A summer of Transylvanian bird ringing surveys

This summer I was fortunate enough to be part of Operation Wallacea's survey team on their annual expedition to the Transylvania region of Romania. For the last four years, the organisation has spent eight weeks each summer in this amazing corner of Europe, where they have been surveying all manner of flora and fauna around a number of rural villages.

Opwall's expeditions across the world (it operates in 14 countries) are fuelled by participating students and researchers. Groups of students from A levels through to Under-graduate and Post-grad levels join on the expedition for differing time periods. Those joining from A level and Undergraduate levels are able to take part in the plethora of different biodiversity surveys being carried out, so as to learn the different techniques used, intricacies of identification and generally the scientific methods used in studying the wildlife of the region. Post-grad and Master students also take part by pursuing their own specific projects - this in turn helps contribute to Operation Wallacea's global publication of a number of papers in peer-reviewed journals across the World.

You can find out more about Opwall and their work here: http://opwall.com/

the view of Daia's impressive spire from the meadows nearby

The primary goal of Opwall's expedition to Romania is to conduct standardised long-term monitoring of the wildlife in each of the villages visited - this will hopefully provide data to illustrate how important it is that traditional farming practices continue; will keep a pulse on any changes in the biodiversity of these areas over the years; and also will add a wealth of information and data to the distribution of important threatened species in the area.

Data and information collected by the surveys is shared with an in-country organisation called Fundatia ADEPT are doing some fantastic work to conserve the biodiversity of this incredibly rich landscape - helping to introduce subsidies and incentives for farmers to essentially not wreck the landscape like we've done here in the UK!

Take a look at Fundatia Adept's website to find out more about the area and their work: http://fundatia-adept.org/

Betony (Stachys officinalis) amongst the grassland at sunrise in Richis (the first village we visited)

I will go into a bit more detail about the awesome landscape and habitats of the Târnava Mare region in another blog post, but here are a few facts to give you a broad picture:
- the Târnava Mare region of Transylvania is essentially 85, 000 hactares of rich flower meadows and woodland
- it is home to around 5,000 families, who are spread out into 30-odd idyllic Saxon villages
- the low-intensity agriculture has fostered an abundant floral community which receives recognition at national and international levels
- It is hailed as harbouring the most extensive area of flower-rich grasslands remaining in lowland Europe
- the area has remained largely unchanged since the arrival of the Saxon communities in the 12th and 13th centuries
- however, a mass exodus of much of the Saxon community in the early 1990s has left the area threatened by intensification, land abandonment and changes to land-use
- 1100 plant species can be found here, which is roughly 30% of the Romanian flora; 87 of these are protected species
- the area is a patchwork mosaic of habitats: roughly 50% hay meadows, 25% pastureland, 10% arable land and between 20-40% forest

The village of Malancrav, nestled in the bottom of a valley bordered by woodland on one side, and a mix of orchards and meadows on the other

So what was my role in the expedition's survey team? 

I was acting as the bird ringing surveyor, the details of which I will expand upon a little later on in the post. Essentially, the ringing surveys have been an on-going part of the survey effort since mid-Wales ringer Paul Leafe helped set them up three years ago. As the team moves from village to village, the ringing survey involves setting up mist nets at a site nearby, which is run for six days to get a taste of the birds present. I was taking over from Paul for this year's trip...

yours truly with a handsome beast: a juvenile Hawfinch

A personal highlight: Bee-eater! 

Where were we based for the seven weeks? I have highlighted the superb Transylvania region of Romania in the map below, and included markers for the six different villages that we visited. These were Richis, Nou Sasesc, Mesendorf, Viscri, Malancrav and Apold. You can check out the locations below...

Each village had its own unique character - and yet they all shared similarities: the pretty saxon-style outlay, the brick-red roofs, colourful line-up of houses along a 'main street', each house having a barn for its personal milking cow and horses for carting around goods. Each village did, however, vary subtly in the surrounding habitats, topography, management and diversity of species. 

The basic rhythm of the expedition ran on a weekly basis beginning on Wednesday: move day. Since all 50-70 of us were staying in tents throughout most of the trip, we would pack up every single one each Wednesday morning, load all our kit and belongings onto a truck and trailer, and then move on to the next village. On arrival, we would repeat the process in reverse, setting up all the tents and kit ready for another week of surveys. 

