More ringing recoveries

Hello

Another rather quiet day in the county if you are a pure birder, but plenty of insect action in generally warm and mostly dry conditions.

Thrapston Pits still continues to host two calling Cuckoos plus a couple of Hobbies and the usual excellent selection of breeding warblers. There were also three Oystercatchers and three Little Egrets on show.

Adrian Borley saw an Osprey at Hollowell Reservoir this afternoon plus a first summer tern that showed plumage features most similar to Arctic Tern.

The breeding birds at Harrington Airfield were visited by two Cuckoos this morning and a selection of good butterflies in the county today included freshly emerged Essex Skippers (Bradlaugh Fields) and White Admirals (Fermyn Wood). It seems that Marbled White butterflies are now relatively widespread and numerous and Dark Green Fritillaries and a few Silver-washed Fritillaries are being seen adjacent to and in some of the bigger and well established woodland blocks in the county.

A few bird ringing recoveries have been reported as follows:-

1. A juvenile Chiffchaff was ringed at Stanford Reservoir on 25th July 2018 and was recaptured presumably as a breeding female at Stortons Pits on 14th June this year. Although it is only 24km between the two sites this bird will have probably wintered well to the south the last two winters;

2. A juvenile Reed Warbler ringed at Stortons Pits on 4th August 2019 was caught again by ringers operating at Alderney in the Channel Isles on 9th June this year when assessed as an adult male. Again 293km separates these two sites but the bird will have wintered well to the south in Africa between these two records;

3. A Common Tern ringed as a nestling at Pitsford Reservoir on 21st June 2017 was seen again at Draycote Water (Warwickshire) on 11th June this year when the ring details were read and photographed in the field. Like the others this bird will have spent it's three winters well to the south, in all probability off the west coast of Africa;

4. A juvenile male Greenfinch was caught and ringed at Greens Norton on 29th August 2019 and killed by a cat on or about 5th June this year at Wappenham which is about 8km from Greens Norton;

5. An adult female Reed Warbler was caught and ringed at Stortons Pits on 12th August last year and on 27th May this year it was caught again at Blyth End in Warwickshire. Yet another summer migrant bird that has presumably returned to the midlands to breed after wintering in Africa for at least two years.

Regards

Neil M

Mullein moth caterpillar
courtesy of Fiona Barclay.

Syrplus rebesii courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Xthanthogramma pedissequm
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Jackdaw courtesy of
John Tilly.