Thursday 7 December 2017

Some cold weather coming - and maybe snow!

Hello

Jacob's efforts at Pitsford Reservoir today provided him with sightings of just one Great White Egret, a Shelduck, 9 Pintail, a Ruff, 3 Redshank, at least 33 Golden Plovers (in flight), a Green Sandpiper, 2 Stonechats, a Grey Wagtail and a mobile adult Caspian Gull around the afternoon gull roost.

A Grey Wagtail and a single Lesser Redpoll were on view at Brixworth Water Treatment Works.

Birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this afternoon included two fly-through Curlews, about a hundred Golden Plovers and a Barn Owl.

A couple of ringing recoveries have been reported as follows:-

On 26th November 2017 Kenny and his team caught an adult male Blackbird bearing ring number LC11583 at Linford Lakes on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. It transpires that this bird was first ringed at Gibraltar Point Bird Observatory on the Lincolnshire coast way back on 21st October 2011 (2218 days before) when it was aged as a bird hatched that year. All this suggests that this bird originates from the continent and potentially has wintered successfully in the UK during the last six winters. No doubt this is a well-travelled bird and he has a few tales to tell!

On 25th August this year, the usual band of ringers operating at Stortons Pits on the outskirts of Northampton ringed a young female Cetti's Warbler. On 3rd December this bird turned up in a ringer's mist net 34km to the south-east in Bedfordshire at the Forest of Marston Vale. Although not a recognised true migrant, the number of recoveries of Cetti's Warblers emanating from Stortons in recent years indicates that successfully raised offspring from this reserve range widely around suitable sites in the UK.

Regards

Neil M


Male Blackbird.

Cetti's Warbler.
Image courtesy of
Chris Payne.



No comments: