Hello
Neither of us had time for much in the way of any birding yesterday (Saturday) with Ravens in Hanging Houghton being the only birds of note.
Other birders in the county picked up on a small increase in Smew locally with a drake being seen close in to the eastern shore near the dam at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, a 'redhead' still at Summer Leys and an elusive 'redhead' at Hardingstone Pits (also known as Ransome Road Lake). Nick Parker saw a Great White Egret at Thrapston Pits but has been unable to find the Whooper Swan in recent days.
The Velvet Scoters were reported from Hollowell Reservoir again and other birds for Summer Leys included a Great White Egret and a Peregrine.
Some basic analysis of the birds processed which had been previously ringed at the ringing session at Pitsford Reservoir last Wednesday identifies quite a number of tits being at least six years old and still going strong. The proportion of adult Great Tits far exceeded those of the youngsters, and in fact newly ringed Great Tits were low in number. I have noticed quite a number of slow, lethargic and clearly sick Great Tits locally for some weeks now and it seems that there is something of a die-off going on.
The fortunes of the Great Tits seems to be at odds with the more arboreal Blue Tits which are in very high numbers this year with the numbers of fresh first year Blue Tits out-numbering the adults. For both Great Tits and Blue Tits, many of the birds encountered last Wednesday were originally ringed as nestlings in the 200 plus nest boxes on-site. Ringing tells us that it is not unusual for a proportion of the birds to remain in their natal area but it also tells us that a significant proportion spill out into neighbouring areas and a few birds travel extraordinary distances within the UK.
News has reached us of a Cetti's Warbler originally ringed at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 4th November 2018 and then being caught again on 20th October this year but this time at Ingrebourne Valley in Greater London (350 days later). This young female travelled 92km in a south-easterly direction, proving again that the UK population of this once-thought sedentary species travels around this island of ours quite extensively before settling in to a territory.
Regards
Neil M
Neither of us had time for much in the way of any birding yesterday (Saturday) with Ravens in Hanging Houghton being the only birds of note.
Other birders in the county picked up on a small increase in Smew locally with a drake being seen close in to the eastern shore near the dam at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, a 'redhead' still at Summer Leys and an elusive 'redhead' at Hardingstone Pits (also known as Ransome Road Lake). Nick Parker saw a Great White Egret at Thrapston Pits but has been unable to find the Whooper Swan in recent days.
The Velvet Scoters were reported from Hollowell Reservoir again and other birds for Summer Leys included a Great White Egret and a Peregrine.
Some basic analysis of the birds processed which had been previously ringed at the ringing session at Pitsford Reservoir last Wednesday identifies quite a number of tits being at least six years old and still going strong. The proportion of adult Great Tits far exceeded those of the youngsters, and in fact newly ringed Great Tits were low in number. I have noticed quite a number of slow, lethargic and clearly sick Great Tits locally for some weeks now and it seems that there is something of a die-off going on.
The fortunes of the Great Tits seems to be at odds with the more arboreal Blue Tits which are in very high numbers this year with the numbers of fresh first year Blue Tits out-numbering the adults. For both Great Tits and Blue Tits, many of the birds encountered last Wednesday were originally ringed as nestlings in the 200 plus nest boxes on-site. Ringing tells us that it is not unusual for a proportion of the birds to remain in their natal area but it also tells us that a significant proportion spill out into neighbouring areas and a few birds travel extraordinary distances within the UK.
News has reached us of a Cetti's Warbler originally ringed at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 4th November 2018 and then being caught again on 20th October this year but this time at Ingrebourne Valley in Greater London (350 days later). This young female travelled 92km in a south-easterly direction, proving again that the UK population of this once-thought sedentary species travels around this island of ours quite extensively before settling in to a territory.
Regards
Neil M
 |
| Great Tit. |
 |
| Blue Tit. Images courtesy of Robin Gossage. |
No comments:
Post a Comment