Ringing (updates) in the New Year

Very cold (-5°C) overnight, but it crept up to +2.6°C during the day. Sunny and almost no air movement.

First a bit of ringing feedback.

Blackcap - ringed as  2cy male 4/01/24 in the Algarve Portugal.

Caught 16/09/2024  Heysham Nature Reserve - 1922km NNE

Middleton Nature Reserve (Malcolm)

Just a passing check of the main pond at first light. The Mute Swan family and a handful of ducks had managed to keep two small patches ice free.

The Mute Swan section.......

.......Mallard and Gadwall only

Heysham skear - low water 13:30 (Malcolm)

It was actually very pleasant on the skear this afternoon, although of course protected by several layers of thermals!

Pale-bellied Brent goose - none feeding but 7 (5+2) flew past to the north

Pale-bellied Brent geese heading further north.
I didn't see any gutweed on or around the skear today 

Eider 18

Red-breasted Merganser 5

Great Crested grebe 2

Little Egret 3

Grey Heron 1

Heron sticking its head above the skear edge.

Oystercatcher 1,500

This Oystercatcher was ringed as an incubating adult in southern
Iceland 4/06/23 and returned there to breed again last year.

Curlew 20

Turnstone 25

Redshank 130

Redshank looking for tiny shrimps 

Dunlin 20+

Dunlin

Knot just 170 in two groups, they had been attacked (successfully) by a Peregrine Falcon early on so perhaps some had already moved on. Isla Botting had joined me today and fortunately, despite the low Knot numbers, we managed to find a few flagged birds, from three different schemes.

But Isla's interests are diverse, and she managed to clinically collect several Knot droppings. These will undergo a thorough analysis to determine precise dietary details as well as details of the Knot themselves. But even a preliminary visual examination after they were in solution shows fragments of broken mussel shells. 

You can see the fragments of mussel shells. I had assumed that they would
be ejected as a pellet. But apparently Knot can modify their gizzard to best
break up whatever they are feeding on. The more detailed chemical and
 biological analysis will take many weeks.

Just outside the recording area - Heysham Moss Nature Reserve (Janet)

Pink-Footed geese heading for the nearby fields

Redwing

Female Roe deer