islands, Gib = Gibraltar 10km 100km UK Chiffchaff 7940 42 0 14 19 9 0.53% CI (2), France (2), Spain, Gib (2), Portugal (2) Blackcap 6724 27 0 5 14 8 0.40% Norway (2) CI, Belgium, France (2) Spain (2) Willow Warbler 5479 13 0 3 8 2 0.24% Ireland, Portugal Goldfinch 1671 10 1 6 1 2 0.60% France (2) Goldcrest 1663 7 1 2 3 1 0.42% France Swallow 1440 1 0 1 0 0 0.07% Whitethroat 1250 3 0 2 0 1 0.24% France Robin 761 2 0 1 0 1 0.26% France Garden Warbler 728 1 0 1 0 0 0.14% Meadow Pipit 606 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Grasshopper Warbler 594 1 0 1 0 0 0.17% Blue Tit 442 2 2 0 0 0 0.45% Tree Pipit 366 2 0 2 0 0 0.55% Great Tit 362 1 1 0 0 0 0.28% Sedge Warbler 346 2 0 0 0 2 0.58% France (2) Wren 302 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Dunnock 296 2 2 0 0 0 0.68% House Martin 285 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Long-tailed Tit 281 1 1 0 0 0 0.36% Blackbird 282 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Bullfinch 215 1 1 0 0 0 0.47% Linnet 204 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Redwing 184 1 0 0 0 1 0.54% France Song Thrush 172 1 0 0 0 1 0.58% Belgium Greenfinch 162 2 1 1 0 0 1.24% Chaffinch 161 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Firecrest 157 1 0 1 0 0 0.64% Reed Warbler 135 8 0 5 3 0 5.93% Lesser Whitethroat 136 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Common Redstart 126 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% Lesser Redpoll 60 2 1 1 0 0 3.33% Sand Martin 54 1 0 0 0 1 1.86% Spain Recov- Species with birds re- Num- Total UK % num- UK UK ered covered with <50 indi- ber recov- <10 ber <10 km >100km outside viduals ringed ringed ered km ringed UK Pied Flycatcher 38 1 0 0 1 0 2.63% Sparrowhawk 23 2 1 1 0 0 8.70%

Totals 33580 137 12 47 44 29 0.41%

Total number of species that have had recoveries away from the ringing area = 26 ie 36.6 % of species ringed.

Of the 45 species that have not had recoveries there are only eight that have had more than 50 individuals ringed. Possible reasons for the lack of recoveries is discussed below. The remaining 37 species without recoveries/controls only account for 378 birds ringed between them (1.1% of the total number of birds ever ringed at Durlston). 17

DISCUSSION OF THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS RINGED COMPARED TO THOSE RECOVERED/CONTROLLED Overall retrap rate has remained constant at around 0.41% compared to 2018-19. As can be seen in Table 7 a recovery or control has been generated in all but five species, House Martin, Meadow Pipit, Blackbird, Wren and Linnet where >200 birds have been ringed. For the remainder of the species with >200 ringed the recovery/control rate varies from as little as 0.07% for Swallow to 0.68% for Dunnock. As expected, in most cases those species with the highest number of individuals ringed generate the highest number of recoveries/controls and the long distance migrants have generated the majority of foreign recoveries/controls. Perhaps the species with the best quality recoveries is Sedge Warbler at 0.58%, but with all recoveries in France! There are 10 species listed that have had between 50 and 200 individuals ringed. Of these three have received zero recoveries. The recovery rate of the remainder varies from 0.54% for Redwing to 5.9% for Reed Warbler. The only trans-Saharan migrants with >50 ringed that have not been recovered elsewhere are House Martin, Lesser Whitethroat and Common Redstart. Of these House Martin lives an aerial existence outside the breeding season and recoveries are very scarce (however we live in hope that a returning bird is controlled or recovered near its nesting site in a subsequent summer) and Lesser Whitethroat migrates eastwards towards the Levant before entering East Africa to winter where recoveries may be less likely. The breeding grounds of Redstarts in the west of the UK are well studied by ringers and future recoveries/controls of this species, at least in the UK are to be expected. Of those species with <50 ringing we have had one recovery of Pied Flycatcher giving a rate of 2.6% and two of Spar- rowhawk giving a very high recovery rate of 8.7%. Of those migrants that don’t cross the Sahara it remains a mystery why Meadow Pipit with 606 birds ringed has yet to generate a recovery. The low number of recoveries/controls for Swallow is also a mystery as in previous years large scale ringing of Swallows at Lytchett Bay generated many recoveries/controls. Two species, Chiffchaff and Blackcap that mainly migrate between northern Europe and the Mediterranean/North Africa for winter have a higher recovery rate (0.53% and 0.40% respectively) than their respective close relatives Wil- low Warbler and Whitethroat (0.24% and 0.24%) that winter in sub-Saharan Africa. This most likely is because the rate of recovery in sub-Saharan Africa is lower than in Europe/North Africa due to the smaller number of ringing operations. It must be pointed out that due to a number of reasons, including security concerns and funding, very few European ringing expeditions to sub-Saharan Africa are currently take place compared to say 20 years ago. These past expeditions have generated many control/recoveries in sub-Saharan countries. A large number of species that are ringed at Durlston fall into the category of ‘partial migrant’, ie part of the population migrates to or from the UK, whilst part is resident or just a short distant migrant. An example of this is Robin, where resident birds are retrapped regularly, whilst in 2015 a migrant was recovered in France. Other species that fall into this category are Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Lesser Redpoll and Goldfinch. It is surprising that there have still been no recoveries, not even local ones, of Blackbird and Chaffinch. RETRAPS The retrap rate, (ie the % of birds that are ringed and subsequently retrapped at Durlston) of these seven sedentary species; Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Dunnock and Bullfinch is 46.6% (884 retrapped out of 1898 ringed) which compared favourably with the retrap rate at sites like Holton Lee and Canford Heath where we ring in the winter months. If these seven species are excluded, the retrap rate for all other birds at Durlston falls to 2.22% (713 retrapped out of 32060) out of clearly demonstrating the highly transient nature of the majority of species using the site.

