Tuesday 8 March 2011

Waxwings, Wagtails and more recent recoveries

Another attempt at the pied wagtail roost on Sunday night was a bit disappointing when, after setting up, they chose to roost in a different place. We still managed to catch 16 birds, moving a net and catching a few around the normal net. Interestingly after a slightly female biased catch last time (15 females - 11 males), this time we had a male-biased catch (14 males - 2 females).



  
With growing numbers of waxwings and dwindling berry crops, waxwing catching looked like it was going to be easy yesterday, especially after we caught 5 before we'd even tied up the net... unfortunately the whole flock then left while we were processing and didn't come back, can't complain at five more though!











Finally a few recent recoveries have just come through:

Blackbird - one ringed as a nestling at UEA on 08/06/2009, killed by a car at Branch End, Stocksfield, Northumberland on 20/05/2010. 329km - 347days

Long-tailed Tit (female) - one ringed at UEA on 22/09/2009, retrapped by a ringer in Alderton, Suffolk on 11/04/2010. 69km - 201days

Sparrowhawk (First-year male) - one ringed by UEARG at Whitlingham Marsh Sewage Works on 31/08/2009, found dead at Thorpe St. Andrew on 15/04/2010. 3km - 228days



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2 comments:

  1. That Blackbird movement is bizarre! Wonder if the ring was squashed under a tyre.....

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  2. perhaps stuck in someone's grill... a friend recently drove some distance with a pheasant stuck to the front of there car (until she was flagged down by pedestrians), so if a pheasant can get stuck, a blabi would be nothing.

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