Recoveries

Details of the Helgoland scheme Black-headed Gull came through recently. It has become a regular at Orrell Water Park since the first sighting last October and has been recorded a total of 17 times up to 9th February.

Black-headed Gull       DEW 5437612
Nestling                       10-Jun-2016       Esterweger Dose, Weser-Ems, Germany
Ring read in field         02-Oct-2017       near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Ring read in field         09-Feb-2018      near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Duration: 609 days      Distance: 688 km       Direction: W

Black-headed Gull 5437612 photographed 09/02/18

The Hiddensee scheme Black-headed Gull IA141745 has featured in this blog many times before and has been a regular at Orrell Water Park again this winter. It was first recorded in autumn 2012 and has been recorded each autumn/winter since then. It has now been sighted on a total of 83 occasions up to 09/02/18 and is possibly one of the most photographed Black-headed Gulls in the UK as a result.

Black-headed Gull        DEH IA141745
Full grown male            29-Apr-2012      Bohmke und Werder, Mecklenburg - Vorpommern, Germany
Ring read in field          27-Oct-2012      near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Ring read in field          09-Feb-2018      near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Duration: 2112 days     Distance: 1102 km      Direction: W

Black-headed Gull IA141745 photographed 09/02/18

British ringed Black-headed Gull EZ33149 has been another regular at Orrell Water Park this winter and has been recorded on 8 occasions so far (first and most recent date given below).

Black-headed Gull        EZ33149
Nestling                        20-Jun-2017      Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, UK
Ring read in field          10-Nov-2017     near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Ring read in field          09-Feb-2018     near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Duration: 234 days       Distance: 222 km       Direction: SSE

Black-headed Gull EZ33149 photographed 09/02/18

                                                                                                            


A Lesser Redpoll controlled at Billinge last October had been ringed just 5 days earlier but the details only came through a little earlier this year. It is unusual in that it had moved in the opposite direction to that usually expected in autumn and the movement is made even more intriguing because it involved an adult.

Lesser Redpoll             S341203
Adult female                 26-Oct-2017     Lichfield Block, Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, UK
Caught by ringer          31-Oct-2017     Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK
Duration: 5 days           Distance: 94 km          Direction: NNW

Adult female Lesser Redpoll S341203 photographed 31/10/17

                                                                                                            

A Siskin that was ringed in my garden on 14th April 2016, a relatively late spring date for the garden, was caught by a ringer in western Scotland just a few days ago. Siskins migrate more in some years than others in response to the availability of food and this bird has clearly been able to stay much further north this winter.

Siskin                           S144891
2CY Male                     14-Apr-2016      near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK
Caught by ringer          11-Feb-2018      Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, UK
Duration: 668 days       Distance: 339 km       Direction: NNW

                                                                                                                           

Lastly, a Yellowhammer was recovered after falling prey to a Sparrowhawk. It hadn't moved far as is to be expected from this largely sedentary species but it still provides valuable information on lifespan along with timing and cause of death. 

Yellowhammer             TP63714
Adult male                   24-Jul-2014      Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK
Predated                     25-Jan-2018     Houghwood Golf Course, Billinge Hill, Merseyside
Killed by Sparrowhawk under pheasant feeder.

Duration: 1281 days    Distance: 2 km           Direction: W

Goldcrest movements 2017

This is the latest instalment of recoveries that haven't been shown in full before, although partial details may have been mentioned for one or two of them. The absence of any large influxes from the continent this autumn means the recoveries are only likely to involve birds from the British population.

Goldcrest                 JBX614 
Adult female 07-Sep-2015 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Caught by ringer 24-Mar-2017 Copeland Bird Observatory, Down, UK 
Duration: 564 days Distance: 226 km Direction: 306deg (NW) 

Goldcrest         HDB637 
First-year female 01-Sep-2017 South Walney, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, UK 
Caught by ringer 10-Sep-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Duration: 9 days Distance: 68 km Direction: 152deg (SSE)


Goldcrest         KJX423 
First-year male 02-Sep-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Found freshly dead 20-Sep-2017 Hannington, Hampshire, UK 
Duration: 18 days Distance: 267 km Direction: 158deg (SSE)