NOTES ON BIRDS AT DURLSTON THAT WERE CONTROLLED, RECOVERED OR RETRAPPED PLUS OTHER NOTABLE OCCURANCES.

All species that have had individuals retrapped, recovered or controlled in 2020 are included below, as well as some general comments on selected species.

Please note that this discussion focuses on the number of birds handled, the variation in numbers from year to year, movements of birds ringed or recovered at distant localities and the intervals between ringing and recap- ture. However routine ringing procedures record the age, sex, breeding condition, the size (wing length), weight, level of subcutaneous fat and size of pectoral muscles and the state of moult of most birds handled. All of this data is used in the study of our bird populations whether the individual bird is re-encountered or not.

Sparrowhawk – Seen fairly regularly around the site. Three were ringed, one in September and two in November. See cover photograph.

Honey Buzzard – I don’t usually mention sightings of birds in this report as these are covered by the park rangers and Hamish Murray who publish their findings in the Durlston Park Diary or on Trektellen but the sighting of a dark-phase immature Honey Buzzard which circled the ringing station low overhead then flew out to sea on the morning of 21st September deserves a mention. Photo © Sam Levy.

Nightjar - Stour Ringing Group has a long history of ringing Nightjars, indeed the group was formed in 1982 with the express purpose of studying this species. Attempts have been made before to trap birds on migration with mixed results, but not before 2017 at Durlston. In 2017 nine were ringed between 14th Aug (the first attempt) and 22nd Sep. The question was - had we accidently coincided our ringing attempts with the start of Nightjar migration or had the species been present all summer but gone unnoticed? During 2018 we strove to arrive before dawn, even in July, and play Nightjar vocalisations before sun up. No birds were trapped until 25th Aug and a further eight were trapped between then and 6th September. With this in mind in during 2019 we did not try to tape lure before mid-August and managed to ring seven between 22nd August and 14th September.

In 2020 we first tried on 13th August, one was seen but not trapped, four more attempts were made in August with birds being seen on most visits and we trapped three on 27th and one on 31st. In September we attempted to catch on all 14 visits and were successful on 1st, 7th, 11th (2), 13th (2) and 22nd. In addition single birds were seen on 2nd and 6th. The final total of 11 was the highest we have ever seen at Durlston and brings the total ringed to 36 , in addition half a dozen or more were seen but not trapped (assuming that the untrapped birds move on to a new destination each day – evidenced by the fact that we have never had a retrap). All these birds were first-years. This is an indication that these Nightjars are neither local breeders nor flying from other

19 areas to use the site to feed, but rather that the birds trapped are passing through on migration. Other research by Stour Ringing Group, including the use of tags has shown that breeding Nightjars will cover large areas at night during the breeding season (whether to feed or find mates is not known) but these movements have been between areas of heathland rather than downland.

Figure 3 - Nightjars ringed in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Nightjar at Durlston

Green Woodpecker – although seen and/or heard on the majority of visits, this species seldom flies low enough to encounter our nets. We usually catch one or two each year but 2020 was an exception. And we drew a blank.

Great Spotted Woodpecker – we have only ever ringed two of these before, singles in 2011 and 2012 so the capture of two immature males side by side on 4th November in the net adjacent to the feeders was a surprise.

Kestrel – the first Kestrel to be ringed at Durlston, an adult female was trapped on 12th Oct.

There is no doubt that Joe was happy to hold his first Kestrel.

Swallow/House Martin/Sand Martin – 2020 was the third best year for ringing Swallows with 169 ringed, this was well below the record years of 2013 and 2018 when 316 and 384 respectively were ringed but above the ten-year mean of 144. In most years the majority of birds are trapped during one or two highly successful days but in 2020 it was more spread out, with most birds being ringed in smaller numbers over a number of dates during the latter half of September.

Unfortunately we only ringed 17 House Martin and three Sand Martins, below the ten-year mean of 28.7 and 7.7 respectively. There were no retraps of either Swallow or House Martin showing rapid onwards passage.

As in all previous years large numbers of hirundines tended to occur when few ringers were available, when there were plenty of other birds around demanding our attention or when it was too windy to catch them. Hirundines are one species group where it impossible to judge the number of migrants passing through Durl- ston on the basis of numbers ringed. On days of heavy passage all three species tend to ignore sound lures and more success occurs on days when feeding flocks, rather than passage flocks, gather overhead.

It remains a mystery why we have only had a single Swallow recovery despite the grand total of 1440 ringed. During the 80’s and 90’s I regularly ringed Swallow roosts in Poole Harbour and received many controls/recoveries. Is it really likely that the Swallows moving though Durlston originate and return to an area where no

ringers operate, whilst those that move through Poole Harbour originate in areas where there are other ringers? House Martins on the other hand have a very low recovery rate due to the fact that, like Swifts, they roost on the wing during the non-breeding season. Given the paucity of recoveries from the other two hirundine species and the fact that only 51 Sand Martins have ever been ringed at Durlston, the recovery of a Sand Martin in Spain in 2017 seems quite remarkable. For a photo of House Martin see after the flycatcher account.

