Some Quick Recoveries

With the weather set in an anti-ringing mood, it was great to get an interesting batch of recoveries, most of them from ringing earlier in the year.

Two juvenile Sedge Warblers retrapped in Wiltshire and Rutland  both  just nine days after ringing in August, re-enforces many other similar recoveries in past years, suggesting that the Sedge Warblers we ring are mainly passage birds moving through our area quite quickly.

A juvenile Whitethroat was caught on the same day and at the same locality in Wiltshire as one of the Sedge Warblers.  It was caught 23 days after ringing in early August. This is only our fourth Whitethroat from the south of England. Single Willow Warbler and two Chiffchaff were also intercepted in the south  of England. The Chiffchaffs were consecutive ring numbers both were ringed on 2nd October one was caught 5 days later 304 km south in Berkshire and the other 10 days later in Dorset

Two juvenile Reed Warblers from July ringing were caught at the same locality in thePyrenees-Altantiques department right in the south west corner of France. One was 25 and the other 37 days after ringing. These two brings our total of Reed Warblers from  France to 27.

Reed Bunting have been present in good numbers this autumn. One ringed on 3rd  September was caught 27 days later in Dorset. It is our third Reed Bunting from the south coast.

A Bearded Tit ringed as a nestling in April and retrapped in June and August and sighted on the grit trays on 28the September was sighted 12 days later in a very small reedbed at South Walney NR. This is only our third recorded movement  away from Leighton Moss RSPB since 1980 despite ringing 2100. Eruptive behavior has been recorded on three occasions this autumn, but on all occasions the birds were seen to drop back into the reedbeds. But at least one moved out.

Finally a colour ringed Greenshank sighted on the wader pools on 26th to 29th June had been ringed as an adult 22 days previously at Tongue in the Highlands. this is our second  colour ringed Greenshank from this area.
John