Recent recoveries

Mute Swan Z43794 was ringed (as a 2nd year, code 5) at Lakeside on 30 Jan 2012, and had its ring read there on 27 Dec 2021, before being read again on 30 Jan 2023 - 4059 days. This bird has now increased our longevity record for this species to 11 years, 1 month, 12 days.

Sedge Warbler AKR1269 was ringed at the jetty (as a 1st year, code 3) on 11 September 2021. It had been caught in Holland on 14 August 2022 (blog post here) - 337 days, 332 km, 86 degrees. We have now been notified that it had previously been caught a few days earlier (on route to Holland), on 11 August 2022 at Noordschote, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium - 334 days, 433 km, 105 degrees. This was one of the few September Sedge Warblers ringed at the Lake, and given the late date its natal area was
probably somewhere north and west of the Lake.

Most Sedge Warblers ringed at Llangorse that have been recovered on their autumn migration have moved to the south or south-east, being caught in southern England or northern France (especially Brittany), before moving down the western seaboard of France. We have three captures along the northern coast of Spain (presumably involved crossing the Bay of Biscay), and just two records in their west African wintering quarters (Senegal and Mauritania). This distribution of recoveries accords with the autumn movements of most British and Irish Sedge Warblers. In contrast, birds breeding further east (eg Scandinavia) have a more direct N-S migration route over central Europe, though an unknown proportion probably pass through Britain on their way. It is unusual to have more than a single capture of a migrating warbler, so the current bird ought to give us a clearer understanding of its movement. There are relatively few recoveries of British ringed Sedge Warblers in Holland (and no previous records from Wales), so this is an unusual record despite the two locations not being directly linked. In the eleven months between the two captures, it would have migrated south (to an unknown wintering area), then migrated north (to an unknown breeding area). During its 2022 autumn migration the only thing we know is that it moved some 200 km NE from Belgium to Holland, which is also unusual for an adult bird, though we do not know what influence "coasting" and prevailing winds would have had. We have three previous direct movements (two Lake to Belgium, and one Belgium to Lake), all involving young birds which can be explained by post juvenile dispersal. One possible scenario for AKR1269 may be that it bred in the low countries in 2022 and was adopting a more easterly migration route than is typical of British breeders.

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Map of just AKR1269



Link to Sedwa AKR1269 map