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0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 4 - Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins ringed 2011-2020

Tree Pipit – 42 were ringed between 13th August and 21st September with the majority in the second half of August. This is above the ten-year mean of 36.6 but well below the 112 ringed in 2017. To emphasise how good a year 2017 was this species I’ve included 2017 in the graph below rather than 2018 when 19 were ringed. Trapping of diurnal migrants is a very hit and miss affair. As with the hirundines some days there will see many passing overhead but no there is attraction to recordings at all, whilst on other seemingly identical days birds are readily drawn to the nets. The year-on-year difference is clearly shown in Figure 3 below as is the narrow window when this species passes through Durlston.

Figure 5 - Tree Pipits ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2017 (green)

Meadow Pipit – The same scenario played out for the later migrating Meadow Pipit with the exception that the peak catch (of 220) occurred in 2016 not 2017. The two birds ringed on 23rd July and 10th August were both juveniles that were presumed to have hatched locally. The total of 60 ringed in 2019 was our third best year for this species and very close to the ten-year mean of 60.6. In the graph below the totals from 2016 rather than 2018 have been included to show the comparison with our best year. During the ten years 2011-20 there have been no cases of this species being retrapped, despite 606 being ringed, showing rapid onward movement.

Figure 6 - Meadow Pipits ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2016 (green)

Grey Wagtail – we found this year that by playing a sound lure Grey Wagtails were easily attracted to the pond but ` in spite of erecting two 12m nets around the pond only one bird was trapped. This is the second Grey Wag- tail to be ringed at Durlston.

The two outer retained juvenile greater coverts on this Grey Wagtail are worn and lack white tips unlike the replaced fresher, white-tipped inner greater coverts, allowing this bird to be confidently aged as a 1st year. Photo © Ed Bennett. 23

Wren – 35 were ringed, our joint-third best total ever and well above the nine-year mean of 30.2. There were six retrap events involving four birds. Three were 1st year birds retrapped in the same year as ringing and one was of a bird ringed on 30th September 2019, retrapped 22 days later and then retrapped on 5th November 2020. We still have had no re-encounters with this species from outside the ringing site.

Dunnock – 31 were ringed, slightly above the ten-year mean of 29.1. There were twelve retrap events involving six birds. One juvenile ringed on 16th July was retrapped three times between then and 1st August, a breeding adult female was ringed on 13th August and retrapped three times between then and end of November and a 1st year ringed on 10th November was retrapped 17 days later. Of more interest were: a breeding male ringed on 12th April 2014 retrapped again five days later then not retrapped until 21st September 2020; a juvenile ringed on 23rd July 2015 retrapped three times in autumn of that year, once in August 2016, once in April 2017 and once in February 2019 before being caught again on 23rd November 2020; and a juvenile ringed on 16th July 2019, retrapped three times in autumn 19 and retrapped again on 4th November 2020.

Robin – 95 were ringed, almost the same as last year and above the ten-year mean of 76.1. Robins are a common breeder but they are also partially migratory. In previous years it has been suggested that our results show a small peak in late August as locally bred birds disperse, followed by a large increase of (possible) local migrants in September and a subsequent peak of presumed longer distance migrants in October. The peak of local dispersers in August and early September is well shown in the chart below but a defined peak in migrant numbers later in the autumn failed to materialise.

16 retrap events involved ten birds. Seven of these were birds ringed as juveniles or 1st years in 2020 and retrapped later in the year. One of these was retrapped twice another six times! More interestingly were the three that were ringed in a previous year, the first was ringed as a juvenile on 15th July 2018 and retrapped on New Year’s Eve 2020, the second as a juvenile on 1st August 2019 and retrapped 11th September 2020 and finally an old favourite Z866329 which was ringed as a juvenile on 6th August 2016, retrapped three times later that year, in October 2017, May (as a breeding male), July and October 2018, February, March and May 2019 and yet again on 22nd November 2020.

Although this species is thought to a be a short-distance migrant as well as being dispersive our only ‘cast- iron proof’ of long distance migration was the Robin ringed on 13th Aug 2014, a presumed locally bred bird that was found dead at Bas-Lion, Calvados, France on 17th Mar 2015.

Figure 7 - Robins ringed per week in 2012 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Common Redstart – another declining species, eleven were ringed this year, five in August and six in September, slightly below well below the ten-year mean of 12.6. In spite of 126 being ringed in total we have not had a recovery or control for this species, indeed there have only ever been two retraps, caught one day and four days after ringing in Aug 2013. We usually catch a number of Redstarts in the spring and the fact that there was no spring ringing this year will have affected the numbers.

Common Redstart 30th August 2020. This bird can be sexed as a female by the lack of any black feathering on the head and lack of grey in the wing coverts. In most cases contrast between the plainer inner moulted greater coverts and the rufous edges unmoulted outer greater coverts a bird to be identified as a 1st year. This is apparent in the open wing but hard to see in the closed wing. Photo © Joe Parker.

Stonechat – the seven ringed this year was by far the highest total yet, the previous highest total was three and the ten-year mean is 1.7. Of these birds one was ringed in July, five in August and one in September. Three were adult males, two 1st year male, one a 1st year female and there was one unsexed juvenile. Given the high number of adult males this cannot be explained away by a single pair breeding close to the ringing site, but it’s impossible to determine if these numbers are due to an increase in the breeding population of the park.

Song Thrush – only twelve were ringed, well below the ten-year mean of 18.4 and well short of the 34 ringed in 2012. As can be seen in Fig 6, most Song Thrushes are ringed mid-October and early November coinciding with the movements of the wholly migratory Redwing, although this peak was far less pronounced in 2020 than in years such as 2018. At this time we trap a number of the greyish-backed nominate race from central and eastern Europe indicating the origin of some of these birds, although our only proof of long distance migration was a bird ringed in Belgium on 2nd Oct 2015 controlled at Durlston a month later. Unlike 2019 when six birds were retrapped there were no retraps of this species in 2020.