Since the expedition has been running for several years now, all the sites for monitoring the various different animals and plants are all set out on GPS, with marked points and transects in each village allowing repeatability for the surveys. Ringing sites were slightly less 'fixed', as the habitat can change on a year-to-year basis (e.g. a previously brilliant scrub site might have been razed to the ground...)

camp for the first week, in the village of Richis

a rather romantic setting: the village's herd of communal cattle are herded out for a day's grazing in the surrounding pastures

~

Anyway, enough waffle. You can just skip to all the pretty pictures of the birds I trapped and ringed during the surveys, but I will also try to describe something of the process involved on a day-to-day basis... 

My basic daily routine:

4.00am - alarm goes off...

I would drag another unfortunate sole (usually an accompanying lecturer and biologist from the states called Jonny Wilson) with me to the ringing site, which was often sited some 30 minutes out of the village. Once on site, we would set about erecting five or six mist nets in strategic positions within the scrub, ready for the morning's activities

5.40am - having set off at a more respectable time of half five from camp, my group of students for the morning would arrive with a Romanian translator ready for the first net round. I would set up a rudimentary 'camp' with the use of a plastic sheet where we'd base ourselves for the morning. Heavy dew most nights (or thunderous rain storms) often rendered the grass and meadows drenched with dampness

6.00am-10.30am - Students would accompany me to check the mist nets regularly throughout the morning, and I would explain the whole process of bird ringing: why we do it, how it should be carried out safely, and what techniques are best to use to age, sex, and take measurements on the birds. Releasing the birds was often a favourite part with most students, as I would show them how to correctly hold a bird for release - and it is always great to see the reaction of the students when they release their first bird!

10.40am - after the last net round, by which time bird activity would have died down due to the mounting heat, I would take down all the nets with the help of the students. We would store the poles and string in a well-hidden spot beside our ringing site to save on lugging the equipment to and from the site every morning.

11.30am - we would typically arrive back at camp sometime before midday, depending on how busy a session it had been, and also on the distance to the ringing site. After stowing away the kit and perhaps treating myself to a shower, I'd usually find out how the other morning surveys had gone: small mammal trapping, surveys for bats and bird point counts were all carried out from dawn to late morning, so it was exciting to hear about any interesting sightings.

1.00pm - lunchtime was always a welcome point during the day, with local hosts being employed in each village to cook the expedition's food requirements (rather extensive when you have over 50 hungry biologists!)

2.00-6.00pm - my afternoons would vary on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes I would go through the previous night's moth trap with students, although we usually only set the Robinson trap out two or three times a week due to the sheer volume of lepidoptera attracted to a bright light in area with such little light pollution.

Aside moth trapping, I'd often carry out some afternoon ringing to target specific species or flocks, such as Tree Sparrows dust-bathing on a track, or a Swallow roost in a nearby reed bed. 

Or I might collapse and spend the heat of the day cocooned in a comfy hammock...

7.00pm - dinnertime: a great time to catch up with how the day's surveys had gone, and catch up with the team and students alike, answer questions or just plan for the next day's survey.

8.00-22.00 - there would usually be evening surveys taking place that I would sometimes join onto, such as bat roost surveys, carrying out transects to monitor the corncrake populations, or setting small mammal traps for the night.

A summary of the typical ringing procedure in pictures...

The students were shown the whole process behind the ringing of birds, from capture to release...

Mist net set and ready to catch. This site was in an orchard in the fourth village, Malancrav

A Maltese group of A-level students being shown the ways to safely extract birds from a mist net; often one of the trickier parts of the ringing process

Our usual 'ringing station' was a tarpaulin laid out on the grass, with a nearby tree used to support the bags of birds awaiting ringing. 

Ringing an adult female Red-backed Shrike

a surprise one morning was coming across a net full of a flock of Hawfinches, most of which were bright juveniles (on the left in this image), with a couple of adult female birds (on the right), and one adult male

one of the great things of ringing with the students and showing them the process was allowing them to release some of the birds. Seeing their reaction when releasing a bird for the first is always pretty special! A compilation of videos of these releases...

The Results
All-in-all I managed to ring just over 1000 birds in the seven weeks, which included some cracking species. The most numerous species were Tree Sparrows (just under 180 ringed), followed closely by the finger-snipping Red-backed Shrikes (139) and Common Whitethroat (127). I have included a selection of the tallies in a table below, although this isn't the complete list.