Goldcrest         KAD230 
First-year male 23-Nov-2016 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Caught by ringer 28-Sep-2017 Oxmoor Wood, near Runcorn, Halton, UK 
Duration: 309 days Distance: 17 km Direction: 173deg (S) 

Goldcrest         EJY447 
First-year male 10-Oct-2016 Bidston, Wirral, Merseyside, UK 
Caught by ringer 20-Oct-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Duration: 375 days Distance: 27 km Direction: 66deg (ENE)

Goldcrest         KNC292 
First-year male 19-Sep-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Taken by cat 25-Nov-2017 Fromes Hill, Ledbury, Herefordshire, UK 
Freshly dead - within about a Week Taken By Cat 
Duration: 67 days Distance: 155 km Direction: 175deg (S)




The ringing site at Billinge is the black circle with white cross and is largely hidden behind the purple marker unless viewed full screen and by zooming in.

Recoveries catch up

I haven't posted full details of recoveries and controls for quite a while but now that ringing has slowed down there is the opportunity to start catching up. This post covers recoveries of finches that were ringed in my garden and others that were ringed or controlled at Billinge.

Siskin S144871 
First-year female   12-Apr-2016 near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK 
Caught by ringer 26-Jun-2017 near Kildary, Highland, UK 
Duration: 440 days Distance: 478 km Direction: 350deg (N)
This Siskin recovery is the furthest north of all the reports received so far this year.

Goldfinch  S552424 
First-year female 27-Dec-2016 near Orrell, Greater Manchester, UK 
Caught by ringer    18-Mar-2017 Calf of Man, Isle of Man, UK 
Duration: 81 days Distance: 151 km Direction: 294deg (WNW)
There have been previous exchanges of Goldfinches with the Isle of Man from sites in my area but this is the first one from my garden.



Goldfinch  S881290 
Juvenile 06-Aug-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Caught by ringer  27-Oct-2017 Dunsby, Bourne, Lincolnshire, UK 
Duration: 82 days Distance: 174 km Direction: 116deg (ESE) 
Sexed as female when recaptured.

Lesser Redpoll AXA2748 
First-year male 18-Sep-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Caught by ringer 07-Oct-2017 Whixall & Fenn's Mosses, Wrexham, UK 
Duration: 19 days Distance: 65 km Direction: 182deg (S)

Lesser Redpoll S800301 
First-year 25-Aug-2017 Barnacre Reservoir, Lancashire, UK 
Caught by ringer 26-Oct-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Duration: 62 days Distance: 47 km Direction: 181deg (S)

Lesser Redpoll D717537 
Full grown 03-Apr-2014 Llanfyllin, Powys, UK 
Caught by ringer 01-Nov-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK 
Duration: 1308 days Distance: 88 km Direction: 25deg (NNE)
This Lesser Redpoll has also been caught at Crawford (2km from Billinge) on 5 occasions in spring and early summer 2015 and once in spring 2016. It was visiting feeders when caught at Crawford and was thought to be breeding nearby. It was sexed as a male when recaptured.

Lesser Redpoll S275550
First-year 21-Apr-2017 Torwood Lodge, Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, UK
Caught by ringer  05-Dec-2017 Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside, UK
Duration: 228 days Distance: 185 km Direction: 167deg (SSE)
Sexed male when recaptured.

S275550 adult male Lesser Redpoll, controlled at Billinge 05/12/2017

On the ringing front when there has been the opportunity to get out recently I have caught small numbers of Redwings, a few Blackbirds, a couple of Fieldfare and the odd Redpoll at Billinge and Crawford. The garden has also been reasonably productive with Goldfinches topping the totals there and a few Siskins are also starting to visit the feeders.

The cold weather and snow that has been forecast for this weekend could prove interesting and may bring some thrushes down from further north and see the feeders in the garden get even busier. I haven't had a Blackcap in the garden yet this winter but a good covering of snow and some frost may just help one come my way. So I think it is going to be a case of eyes on the garden this weekend and I may just start the next blog post on recoveries while doing so.

Siskin Movements: Spring 2017

I haven't posted details of any recoveries for a while so I thought it was time to rectify that. I have received quite a few recovery reports for Siskins over the past few months so it made sense to start with that species. Details of 3 of the movements were posted earlier in the spring but as others started to come in I decided to wait and show them all together rather than post details when they were received. All of the movements involve birds that were ringed or controlled in my garden near Orrell, Greater Manchester (purple & white circle on map). 

