Interesting Ringing Recoveries

Hello

Chris Payne completed some bird ringing at his busy Bradden site this morning which provided 74 captures including 6 Chaffinches, 4 Robins, 2 Reed Buntings, a control Blue Tit (a bird ringed from elsewhere) and a fine female Sparrowhawk which no doubt produced a little rush of adrenalin!

Chris went on to erect and fix nest boxes at sites in South Northants in preparation of the forth-coming breeding season.

Eleanor spent some time in the NN6 district of the county but was only able to locate birds which have been in situ for much of the winter, namely two Ravens in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and a Barn Owl and two pairs of Stonechat at Blueberry Farm.

In recent days we have received details of recovered ringed birds associated with the county as follows...

1. LE85055 refers to a Starling ringed at Astcote near Towcester on 7th March 2014 and then re-captured by a ringer operating at Six House Bank, Lincolnshire on 29th December 2014, some 297 days later and 89KM in a north-east direction. Presumably very much a nomadic bird and possibly a wintering bird from the continent;

2. J614475 refers to a Great Tit ringed at Pillerton Hersey, Warwickshire on 10th November 2010 and re-captured by ringers operating in Glyn Davies Wood, Northants on 17th December 2014. This female originally hatched in 2010 so is a good age for this species and a distance of 17KM between sites is a reasonable distance too;

3. 1ET23138 refers to a Chaffinch first ringed on 26th August 2012 in Sweden at a place called Inre Fjarden near Gavleborg. It was re-captured at Stortons Gravel Pits on 17th February 2013, some 1452KM from it's ringing site. A clear example of a Scandanavian finch wintering in the warmer climes of the UK;

4. LE85059 refers to a Blackbird first caught and ringed at Stortons GP on 16th March 2014 and then found dead near Shustoke, Warwickshire on 18th January 2015, some 59KM in a westnorthwest direction;

5. LE50561 refers to a Blackbird caught and ringed in our garden at Hanging Houghton on 29th January 2013 and then being found dead on 2nd January this year at Cottingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire north of Hull. Again probably a wintering bird from the continent;

6. 7512659 refers to a Blackbird first ringed on 18th March 2014 at Bardshaugen, Skei, Surnadal, More og Romsdal, Norway and then re-captured by ringers operating at Pitsford Reservoir on 10th November 2014;

7. XP98752 refers to a Great Spotted Woodpecker first ringed on 12th May 2014 in Wormley Wood, Hertfordshire which also had colour rings attached to both legs. Robert Cave saw and photographed this bird visiting garden feeders in Crick, Northants in November 2014. British birds are thought to be sedentary but this female re-located 99KM to rural Northamptonshire - who knows what stimulated her to do this!

Neil Hasdell visited Market Harborough today in an effort to see the Otters on the River Welland but couldn't find them (there was quite a bit of disturbance).

Regards

Neil M

Cormorant
Courtesy of Robin Gossage

Female Sparrowhawk
Courtesy of Chris Payne