Well established patterns

 Finding birds to which others have attached rings or having our ringed birds found elsewhere is often the icing on the cake for a ringer. But of course the real value is the emerging picture each bird tells us about how long they live, how they behave and their migration patterns.

Three such birds have been reported to us in the last few days:-

S456361 is a Sedge Warbler which Ben ringed at his Witches Oak site on 23rd July this year. 7 days later it was killed by a cat in Rothwell Northampton.........

This is not a particularly long distance away (61 km) but the pattern this bird fits is one of juvenile dispersal. Young birds often wander in a general way -we think to become familiar with the surroundings and possibly to look for potential breeding sites for the future. Unfortunately a cat put an end to its wanderings...

AFT3382 is also a Sedge Warbler ringed at Belvide on 9th August this year. By the 17th August it had moved 279 km and was recaptured by ringers at a well known site at Icklesham near the Sussex coast. This bird was clearly on its migration to Africa-but like many other birds caught at Icklesham probably saw the coast and decided to land and build up further reserves before flying on. Thousands of birds are ringed at Icklesham every year--probably most of which are initially spooked by the sea crossing and decide to take a break before moving on.

ANT6173 is  Reed Warbler ringed on 24th July by our friends in the Shropshire ringing group, at Aqualate Mere only 13 km away. We re-trapped the bird at Belvide on 14th August. Just like the first Sedgie above this bird was almost certainly scouting the general area ( we have had other similar birds shared with Aqualate) before setting off in a determined way to Africa.

I'll provide details of any further controls as and when they come through.