gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

The early part of September has been dominated by bird ringing. When I’ve not been out in the field I’ve been catching up on the considerable amount of paperwork that this activity generates.

However there has been time to catch up with two old friends. Two years ago I reported on this blog that Guy Dutson, someone I have known since the early 80s had returned from Australia with his wife and newborn daughter Lila to meet up with his relatives (see https://atomic-temporary-24398266.wpcomstaging.com/2013/07/28/26th-27th-july-old-friends-are-like-buses/ ). Well, two years later Lila has grown somewhat, our get together was, due his crowded itinerary, typically brief but it was really great to see them again. We must make plans to visit all our friends in Australia but as always, there is so much to fit in.

Guy with two-year old Lila.

Margaret and Lila with Lila’s grandmother, Bronwyn.

Another get together with an old friend occurred last week when a bunch of us got together with Ewan Brodie to celebrate his 60th birthday. I have been friends with Ewan since the late 70s and we have been on at least five foreign trips and countless twitches together. Changing shift patterns and other commitments has meant that we haven’t seen each other for a few months, so it was good to catch up.

In 2009 Ewan (seen here on the right) and my friend Tim from work went on a week-long birding and sightseeing trip to northern France. The trip was beset with difficulties from having my car broken into and gear stolen to not being notified that the hotel had changed ownership causing us hours of unnecessary searching. That said, we had a good time seeing tens of thousands of Common Cranes and many other birds, visiting Fontainbleu and Paris, seeing the Bayeux Tapestry and getting together with my University mate John and his family. Maybe one day I’ll post the photos on the blog.

As anyone who reads this blog will know, my nickname is Gryllo, (if you don’t know why then read the very first blog entry in June 2011). I was surprised and pleased when fellow birder Graham Armstrong kindly presented me with a bottle of Grillo wine (not spelt quite the same, I’ll admit – grillo being Italian for grasshopper, obviously from the same root as the scientific name for mole cricket). My verdict, a lovely gesture from Graham but a mediocre wine.

Now back to the main subject of this post, our continuing bird ringing program. In September I only made two visits to Lytchett Bay, one to try to catch Swallows and another for general ringing. The most numerous reed bed species, Sedge and Reed Warblers have largely left the UK by this time, although a few will persist into October. We will continue there however, as other species such as Reed Bunting and Pied Wagtail become commoner as the autumn progresses.

This first year Whinchat was ringed at Lytchett Bay on 4th September

The characteristic white bases to the outer tail feathers can be seen well in this photo.

Our program of ringing at Durlston continues, however with most of the group at work mid-week most of the sessions have been understaffed and it has fallen to me to keep it going. Details of migration counts and numbers of birds ringed at selected sites across Europe can be seen at  http://www.trektellen.org/ We now upload our ringing totals to the site, whilst local birder Hamish Murray uploads his ‘vis mig’ counts. For example, details of a very busy morning for me on the 17th  can be seen at http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1589/20150917 . The totals page can be accessed by clicking on ‘totals 2015’ in the top right and by clicking on each of the dates above the word ‘Durlston RS’ will give our totals for the nine visits I have made in September.

Here are a few photos taken at Durlston this month.

The brown fringes to the coverts indicates that this Common Redstart is a first year bird. The black chin and white band on the head shows that it is a male.

We have been able to ring small numbers of all three hirundines, including a few Sand Martins.

The white edging to the flight feathers, especially the tertials and the scalloped rump and uppertail coverts show that this is a first year bird.

Ringing is all about researching the movements and population dynamics of our regular species and probably the most significant events of the last few days were the trapping of two ‘controls’, a Reed Warbler and a Blackcap ringed elsewhere in the UK, and the notification that a Swallow we ringed at Durlston was retrapped recently in Hampshire. But there is no doubt which event was the most enjoyable, ringing this Wryneck, the first I have seen in the hand in the UK was the highlight of my Durlston ringing this year.

Well that is all for both blogging and ringing for several weeks. In a few hours I leave for South America, my 16th visit, this time to Paraguay. I hope to upload some interesting photos on my return.