NLRG was formed in 1957 to help in the study of birds in the Lancaster and District Birdwatching Society area. There are currently 12 active ringers. Species currently being studied include: Pied Flycatcher, Bearded Tit, Sand Martin, Twite, Goosander, Oystercatcher and Grey Wagtail. Migration has been studied for 28 years at Heysham. We welcome anyone who wants to observe, help or perhaps wish to become a ringer. Photo: A Heysham-ringed Twite on the Mull of Kintyre (thanks to Eddie Maguire)

Monday, 13 December 2010

Blue Tits don't move?

a Blue Tit ringed as a nestling in a box in Roeburndale near Wray this year has been caught twice in my garden in Lancaster. If it moved through Littledale, this will have moved about 14Km (a crossing directly over Clougha seems unlikely). One of the old papers on Blue Tits said that they would not cross open ground the size of a football pitch - this one clearly hasn't read the script!

This isn't the first of our Blue Tits to make this type of journey, but it does show that urban gardens hold birds (even sedentary ones) from a surprisingly wide radius

paul

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