Figure 8 - Song Thrush ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Blackbird – 17 ringed, a considerable reduction on the 29 ringed the previous year or the 58 ringed in 2012 and well below the ten-year mean of 28.2. Highest numbers were ringed in 2011 and 2012, it may be the now defunct ‘goat plots’ site was a better location for ringing this species. There were seven retrap events involving five birds. One involved a bird ringed as a one-year old female in early July and retrapped a month later when it had completed the moult into adult plumage. Another involved a female ringed as a breeding female in adult plumage in May 2017 and retrapped on 16th July 2020. The other three involved birds that may have been winter visitors, The first was a 1st year female ringed 25th January 2020 which was retrapped twice in Novem- ber and once in December, the second was ringed in October 2019, was retrapped in November of that year and again on 29th November 2020, both presumably returned to winter at the site and the third was ringed in early November 2020 and retrapped 25 days later. All three of these birds had wing lengths of 130 -131 whilst the others had wing lengths of under 130. Of course this is highly speculative and all may have spent their lives at Durlston and only wandered into the Garden on the given dates.

To establish if there is a large arrival of birds from elsewhere in the autumn we need to look at newly ringed birds. Combining data for all ten years shows that there is a marked influx in October followed by smaller numbers during November and December. The rise in Blackbirds ringed in August is probably due to the ap- pearance of locally hatched juveniles.

19 16 15 16 11 12 6 1

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Figure 9 - Blackbirds ringed per month 2011-2020 26

However it is clear that many more ringing sessions have occurred in September and October than say No- vember and December, but if the accumulated total per month is divided by the accumulated number of ringing sessions for that month then October is seen as just part of autumn/winter influx into the area – see Figure 10.

0.941 0.882 0.857

0.545 0.478 0.455 0.442

0.296 0.266

0.111 0.128

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Figure 10 - Blackbirds ringed on average at each session 2011-2020

The majority of birds ringed have their wing and weight measured. This is because within a species larger birds naturally have longer wings. So the wing/weight ratio can be used as a measure of fitness (higher wing/weight ratio would indicate a bird carrying more reserves) or in some species whether the individual came from a more migratory population where the wing length would be expected to be longer when compared to the birds weight.

AVERAGE WING/WEIGHT RATIO PER MONTH FOR ALL BLACKBIRDS RINGED 2011-2020

1.47 1.45 1.41 1.4 1.38 1.38 1.35 1.35 1.31 1.28 1.25

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Figure 11 - Average Wing/weight ratio per month for all Blackbirds ringed 2011-2020

Looking at Figure 11 we can see that the highest wing/weight ratio occurs not in late autumn but in summer. Thus in conclusion we can say that longer-winged continental birds may occur in late autumn but they can only make up a small proportion of the Blackbirds that we ring. Therefore the majority of Blackbirds ringed in late autumn are likely to be of local or at least British origin.

Redwing – a total of 24 was on improvement on the 12 of last year but way fewer than the 41 in 2017 and 52 in 2016. The ten-year mean is 18.4. Over the years we have noticed that the catch is predominately of adult birds early in the season (late October) with first year birds occurring more in November. However we must urge caution on ageing on the pattern of the tertial tips alone as some first year birds may moult all tertials to give an adult-like pattern. As expected with such a migratory species there were no retraps. There has only been one recovery of a bird shot in southern France.

Figure 12 - Redwing ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Grasshopper Warbler – 54 were ringed, the lowest number since 2016 and well below the 208 in 2017 and 102 in 2016. The ten-year mean is 59.4 but it could be that prior to 2016 we didn’t know how best to trap this species. If only the last five years are considered then the mean rises to 103.2. The low numbers are another result of 2020’s ‘disappointing August’ with most records coming either at the very end of the month or in early September – see Figure 14. As usual there were no retraps showing rapid onward migration and there has only been one control a bird caught a year after ringing in Hampshire. Looking at Figure 13 below you could deduce that Grasshopper Warblers underwent a population explosion in 2016 and 2017 from which they are now returning to ‘normal levels’. However this would be, at least partially, incorrect. From 2016 onwards we have made a determined effort to target this species, arriving pre-dawn, at least 30 minutes earlier than before, and playing a tape on arrival, not after all nets are up. 2016 and 2017 did indeed seem to be peak years, 2018 and 2019 may more closely represent the ‘new normal’ but 2020 failed to deliver.

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102 100 80 72 54 50 27 21 9 10 11 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 13 – Grasshopper Warblers ringed annually 2011-2020 28

Figure 14- Grasshopper Warblers ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (red) and 2017 (green)

The totals for 2017 (instead of 2018) have been included in figure 14 to emphasise this decline.

Sedge Warbler – 36 were ringed, the lowest total since 2015 and only just above the ten-year mean of 34. See Figure 15 below. We have never retrapped this species showing that they pause only briefly in their migration. There have however been two birds ringed at Durlston in August 2016 that were retrapped in France a short period afterwards. See Table 6.

Reed Warbler – as with other species that mainly migrate in August, 2020 was a poor year with a mere eight ringed, well below the 28 of 2019 and the ten-year mean of 13.6. During 2020 we were notified of two of our birds trapped elsewhere, a 1st year ringed on 21st August 2019 was retrapped as a presumed breeding male at Pils- worth, Greater Manchester on 8th July 2020 and a 1st year on 22nd July 2019 was retrapped at Chew Valley Lake on 13th July 2020. Although we have only ever ringed 135 Reed Warblers at Durlston we have controlled or had recovered eight birds giving a retrap rate of 5.93%, the highest rate among the passerines and second only to Sparrowhawk where we have had two recoveries out of 23 ringed (2.63%).

