Ringing recoveries

Hello

I have been remiss recently in not documenting recoveries associated with activities of members of the Northants Ringers Group so here are some (quite a lot actually!):-

1.  A juvenile male Greenfinch was ringed at Stortons Pits on 24th June 2020 and this bird was found dead in nearby Duston on 21st June 2022 (727 days later);

2.  A Chiffchaff was ringed at Stanford Reservoir on 14th April 2022 and was caught again on 11th July 2022 but this time identified as a breeding male at Pitsford Reservoir (21km distance and eighty-eight days later);

3. A juvenile Chiffchaff was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 17th August 2022 and was next recorded in a mist net at Stanford Reservoir on 15th September 2022 (29 days later);

4.  A juvenile Starling was ringed at Hanging Houghton on 9th June 2022 and dispersed relatively quickly to Wellingborough on 8th July when unfortunately it was taken by a cat (13km distance and 29 days between records);

5.  An adult male Blackbird was ringed at Greens Norton on 26th November 2018 and was found freshly dead in the village on 23rd April 2022 (1244 days elapsed between the two records);

6.  An adult male Blackbird was ringed at Harrington Airfield on 30th December 2020 and with a 140mm wing length was very much a candidate for a continental bird. However it was caught again at Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire on the unlikely date of 25th June 2022 (542 days later and 198km away from Harrington) so who knows where it originated!

7.  An adult Reed Warbler was ringed at Queen Mary Reservoir, Surrey on 8th August 2017 and caught again at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes where assessed as a breeding female on 24th June 2022 (1781 days later and 77km from where first ringed);

8.  A Blue Tit was ringed as a fledgling in a nest box at Chapel Brampton Golf Course on 19th May 2015 and the long dead remains of this bird were located in a nest box in Kingsthorpe, Northampton on 29th July 2022 (2628 days and just 2km from where first ringed);

9.  A Common Tern was ringed as a nestling on a tern raft at Pitsford Reservoir on 20th July 2017 and was found dead in a tern colony at Brandon Marsh, Warwickshire on 2nd August 2022, 1829 days later and 40km west from Pitsford;

10.  A juvenile Reed Warbler was ringed at Stanwick Pits on 23rd July 2022 and re-trapped at Stanford Reservoir on 8th August 2022 - 16 days later with this young bird wandering 37km in a WNW direction;

11.  A juvenile Blackcap was ringed at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 18th June 2022 and re-trapped at Stanford Reservoir on 29th August 2022 - 72 days later with this bird moving 44km in a NNW direction;

12.  A juvenile Blackcap was ringed at Chase Park Farm, Yardley Chase on 21st June 2022 and encountered again in a mist net at Dunkirk, Little Downham, Ely, Cambridgeshire 74 days later on 3rd September 2022 - moving 75km in a ENE direction;

13.  A juvenile Chiffchaff was ringed at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 20th August 2022 and caught again on 20th September 2022 at Jubilee River, Slough, Berks - the bird having taken 31 days to travel 66km in a southerly direction;

14.  A nestling Barn Owl was ringed at Wolverton, Milton Keynes on 10th June 2022 and caught in a mist net at nearby Linford Lakes 84 days later on 2nd September 2022;

15.  A male Reed Warbler was ringed at Linford Lakes on 16th May 2021 and was re-trapped at Cabanot, Audenge, Gironde, France on 3rd August 2022 444 days later in a direct southerly direction of 823km;

16.  A Lesser Redpoll was ringed at Greens Norton on 9th November 2022 and caught again ten days later 15km to the south at Rectory Farm, Tingewick, Bucks;

17.  A juvenile Black-headed Gull was ringed at Linford Lakes on 15th October 2022 but was found dead just 37 days later on 21st November 2022 in Haversham, Milton Keynes (just 2km away) - possibly a victim of Avian Flu;

18.  A juvenile Goldfinch was ringed at Oxonholme, Cumbria on 24th September 2022 and re-trapped at Overstone Park, Northampton fifty days later on 13th November 2022 - traveling 258km in a SSE direction;

19.  An adult Lesser Redpoll was ringed at Overstone Park on 8th April 2022 and then re-trapped on 1st December 2022 at Hick's Lodge, Moira, Leicestershire - 237 days later and suggestive that this diminutive finch has wintered in the English Midlands the last two years;

20.  A Great Tit was ringed as a nestling in a nest box at Pitsford Reservoir on 17th May 2022 and found freshly dead in Walgrave village just 3km away on 11th December 2022 (208 days later);

21.  A juvenile female Starling was ringed in Hanging Houghton on 13th June 2022 and caught again by a ringer at Sprat's Down, Fawley, coastal Hampshire on 22nd October 2022 - 131 days later with this bird having travelled 173km in a southerly direction;

22.  Three Long-tailed Tits were ringed at Stanford Reservoir on 12th October 2021 and all three birds were caught again at Kelmarsh Hall on 16th January 2023 - a duration of 461 days elapsing with these birds probably hedge-hopping for 14km in an easterly direction;

23.  An adult male Mallard was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 1st June 2021 and shot near Lamport on 27th January 2023 - 605 days later and with just 4km distance between records;

24.  A juvenile Magpie was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 21st July 2018 and trapped and killed intentionally at Holcot on 15th July 2022 - 1455 days later only 3km away;

25.  An adult female Blackbird was ringed at Pamphlet Wall, Reculver Marshes, Kent on 18th November 2021 and caught again at Overstone Park, Northampton on 23rd January 2023 - 431 days inbetween and suggesting this is a continental bird wintering successfully in the UK;

26.  A first year female Great Tit was ringed at Greens Norton on 22nd March 2022 and found freshly dead in the village 331 days later on 16th February 2023.

Birds today included two Grey Wagtails and a Yellow-legged Gull at Pitsford Reservoir and at Summer Leys LNR there were five Black-tailed Godwits and two Sand Martins briefly which then headed west.

A large Starling murmuration was recorded over Higham Ferrers this afternoon and yesterday morning a Caspian Gull was seen at Wicksteed Park, Barton Seagrave.

Regards

Neil M

Lively Pied Wagtails
courtesy of Robin Gossage.