Middleton Nature Reserve
Ringing report by Jean:
Went to Middleton for a change. Pete predicted Redwing. Reed Bunting and Redpolls. I was skeptical but he was spot on! Reed Buntings seemed to be everywhere while it was cloudy and humid but as soon as the weather cleared a little and the wind sprang up it was as if they had lifted off en masse and disappeared (well, continued migrating).
Today's catch:
Redwing 2
Lesser Redpoll 5
Reed Bunting 9
Coal Tit 1
Blue Tit 4 and 4 retraps
Cetti's Warbler 1
Chiffchaff 2
Goldcrest 2 retraps
Wren 2
Goldfinch 2
We also had a new ringer to ring the new birds - Lauren.
Welcome, Lauren. Hope you come ringing again!
From Janet:
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| Male Bullfinch, there was also a female about |
Common Darter several
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| Male Common Darter |
Roe Deer 2
I just checked the wildfowl on the two main ponds (Malcolm)
Gadwall have now increased to 17
Cetti's warbler 1 singing frequently at the "no swimming" pond
Jay 1
Whooper Swan 11 south. I could hear them coming, but I was surrounded by trees with just a small window above. Fortunately they passed right above my head.
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| Most of the Whoopers |
North shore (Malcolm)
I walked the tide out from in front of the children's play area until it exposed the inner skear this morning. There was no wind and the sea was flat. The light mist still lingered, making for surreal lightning conditions.
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| Cormorants |
Little Egret 5
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| Little Egret |
Great Crested Grebe 4
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| Great Crested Grebe |
Red-breasted Merganser 5
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
Eider 15
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| Eider |
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| The light mist quickly cleared when the SE breeze began |
Wigeon 14 flying south, they are normally only seen on this side in passage
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| Wigeon |
Pink-Footed goose 39 SE
Oystercatcher there was c100 feeding along the water line but several hundred flew to the exposing skear.
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| Oystercatcher |
Curlew 15
Redshank 150
Turnstone 25
Ringed Plover 3
Dunlin 2
Knot 300 landed on the newly exposed skear, plus several flocks were seen flying south, when the skies cleared.
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| These are the two orange flagged Knot from yesterday. Both ringed at the same place, on the same day, but they have not been travelling companions. The one on the left is the adult referred to in the comments below |
These comments are from one of the scheme organisers Peter Knight, and demonstrates the value of schemes like this in identifying key locations that can then be prioritised for conservation.
Both were flagged on 8th May this year near Southport, but have very different resighting histories because one was an adult and the other was a 2CY bird.
The adult was seen in SW Iceland only two week after flagging, on its way north to breed, and this sighting has now shown that it has successfully returned to the Irish Sea.
The other like almost all 2CYs, didn’t go north, spent June, well-watched, at Leighton Moss, then joined the summering flock that fed on the north coast of Wirral and roosted at Seaforth NR which contained many of the 2CY birds flagged in that May catch. That flock has shrunk in size in recent weeks, and this sighting indicates where some of them have gone.
So, I approached today's smaller feeding group with caution to see if there were any more coded birds.
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| But before I could get close enough all the waders lifted! |
I looked around for a raptor, but it hadn't been a raptor that had spooked them
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| A gently bobbing helium balloon had cleared the skear of waders! |
Kevin Eaves caught this moth in his trap last night
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| The Gem. It's a Migrant from Southern Europe and has been rather uncommon in Lancashire in recent years. |