Monday 30 May 2016

More ringing recoveries...

Hello 

Eric Graham ventured out to the Titchmarsh Reserve once again this morning and enjoyed an aerial mass of Swifts hurtling around. Four Cuckoos together was a treat (one a female) and two Little Egrets were noted too.

Harrington Airfield seemed quiet today and a Hobby was the only thing of note at Blueberry Farm.

Some more interesting ringing recoveries have filtered through, two of course relating to those gorgeous little Siskins! These and Lesser Redpolls seem to provide some excellent recovery opportunities and certainly standard ringing procedures are able to provide some pretty comprehensive tracking data.

S122558 was a first year female Siskin ringed at Astcote by John Woollett on 15th March this year and she was re-trapped 22 days later at Burgh Castle, Great Yarmouth. She was tracking ENE and one wonders if she was heading for the continent.

S122569 was an adult female Siskin ringed at Astcote one day later on 16th March 2016. Just six days later, on 22nd March, she was re-trapped at Zwolle, Overijssel, the Netherlands, travelling 485km in that time and very much in an easterly direction. Surely she was heading for a North European breeding ground?

John comments that his garden was busy during this period with good numbers of Siskins and from the plethora of ringing recoveries it seems that the flock was made up of different populations of Siskins, some heading up to Scotland to breed with others bound for much further north and east...

D820672 relates to a first year Lesser Redpoll first ringed on 6th September 2015 at Kilnsea, near Spurn on the East Yorkshire coast. Chris Payne captured this bird at Greens Norton on 17th April 2016, some 224 days later. This suggests that this bird wintered in Southern Britain or even further south and was feeding up in Chris's garden for an onward northerly journey, perhaps to the continent too...

Ring Y662784 was placed on a young male Blackcap at Rye Meads, Hertfordshire on 1st September 2013. On 10th April this year, this bird was re-trapped at Kelmarsh Hall north of Northampton, some 952 days later. Although this is only some 95km from where it was originally ringed, there can be little doubt that this warbler has accumulated many hours of flight during that time, probably wintering in Iberia or even Africa during the intervening three winters.

Regards

Neil M


Adult Starlings.

Juvenile Starling.

Male Bullfinch.

Adult Long-tailed Tit.

All images courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

Many Starlings now have fledged
young and the moist spring and the
apparent abundance of food in these
conditions appears to have suited Starlings
and probably Rooks too.

The image of the Bullfinch and Long-tailed
Tit are from the ringing session at Pitsford
Reservoir on Saturday.

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