Rock Pipit Movements

As well as studying the breeding ecology of Rock Pipits, the colour-ringing project looks at movements of the birds. So far the project has discovered:

• Sedentary birds, which remain on territory all year

• Adults which move a short distance from their breeding site to winter on a nearby seaweedy beach

• Local movements between beaches, probably driven by the availability of seaweed (which hosts their invertebrate prey), and/or social interactions

• Daily commutes between a feeding area and a communal roost

• Migration to and from Shetland, and probably beyond

Sedentary birds

Many (but not all) of the birds breeding at Girdleness, of both sexes, can be found there throughout the year. None have been found elsewhere, as yet.

Winter flocking on beaches close to breeding sites

A special mention should be made of the bird holding the record for the highest number of resightings. 2611107/Yellow Blue/Yellow was ringed as a juvenile male during the first catch of the project, on 26/09/2009, at Aberdour Beach. He has now been recorded forty times since, always on the same beach. Only one of these sightings was during the breeding season (21/05/2012), which is still enough to suggest that he breeds nearby, probably around the inaccessible cliffs to the west of the beach.

2611107/Y B/Y after ringing. © Allan Perkins.

Local movements between winter beaches

In previous years Pennan has hosted brief sizeable flocks of Rock Pipits during the autumn. Although birds breed around the village, the origins of the birds caught there are unknown. One of these birds, 2611143/Yellow Red/Orange, ringed as a juvenile female on 28/09/2010, was spotted at various locations along the north coast, resulting in an almost-round trip of 34km, ending at Aberdour Beach on 21/05/2012. As with the above-mentioned bird, she was probably breeding nearby.

Map showing the local movements of 2611143/Y R/O.

A = 28/09/2010; B = 22 & 23/10/2010 (8km); C = 08/02/2011 (10km);

D = 08 & 10/01/2012 (10km); E = 21/05/2012 (6km).

Commuting between roost and feeding area

Communal roosting of Rock Pipits is not well documented. Thanks to the efforts of the “shaggers”, good numbers have been observed appearing in Fraserburgh Harbour on winter evenings, for the last couple of years. It took until autumn 2012 to raise my interest, when a couple of colour-ringed birds were reported. The first was ringed as a first winter female at Cairnbulg (3.5 km SE) on 20/03/2012, and not seen again in the interim. She has not been recorded back at Cairnbulg since. We retrapped her at the roost this February, and she was found 3 days later feeding nearby, on the Beach Esplanade.

2611325/G O/W retrapped at Fraserburgh Harbour roost 24/02/2013 almost a year after being ringed in Cairnbulg. © Amanda Biggins

The other bird was ringed as a chick near Quarry Head, Rosehearty (“Nest 1” in my previous blog post), on 20/05/2012, a distance of 9km. It was also photographed a month earlier at nearby Kinnaird Head.

Over the winter, the roost has held between 6 and 18 birds, with 11 so far being trapped and ringed there. Seven have been resighted back there subsequently. There is considerable movement between the roost and Cairnbulg, 3.5 km away. Half of the birds ringed at Cairnbulg have been seen at the roost, with five birds regularly moving back and forth between the two sites. Three birds have so far been observed at both sites on the same day.

To date, 17 different colour-ringed birds have been recorded at the roost, with at least 7 still unringed (and this is probably an underestimate), giving a total of at least 24 birds.

Rock Pipits preparing to roost in the wall crevices of Fraserburgh Harbour. © Amanda Biggins

Due to the limited daylight hours of the Scottish winter, the birds have not been arriving at the roost until after dusk. This has made it difficult to observe colour-ring combinations and it is likely that some have been missed. Also, birds may roost in other parts of the harbour, away from the main study area.

Migration

The regular migration of Rock Pipits was thought to be restricted to the Scandinavian littoralis race. Although there have been recoveries of Shetland-ringed birds (mainly from Fair Isle) in many parts of mainland Britain, this was thought to be juvenile dispersal, and that the adults remained on their breeding areas all year.

The first, and the longest, of the project’s long-distance recoveries involved only the second bird I colour-ringed myself. 2611110/Yellow Blue/Black, a first-winter, ringed on Aberdour beach on 13/02/2010. Having nearly knocked myself out going to retrieve it from the trap, slipping on rocks (I literally had cartoon Rock Pipits tweeting around my head), I was really pleased to hear from Jason Atkinson on the island of Whalsay, Shetland. The bird had originally been seen breeding at Skaw on 28/04/2010, but was too far away to identify the combination, until it was photographed feeding fledglings on 21/06/2010. I was on Shetland when I heard the news, and waved to the bird as we passed on the ferry to Out Skerries. It was last recorded at Skaw on 26/09/2010 and was not seen back in Aberdeenshire.

