Icelandic Redwing Recovery

When I received a recovery report for a Redwing I had identified as being of the Icelandic race and it had actually been recovered in Iceland I was more than a little pleased and surprised, to say the least. I have ringed 3675 Redwings on Billinge Hill and at Crawford since 2014 but only a very tiny proportion of those have been of the Icelandic race 'coburni'. Add in the relatively low recovery rate for Redwings of roughly 1 in 500 from my ringing and 1 for every 1166 from all ringing in Britain and Ireland up to 2020 (BTO online ringing report) and there was very little chance of having one of my Icelandic Redwings recovered anywhere, let alone in Iceland. In terms of likelihood getting this recovery report was a bit like winning the lottery.

Redwing (Turdus iliacus coburni)

RY31104    first year    17/11/2018    Billinge Hill, Billinge, Merseyside, UK

Caught by ringer          25/03/2022    Akureyri, Norður, Eyjafjarðarsýsla, Iceland

Duration: 1224 days     Distance: 1600 km     Direction: 328deg (NNW)

When I looked at the recoveries in BTO online ringing report there had only been 32 Redwings recovered in Iceland from all ringing in Britain and Ireland up to 2020. Of those 32 recoveries 29 had been ringed in Scotland, 1 in Ireland, 1 in Wales and again only 1 in England. An analysis of Redwing recoveries by R.D.P Milwright using data from birds ringed in the breeding season indicated that Icelandic Redwings winter almost entirely in Scotland, Ireland, western France and northwest Iberia. Also that adults and birds from eastern Iceland are more likely to be recovered in Scotland and Ireland while those from Western Iceland are more likely to be found in France and Iberia.

I have had a long standing interest in Icelandic Redwings which started in the early days of my ringing when I was with Leigh Ringing Group and we used to catch large numbers of Redwings at a roost site near Bolton. In those days I used to wonder how difficult or easy it would be to identify 'coburni' given they were generally described as averaging a bit darker and longer winged. Not only that but did they even occur in north-west England given what was known and published at that time. Back in those days, like many ringers, I used to think the best initial clue would be size with any long winged bird (126mm+) being a candidate for the Icelandic race but that ignores the fact that there is a huge overlap in the range of wing lengths the 2 races display. If my memory serves me correct we didn't catch any particularly long-winged Redwings at that roost site, certainly none that would be outside the normal range of the nominate race 'iliacus' and nor did any appear to be noticeably darker.

My interest in this subject was revived when I started ringing on Billinge Hill in 2014 and found I was able to catch large numbers of Redwings from migrating flocks in autumn with the help of a new sound lure. On 16th November 2014 I caught a Redwing that was noticeably darker but I was cautious and only tentatively suggested it could be an Icelandic bird and wrote about it in a blog post here. On 20th November 2014 I caught another dark and heavily marked Redwing and this time I was convinced it must be an Icelandic Redwing. It had a wing length was 127mm, so was quite big but not necessarily outside 'iliacus' range, depending on which reference you use. It also made me realize that I had been too cautious with the individual I had caught a few days earlier and that too was an Icelandic bird. This second bird resulted in me writing a blog post Redwings: coburni v iliacus (link here) which has become one the most popular posts on this blog, such is the interest in separating the two races.

While I had become happy that I could pick out well marked Icelandic birds regardless of their wing length I was still left wondering how similar in appearance to 'iliacus' some of them might be and I still don't know the answer to that one. Since those first two Icelandic Redwings I have caught a few others in most autumns (usually in late October or November) but I have also caught others that I considered fell short in terms of appearance to varying degrees. My ringing notebooks are littered with notes on the appearance of Redwings and it is why I can't put an exact number on how many Icelandic birds I have actually ringed because I may have been too cautious in some cases. Some were put down as definite 'coburni' and that number only gets into low double figures but others were put down as possibles or probables for one reason or another. I have also caught a quite a few long winged birds that appeared to be typical 'iliacus' in terms of appearance but had wing lengths of 127mm and 128mm. However, the two longest wing lengths I have recorded were 128.5mm and 129mm with the first individual being considered to be a definite 'coburni' on appearance (images of this individual can be seen in a blog post here) but second was only noted as being a bit darker than typical 'iliacus' and was only considered to be a possible 'coburni', partly based on its 129mm wing length. Another interesting point about the latter bird is that it was caught on 3rd October 2016 during an early movement of 'iliacus' and would seem to be too early for a bird of Icelandic origin to reach north-west England, not to mention the issue of different weather patterns that would influence the movements of the two races in reaching the UK.