70 65 60 60

50 45 46

40 36

29 28 30 25 21 20 20 18 17 13 13 10 8 8 10 7 7 6

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 15 – Sedge Warblers (blue) and Reed Warblers (orange) ringed annually 2011-2020

Lesser Whitethroat – only eleven were ringed below 19 ringed in 2019 and the ten-year mean of 13.7. One of the more pleasant outcome s of our ringing at Durlston is seeing the life histories of the breeding Lesser and Common Whitethroats that return from Africa each April to breed. We have good evidence of natal philopatry for both these species. Of course due to the pandemic we were unable to ring at all in the spring and we had no retraps either of breeding birds or of the migrants we ringed in the autumn. We are still awaiting our first recovery or controls from this species.

(Common) Whitethroat – the annual total of 140 was surprising given the drop in numbers of other August migrants. This was ten less than in 2019, the third best year ever and above the ten-year mean of 125. There were eight retrap events involving seven birds. As with Lesser Whitethroat the lack of spring ringing hin- dered our results for this species see Figure 15. Four birds were ringed in July/August and retrapped after period of 2-21 days. The two ringed in later August were 1st years and so could have been locally bred or migrants but the two ringed in July were juveniles and so must have been the result of local breeding. Unlike in Lesser Whitethroat we were able to prove natal philopatry for this species. A juvenile ringed on 19th Jul 2019 was retrapped as a breeding female on 30th July 2020, and a juvenile ringed on 19th July 2017 was retrapped on 23rd July 2020 but wasn’t in breeding condition so the evidence is not as strong in this case. In addition a one-year old bird in breeding condition was ringed on 16th July 2019, retrapped 16 days later and retrapped again on 13th July in breeding condition and on 27th August 2020.

250 228

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0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 16 – Whitethroats ringed annually 2011-2020

Figure 17- Whitethroats ringed/week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green) 30

Garden Warbler – After last year’s bumper total of 152 things returned to normal with 70 ringed, just slightly under the ten-year mean of 72.8. There were just two retraps, a first year ringed at the end of July and retrapped the next day and an adult ringed in early August retrapped three days later. Results from the BTO constant effort sites, showed that adult survivability remained high but there was a 16% decline in productivity in 2020.

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0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 18 – Garden Warblers ringed annually 2011-2020

Figure 19- Garden Warblers ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Blackcap – This species is the second most ringed at the site with a ten-year total of 6724. The 2020 total of 925 was the highest ever only seven below the all-time record in 2014 and well above the nine-year average of 672.4. The numbers of (presumed breeding) birds in spring, recently fledged local birds in late July and August and the small numbers from mid -October into November remains fairly constant year-on-year but there is a surprisingly large variation in the numbers and timing during the main migration period of late August to early October. Of course in 2020 there were no Blackcaps ringed in spring. As with 2019 but unlike other years large scale migration started early at the end of August but unlike 2019 the peak passage occurred several weeks earlier in mid-September. Relatively small numbers were ringed in October. This earlier migrations fits in with the idea that the number of breeding Blackcaps in southern England and perhaps elsewhere is increasing rapidly, the preliminary results from the 2020 BTO breeding bird survey shows a 39% increase in

31 adult abundance above a five-year mean (although there was a 13% drop in productivity but this may have been driven by conditions further to the east). See Figure 31 (inserted in the Blue Tit account).

In 2020 the passage in for all of October and November was very light September and then fell away rapidly however in 2019 there was a massive increase in numbers at the end of August, then smaller numbers in September due to the weather and ringer availability and then comparatively smaller numbers in October. The small numbers of migrants that occur in late October and early November may be birds arriving in the UK from the continent to winter. This idea is backed up by a 1st year bird ringed Brecht, Antwerp, Belgium on 22nd Sep 2017 and controlled at Durlston on 2nd Nov 2017.

There were 13 retrap events involving 12 individuals. Eight involved birds that were ringed between late Au- gust and November which were retrapped at intervals of between one and 15 days, showing that whilst rapid ongoing passage is the norm a few birds linger for a while. Two of the remaining four were ringed as juveniles and retrapped as adults: one ringed on 24th July 2019 was retrapped as a male on 16th July, the other on 23rd July 2018 was retrapped as breeding male three times in spring 2019 and again on 31st August 2020, these are probable examples of natal philopatry. One other was ringed as a 1st year male on 24th Au- gust 2019 and was retrapped on 31st August 2020, this may have been hatched locally or a may have been a returning migrant as it had moulted out of juvenile plumage by the time it was ringed. Finally a male ringed on 22nd April 2018, retrapped on 13th April 2019 and again on 31st August 2020 was most likely a local breeding but as it wasn’t ringed as juvenile natal philopatry cannot be proven.

1st year male Blackcap ringed on 1st September near Stalbridge, Dorset was controlled at Durlston on 13th September, a 1st year female ringed on 2nd October 2019 at Durlston was found dead below a window at Trowbridge in Wiltshire on 12th July 2020 have presumably bred nearby and a 1st year male ringed at Durl- ston on 15th October 2019 was retrapped at La Rochelle, Charente Maritime, France on 1st March 2020 presumably on return migration to the UK.

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Figure 20 – Blackcaps ringed annually 2011-2020

Figure 21- Blackcaps ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Willow Warbler – perhaps the most disappointing aspect of 2020 was the low number of migrants, especially Willow Warblers, which we experienced during August. Normally the second or third most ringed species annually, Willow Warbler was this year pushed into 4th place by Goldfinch. 351 was the worst annual total to date and well below the ten-year mean of 548.2. The reasons for these low numbers are not clear although the national BTO breeding bird survey showed an 11% drop in productivity although the adult abundance increased by 14% above the five-year mean. However as ringing totals in August were low in general it’s likely that the weather was the prime factor.