It is interesting that there are no movements to or from SE England as large numbers of Siskins usually winter in that area. The two recoveries well south of my garden are both in Wales and this suggest that many of the bird that visit my garden winter there and perhaps further south in SW England.

D874496      first year female   Siskin

Ringed         18/03/2014   near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled    14/02/2017   Witton-le Wear NR, Durham. 143 km NNE, duration 1064 days.

S192064       first-year male     Siskin

Ringed          11/04/2016   Peebles, Scottish Borders.

Controlled     07/03/2017   near Orrell, Greater Manchester. 293 km S, duration 330 days

S144873       first-year female  Siskin

Ringed          12/04/2016   near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled     30/01/2017   Ffynnon Gro, Llanfynydd, Carmarthenshire. 201 km S, duration 293 days.

S411915       first-year female  Siskin

Ringed          24/02/2017    Sychdyn, Mold, Flintshire.

Controlled     24/03/2017    near Orrell, Greater Manchester. 47 km NE, duration 28 days.

S264860      first-year male     Siskin

Ringed         03/03/2017      Broken Cross, Nr Macclesfield, Cheshire.

Controlled    24/03/2017      near Orrell, Greater Manchester. 46 km NW, duration: 21 days.

S785508     first-year male     Siskin

Ringed         19/02/2017      near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled    02/04/2017      Dalston, Carlisle, Cumbria. 148 km N, duration: 42 days.

S144876      adult female       Siskin

Ringed         12/04/2016       near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled    02/04/2017       Cnoc, Argyll and Bute.  324 km NNW, duration: 355 days.

S144643     first-year male     Siskin

Ringed          07/03/2016       near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled     21/02/2017       Townhill, Dunfermline, Fife. 289 km N, duration: 351 days.

S144511    adult male            Siskin

Ringed         18/02/2016       near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled    18/04/2017       Millhousebridge, Dumfries and Galloway. 188 km NNW, duration: 425 days.

S144657    first-year male      Siskin

Ringed         08/03/2016       near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Found          26/03/2017       Pont-rhyd-y-groes, Ceredigion. 152 km SSW, duration 414 days. Dying, found sick,

S552459     adult female        Siskin

Ringed          22/01/2017      near Orrell, Greater Manchester.

Controlled     23/03/2017      Glebe Farm, Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire. 268 km, duration: 60 days.

Lesser Redpoll recoveries

A couple of recovery reports for Lesser Redpolls came through today. The first shown is particularly interesting as it involved a bird that was ringed as a juvenile in Pembrokeshire back in August 2013 so is likely to have hatched in that part of the world. It was recaptured by a ringer in East Sussex in October 2013 and not heard of again until it turned up in a net at Billinge last Saturday.

Y415223                     Lesser Redpoll
Ringed as a juvenile   10/08/2013  Ty Rhyg, Rosebush, Pembrokeshire.
Caught by ringer         29/10/2013  Litlington, East Sussex.      368 km ESE
Caught by ringer         25/03/2017  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.     227 km NE (from Ty Rhyg)




The second recovery involved a bird ringed at Billinge during the big irruption of autumn 2015, so is likely to have originated from further north in England or Scotland, and was caught by a ringer in Suffolk earlier this month.

Z854359                      Lesser Redpoll
Ringed as a 1Y male   23/09/2015  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Caught by ringer          14/03/2017  Culford School, Suffolk.     264 km ESE,



A recovery report for a Siskin and a Robin were in the same batch but they, along with a couple of controls that are in the pipeline, will be the subject of another post.

Recent recoveries.

A few recoveries have trickled in recent weeks and while some of the birds involved hadn't gone very far they are interesting nevertheless.

S552233       first year      Coal Tit   (black pin on map)
Ringed          22/10/2016  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled     21/01/2017  Woolston Eyes, Warrington. 18 km SSE, duration 91 days.
A total of 52 Coal Tit were ringed at Billinge Hill last autumn with the majority being ringed in September and October when there was an obvious southward dispersal/movement. The recapture of this bird at Woolston Eyes is the first recovery to show the destination of any of these birds.

