Recoveries

I received an interesting recovery this week involving a female Blackcap ringed at Priory Country Park on 14/09/11 (one of 25 that day). It was controlled at Portland Bill, Dorset on 28th April 2012.

Above: A library picture of a female Blackcap

Looking back at the database for Priory, there have been a number of recoveries involving Blackcaps, but most involve birds caught leaving the country in the South East (e.g. Kent, Icklesham). This is the first recovery of a Priory CP ringed Blackcap caught entering the country on migration (the only feasible explanation for the location and timing), and this is in the South West.

There is clearly a migration pattern going on here, perhaps to do with strategy and or wind direction.

In other news, I caught a control Corn Bunting the other week. It will be interesting to see where that has come from - they are a sedentary species. The BTO online recoveries report shows that there have been no previous recoveries in Bedfordshire (either ringed here and found elsewhere - or vice versa). Up to 2011, there have only been 96 recoveries nationally.

Above: The controlled Corn Bunting

Above: A sunset at Priory Country Park.

Now to get on with catching more birds with other peoples rings on and ring plenty so that other people can catch them! That is, if this wind will calm down....

From dawn till dusk

Normally, I'm up at the crack of dawn to ring birds when they're at their most active. Today, the weather forecast predicted rain so I stayed in doing chores. Having found the card reader, I can now take the photographs off my camera and show you some of the birds I've caught when I've been up early.



Above: A Lesser Redpoll ringed at Priory Country Park. This bird had been ringed by another ringer on another site somewhere in Britain. I will post the original ringing details of this bird when it comes through (it may take a while!). This came out of the nets shortly after dawn and the lucky people who came to the guided bird walk on 28th October got to see this bird.

I've had a successful time catching this species both at Priory CP and Sandy Smith NR, having doubled the previous ringing totals for this species at both sites.

Above: A Woodpigeon ringed at Priory Country Park in September.

Above: I renewed my friendship with this Green Woodpecker, also in September. My first retrapping of this species at over 1 year since it was first ringed by me.

Above: A Goldcrest - a new species for Sandy Smith Nature Reserve ringing list.

As the days are shorter, I've been staying out most of the day with my ringing which has worked out nicely on occasion, particularly in catching Goldfinches at Proiry CP.

Above: The spectacular sunset over Bedford from Wednesday 7th November. And no, I wasn't driving, or cycling when taking this photograph (I was sat in the passenger seat). There have been several good sunsets recently and this leads me nicely onto dusk.

Dusk is a time when birds go to roost and lately my thoughts have been turning towards catching birds coming to roost. Having done some chores and desperate to get out ringing, myself and Mike put 4 nets around the outside of a reedbed roost produced the following (retraps in brackets):

Wren 2 (1)
Great Tit 0 (2)
Goldcrest 2 (2)
Blue Tit 4 (5)
Long Tailed Tit 0 (4)
Chiffchaff 1 (0)
Reed Bunting 5 (0)

And lastly one special bird, a species I haven't ringed before.

Above: A Corn Bunting.

The Corn Bunting is the species depicted on the Ivel Ringing Group logo so it's about time we started catching them again!

Sunset at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve

I'm a week late in posting this, but this spectacular sunset at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve was observed and photographed last weekend (20th October).

Dusk at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve

When I was a kid, I had a cardboard pencil holder which had bits of information about birds on the side of it - mostly now long forgotten but I've never forgotten that it said 'little owls eat beetles, moths & worms.'

Yesterday I saw a beetle, moth and worm devourer at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. I tried digiscoping it but the result wasn't worth posting. I have an even worse photo of a barn owl (also seen yesterday) but I got good views of it hunting.

100+ Fieldfares flew west 'chucking' away as they went. I didn't find any bearded tits though (my main reason for going).



Above: I digiscoped this image - I got the frame I wanted of the top of a tree in the sunset but I also managed (accidentally) to catch the flash on the scope lens to create this interesting image.

I also took these ...normal... images of the spectacular sunset.









Today, I popped over to the site to see what was going on during daylight. 40+ Fieldfare arrived and left. I sent a fox fleeing away from me. Green & Great Spotted Woodpeckers were around, as were Jays. The usual big flocks of tits were moving around noisily.

Hopefully next weekend I will have more news about a particular species of bird that I saw there today (and there were lots of these winter visitors. A feeding station is now set up & could help my ringing efforts.

I also made a quick visit to Priory Country Park (well, a long one if you count the hour I spent talking to Jane the ranger who used to be a Volunteer Officer for me at BTCV!) to fill the feeders there.