While I was happy I was catching a small number of Icelandic Redwings there is no substitute for some form of proof especially as the race could be considered a county rarity or even an English rarity. Statistically I knew the chances of catching a bird that had been ringed in Iceland or having one of my birds recovered there was so incredibly low that it was never likely to happen. I wasn't likely to go to Iceland to look at Icelandic Redwings on their breeding grounds to study their appearance either. I also investigated the possibility of confirming the identity of some of my Icelandic birds through DNA from feather samples but that failed to get the necessary support at the time. So when the recovery report for RY31104 landed in my inbox a few days ago the proof I never expected to get was actually there.

I only caught 12 Redwings on 17th November 2018 and 3 of them were what I described as stand out examples of the Icelandic race, 'coburni', in a blog post at the time (link here). Unfortunately I only photographed one of these Icelandic birds and it wasn't the bird that produced the recovery. The wing lengths of these 3 'coburni' were 126.5mm, 125mm and 122mm with the bird that was recovered in Iceland having a wing length of 125mm.

Icelandic Redwing 17//11/2018

Icelandic Redwing 17//11/2018

Icelandic Redwing 17//11/2018

This recovery and my ringing records of Icelandic Redwings hopefully go some way to show that they occur more regularly in northwest England than had previously been known or even thought. I hope my blog posts and photos have gone some way to show that separating the two races is best based on appearance rather than being distracted by consideration of wing length. What I can't tell you is how similar in appearance some individuals of the two races may actually be but I suspect, as recorded in my ringing notebooks, there will be some slightly darker birds that can't be confidently recorded as 'coburni' but probably or possibly are and others may just may be well marked 'iliacus'. As for wing length, in my experience, even some quite long-winged birds with wing lengths of 127mm and 128mm, that look like nominate 'iliacus' are probably just that, long-winged 'iliacus'. If it was too easy it wouldn't be worth doing, would it.

References

Robinson, R.A., Leech, D.I. & Clark, J.A.(2021) The Online Demography Report: bird ringing and nest recording in Britain & Ireland in 2010. BTO, Thetford (http://www.bto.org/ringing-report, created on 27-June-2020)  

R. D. P. Milwright (2002) Redwing Turdus iliacus migration and wintering areas as shown by recoveries of birds ringed in the breeding season in Fennoscandia, Poland, the Baltic Republics, Russia, Siberia and Iceland, Ringing & Migration, 21:1, 5-15, DOI: 10.1080/03078698.2002.9674271

Starling stuff

Well I am still here, for the time being at least, and my study Starlings seem too be doing particularly well. My RAS season started on 21st April and I have recorded 103 colour ringed Starlings visiting the feeders so far. This is an exceptionally good start to my RAS season and it looks like it will prove to be an earlier than average breeding season too.

DO6 is a regular visitor to the garden and has been recorded on numerous occasions during the breeding season since being ringed in February 2016. The photos are a bit crappy but my excuse is they were taken through a window in harsh light.

D06 again left and A59 right. Both are males and A59 has been recorded on numerous occasions each year since being ringed in May 2015.

Rig Recovery

I haven't had any overseas recoveries for a while but I received a recovery report the other day which was literally over the sea. The report was of a Redwing that had been found dead on an oil rig in the North Sea off Norway.