HPV497        full grown     Long-tailed Tit   (blue pin on map)
Ringed          05/10/2014  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Found dead  04/03/2017  Prescot, Merseyside. 13 km SWW, duration 881 days.
This is the first movement away from the ringing site and it was found dead under a window.

JDH819       adult male    Goldcrest   (yellow pin on map)
Ringed         01/10/2015  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled    29/10/2016  Hilbre Island, Wirral, Merseyside. 38 km WSW, duration 394 days.
This bird will have moved much further than the 38 km between the two sites. It was caught when on passage at Billinge and similarly when controlled on Hilbre Island the following year and probably originated from northern England or Scotland.




A couple of recovery reports for Siskins were also received and illustrate the mobility of the species.

D874496      first year female   Siskin
Ringed         18/03/2014   near Orrell, Greater Manchester.
Controlled    14/02/2017   Witton-le Wear NR, Durham. 143 km NNE, duration 1064 days.

S192064       first year male     Siskin
Ringed          11/04/2016   Peebles, Scottish Borders.
Controlled     07/03/2017   near Orrell, Greater Manchester. 293 km S, duration 330 days.




Siskins are an variable migrant and move further in some years than others in response to fluctuations in natural food supplies. There was a major irruption of Siskins in autumn 2015 but fewer were on the move last autumn and that is now being reflected in the numbers coming to the feeders in my garden. In 2016 I ringed 118 up to 11th March but have only ringed 64 over the same period this year. It will be interesting to see how numbers compare later in spring although I expect numbers will remain about 50% down on those of last year.

Goldcrest recoveries

A couple of Goldcrest recoveries landed in my inbox today and although one went much further than the other both are interesting in their own way.

JDH982 was ringed on 09/10/2015 on Billinge Hill and was one of 15 caught that morning. It was controlled just over a year later on 20/10/2016 at Oxwich Marsh, near Swansea (237km SSW) by Gower Ringing Group. I follow the Gower Ringing Group blog and it was one of 29 Goldcrests they caught that morning with the control Goldcrest being overshadowed by the capture of a Little Bunting. A link to their blog post for that day can be found here.



The other recovery was over a much shorter distance but is no less valuable because of that as it adds to the picture of movements of this diminutive species. KAD115 was ringed on 30/10/2016 on Billinge Hill and was one of 19 Goldcrests ringed that morning. It was controlled 8 days later on 07/11/2016 at Woolston Eyes, near Warrington (18km SE) by Merseyside Ringing Group. A link to MRG website can be found here.



Links to previous Goldcrest recoveries and controls and be found here, here, here and here.

Chiffchaff to Norway and another closer to home

Recent recoveries included details of two Chiffchaffs that were ringed on Billinge Hill last autumn. Both were ringed as first-year birds and both were controlled (caught by other ringers) this spring, but in very different places. One was caught at Lista Bird Observatory in southern Norway while the other was caught just north of Liverpool.

JBX573         Chiffchaff
Ringed          29/08/2015     Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled     08/05/2016     Lista Fyr, Farsund, Vest-Agder, Norway.   773 km NE,  253 days.


It should be remembered that the line on the recovery maps simply joins the ringing and finding places and does not represent the route taken by the bird.

A check of the BTO Online Ringing Report (link here) for 2015 revealed there had only been a total of 7 BTO ringed Chiffchaffs found in Norway (includes all records received up to the end of April this year) although a total 26 Norwegian ringed birds have been found here. This shows that recoveries in Norway are particularly uncommon and this bird is potentially only the 8th British ringed Chiffchaff to be found there.

JBX773        Chiffchaff      

Ringed         17/09/2016     Billinge Hill, Merseyside.

Controlled    14/05/2016     Fulwood Marsh, Merseyside. 19 km W, 240 days.




The recovery of JBX773 fits in with the more usual pattern of recoveries for birds returning to the general area they came from. In fact this bird may have returned to the site or close to the site where it was originally bred. Many warblers disperse in random directions before migrating south in the autumn and this bird could have moved east to Billinge, where it was ringed, as part of its post juvenile dispersal last autumn.

256 first-year Chiffchaffs were ringed at Billinge last autumn. Peak migration was in September when 122 were ringed, including the bird in this photograph.

