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)

Saturday 16 July 2011

Cetti's Warbler-The Mystery Deepens


Cetti's Warbler has been moving north in Britain over recent years . This is reflected in the numbers ringed at Leighton Moss- singles in 1995, 2007 and 2008, then 4 in 2009 and 7 in 2010. Males have stopped and sung until early spring in the last two years but then apparently disappeared.

Of the seven caught in 2010 two were retraps from previous years, one each from 08 and 09. But male X945739 produced a totally unexpected recovery . It was ringed at Leighton on 13th March 2010 and caught at Farlington Marsh near Portsmouth presumably on territory on 25 April this year a distance of 390 km to the south. This appears to be one of the few long distance movements recorded for this species, which according to The Migration Atlas are highly sedentary after establishing a territory. Did this bird fail to find a mate in spring 2010 and so moved on? We await this autumn to see how many arrive.

Other recoveries reported recently included three more Sand Martins in France on autumn passage including one in Loire Atlantique on 29th July our earliest on autumn passage in France and just 18 days after ringing. Another was found in southern Spain in mid September.

Female Pied Flycatchers nesting in our nest boxes had been ringed as nestlings in Derbyshire and Durham. Showing good mixing of the population.

Four Twite ringed while wintering at Heysham were caught at Machrihanish Seabird Observatory Argyll bringing the total to nine from this site.

Lesser Redpoll caught on passage in April had been ringed in winter in Suffolk, Hampshire and Nottingham.

A Reed Warbler ringed as a juvenile at Leighton in August 206 was caught at Chew Valley Lake in mid April.

Most satisfying of all was that all the above recoveries were of birds caught by other ringers and so may go on to produce other recoveries.

John

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