Thursday 20 July 2017

Autumn migration is here!

Hello

Birding at Pitsford Reservoir today provided a good number of sixteen Common Sandpipers and at least three Yellow-legged Gulls, and late this afternoon a Pied Flycatcher was accompanying a Redstart along the entrance track to the adjacent Brixworth Country Park. Sadly these interesting two passerines absented themselves and couldn't be found by subsequent observers.

This evening a Wheatear and over a hundred Lapwings were in fields in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Neil Hasdell has spent an age trying to read a metal ring as seen on an adult Redshank at Summer Leys nature reserve and on 16th July he was finally convinced he had the full number after sore eyes peering through his telescope! DE25754 was a ring affixed to a nestling Redshank at Brandon Marsh in Warwickshire on 18th June 2014 and this is the adult now breeding at Summer Leys. Neil's sighting is the first record since it was initially ringed 1124 days earlier; the distance between the two sites is just 52km.

Dave Francis caught a Reed Warbler at Pitsford Reservoir on 17th July 2017 bearing ring number Y815687 and we have now found out that this bird was first ringed as an adult bird at Rutland Water on 22nd April 2013, 1547 days earlier. This bird is at least five years old now and will have travelled the Africa to UK migration route at least ten times now.

Regards

Neil M


Redshank.

Reed Warbler.

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