There were only two retraps, 1st year birds ringed on 16th July and 1st Aug were retrapped seven and six days later respectively. Two birds were controlled/recovered. A bird ringed on 26th April 2020 on Lundy Island in Devon, presumably on north bound migration was retrapped at Durlston on 27th August and a 1st year we ringed on 29th August was retrapped at Kingston on the Isle of Wight the following day. See Table 6.

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Figure 22– Willow Warblers ringed annually 2011-2020

Figure 23 - Willow Warblers ringed/week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Chiffchaff – This species remains the most ringed bird at Durlston with a grand total of 7940 up to the end of 2020. Fig 21 shows a small number of birds ringed in the spring and in July and August which can be ascribed to local breeders and their progeny. Small numbers in late October and November may be birds arriving to winter in the area. Although more Chiffchaffs were ringed in 2020 than 2019 or 2018 peak numbers appear lower than in those years. This is because the main migration occurred over a more extended period in 2020. The 925 ringed in 2020 was above the ten-year mean of 793.9 but fell well short of the massive 1468 ringed in 2016. Just seven birds were retrapped. Four involved 1st years that were retrapped between seven and twelve days after ringing in August, September or October however a juvenile ringed on 13th August was retrapped a full 34 days later. There were two examples of natal philopatry, both ringed as juveniles in July 2019 and retrapped in breeding condition in July 2020. As befits our most ringed bird, Chiffchaff has the most controls/recoveries with 33 from the UK and nine from abroad (see Table 6). We have been notified of six recoveries/controls in 2020: a bird ringed on 3rd Oct 2019 was found dead on 7th Apr 2020 at Omskirk, Lancs, one ringed on 6th Sep 2018 was controlled at Herdade dos Forninhos, Portugal on 24th Nov 2018 (but we weren’t notified until 2020), one ringed on 25th September 2018 was controlled at Hayle, Cornwall on 24th April 2020, another ringed on 6th September was controlled at Coleshill, Oxfordshire nine days later (unusual in that it was moving north in autumn), one ringed on 14th September was controlled in Charente-Mar- itime, France twelve days later and a juvenile ringed at Whincham, Cheshire was controlled at Durlston on 1st October.

Figure 24 - Chiffchaffs ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green) 34

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0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 25 – Chiffchaffs ringed annually 2011-2020

Yellow-browed Warbler – one was ringed on 19th October, bringing the ringing total to 15

Goldcrest – one of the last migrant species to appear in autumn, arriving in mid-October and peaking in late Octo- ber/early November. Numbers vary considerably from year to year presumably as a result of breeding success and in recent times these peaks have occurred in alternate years. 2020 was not a good year for both species of crests. 96Goldcrests were ringed, well below the ten-year mean of 166.3.

There were just nine retrap events involving eight individuals, a substantial reduction on last year. All but two of them involved birds that were ringed in autumn 2020 and retrapped later the same season. The interval between ringing and retrapping varied from three to ten weeks indicating that these birds, which included both adults and 1st years, had stopped for an extended period, presumably to winter, rather than passing through on migration. Further evidence of this was provided by the remaining two birds which were both ringed in October 2019 and retrapped in January 2020. Evidence of ongoing migration in this species was shown in previous years by our retrapping birds ringed in Kent, Hampshire, Suffolk and various places in Dorset whilst birds we have ringed have carried on to Sarthe in France and perhaps most remarkably over- night to Land’s End in Cornwall. See Table 6.

500 445 450

400 368 337 350

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150 123 90 96 100 81 54 40 50 29

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 26 - Goldcrests ringed annually 2011-2020 35

Figure 27- Goldcrests per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Firecrest – the annual variation in Firecrest numbers usually matches that of their close relative, Goldcrest which is surprising as they have a more southerly distribution and presumably are affected by different weather conditions when breeding. Table 8 shows a broad agreement with the number of Firecrests and Goldcrests ringed annually with the proviso, of course, that Goldcrests are far more numerous. However in 2020 the figure of 1.3 Firecrests/session almost matched the irruption years of 2015 and 2017. Firecrest numbers are definitely on the increase, possibly as a result of global warming and it will be interesting to see how this is played out in the future.

There were two retrap events involving the same bird. A 1st year male ringed on 22nd October 2019 was retrapped on 14th November 2019 and on 23rd and 25th January 2020. Thus there were no retraps during autumn 2020 which may indicate rapid onward migration. There has only been one control a 1st year female ringed at Hengistbury Head, Christchuch 3rd November 2017 was recaptured at Durlston on 6th November 2019.

45 40 40

35 29 30 26 25 22 20

15 12 10 10 6 6 4 4 5

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 28 - Firecrests ringed annually 2011-2020

Figure 29 - Firecrests ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Number of Number Sessions Average Sessions Average Firecrest birds Goldcrest of birds Oct- Nov /session Oct- Nov /session ringed ringed 2011 12 6 0.5 2011 12 40 3.3 2012 12 12 1 2012 12 90 7.5 2013 14 4 0.3 2013 14 29 2.1 2014 10 4 0.4 2014 10 54 5.4 2015 19 29 1.5 2015 19 445 23.4 2016 20 10 0.5 2016 20 123 6.2 2017 17 25 1.5 2017 17 347 20.4 2018 7 5 0.7 2018 7 60 8.6 2019 16 40 2.5 2019 16 333 20.8 2020 17 22 1.3 2020 17 79 4.7

Table 8 - Firecrests and Goldcrests ringed per session 2011- 2020 during the autumn migration period.