8th April 2016: Siskin Surge

Well I didn't have long to wait to find out which way Siskin numbers were going to go as I caught 41 in the garden today, so the simple answer is up and significantly so. I actually went to Billinge first thing this morning and put a few nets up there but I only caught 6 birds as there was nothing moving, apart from 1 Swallow north (I had been hoping for some Redpoll passage), so I packed up early and a good job too. I got home just before 10am and set the usual 6m net in the garden with the first Siskins being caught as soon as I stepped away from the net. I furled the net just before noon having caught total of 21 new and 2 retrap Siskins which is an excellent total for the garden.

I opened the net again for an hour late in the afternoon and caught another 14 new birds and 4 retraps bringing the day total to 35 new birds and 6 retraps which is a record Siskin catch for the garden. There was a broad mix of weights with some fairly light birds that were carrying very little fat but at the other end of the scale there were some whoppers including one at 17.2g which is the heaviest I have caught this spring and 5.5g heavier than today's lightest bird.

Another fine adult male Siskin

I also received two recovery reports for Siskins from the BTO during the afternoon. Unfortunately both birds had collided with windows but then the finding details provide useful information on the hazards birds face in addition to the information on movements.

Siskin S144588               28/02/2016 Orrell, Greater Manchester
Freshly dead (hit glass)   05/04/2016 Lochearnhead, Stirling, Perthshire, 334km NNW, duration 37 days

Siskin S144699               13/03/2016  Orrell, Greater Manchester
Freshly dead (hit glass)   29.03/2016 Morpeth, Northumberland, 195km NNE, duration 16 days

Recovery map to be added here in due course.

While this morning's visit to Billnge didn't produce many birds it wasn't without interest. I did catch my first 2 Willow Warblers of the year with one of them being a retrap from last year. A new adult Willow Tit was worth the visit on its own, such is the scarcity of the species these days, and a standardised set of photographs and extra measurements were taken as I usually do for this species. The other birds caught were a 2 new Chiffchaff and a new Linnet so not a bad little catch really and a good start to what turned out to be a brilliant day.

Willow Warbler 08/04/2016

Willow Tit 08/04/2016

Female Linnet 08/04/2016

9th April 2016: Siskin Update
I didn't think I would be able to open the net in the garden as it was too sunny but increasing cloud cover provided two brief opportunities in the afternoon (there was a useless sunny slot in between that caused me to furl the net for a couple of hours). There were plenty of Siskins around and another 23 were caught (20 new birds, 2 retraps and a control). The retraps didn't include any of the birds ringed yesterday and one had been ringed in the garden on 29/03/16 and the other 2km away at Billinge Hill on 13/09/15. The latter being quite surprising as it is the second Billinge bird to turn up in the garden this month from only 19 ringed there last autumn. The control was a male and the ring was from a fairly old sequence (Y281---) so it will be interesting to see when and where it was ringed.

A few more recoveries.

When I posted details of the Goldcrests that were controlled at Billinge this autumn (link here) I was still waiting for the ringing information of an individual with ring number HJV774. The recovery report for this bird finally came through yesterday and it had been ringed on the north east coast at Whitburn Country Park, Tyne & Wear on 14/10/2015 and was controlled at Billinge just six days later on 20/10/2015, a movement of 184 km SSW. This bird was part of the big influx of continental Goldcrests and it probably stayed in the vicinity of Whitburn for at least a day or two following its north sea crossing before moving on.

Goldcrest HJV774 photographed when controlled at Billinge on 20/10/2015.

Other recoveries received in recent weeks have also included a couple of the Lesser Redpolls ringed at Billinge this autumn.

Z854489 was ringed at Billinge on 29/09/2015 and was controlled at Hasfield Ham, Gloucestershire on 15/10/2015, 177 km S. Duration 16 days. 

Z019619 was ringed at Billinge on 06/10/2015 and was controlled at Whixall & Fenn's Mosses, Wrexham on 10/12/2015, 65 km S. Duration 4 days.

