Recent recoveries

A number of Barn Owl recoveries have come in recently. Two were unfortunate birds which were found dead or injured. One was found in Tithby near Cropwell Bishop in September, after having been ringed at the nest near Brock Hill in Leicestershire in June. The other was found with a broken pelvis at Rufford park in October, having been ringed nearby in Eakring in August.

Another bird ringed by us has been recovered by another group. Ringed as a 3 (a bird of the year) in Halam in August 2014, it was controlled 90km away in Warwickshire in June this year.

Several birds have also been controlled by us. A bird was caught in Flintham in July, having been ringed by another ringer in East Bridgford in June 2014. Jim also controlled one of his own birds from his Lincolnshire project with Adrian Blackburn - it was originally ringed in Spilsby in 2014 and was controlled in August in Kirklington.

And finally, the headline bird was one ringed in Scredington, Lincs that we controlled in Eaton, Leics in October. This bird had originally been ringed as a chick ten years ago, in June 2006.

A Tawny Owl recovery has come in too - a bird ringed in Girton in May 2015 was found dead on the road in the next village, North Scarle, in September this year.

In non-owl news, we have had a few decent recoveries, all related to birds found or ringed at Attenborough Nature Reserve.

A Sand Martin, controlled at the Attenborough colony in July this year, had originally been ringed in the large nature reserve of Etang de la Horre, in the Champagne region of France in the August of 2015. Coincidentally, 4 days previous to this bird being ringed, the French ringers controlled another Sand Martin at the same site, which had originally been ringed at Attenborough 2 months previously. It seems we're swapping Sand Martins...

A Common Tern ringed on the reserve as a chick in July 2013 was controlled by ringers at Seal Sands, Teesmouth in August this year.

And finally a Sedge Warbler, caught on a CES session back in May 2012, which was found with a Spanish ring, had originally been ringed in Northern Spain, at a site near Vitoria, Basque country in August 2011.

Tom

Late Barn Owls

The season has been pretty good in the Vale of Belvoir this year. This brood of six was ringed on 26 September. Not only is this reasonably late, but it is late for such a big brood.

Jim

Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, Sunday 9 October

Sue, Duncan and I made a visit to the golf club today and put up the usual 8 x 18m nets with mixed warbler and Redwing song on two MP3 players. The weather was clear and calm and we started catching quite well but as the sun got higher the catches dropped.

We finished on 38 birds including 4 retraps. The species totals were (new/recapture): Blackcap 1/0, Chiffchaff 4/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Wren 3/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 1/0, Blue Tit 1/2, Greenfinch 1/0, Bullfinch 4/1, Goldfinch 1/0, Pied Wagtail 1/0, Redwing 12/0, Blackbird 3/1.

The Pied Wagtail was a surprise, it hit the top shelf, when being chased by another bird, just above our heads as we were doing a net round. There were plenty of Redwing about but despite Yellow-browed Warblers being everywhere in the country at the moment none seemed to be at the golf club (but we did try playing a recording just in case). At the end of the session we removed all the poles and guys from the site.

Kev

 Pied Wagtail (S. Lakeman)

Gibraltar Point Bird Observatory, Friday 7 October

Kev, Duncan and I made the annual trip to Gibraltar Point Bird Observatory on Friday. We arrived at Gib at 06:45, just as dawn was breaking, perfect! After a quick coffee in the car park we made our way to the Observatory building to be met by George Gregory, the ringer in charge, appearing from behind the sand dunes. He had kindly arrived earlier and had opened all 23 nets, thanks George!

A quick briefing then a net round and then steady ringing till around lunch time when it slowed down. Following the previous few days of easterly winds and near perfect conditions on the day (after a brief shower) I guess we were expecting a busier day with a bit more variety, but a total of 105 new birds and 24 retraps left us happy.

The highlights of the day were a Ring Ouzel and a female Sparrowhawk which Duncan managed to get to before it escaped from the net. We also had a German ringed Robin which created a comedy sketch you just couldn't write!

Mick P

Holme Pierrepont, Sunday 2 October

Tom, Gary and I made a visit to the Grange end of Holme Pierrepont today, with a view to removing all the poles and guys from the site at the end of the session. The weather conditions were calm but bright and the catch was steady throughout the morning.We had three mp3 players on the go using mostly mixed warbler calls. 

 

In total we ended with a catch of 41 including 10 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Kingfisher 1/0, Wren 1/2, Dunnock 3/0, Blackbird 0/1, Robin 1/2, Blackcap 3/0, Chiffchaff 6/0, Sedge Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 3/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/1, Blue Tit 1/0, Great Tit 1/1, Goldcrest 4/0, Long-tailed Tit 0/3, Bullfinch 2/0, Reed Bunting 3/0. 

 

The oldest retrap was a Cetti's Warbler from 2015. I was a little surprised to catch the Sedge Warbler and Reed Warblers.

 

Kev

 

 Kingfisher (T. Shields)