In addition to new birds, it was brilliant to retrap birds in each village which had been ringed in either of the previous years. Particular highlights included a Lesser Whitethroat which I retrapped on the exact date it had been trapped on the previous year, having initially been ringed in 2014; a female Great Reed Warbler with a brood patch which had been ringed in 2015 as an adult; several Tree Sparrows which had been ringed in either 2014 or 2015.

a selection of species from the ringing totals

Here is a visual representative of some of the above!

Points for guessing them all correct!

Some more images from the ringing activities

Juvenile Red-backed Shrike - no less feisty than their elder counterparts...

Although the bills of adult Red-backed Shrikes (such as this male) tend to be far sharper and much more painfully targeted at the nail bed. James O'neill, a fellow Next Generation Birder, was initially acting as the butterfly survey leader on the expedition

a fresh juvenile Marsh Warbler on the left compared to a more worn-looking adult bird on the right

Golden Oriole! a superb bird to catch, and one whose melodious warbling tune would be resounding around many of the villages towards the beginning of the summer 

Hawfinches: juvenile (left) and adult female (right)

River Warbler (apologies to the birders out there for not picturing the undertail coverts...you'll have to use your imaginations)

Jay

So overall it was a superb experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed carrying out the surveys and showing the students all that is involved with the ringing process

And it wasn't just about the birds! I'll be following up on this post with further blogs on the insects and other wildlife we saw whilst out there...

Mullein standing tall amongst the wild carrot above the village of Malancrav

overhanging Beech trees at Richis

The fortified citadel of Apold's church

Marbled White (watch this space for my next post...on the inverts from the trip)

Tree Sparrow release

Some of the four-week students, survey team, translators and hosts at the village of Malancrav

Cetacean Bonanza - weekend wildlife cruise

Last Sunday I spent most of the day crewing aboard an AK Wildlife Cruise out from Falmouth - the conditions couldn't have been much better, with barely a breath of wind, clear blue skies out to sea and warm sunshine. We had a brilliant trip, with cetaceans popping up all over the bay as we headed due south before tracking east towards the Dodman and then back again via St Mawes.

Check out AK Wildlife Cruises website and Facebook page for updates and info on the trips...
- www.akwildlifecruises.co.uk
- https://www.facebook.com/AkWildlifeCruises/

We had hardly left Falmouth Bay before the first Harbour Porpoise broke the surface, their rounded back and small triangular dorsal fins glistening in the morning sun. This was followed by over an hour of continual sightings of these shy little cetaceans: we recorded over 70 all-in-all, which is a brilliant testament to the importance of the coast around here for this threatened species which is listed under the EU Habitats and Species directive.

As we powered on out to sea, continual scanning of the horizon payed merit when a scatter of Gannet feeding flocks drew our attention: little black and white specks above the horizon, occasionally plunging vertically in a sure giveaway that there must be fish in the area. Half way to the flock and Keith picked up our first dolphins of the day: a sizeable pod of Common Dolphins skimming out of the water and slicing the surface with their larger, curved dorsal fins. Similarly to our Porpoise encounter, we were then surrounded almost continually by Common Dolphins for the next hour, amounting to at least 120 animals in total!

Common Dolphins are far more sociable than their pygmy relatives, and take little time in coming to check out the boat and make use of the bow wave: it was pretty cool to stand on the bow with 10-15 dolphins weaving to and fro just metres away, their social clicks and whistles audible through the water! Ross Wheeler, who was also crewing, got some pretty fantastic GoPro images and footage by dangling off the bow as we had this encounter with the delightful Delphinus. Check out some of his images here

I forgot to mention that, whilst the Common Dolphins invariably steal the lime light during these encounters, the whole atmosphere of these encounters is made electric with the work-ups of Gannets croaking overhead and plunging into the water like arrows. A smattering of Herring Gulls often join in the commotion, and it was great to see at least three Balearic Shearwaters lounging around, with flocks of Razorbills and Guillemots heralding the start of their arrival for the winter to feed in the waters here.