Firecrest – this bird can be sexed as a female by the orange (not ruby-red) crown and aged as a first year by the pointed shape of the tail feathers.

Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Flycatcher – Five Spotted Flycatchers were ringed, more than the ten-year mean of 3.1, and the three in 2018 and four in 2019 but a reduction on the eight ringed in 2017. Seven Pied Flycatchers were ringed, the best annual total since the 13 in 2012 and above the ten-year mean of 3.8. Both these species have declined markedly in recent years. There were no retraps of either species. We have had two recoveries/controls of Pied Flycatcher but none of Spotted Flycatcher - see Table 6.

House Martin (L) aged as 1st year due to the brown colouration & (hidden here by the ringer’s hand) the white tips to the tertials. Photo © Ed Bennett

Long-tailed Tit – with the exception of 2012 and 2013 numbers of Long-tailed Tits ringed annually at Durlston remain fairly constant. 31 were ringed in 2020 above the ten-year mean of 28.1, (however if the poor years of 2012 and 2013 are excluded the eight-year mean then rises to 32.4). Post breeding Long-tailed Tits travel in tight- knit flocks which can cover a wide area. Thus it is possible to ring a number of birds together on one date and catch the same flock again months later, alternatively flocks may split up, or just one or two members of the flock may get retrapped; thus it is difficult draw any firm conclusions about their movements. Trapped individuals are always released together to maximise their chances of reforming a flock. There were 21 retrap events involving 15 birds. These included eight birds ringed in autumn 2020 and subsequently retrapped later in the year. A flock of twelve birds, including two that had been ringed a few days earlier were trapped on 13th August, five of this flock was subsequently retrapped on 5th October. The other seven birds ringed in a previous year are summarised below where each cross represent a capture event. These birds clearly range over a wide area or they would be retrapped more often. For such a small bird it is interesting that such a high percentage survive over several years.

Ring Number 2017 2018 2019 2020 KAJ859 x xx xx x KJB501 x x xx x KTA500 xx xx x KTA493 x x KTA705 x xxxx KTA814 x x LCP627 xx xx

Table 9 - Retrap events in 2020 involving Long-tailed Tits ringed in previous years.

Great Tit – 42 were ringed fewer than 2019 but above the ten-year mean of 36.2. There has been a reduction in numbers compared to recent years but it was less marked than in Blue Tit. There were 35 retrap events involving 28 birds. 21 (seven adults and 14 juveniles/1st years) of these were birds ringed and retrapped in 2020, the remainder have the years of ringing and retrapping shown below. Each cross represents an individual capture.

Ring number 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 TT45205 xx x x TT45063 x x TX40928 x x x TX40970 x x x TX40988 x x TX40992 x x TW10163 x x

Table 10 - Retrap events in 2020 involving Great Tits ringed prior to that year.

This sort of retrap data may not be of interest to everyone but it helps provide a nationwide picture of the longevity/population structure of the species and how many of each age class remain to breed in subsequent years and so produces data that is vital to bird conservation. As well as showing that Tits can be quite long- lived birds, these retraps show that many resident birds can remain in the park and its environs for years without reappearing in our nets, whilst others are attracted to feeders and a retrapped on a more regular basis.

Coal Tit – Surprisingly no Coal Tits were ringed in 2020. One to seven birds have been ringed in all years except 2012 and 2020.

Blue Tit – although still a common and widespread species numbers ringed at Durlston declined from peak of 109 in 2011, see figure 30 for Durlston and Figure 31 for national data from the BTO obtained from constant effort ringing sites. The large drop in numbers seen between 2012 and 2017 may be due to a number of factors eg ringing at the ‘goat plots’ where no feeders had ever been erected or failure to regularly top up the feeders in front of the hide in the Garden. The placement of feeders between ‘hide’ and ‘fence’ nets in 2020 seems to have had little effect on numbers.

120 109

100

80 64

60 52 54 48

40 35 24 26 17 20 13

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 30 - Blue Tits ringed annually 2011-2020

Figure 31 - Indices of a) Blackcap national abundance and b) Blue Tit national productivity from 1983 to 2020 calculated using CES data. Taken from the BTO CES report.

Inevitably for a sedentary bird that is attracted to the feeders in the Garden there were a lot of retraps, 44 retrap events involved 37 birds in 2020. 15 were juveniles/1st years ringed mainly in the summer and retrapped later in 2020. The remaining 22 were all ringed in a previous year, mainly as juveniles/1st years. The years that these birds were ringed and retrapped at Durlston are shown in Table 9 where each cross represents a trapping event. The only exception is AEA2881 which was ringed as a 1st year at SRG’s ringing site on Ballard Down on 29th October 2017 which was active in 2017 and 2018. This is the only recovery/control, a movement of just 4km that we have for this species.

Ring Number 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Z806089 xx xxx Z809006 xx x xxxx xxxx x AEA1069 x x S392666 x xx x S392770 xx x x x S394443 x x S394831 xx x x S394879 xxx x x x AEA1472 x x AEA1756 x xx xxx AEA2881 x x x ABE7083 x x ABE7111 x x ABE7112 x xxx ABE7248 x x ABE7283 xxxx x ABE7309 xx x AHJ1173 x x AHJ1256 x x AHJ1387 x x AJF4169 x xx AJF4542 x xx

Table 11 number of retrap events in 2020 involving Blue Tits ringed in previous years.

Treecreeper – just two were ringed in 2020 bringing the grand total to ten. The bird ringed on 23rd July was retrapped eight days later.

