Ringing and recoveries roundup

From all in the Ringing and Nest Recording Team, we wish you a Happy New Year!

This is a very busy time of year for us. Ringers all over Britain and Ireland are submitting their 2017 ringing data before their ringing permits can be renewed. The graph below shows when the data were submitted for birds ringed in 2017, and the number of birds in each data load.


Number of ringed birds submitted to BTO. Click to enlarge graph.

The deadline for submitting records isn't until the end of Febuary, but even so, it looks unlikely that we will reach a million birds ringed this year. At the moment Blue Tit is the most-ringed bird with 102,716 ringed, followed by Goldfinch (53,993), Great Tit (53,395), Blackcap (51,806), Chiffchaff (49,801) and then Siskin (33,812).

One of the many male Great Tits ringed. Photo by lee Barber

As the data come in, we also receive the details of BTO-ringed birds which have been reported away from the place of ringing. Here are some interesting recoveries that have turned up so far this year.

A Chiffchaff ringed at Snettisham, Norfolk on 24 September 2016 was recaptured at Gwennap, Cornwall on 6 January 2018 (489 km). A Goldcrest got a bit too close to a cat on 9 January at South Elmsall, Pontefract after being ringed at Heysham Harbour, Lancashire on 19 September 2017 (118 km). An unfortunate Lesser Redpoll was found after falling prey to an unknown predator at Oudon, Nantes, France. It had been ringed near Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees (805 km); strangely, the ringing and finding dates are exactly the same as those of the Goldcrest. On a lighter note, an Oystercatcher was seen at Dawlish Warren, Devon on 4 January; this individual was ringed at Holbeach St Matthew on 31 August 1999 (353 km).

Male Goldcrest. Photo by Lee Barber

Last week we received a report of a ring being 'found in a drawer' in Tennessee, US on 7 January 2018. A BTO ring being found in America is always a special event, but while processing the details, we realised we already had a report of this bird on the system. It actually died in 2005 (4.5 months after ringing). This ring was put on a female Canada Goose at Llangorse Lake, Powys... and was shot at St Johns, Worcester, 77 km away, and reported by someone who lived near Llanelli, Camarthenshire. It is amazing to see how far a ring can travel without the bird.

Thanks to all our ringers and nest recorders for doing such great work; without them this information would be impossible.