2611110/Y B/N breeding at Skaw, Whalsay, Shetland, 325km from where it was ringed. © Jason Atkinson

The second recovery involved a bird ringed on Fair Isle on 07/09/2007 and recaught at Aberdour Beach on 20/10/2010, when I was training the newly appointed Fair Isle warden, David Parnaby. 2551461/Green Red/Green was not seen again, until a possible sighting: the briefest glimpse, back at Aberdour beach 1 year and 9 days later. This bird could have been on passage both times it was caught, and was not seen back on Fair Isle in between it’s brief visits to Aberdeenshire.

The next recovery further dispelled the juvenile dispersal theory. 2611301/Green Green/White, or “Celtic” as he’s become known, was ringed as a 1st winter male at Rosehearty on 07/11/2011. Seen there regularly over the winter, up until 28/02/2012. He was first spotted on Fair Isle on 17/04/2012. He bred not far from the observatory, and was last noted feeding chicks on 21/06/2012. I unfortunately did not find him when I visited Fair Isle in early September. When I returned home I found out why: I found “Celtic”, now an adult, back at Rosehearty on 28/09/2012 - a round trip of 400km. He has so far been seen 13 times this winter.

2611301/G G/W, “Celtic”, back at Rosehearty, after breeding on Fair Isle. © Amanda Biggins.

We were alerted to the presence of a metal-ringed bird at Buchanhaven, Peterhead this winter by Ed Duthie, who sent us photo’s of most of the ring number (plus 2 colour-ringed birds). The photos showed that this was an adult. I took my fancy new telescope off to the area and soon located the bird. I felt a bit dodgy peering into someone’s front garden through the ‘scope, but luckily noone complained. I pursued it down the road to get the last digit. I discovered that, although not impossible, trying to read a Rock Pipit metal ring in the field brings to mind a phrase about a headless chicken. 2552406 was ringed on Fair Isle on 15/04/2009, and has been seen four times at Buchanhaven, between 30/12/2012 and 18/02/2013.

A colour-ringed Rock Pipit was reported from a remote part of Out Skerries, Shetland (summer 2011), which probably originates from Grampian. However, without the full combination, it was untraceable.

Next time I will talk about movements of birds ringed as chicks. I’ll hopefully find some breeding, to complete the stories of some interesting movements of these youngsters.

Amanda.

Tales From Lord Pitsligo’s Cave

The colour ringing of Rock Pipits on the north Aberdeenshire coast has been mainly to study their winter movements, and to discover where they breed. Birds have been trapped on the seaweedy beaches of Pennan, Aberdour, Rosehearty and Cairnbulg. Some birds have been found breeding near to the beaches at Pennan and Aberdour, but no nests have been located at these sites, as yet. The other sites appear to be unsuitable for breeding, but can hold good numbers in the winter.

The high cliffs along the north coast make ideal nesting habitat, but it is far more difficult to locate and reach nests here, than around Girdleness. The presence of breeding seabirds, particularly Herring Gulls, with their incessant alarm calls, further hinders nest-finding attempts. I have annually monitored a stretch of coastline between Aberdour Beach and Rosehearty. There is a rough coastal path, although it is not well used. Occasional colour ringed birds have been found breeding along this stretch, but again, nests remained elusive.

In 2012 monitoring of the stretch began on 14^th May. Much of the vegetation along the coast had been grazed hard by sheep, and I wondered if the birds would be able to find enough cover to nest. However, Allan and I managed to find two colour-ringed birds, and both were carrying food: a sure sign they had chicks. The first, Metal/Green Green/Orange, on the territory marked “4” on the map below, was ringed as a first-year, at Rosehearty, in Nov 2011. The other, Metal/Yellow Red/Yellow, with a nest at Lord Pitsligo’s cave, marked “2” on the map, was also ringed at Rosehearty, but was a six-year-old male. Originally metal-ringed in Jan 2007, he was retrapped, again at Rosehearty, in Dec 2009, and his bling added. He has been seen every winter since, at Rosehearty, but had not been recorded during the breeding season, until this year. Had he been missed breeding there during the last two summers, or had he moved territories?

Map showing territories and nests found along the coastline between Aberdour and Rosehearty.

With a huge amount of patience and luck, Allan managed to locate the nest of “Lord Pitsligo”, plus another nest of chicks, marked “1” on the map. Both broods had only recently hatched, so we returned six days later to ring the chicks. Allan then managed to find a third nest with chicks, “3” on the map, that we also ringed. These three nests were very different in their situations: nest 1, a hole near the top of a steeper-than-it-looked-from-the-bottom cliff-face; nest 2, a hole along an almost flat stretch of short grass; nest 3, in a fairly open rock crevice.

