Where Do Our Reed Buntings Go in Winter?

Reed Buntings are common breeding birds at a few sites in our area but in recent years they have become quite scarce in winter. A recent recovery of a female ringed at Leighton Moss on 27th September and controlled on 11 March at Northorpe Fen in Lincolnshire is a further clue as to the wintering areas of our birds. Other winter recoveries have been in South Lancashire (3) Cheshire (3) Nottingham, Dorset and Kent.

Bumper year for Pied Flycatchers

There appear to be really good numbers of Pied Flycatchers this year in the boxes I have been monitoring (this includes three in Richard's boxes in Roeburndale and two, still on eggs, in David's boxes in Littledale) with 29 clutches laid, of which 24 have so far produced young that are likely to fledge.

Tit numbers also appear to have been good, including a brood of 13 Blue Tits ringed yesterday

paul

Blue and Great Tits have an Excellent season

Returns from four of our lowland nest box schemes suggest an exceptional year for blue and great tits.

After the cold winter we rather expected a decline in breeding populations and there was a small decline in great tits from 53 occupied nest boxes in 2009 to 46 this year. Blue tits on the other hand increased from 34 to 38 pairs, Now doubt the proximity of these four schemes to winter feeding stations helped them survive the winter. Early returns from our upland schemes suggest a small decline in both species.

Despite the cold dry spring clutch sizes were normal. Although in a few cases there was a short gap in the laying cycle which is most unusual. Brood sizes have been very high and they seem to have grown and feathered very quickly.

One unusual event was the finding of a young blue tit in a brood of 6 great tits. It was as far advanced as is larger siblings when ringed.

John Wilson

Pied Flycatchers hatch

The first broods of flycatchers have started hatching. Seven yesterday in a box in Roeburndale looked to have hatched just that day - this would suggest an arrival at the end of April with a very rapid building of the nest and laying started at the start of May.

Lets hope the good weather continues!

paul

nest box update

I make no apology for repeating the posting of this photo - it looks so good!

Good news and bad news from my visit to the boxes with Tony Moriaty last night. Robin nest predated at young stage. First brood of Great Tit ringed (9 out of 9) and a warning for nest box checkers: Tits with black heads hissing in a box might not be what they first appear - two Marsh Tit acting in an agitated manner next to a box where the pulli had been 'identified' as Great Tit turned out on closer inspection to be Marsh Tit - and were duly ringed. Other boxes appear to be doing well so far.

paul

Pied flycatcher update

The positive start to the season continues. My three sites in Roeburndale now have 23active Pied Flycatcher nests with 15 Great Tit, 22 Blue Tit (one nest predated since last week), 1 Redstart and 1 Robin. There are another 3 Pied Flycatcher, 10 Blue Tit and 2 Great Tit in Richard's boxes - I'm monitoring these whilst he is in America.

Robin has hatched and Great Tits are starting to do so (some days behind the box in my garden in Lancaster).

Highlight of the weekend for me was finding two Woodcock pulli and ringing them in Roeburndale.

Paul

Where Do Our Little Egrets Come From?

Little Egrets have been the success story of recent years. With only six records up to 1993 Numbers have built up since then and last autumn saw up to 100 roosting at either Leighton Moss or the Lune estuary Two recent recoveries of colour ringed birds reveals something of the source of these birds

The first was ringed as a nestling in Gwent South Wales in May 2009 and was first sighted at Leighton Moss on 16th August 2009 a distance of 291 kms in 80 days. This suggests that some at least of the late summer early autumn influx are birds of the year.

The other though shows that adult birds are also involved. It was ringed as a nestling in Kent on 11th May 2003 and reported at Leighton Moss on 9th October 2009.At over six years old it is the oldest Little Egret reported by the British Ringing Scheme ad still going strong.

John Wilson