RY31120 Redwing
First Year      19/11/2018  Billinge Hill, Billinge, Merseyside.
Found dead  17/11/2019  Oil Rig Snorre B, Tampen, North Sea. 938km NNE

It wasn't freshly dead when found but is still likely to have reached the rig the same autumn as I wouldn't have thought a the body of a small thrush like a Redwing would last long on an exposed rig or remain unfound for very long either.

Siskins numbers increase, slowly

There hasn't been a great deal to report recently hence the lack of posts. The Collared Doves completed their nest and one of the adults was sitting when I checked it yesterday. While it is good to be able to report that this nesting attempt has got to the egg stage it hardly makes for a post on its own.

Decent numbers of birds are coming to the feeders in the garden although there has been a decrease in Goldfinches compared with the numbers seen in December and January. Siskins, on the other hand, are starting to increase with 5 or so visiting the garden each day now. Siskins are an irruptive species and I get very few in the garden in some years and loads in others, with last year being a particularly good year. This year looks like being a relatively poor year but there is plenty of time yet as the main period runs from now until mid-April.

Adult male Siskin 10/02/2017

I received a recovery report for one of last year's Siskins the other day which showed it had been controlled by Teifi Ringing Group in Carmarthenshire, South Wales at the end of January. This Siskin was ringed in the garden on 12th April last year and there is a chance it will turn up in the garden at a similar time this year as it works its way back north. Although they are a variable migrant they are known to return to the same sites in subsequent winters and when on passage and I have already retrapped a couple of birds that were ringed in the garden last year.

S144873               Siskin
Ringed                  12/04/2016  near Orrell, Greater Manchester
Caught by ringer   30/01/2017  Ffynnon, Llanfynydd, Carmarthenshire
Movement 201 km SSW, duration 293 days





The other significant news from the garden is the near total absence of House Sparrows this winter. I am lucky if I see one a week these days and sometimes the gap has been longer. I have probably seen Brambling in the garden more often this winter which is something I couldn't have imagined saying just a few years ago.

Female Brambling 10/02/2017.
A rare visitor to the garden but seen more frequently than House Sparrow this winter!

Another Redwing recovery, 1011 ringed and a 'coburni' too.

Another recovery report for a Redwing landed in my inbox yesterday and gives further support to my view that most of the birds that migrate via Billinge in October and early November are heading for wintering areas much further south. While this movement isn't as quick as the recent recovery in Spain it still shows a good onward movement in the main migration period. It was almost certainly still on passage when recaptured on Guernsey and will probably spend the winter further south in France or Iberia.

RZ37675               Redwing      (first year)
Ringed                  12/10/2016   Billinge Hill, Billinge, Merseyside.
Caught by ringer   02/11/2016   Jerbourg, Guernsey, Channel Islands. 454 km S, duration 21 days.

Redwing passage appeared to have ended at Billinge by mid Novemeber, when the ringing total stood just under the 780 mark, but after a lull of around ten days there has been an upsurge in Redwing numbers/movements in the area that hasn't ended yet. This has resulted in another 232 Redwings being ringed at the Billinge and Crawford sites between 23rd November and today. Quite why this is is hard to say but a northerly (NW to NE) push of Redwings has been recorded at vis mig sites in Staffordshire and on the West Pennine Moors in the same period, including 3464 moving NW over Winter Hill on 29/11/2016.

I caught another 15 Redwings at Billinge this morning which brought the combined ringing totals for Billinge and Crawford to 1,011 and all since 3rd October; a good effort even if I do say so myself. I didn't take a photo of the thousandth Redwing but thousand and eighth certainly got my attention as it was a very obvious Icelandic Redwing, the first and perhaps the only one of this autumn. It didn't have a particularly long wing at 120mm but far too much is made of their wing length considering there is a huge overlap between the two races. The real indicator is their much darker appearance, not their wing length.

If a Redwing as dark and as well marked as this doesn't get your attention I don't know one that will.