Carrion Crow – An adult ringed on 12th May 2012 (as age code 6, so approaching a minimum of two years of age) which had been seen around the Learning Centre and had its ring number read in the field to confirm its identity annually until 2019, was not seen in 2020 and so is presumed to have died.

House Sparrow – this species now seems to be breeding under the solar panels on the Learning Centre and so has become much commoner within the Garden, see Figure 32. Five were ringed as unsexed juveniles, two as adult males and four as adult females. Due to the fact that adult and juvenile House Sparrows undergo a complete moult after breeding it was impossible to age the remaining thirteen but with these males out- numbered females eight to five. There were four retraps, two adults and two juveniles all retrapped within a few days of ringing.

25 24

15 11 10 10 7

5 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 32 - House Sparrows ringed annually 2011-2020

Chaffinch – 20 were ringed, above the eight year mean of 16.1 and the second best year ever. There were no retraps this year.

30 27

20 19 19 19 20 18

15 15

9 10 8 7

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 33 - Chaffinches ringed annually 2011-2020

It has been claimed recently that Chaffinches are suffering from the Trichomonas infection that has deci- mated Greenfinch populations. However we have not seen any evidence of this at Durlston. This species is also prone to contracting knemidocoptiasis, the mite infection that causes scaly growths on the feet. Both diseases are transmitted by bird feeding stations but at Durlston only upright peanut feeders are used with are less popular with Chaffinches than bird tables.

Greenfinch – After the appalling lack of Greenfinches in 2018 it was good to see something of a recovery in 2019 and 2020, although whether we will see numbers like we saw in 2011 and 2013 again is a matter of debate. As mentioned above this species has suffered badly from a Trichomonas infection in recent years, although in recent autumns we managed to ring substantial numbers at a feeding station on Canford Heath showing that

the end of this epidemic may be in sight. There were no retraps of this species in 2020 but a juvenile ringed on 10th August was found dead locally on Lighthouse Rd 27 days later.

50 50

30 30

20 18 15 14 14 12 10 5 5 0 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 34 - Greenfinches ringed annually at Durlston 2011-2020

Bullfinch – 24 were ringed, our best ever total and above the ten-year mean of 21.5There were nine retrap events involving eight individuals. Five of these were ringed and retrapped in 2020 the other three were ringed in 2019.

45 42 40

35 33

30 24 24 25 19 20 20 16 15 15 12 10 10

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 35 - Bullfinches ringed annually at Durlston 2011-2020

Figure 36 - number of Bullfinches ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Linnet –32 were ringed, the second best year but considerably less than the 100 ringed in 2019. The ten-year mean is 20.4. Many attempts have been made in previous years with a considerable lack of success, however we consider that by providing a feeder and the greater use of tape lures in future could result in this sort of number being ringed in most years. See Fig 16. No birds were retrapped.

120

100 100

40 30 32

20 10 12 7 9 3 1 0 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 37 - Number of Linnets ringed annually at Durlston 2011-2020

Figure 38 - number of Linnets ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Goldfinch – the November and the normal ‘autumn program’ was extended to take advantage of it.

There was only one retrap, a juvenile ringed on 3rd August and retrapped four days later, this shows how rapidly the autumn migrants pass through Durlston in that none of the 300+ birds ringed during October and November were caught again. A Goldfinch ringed at Durlston on 26th October 2017 had the ring read in the field on 1st March 2020 at Casteljaloux, Lot-et-Garronne, France, another ringed at South Perrot Dorset on 28th September was controlled at Durlston 16 days later and a bird ringed in Conway Wales on 13th Novem- ber was controlled at Durlston 14 days later whilst a juvenile ringed on 8th September remained local, as would be expected from that age group, and was found dead at Durlston Castle after an interval of 23 days, whether it died from hitting a window, predation or disease is not known. In addition over the period 2011- 2020 movements to and from Durlston has involved birds coming from or going to – Wool, Lytchett Matrav- ers, Martinstown and Weymouth (all in Dorset), Wiltshire and another in France. – see Table 5.

400 362 350 326

300 289

250

200 169 147 150 139 99 100 63 40 50 36

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Figure 39 - Goldfinches ringed annually at Durlston 2011-2020

Figure 40 - number of Goldfinches ringed per week in 2020 (blue) compared to 2019 (orange) and 2018 (green)

Lesser Redpoll – twelve were ringed in 2020. This species has only been ringed in six of the past ten years giving a grand total of 60, in spite of being recorded overhead quite regularly in the late autumn. We have never retrapped one of our birds, however surprisingly there have been two recoveries/controls; one of our birds to Ferndown, Dorset and a bird from Gloucestershire - giving a recovery rate of 3.33%, our third highest percentage after Reed Warbler and Sparrowhawk.

Siskin – a male caught on 4th September was surprisingly the first to be ringed at Durlston.

Acknowledgements

Ringing is only possible due to the permission of the Dorset Countryside Service. The Managers and Rangers at Durlston have been helpful and supportive. Stour Ringing Group is very grateful to all of the above for enabling and supporting bird ringing at Durlston Country Park.

The following ringers contributed to this year’s programme: Agi Svego, Ed Bennett, Fenja Squirrell, Ginny Carvisiglia, Ian Alexander, Ian Lewis, Joe Parker, John Dowling, Mick Cook, Mike Gould, Morgan Taylor-Habgood, Sam Levy, Seb Haggett, Sean Walls and Shaun Robson.

IML 11/03/21

Joe Parker ringing and Ian Lewis ‘scribing’ in the Garden at Durlston. Strings of different sized rings, a ruler for wing measurements, ringing pliers, pots for weighing birds of different sizes, reference books and data recording sheets plus the all-important flask of coffee can be seen. Photo ©Sean Walls