Goldcrest Recoveries

It was a fantastic autumn for Goldcrests at Billinge and large numbers were ringed even before the big influx of continental birds that came in October. The ringing site itself doesn't hold any breeding pairs or wintering birds so all the Goldcrests caught are effectively passage migrants. A few pairs breed nearby and the first birds of the autumn were dispersing juveniles with 8 being ringed in July followed by another 16 in August. Autumn migration proper got underway in September and 258 were ringed that month. Numbers were boosted in October when some of the continental birds worked their way across the country from the east coast and the month ended with another 336 having been ringed. Reasonable numbers were still moving through in November but only 75 were caught as poor weather frequently hampered ringing.

In addition to the 693 birds ringed a total of 7 controls (birds ringed elsewhere) were caught and I have now received details for 6 of these birds. The first of the controls was a short distance movement of 3 km, a bird ringed at Kings Moss on 12/10/14 and controlled at Billinge on 07/09/15 and isn't mapped. The other controls had moved a good deal further as can be seen from their details and the map below. The two red pins mark the ringing sites of birds that are most likely to be from the British breeding population whilst the 3 yellow pins mark the ringing sites of continental birds that were caught during the large influx along the east coast. The black pin marks the ringing site at Billinge.

HKD161 ringed 05/04/15 Bardsey Island, Gwynedd - controlled Billinge 25/09/15
EBK202 ringed 11/10/13 Greystoke Forest, Cumbria - controlled Billinge 28/10/15
HVB825 ringed 16/10/15 Skelton Castle, Redcar & Cleveland - controlled Billinge 28/10/15
HHJ840 ringed 17/10/15 The Headland, Hartlepool - controlled Billinge 28/10/15
JDP045 ringed 11/10/15 Kilnsea, East Riding of Yorkshire - controlled Billinge 31/10/15

Control Goldcrest HHJ840 had been ringed 11 days earlier in Hartlepool.

It is early days yet but there have been two recoveries of Goldcrests that were ringed at Billinge this autumn and both were found freshly dead having flown into windows. JBX684 was ringed on 13/09/15 and was possibly still migrating when it was recovered in Long Itchington, Warwickshire on 19/10/15. 




The second recovery is of bird that was ringed quite recently and it was recovered surprisingly quickly. JJH263 was ringed at Billinge on 22/11/15 and was found dead at Lathom, Lancashire the following day having moved 11 km NW. This is a quick recovery and although it hadn't travelled far it shows that this bird still hadn't found a suitable unoccupied site where it could settle down for the winter. Goldcrests' food requirements of insects and insect eggs in particular means they can't winter at high density, even in good habitats, so this must play a big part in their movements and winter distribution. I did notice some noisy and aggressive behaviour between 3 Goldcrests near my garden recently. This appeared to be territorial in nature and such behaviour presumably plays a part in spreading birds out.



Details of the outstanding control and any further recoveries will be posted in due course..

Goldcrest HJV774 controlled at Billinge 20/10/15.
The ringing details of this bird have yet to be received but it certainly looks like a continental bird so it may also have been ringed on the east coast ??

Rapid Recoveries

No this is not news of birds being recovered shortly after ringing but it is about speed in the turnaround of recovery reports from the new BTO ringing application. Ringing details for the controls that I submitted, with other data, on Wednesday evening landed back in my inbox on Friday, just 2 days later. I expected a longer wait but I was wrong and the new system is really starting to show its capabilities now. When the online version is up and running it should be even quicker and I could be posting details of some controls on the day they are caught. This new system may have taken longer to introduce than originally planned but it certainly looks like that wait has been worthwhile.

Lesser Redpoll Y781820 (purple line and markers) was ringed on 02/02/14 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and was controlled at Crawford on 27/05/15. A movement of 41 km NW. It may not be a long distance or quick movement but the speed of the new system means I can post the recovery details just 3 days after the bird was controlled and submitted.

Lesser Redpoll  D717537 (red line and markers) was ringed on 03/04/14 in Llanfyllin, Powys and was controlled at Crawford on 13/05/15 and 27/05/15. A movement of 89 km NNE. A similar rapid turnaround of ringing details for this control.

Blackbird CT82386 (blue line and markers) was ringed as a juvenile male in my garden in Orrell on 23/07/14 and was controlled in Darnall, South Yorkshire on 12/04/15. British bred Blackbirds are fairly sedentary in the main so this is quite a good movement especially as it involved a crossing of the Pennines.