The legs and toes were quite dark, although not as dark as some 'coburni', but darker than most 'iliacus'.

Strongly marked undertail coverts seem to be a feature of Icelndic birds. While the tail itself is broad and quite rounded there is plenty of wear.

A very obvious moult limit with 4 ogcs'; old tertials are present too. There is no doubt that this is a first year bird.

While on the subject of Redwings I will be updating the Redwing ageing page fairly soon. Any new information/images will be tagged on at the end and labelled as an update to make them easier to find.

Rapid Redwing recovery in Spain

I have just received a recovery report for a Redwing that was ringed at Billinge on 16/10/2016 and had reached northern Spain just 4 days later. It was found in Barakaldo which is just to the northwest of Bilbao and 1132 km south of Billinge, giving it average rate of travel of 283 km per day. It was reported as being found freshly dead but that doesn't mean it reached Spain on the day it was found so the movement could have been even quicker.

RZ37816 Redwing (aged as a first year)
Ringed        16/10/2016  Billinge Hill, near Billinge, Merseyside.
Recovered  20/10/2016 Barakaldo, Vizcaya, Spain. Found freshly dead 1132 km south.



Many thousands of Redwings migrate over Billinge each autumn and I have always been of the opinion that most were likely to be heading for wintering grounds further south in Europe rather than within the UK and this recovery adds weight to that view. It is the 2nd movement of a Redwing from Billinge to Spain in the same autumn with the previous recovery involving a Redwing ringed on 17/10/2014 and found in Fitero, northern Spain, 1272 km south, on 30/11/2014.

Whilst on the subject of Redwings I can now report that I have nearly completed an item on ageing Redwings in autumn. I have decided it merits its own page rather than just appearing as another post so a 'Redwing ageing' tab will appear under the blog header when it is finished and I hit the publish button. So if viewing lots of images of the wings and tails of Redwings is something that could interest you then please look out for the new tab.

Long distance Dove.

Regular readers of this blog may just remember a post (link here) in which I detailed my failure to catch a French ringed Blackcap in a friends garden. While I didn't catch the Blackcap that day, way back on 30/12/14, I did manage to catch a Wren, 3 Dunnocks, 4 Blackbirds, 4 Blue Tits, 2 Coal Tits and a Collared Dove. The chances of getting a recovery from that small catch is extremely low and the chances of getting a long distance recovery is even lower so you can imagine my surprise when I received a recovery report for the Collared Dove and it had been found 308 km away in Scotland.

ES10154    Collared Dove
Ringed        30/12/2014     Hindley Green, near Hindley, Greater Manchester
Found         07/06/2016     Buchlyvie, Stirling, Scotland.   308 km NNW, duration 525 days.
It was reported as being found unwell and that it died overnight.



This is the first recovery I have ever had for a Collared Dove and it prompted me to do a bit of reading up on the species. The section on Collared Dove in the BTO Migration Atlas starts with the usual summary of its colonisation of the UK - first recorded in 1952, first recorded breeding in 1955, firmly established by 1963 and that current abundance broadly mirrors that of the human population. However it goes on to say that dispersal distances have reduced since the mid-1970s and that there is little recent evidence for the long distance dispersal that assisted their spread across Europe and subsequent colonisation of Britain & Ireland.

The Migration Atlas was published in 2002 so I also trawled through the Online Ringing Reports on the BTO website to look at more recent recoveries. The Online Ringing Report currently shows data for the last 9 years (2007 - 2015) and, interestingly, there were only 5 movements of over 100km reported within Britain & Ireland during that period. In addition there were no recoveries abroad of birds ringed in Britain & Ireland and only one foreign ringed Collared Dove was found here, a bird ringed in western France that travelled 843 km north to South Yorkshire. This strongly suggests that the reduction in long distance dispersal since the mid 1970s has been maintained.

