Apologies again for the lack of posts but in truth we have been struggling a little as we wait for the arrival of winter visitors such as Redwings and Fieldfares, which are a good week later this year than recent years.
However, three days ago--after a few false starts--they arrived in a big way and on that morning just two of our teams reported massive migration of Redwings in particular and we ringed over 150 birds. The nearest they have come from is central west Norway--and points north and east Just to remind you, this is the distinctive head pattern of a Redwing...
We are all looking forward to the next few weeks when we hope to be catching large numbers of Redwing--and the hope that one will be carrying a ring from an exotic place to give us a hint about where they come from.
This is a picture of a Lesser Redpoll, some of which have started moving around the country and dropping in to Belvide. Kevin and son Gareth are ringing in Shetland at the moment, and as well as a few great birds, they ringed an Arctic Redpoll.....
A tiny bill, all white breast, almost all white rump and one or two other features identify this as Arctic. One very familiar bird they caught was a young male Blackbird--but you would be forgiven for finding this bird a tad tricky to identify.....
It's very characteristic black bill, almost yellow eye ring and weird, blackish plumage points to a bird from Scandinavia.
Last but by no means least, our groups original founder, Pete, was sent a great letter and gold medal last week--having completed 50 years of membership/ringing for the BTO!! Well done Pete!
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