The Goldfinch D954944 pictured in my last post and controlled at Crawford on 27/05/15 had been ringed at a Kings Moss on 09/11/14, just 2 km away, so isn't mapped. Interestingly it wasn't sexed when originally ringed so it may not have finished moulting its head feathers at that time and those unusual lesser coverts may have also contributed to the bird being left unsexed. In addition there wouldn't have been the opportunity to confirm the sex of the bird through examination of the cloaca in November so erring on the side of caution was probably the best decision at that time. I only mention this as sexing Goldfinches is one of my pet subjects and it must be of interest to many other people judging by the page views of my previous post on the subject (main link here).  Page views of that post still run into the many hundreds each week and seem destined to keep it at the top of the most popular post list.

Recent recoveries

The latest recoveries received included some interesting movements as follows:

Goldcrest HPV313 (orange line) was ringed at Billinge on 18/09/2014 and was one of 15 caught that day. It was controlled on 07/04/2015 near East Lamington, Morangie Forest, Highland, 483 km to the north, and is my furthest movement of a Goldcrest to date. It was one of 312 Goldcrests ringed at the site last autumn and is the first indication of their origins.

Robin Z273561 (red line) was ringed at Billinge on 10/09/2014 and was subsequently controlled in Newport, Telford and Wrekin, 85 km south, on 13/01/2015 and again on 22/01/2015. There was a good movement of Robins through Billinge last autumn, 74 were ringed with the majority moving through in September like this bird.

Goldfinch D308986 (black line) was a bird I controlled at Crawford on 21/04/2015 and mentioned in a previous post (link here). It had been ringed near Penallt, Monmouthshire on 22/02/2015 and had presumably wintered in that area. I had suspected the recent increase in the number of Goldfinches at Crawford was, in part, due to some birds returning north and this recovery confirms that for this bird at least. 

Beauty before age

A couple of recoveries came through recently that are worth mentioning:

A Goldfinch ringed in the garden on 09/12/2013 was controlled by ringers in West Tofts, Norfolk almost a year later on 24/11/2014. These attractive finches are variable migrants and move more in some years than others. The increasing provision of nyger seed and sunflower hearts is probably also playing a part in influencing when and how far birds move these days.


The other recovery was of a Canada Goose that I ringed at Pennington Flash, Leigh and was recovered 19 km to the east on the river Irwell in Salford. The interesting aspect of this recovery was the bird's age rather than the movement. I had ringed it as an adult on 07/08/1995 and it was controlled on 01/12/2014 some 19 years, 3 months and 25 days later and was still going strong. As it was an adult when it was ringed it was at least a year old then and could possibly have been much older so we can safely say it is over 20 years old. Although that may seem a good age it falls well short of the longevity record for Canada Goose which stands at 31 years 10 months and 29 days and was set in 2007 (BTO Online Ringing Reports).

Recent recoveries

It has been a while since I posted details of any recoveries but the three I received today are of particular interest. All three birds were ringed on Billinge Hill and were subsequently recovered abroad.

Redwing RS60485 was ringed on 17/10/14 during the first big wave of arrivals last autumn and was recovered (shot) in Fitero, Navarra, northern Spain 44 days later on 30/11/2014, 1272 km S . All the Redwings that moved over Billinge in the autumn carried on south and were not just arriving to winter in the UK as this recovery shows.

Blackcap Z219583 was ringed on 23/07/2014 and had probably hatched locally as it was still in juvenile plumage when ringed. It was controlled (recaptured by ringers) in Fonte da Benemola, Faro, Portugal on 01/11/2014 and was sexed as a male when recaught. A movement of 1856 km SSW in 98 days.

Chiffchaff HNN757 was ringed on 31/08/2014 and was controlled (recaptured by ringers) in Trunvel, Treogat, Finistère, France on 13th October 2014, a distance of 635 km SSW in 43 days. This bird was probably still on passage when recaptured in France and may have continued further south to winter in Spain or Portugal.

 

The Waxwing is still visiting the garden and I have created a separate page to display the most recent photographs. This page can be accessed via the 'Waxwing 2015' tab under the header and the blog posts like this one are now on the 'Home' page. I will try and update the Waxwing page each day but she may still feature in the regular posts from time to time, assuming she stays for a while yet.

Waxwing 23/02/15