The number of Collared Doves ringed each year has been broadly similar for many years with the average for the last 9 years being 771. This is less than I had expected given how common they are but then they are very adept at avoiding and getting out of mist-nets which is the most commonly used trapping method employed by ringers. Even looking all the way back to 1966 the annual totals are generally in the mid to high hundreds and only exceed the 1,000 mark occasionally, with the highest total being 1,817 in 1971, so the continued low occurrence of long distance movements over the last 9 years isn't a result of fewer Collared Doves being ringed each year.

So the recent recovery of ES10154 in Scotland is more unusual than I initially realised as reports of long distance movements are less than annual and seem likely to remain that way. It's hardly surprising that Collared Doves became more sedentary following the colonisation of our islands as those birds that continued to disperse over long distances to the west or northwest would increasingly find themselves over the sea and perish. It seems, therefore, that long distance dispersal has largely been bred out of British and Irish Collared Doves and that long distance movements will remain the exception and serve as an occasional reminder of a previously more commonly held trait that helped the species spread from their ancestral haunts in Turkey and the Middle East.

Collared Dove

References:

BTO, Wernham C., et al. ‘’The Migration Atlas: Movements of the Birds of Britain and Ireland.’’ London: T & AD Poyser Ltd (A & C Black) (2002).

Robinson, R.A., Leech, D.I. & Clark, J.A.(2015) The Online Demography Report: Bird ringing and nest recording in Britain & Ireland in 2015 BTO, Thetford (link here)

Recent recoveries including that BLB Blackcap

Regular readers of this blog will have seen numerous posts that included photographs of a Belgium-ringed Blackcap that spent the second half of the winter in the garden. Well it has taken a bit longer than I expected but the ringing details finally arrived today. It was ringed near Herne, Brabant, Belgium on 20/09/2014. It was first seen and photographed in the garden on 17/01/2016 and was recorded nearly every day to the last sighting on 31/03/2016.

BLB 13882986 Blackcap photographed 22/03/2016

BLB 13882986          3M Blackcap
Ringed                       20/09/2014  Herne, Brabant, Belgium.
Controlled (sighting)  17/01/2016  near Orrell, Greater Manchester. 555 km NW, duration 509 days.
Also recorded nearly every day to 31/03/2016.






Another recovery involved a Siskin that was ringed on Billinge Hill last autumn and was controlled near Loch Lomond, Scotland in April. Interestingly this bird was recaptured at the same site as a Siskin that I controlled in the garden and detailed in a previous post (link here).

Z019649     3F Siskin
Ringed        09/10/2015    Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled   22/04/2016    Cnoc, Argyll & Bute. 326 km NNW, duration 196 days.





Details were also received of a Goldfinch that was ringed in the garden last autumn and recaptured in SW Scotland earlier this spring.

Z019660     3J  Goldfinch
Ringed        10/10/2015  near Orrell, Greater Manchester.
Controlled   14/04/2016  Leswalt, Dumfiers & Galloway. 220 km NW, 187 days.

Rapid recovery report and an early juv Starling

I received a recovery report for a Lesser Redpoll this afternoon, which is not that surprising given how many I ringed last autumn, but what was surprising is that it was controlled at 06:55 this morning and the details were emailed to me just over six hours later, now that is a rapid turnaround for a recovery report. Hats off to the ringer who controlled it and to the BTO for the quick work.

Another more interesting point is that it is still so far south given the date. This bird was migrating south when caught at Billinge last autumn so is likely to head back this way at some point and it may have been on passage when controlled in Devon this morning. Coincidentally I was out at Billinge this morning and did have 3 Lesser Redpolls going north. I only caught one of them but it was a fat bird and weighed 14.4g so is likely to be heading up to Scotland to breed. There hasn't been a particular good passage of Redpolls at Billinge this spring which is a bit of a surprise given how many went south last autumn. Perhaps there are quite a few that have still to make their way back north?

