Late January catches, and two foreign controls

On Thursday 24th January, it was calm and cold, so Jeremy, Carlton, Andy, Elinor and Jerry, tried the Pennorth bird crop. The flock comprised about 80 Chaffinch, 30 Reed Bunting and 20 Yellowhammer, with 13 Skylark on the adjacent stubble. A variety of nets were set (double panel, 3 panel and full height), and after an early catch of 13 birds (mainly Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer), catching was slow. There was a steady trickle of (mainly) Reed Bunting in the 3 panel nets, and the total rose to 28 + (4). One Reed Bunting was killed in the net, and soon after a Stoat was seen nearby (a mammal not often recorded around the Lake). The species mixture was Wren 2 + (1), Robin 1, Dunnock 2, Blackbird 1, Chaffinch 3, Reed Bunting 12 + (3) and Yellowhammer 7. Two of the retrapped Reed Bunting, had been ringed in previous years - one at the Llangorse crop in March 2015 (and 1st recapture), the other ringed at the Pennorth crop in Nov 2015 (also caught at the Llangorse crop in Feb 2016).

On Wednesday 30th (before heavy snow was forecast to arrive) , Andy had a couple of hours at the Pennorth feeders, for a catch of 12 + (3). Details - Sparrowhawk 1, Wren 1, Blue Tit 6 + (2), Great Tit 4 and Goldfinch (1). Our ringing total at the end of the month is 87.

Sedge Warbler 7908977 was ringed (3) at Tour aux Montons, Donges, Loire Atlantique, France on 29 August 2017. It was caught in rb2 on 8 August 2018 - 344 days, 519 km, 351 degrees. This is our second Sedge Warbler to/from this site (one of the Lake's birds was caught there in 2016), but there are also two more from a nearby site.

Starling KH35182 was ringed (3F) at Ventes Ragas, Silutes, Lithuania on 9 June 2016. It was caught in the garden on 5 November 2018 - 879 days, 1654 km, 257 degrees. This is only our fourth Starling recovery, the previous "best" was a bird that went to the Netherlands in 2009