 Locations of Nest 1 (May) and Nest 4 (July), possibly 1^st & 2^nd broods of the same unringed pair. © Allan Perkins

Removing chicks from Nest 2 to ring (May) © Allan Perkins

Nest 3, in an open rock crevice (May) © Allan Perkins

Another interesting feature of these nests was their contents: all contained five healthy chicks, and all are believed to have fledged, though only the brood from nest 3 were all seen (the others remained hidden). Although the nest of the other ringed bird was not found, on territory 4, the pair was seen feeding fledged young (number unknown). Whilst the birds at Girdleness may lay clutches of five eggs, often not all hatch, and very rarely do five survive to fledging there. Nesting success at Girdleness has consistently been 50% over the last three years. Far more nests have been monitored there (31), so it is maybe too early to compare breeding success at the two sites, but it does warrant further study.

The differences in topography and human disturbance at the sites are perhaps responsible for differences in nest survival. The birds on the north coast are noticeably more wary: one bird was observed swallowing a beakful of insects, as soon as it saw us. Only one nest at Girdleness was known to have failed as a direct result of human disturbance, but an abundance of people may encourage predators and scavengers to the area.

Since Lord Pitsligo’s female (at nest 2) was unringed, I decided to try and trap her, as I was interested to see if the pair wintered together. A few days after ringing the chicks, I returned and set some spring traps on the territory. Although I managed to catch two birds, neither was the target female. Firstly, the male of an unringed pair: I had recorded them a few times, hanging around the edge of the territory. I was uncertain whether they had a nest nearby, but they certainly were not feeding chicks. The second bird caught was Lord Pitsligo himself (Metal/Yellow Red/Yellow), trapped for the third time (a record in my study). Like the six-year-old male at Girdleness, he had unmoulted central tail feathers and tertials.

We returned to the area in July, to look for second broods, and saw two pairs feeding young. However, it soon became clear that both pairs were different from those holding the territories earlier in the season. There was no sign of either of the two original colour-ringed birds, or any of the fledged young. An unringed pair now resided on territory 4, previously occupied by Metal/Green Green/Orange. This may have been the pair from nest 1, near the top of the cliff, further along the same beach. At Lord Pitsligo’s Cave (territory 2), the male was colour-ringed, but was the other male caught on the territory, Metal/Red Yellow/Black. Although this nest was not found, it was clear that it was close to the original nest (I did check the original nest and it had not been reused).

Despite the five chicks on territory 4 being quite large when we ringed them, we found that they had been predated by the end of the month: there were chick feathers pulled out underneath the nest. Although partial predation does occur, with some chicks fledging, no chicks from this brood have so far been seen fledged.

Fingers crossed that we’ll manage to find more nests and colour ringed birds there next year. The next Rock Pipit blog will feature the movements of individuals, both local and further afield, including the adventures of Lord Pitsligo’s offspring.

Amanda

A Rock Pipit Soap Opera

Breeding at Girdleness, 2012

I began colour ringing Rock Pipits in autumn 2009. To date, 146 full-grown birds and 110 nestlings have been “blinged” along the coast. The main study areas are between Pennan and Rosehearty, on the north coast (mainly looking at wintering birds), and Girdleness, near Aberdeen Harbour (where I study breeding ecology).

This breeding season was more productive than the last, despite the “pants” weather, which affected many other species. At Girdleness, numbers of singing males remained low, at just seven. However, all were paired up this year (two did not attract females in 2011). Unfortunately, one of these unlucky males became single again, after his female disappeared in the second week of May.

Better news for “Norman” (Metal/Green Yellow/Yellow), a popular bird, with many sightings from the public last year, singing away under the Battery. After the indignation of a pair nesting on his territory then, that ringed female paired up with him this year, with two of their four nesting attempts fledging young.

©AMB A very confiding female nest-building. Paired with “Norman” (M/G Y/Y)

After some nifty hand-netting by Raymond, some spring traps, and lots of luck, we managed to catch a further four of the breeding females on or near their nests, leaving just one unringed. Catch of the year however, was a metal-ringed male, who has been taunting me in the cove under the lighthouse, since the project began. First recorded there on 14/06/2010, he had evaded capture, despite me trapping his two females during the previous two years.

©AMB NR94975 taunting me with his metal ring in June 2011. The photo wasn’t sharp enough to be able to read the ring number.

With his first brood just fledged, we erected a mist net on his patch, and also decided to set the previously unsuccessful spring traps nearby. Having watched him fly round the end of the mist net, I’d pretty much given up on him again, but this time the mealworms proved too tempting. Success!!! NR94975, ringed as a (big) chick by the group on 27/05/2006, in a nest just 500m away from his territory. He is now sporting a single Yellow ring, on the opposite leg to his Metal (I was unable to add the full compliment of three colours because the metal ring is on the wrong leg).