Z854373      Lesser Redpoll
Ringed        23/09/2015  Billinge Hill, Merseyside.
Controlled   04/05/2016  Buttercombe Barton, Devon. 280 km SSW. Duration: 224 days




Another bit of news from today is that I saw my first juvenile Starling in the garden this evening. I knew they were breeding earlier compared with last year but I have never seen a fledged juvenile so early in May before. It will be interesting to see how many young each pair have once more start to follow their parents into the garden.

It took me by surprise and didn't stay long and that is my excuse for only getting a rubbish photo.

Song Thrush recovery.

I recently received a recovery report for a Song Thrush that was ringed at Billinge last October and recovered in southern Portugal earlier this year.

RL87302      Song Thrush
Ringed         12/10/2015    Billinge Hill, Billinge, Merseyside.
Recovered   07/01/2016    Cuba, Alentejo, Beja, Portugal, 1749km SSW, duration 87 days.

The finding circumstances were reported as: 'freshly dead - hunted' which is not an uncommon fate for this species in southern Europe where such hunting is still common place. On the positive side the hunter was clearly interested enough in their quarry to report that it was ringed and has provided valuable information on the movement, timing and cause of death which ultimately can be used for conservation purposes.




This was one of six Song Thrush ringed at Billinge on 12th October 2015 and one of 20+ recorded passing through the site that morning. It was also one of 77 ringed at the site over the autumn with the monthly ringing totals being 2 in September, 70 in October and 5 in November. Peak movements were in early to mid October with 50 being ringed within the fairly narrow period of 8th to 16th October which coincided with the first main influxes of Redwings. Many were continental birds and could be identified by being more olive-grey compared to our more yellowish and warm brown toned British race, although this particular bird wasn't identified as to race.

One of the six Song Thrushes ringed Billinge Hill 12/10/15 but not the bird that was recovered in Portugal.

An unexpected recovery

As a general rule the more birds you ring of a particular species the greater the chance there is of one or more being recovered (found elsewhere) and larger species tend to have higher recovery rates than the smaller ones. While that is the way things average out over time at the national level it doesn't always work out that way in practice for individual ringers or ringing groups.

Last year I ringed 746 warblers at Billinge with the majority being Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers with totals of 269 and 256 respectively and Blackcap came in third place with a respectable 173 ringed. Statistically there was a reasonable chance that one or more birds from those top 3 ringed species of warbler would have been recovered by now but, disappointingly, not a single one has been reported so far.

At the other end of the numbers scale I ring very few Sedge Warblers at Billinge as it is a dry habitat on the side of a hill with no Sedge Warbler breeding sites close by. They only occur as a very scarce passage migrant as a result and only 6 were ringed in 2015. All were caught in the autumn between 22nd July and 11th August with 5 being first year birds and 1 an adult. So when I received a recovery report for one of these Sedge Warblers from the BTO the other day it was more than a little unexpected, to say the least.

Sedge Warbler Z680292 was a first year bird ringed at Billinge on 07/08/2015 and was controlled 679 km SSE in Noyant, Soulaire-et-Bourg, Maine-et-Loire France on 15/08/2015. This is a fairly quick movement averaging at just under 85 km per day although it is likely that the bird covered the 679 km in a couple of overnight flights with a refuelling stop in between.

Not the bird in question but one of the other first year Sedge Warblers ringed at Billinge last autumn.

The vagaries of recoveries and recovery rates can be a frustration for ringers especially when you don't get any recoveries from ringing large numbers of a particular species but just occasionally things work out the other way, as in this case.

Willow Warbler recovery

I recently received the recovery report for the control Willow Warbler that I caught on Billinge Hill on 7th August and it had been ringed at Leighton Moss 29 days earlier. Not a particularly long or fast movement but interesting nevertheless. Willow Warblers migrate through the Billinge site in good numbers and 157 have been ringed so far this autumn. There has been a fairly constant turnover of birds since mid-July and this recovery is the first to indicate the origin of some of those birds.