Balearic Shearwater

After midday, coinciding with slack water, the Common Dolphin activity dropped off a little. It was interesting to come across another pod without a single Gannet in sight, and these animals were also acting totally different - not paying any attention to the boat, and generally keeping a low profile. An hour or so passed as we headed east, before Keith and Ross sighted a BIG feeding flock of Gannets further inshore, not far off the Dodman. There were hundreds of them, but we were a good few miles off. On went the throttle, and we gradually made progress towards the frenzy.

As we arrived in the feeding area, it became apparent that there oddly no cetaceans: not a single dorsal fin breaking the surface! But then every now and then a large splash and spray of water would erupt from beneath the Gannets. Having previous experience of the signs of the species, Keith immediately voiced the probability that there were BLUEFIN TUNA in the area! Although remaining beneath the surface for most of their feeding, they will break the surface in a dolphin-like manner occasionally, and are actually about the size of Porpoise! We spent a good half hour with the Gannet flock, with these mysterious explosions of spray and water appearing at random intervals. Eventually a couple of the Tuna did reveal themselves: popping up above the surface with enough regularity to nail a couple of record shots, before swimming past close enough to see their sickle-shaped rear dorsal fins. What awesome beasts! 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna!

The show wasn't over quite yet though...as we returned to Falmouth via St Mawes, a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins suddenly appeared in the entrance to this coastal town. There were around 12 individuals within the pod, including at least three playful little calves, with pale heads and spritely nature. Although brilliant to watch, it was a real shame when several other boats and motorised vessels noticed the pod, and with great ignorance proceeded to pursue and generally harass the pod repeatedly before the dolphins ended up scarpering off towards the Carrick roads. The behaviour of some boat operators is a real shame.

Bottlenose Dolphins, including a couple of calves

And finally, a selection of Gannet images...

Watching the Bottlenose Dolphins near St Mawes

Whiskered Tern on patch! Confession of a mis-ID...

As some readers may be aware, I had the fortune of finding this smart little beauty on my local patch of Argal Reservoir after returning to Falmouth a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I managed to stuff up the immediate identification of the bird in the field, so thought I would write a post detailing the find and also the developing attention that it stimulated...

juvenile Whiskered Tern

My local stomping grounds whilst I am in Falmouth are the two nearby lakes of Argal and College - both sizeable bodies of water with a great mix of scrub, woodland, muddy edge and marsh surrounding the perimeter. I have been taking part in this year's Patchwork challenge here, but have been away all summer so my totals are pretty stunted! You can check out a full write-up of my patch here: My Patch write-up

So onto the find: we all make mistakes, and as the superb pioneer of Birding identifications Martin Garner always enjoyed reminding people, we shouldn't shy away from being wrong, and learn much from our errors! 

After a twelve hour train journey from Pwllheli to Falmouth the previous day, I had spent most of the 13th sorting out my accommodation, getting some supplies and generally settling in. The weather was overcast, with thunderous storms overnight and drizzly rain for most of the day. In the evening I decided to cycle down to Argal and take a look at patch...

On arrival, the first bird I saw was a small tern that was ranging around the edge of the reservoir with flicky, buoyant flight. My immediate thought in the excitement of the moment (which I later pinched myself for...) was something like: 'I wonder if it's a Whiskered Tern!?'

I then spent half an hour observing the bird as it flew around in the dying light, trying to suss out the ID. With a dark, mottled mantle, prominent black cap and what looked like fairly dusky upper wings (in the evening light) pointed towards a 'marsh' tern at any rate, and what looked like a rather large black shoulder splodge convinced me that it was a juvenile Black Tern - a good patch tick nonetheless.

It grew dark, and I returned home and took a look at the images on my laptop - they were pretty shoddy, grainy and very dark, and in most shots the shoulder marking seemed too big for anything other than a Black. White-winged would be very pale on the upperwings and have bright sides to the head/cheek. I published a couple of shots up on twitter after concluding on Childonias nigra

Over the next couple of hours, a couple of birders commented on my image and suggestions started circulating of Whiskered Tern - then I took another look at the bird, and after sending further images to some friends, realised I'd made a schoolboy error: it was a damn Whiskered Tern after all!!!

So what made it one? Well, after returning at 0630 the following morning and getting some superb views of the bird in good light conditions, it was so much more obvious: browny marbling marking on the scapulars, mantle and back, contrasting to very pale, silvery wings; very small shoulder mark, with a round head and distinctive black cap with very little white on the forehead; the head shape and bill structure was much very distinctive, and even the flight pattern was subtly different to that of a Black. So I have to say I was pretty annoyed at screwing up the ID! But there we are...