©AMB NR94975 retrapped at last. Note the unmoulted central tail feathers & tertials (hidden behind a big thumb).

A star bird for many reasons: he is the oldest bird in the study, although he still has a way to go to break any records (9 years in Britain, and 12 years in Europe). He is the only bird ringed as a chick that I have found breeding. He is also my most productive bird: successfully fledging young from all nesting attempts I have monitored (five in the last three summers).

This year he was paired to the same female as last year. Their first brood had already hatched by the end of April, the earliest I’ve recorded so far. By the end of the season, we managed to find a record eleven nests in the area, six of which successfully fledged young, with fourteen juveniles being resighted so far. Many thanks go to Raymond for occasionally taking off his “Linnet blinkers” this year.

Away from the natal area, I received word from a member of the public of a juvenile photographed at Cove Harbour, 5.4km south, on 16/09/2012. This is the only report of a colour-ringed bird south of Aberdeen. There must be many more lurking down that way, just waiting to be discovered. Fingers crossed for better weather next breeding season, so I can do a proper search “doon sooth”.

Thanks to everyone who reported colour-ringed birds and helped with nest finding.

Next time I’ll fill you in on what’s been happening up north. 


AMB.

Colour ringing rock pipits in Aberdeenshire

Amanda Biggins and other members of Grampian Ringing Group have been colour ringing rock pipits to study breeding ecology and dispersal. Nineteen fledged birds have been marked on the north Aberdeenshire coast (Rosehearty and New Aberdour) during autumn 2009 to spring 2010. However, the steep cliffs and breeding seabirds made it difficult to locate nests in this area.

Torry is well known locally as a deprived area of Aberdeen, notorious for it’s rough housing estates, rife with criminal activity. Situated alongside Aberdeen’s harbour, the area offers employment to migrant workers in the fish processing industry. The rocky headland of Girdleness is popular with families, dog walkers and golfers. The site offers excellent views of bottlenose dolphins and attracts a variety of migrant birdlife.

Around 15 pairs of rock pipits nest along this stretch of coastline, one of the highest densities in the region. The nests are easily accessible on grassy slopes, making it an ideal location for a colour ringing study of the species.

Nine rock pipit nests have been found so far along the Torry coastline. Five broods have been ringed, of which two successfully fledged (1out of a brood of 5 and 2/3 have been resighted). One nest failed at the egg stage and three nests are currently active.

It is likely that human disturbance has an impact on breeding success at this site, especially during hot sunny weekends. On Saturday 5th June we were surprised to find a previously unrecorded nesting strategy. The week before I had observed a pair nest building half way up the slope, to the south west of Girdle Ness lighthouse.

I enlisted Raymond Duncan to help locate the nest. Being an experienced birder and ringer he found it almost immediately. We noticed that the vegetation around the nest had been flattened, as if people had been sitting for some time at the site. Raymond was concerned that the five eggs had been abandoned. However, upon inspection we found that they were still warm.

It wasn’t until we were leaving that I noticed a unique habitat feature at the site. Within two metres of the nest was a tray of six small potted plants. Raymond, having lived a sheltered life, thought they were tomato plants, and considered taking them home to give to his mother for her greenhouse. Being a bit more worldly wise, I immediately recognised them as Cannabis sativa plants.

We suspect the birds deliberately nested close to the marijuana, and propose that getting stoned would help them ignore the hordes of picnic-eating families, dogs and drunken louts that descend on the area as soon as the temperature reaches double figures, and the nest is therefore less likely to suffer from predation.

A Scottish Natural Heritage spokesman suggested that planting more skunk in the area may be an effective habitat management tool, increasing local productivity of this understudied species. However, the plants may attract more unsavoury characters to the site, resulting in a higher probability of nests being trampled.

We vacated the nest site, leaving behind a packet of Rizlas, some tobacco and matches (all opened to allow access for the birds). We plan to return to try and catch the female sitting on the nest, just before the eggs hatch (we suspect that this won’t be too difficult) and will continue monitoring the fledging success of this and other nests in the area. Next year we plan to get a local to grow marijuana around a few territories to compare habitat use and fledging success with pairs that aren’t growing their own drugs.

Members of the public can help by reporting colour-ring sightings and any other birds with drug habits.

The photos show 1) Amanda and where the plants were found with the rock pipit nest to the left (in the shady hollow in the grass), courtesy of Raymond Duncan. 2) A brood of rock pipits colour-ringed at Girdleness, by Jessica Haines.

Amanda