Willow Warbler migration across the country is peaking just about now and this first year bird may have already moved on and reached the south coast or be even be further south in France. Not bad for a bird that may only be about ten weeks old, yes little more than ten weeks old and on its way to sub-Saharan Africa.

While on the subject of Willow Warblers the following image shows the tail of a young bird that must have had a severe fault bar that caused the tip of the tail to break off. The two complete tail feathers are replacement feathers and show how much of the other feathers has snapped off. Fault bars are caused by periods of poor nutrition when the feathers are growing and are testament to the grotty summer we have had.

IY Willow Warbler tail. The juvenile tail feathers have sheared off along the line of a fault bar. The 2 complete feathers are newer replacements and are easily recognised by being darker and more glossy.

Adult Willow Warblers have or are just about to complete their moult now and can often be recognised by having whiter bellies than first year birds. It is not a totally infallible criteria, as a few intermediates do occur, but is true in most cases. The condition and shape of the tail feathers is usually the clincher where there is any doubt.

Willow Warblers: First year left and freshly moulted adult right.

The long and short of it

Fellow ringer and Coot enthusiast, Kane Brides, phoned me to let me know that the Coot I photographed yesterday had been ringed at Cosmeston Lakes, near Cardiff. He wasn't sure if it was one that had previously been sighted in our area or a different bird. A check of the BTO Online Ringing Reports showed it to be the same bird and that it had been sighted at Worthington Lakes in February 2012.


View GR03863 Coot in a larger map

Recovery information for Coot GR03863 or Cwtiar in Welsh
Ringed   23/12/10 Cosmeston Lakes, near Penarth, Glamorgan.
Sighted  03/02/12 Worthington Lakes, Standish, Wigan, Greater Manchester 244 km N.
Sighted  11/12/13 Orrell Water Park, Orrell, Wigan, Greater Manchester 237km N of Comeston Lakes and 9km SSE of Worthington Lakes. The distances moved being the long and short of the post title if you hadn't worked it out already.

You can also view a different version of the map by clicking here. I have been messing around with google maps and can't decide if I like the lite version.

A well travelled Coot but probably a northerner at heart.

This bird may have originated from northwest England and moved down to Cosmeston Lakes as a result of cold weather. December 2010 was exceptionally cold and was the coldest December in over 100 years. It would have caused many water birds like Coots to move to find areas of open water. The fact that it has been recorded in the Wigan area in two winters since goes some way to support this theory.

Coot movements are complicated to say the least and they move around far more often than most people realise. Most birders haven't even seen a Coot fly other than perhaps a short low flight across part of a lake. That is because Coot movements happen under the cover of darkness and simply don't get noticed unless they are heard calling in flight. I am lucky enough to live near a couple of small lakes and it is not uncommon for me to hear them flying overhead along with the responses from the Coots on the water. This two way communication is clearly important and may help birds find good feeding areas or avoid conflict. It is certainly an area that deserves further study.

Siskin recovery

A Siskin ringed in the garden was the pick of the latest batch of recoveries received from the BTO. It was ringed as an adult female on 23/02/13 and was subsequently caught by a ringer in Keith, Moray, Scotland on 13th April; a movement of 447km in 49 days.

I ringed 102 Siskins between 2nd February and 30th March which is the most I have ringed in the garden. There is a chance that we will find out a few more have been recovered in due course as ringers have been catching Siskins in exceptional numbers across the country this spring.


View D277622 Siskin in a larger map

Adult female Siskin photographed in the garden 14/02/13

Control Sanderling G2WYRR

The colour ringed Sanderling I photographed at Southport yesterday had been ringed in south west Iceland on 30th May last year. A distance of some 998 miles but this is probably only a fraction of the distance it covers from its wintering grounds somewhere on the west African coast and the breeding grounds in Greenland. Thanks to Jeroen Reneerkens for the prompt reply with the ringing details.



View Sanderling G2WYRR in a larger map