Over the following week, the bird remained faithful to the two lakes, fishing in frequent circuits around Argal, before heading down to College reservoir for a time and resting up on the floating oxygenation devices. I was really happy to see groups of birders enjoying the bird on a daily basis, and the smart little tern performed brilliantly from the 13th until the 17th. A very nice addition to my patch list, and a good learning curve for marsh tern ID - an area that I have very little experience with living on Bardsey!

College Reservoir is looking brilliant for wildfowl at the moment, with the habitats generally far more rich than this time last year due to lower water levels. I look forward to seeing what arrives and what I can find here in the coming months.

Back in Falmouth!

It's been a busy old week, but I'm safely back in Cornwall! It's great to be back in Falmouth, where I'll be venturing into my second year of a degree in Conservation Biology with the University of Exeter.

I  arrived in Falmouth somewhat dazed after the typical 12-hour train journey from North Wales, which is nevertheless a very scenic ride for the first five hours! I spent the following days settling down and running various trips and events with 'ecosoc' (the ecological society on campus) for freshers week: birding trips around the county, moth trapping, bird ringing etc. It has been great to see all the new and enthusiastic students arriving for their various degrees, and also to get out an about around this stunning area of the country!

Maenporth at sunrise, which is around 15 minutes away from where I'm currently staying. A home from home!

At the end of my first day, I decided to pay my local patch a visit - namely that of Argal and College Reservoirs just a few minutes from my caravan. It was getting a little dark at 7pm, but as soon as I arrived at the reservoir I saw this lively chap fluttering around and plunge-diving for fish. I will be writing a full blog post about the find, but I basically screwed up (thinking it was a juv black tern) before being corrected that it was in fact a WHISKERED TERN! Thankfully it was present the next day, and showed brilliantly up until the 15th (no sign for the last few days).
More to come of this beauty...

Whiskered Tern

The water level in College and Argal Reservoir is incredibly low, which means that a lot of vegetation has sprung up around the perimeter and a muddy bank has been exposed. I have to say that the habitat is looking better than ever for waders and ducks, so I look forward to seeing what it will produce this autumn and winter.

I have paid a visit to a variety of sites with a couple of birding & photography friends this week. One particularly enjoyable afternoon was spent looking for a lovely variety of different insects at the nearby Bisso Valley with photographer Max Thompson and birder Liam Langley. We saw some great species...

female Common Hawker ovipositing

Emerald Damselfly

A rather small Common Toad

Sun Fly (Helophilus pendulus)

Froghopper sp. - not sure what species?

Bissoe has some perfect grounds to play host to some huge gatherings of Ivy Mining Bees (Colletes hederae). They construct their nests in tunnels in the sandy ground, and can number in the tens of thousands in some places in the UK!

Small Copper

As mentioned before, I have been taking a couple of groups out on birding trips for freshers events, visiting sites like Hayle Estuary and the Lizard Peninsula. Hayle produced an unexpectedly high number of wildfowl and waders considering the time of year, with a rising tide forcing them close to the causeway and thus giving us some great views...hundreds of Teals, Wigeons, plenty of Curlews, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Grey and Golden Plovers, Ruff, Greenshanks, Little Egrets, Common Sandpipers and much more were recorded... 

Yesterday (17th), I paid a visit to Land's End with birders and Phd students George Swan and Liam Langley to cash in on some of the eastern jewels that have been turning up all across the country. We began by scrutinising the hedgerows and heath around Land's End, before heading to Porthgwarra to catch up with a smart juvenile Red-backed Shrike. The bushes and heathland around Land's End was covered in Stonechats (upwards of 40 easily), along with 15 Whinchats, plenty of Wheatears, a good stream of Swallows and House Martins overhead, and a couple of these smart lookers (which took us most of the morning to find!)

Wryneck

Wheatear

The highlight of the day for me was seeing this Common Buzzard fly over with an Adder gripped firmly in its talons! An amazing sight, especially when another Buzzard was in pursuit giving whistling calls in attempt to pinch a little of this rather sizeable snack. Only my second UK adder, and in the talons of a Buzzard!

My course begins in earnest this week, but I hope to get out and about as much as possible - I will endeavour to keep my blog updated in the coming weeks, but we'll see how the workload pans out!