Friday 27 January 2017

Waxwings on the move - thankyou for all your sightings

What a difference a few weeks can make in the life of the Waxwings! Since previous update on 6 January.

Five in Ireland, a record number for our studies and at least one on the Isle of Man (which then diverted to Wales rather than carry on over to Ireland).

A build up in middle England, including GB who didn’t like the east coast.

Movements down the east side with noteable build ups in Tayside and Fife, Eastern Scotland; NE England with birds in Newcastle (3), Hull and Durham and around London into Kent and our furthest bird south so far in Crawley, West Sussex.

And we still have quite a lot in and around Aberdeen.
Maps below show the changes since 06/01 and an interesting comparison with the same time in 2010/11 when cold weather suddenly increased berry competition and lots fled rapidly south, not lingering in Scotland………..with a build up along the south coast.

Waxwing sightings up to mid-January on our last invasion 2010/11

Waxwing sightings from the last update just over two weeks ago

The current waxwing distribution map, based on colour ringing information
A huge thank you to everybody for their sightings and photographs so far. Each contributes greatly to the overall picture of what the Waxwings are getting up to across the country. All are greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work. A free plug on Winterwatch didn’t do any harm either!

We can only show a wee selection of your great photos here. Thank you very much.

Grampian Ringing Group


Rachel Hynes © Waxwing BB (colour rings blue/blue) in Lucan, Dublin, Ireland 12/01/17

Brian and Karen Mullins © Waxwing LOW (colour rings light green/orange/white) in Sligo Town, Ireland 07/01/17

James O’Neill © Waxwing LGL (colour rings light green/dark green/light green) in Portadown, N. Ireland 15/01/17

 
Sue Blyth © Waxwing RRW (colour rings red/red/white) on the Isle of Man 08/01/17
and then 12 days later in Wales..
Clive Hurford © Waxwing RRW in Newtown, Powys, Wales 20/01/17
Waxwing GB (dark green/blue) the next bird after BB in Dublin to be ringed in Ballater on 04/12/16.
Andrew Easton and Rob Wilton © Great Yarmouth 08/01/17
then 16 days later
George Ewart © 414km W in Derbyshire.
And as we were out ringing Waxwings in Aberdeen on Saturday 21/01 we received a text message from Tony Cross and his colleagues in mid Wales to say they had just caught Waxwing RB (red/blue), ringed in Ballater at the same time as BB and GB! And Waxwings WL and YB also ringed in Ballater at the same time were in Aberdeen at the weekend!

Friday 6 January 2017

Waxwings – Going, staying……..and wandering aboot

It’s turning out to be a tremendous winter for Waxwings (hopefully) throughout the UK. In and around Aberdeen we are getting the best of both sides we think. It’s early January and we still have 100s here whilst, thanks to so many birders, photographers and observers around the country our colour ringing project is helping us keep tabs on the movements and fortunes of many of those birds which have chosen to move on.

THE GOERS
The map below shows the distribution of colour-ring sightings (up to 06/01/2017) of birds ringed in Aberdeen and shire during November and December 2016.


Just some of the great photographs being sent through:

Mike Sinclair © Waxwing LGY Motherwell 02/01/17

Waxwing YLO, ringed as a young male in Aberdeen on 27/11/16, was photographed by Neil Alderson and Yvonne Williams in the B&Q car park in Llandudno, north Wales on 30/11/16 then 5 days later by Emyr Evans 82km south in Machynlleth in mid Wales.


Neil Alderson © Waxwing YLO Llandudno, north Wales 30/12/16


Emyr Evans © Waxwing YLO Machynlleth, mid Wales 04/01/17

Alan Scoullar © Waxwing YOB Wrexham, north Wales 30/12/16 Also reported and photographed by Hugh Linn
David Preece © Waxwing WLO Roade, Northhamptonshire 02/01/17. Also reported and photographed by Duncan Baxter and David Jackson


Trevor Williams © Waxwing LLB Cromer, Norfolk 31/12/16. Also reported and photographed by John Furse

Sadly not all reports/photographs have been of happy berry eating birds. Below is Waxwing BLO found dead after striking a window in St Andrews in Fife.

18/12/16 Malcom White ©
Windows and Perspex bus shelters are a very real and fatal hazard to Waxwings. Despite our best efforts around Aberdeen we have still had over 20 birds reported dead in the city due to striking windows.

THE STAYERS
Meanwhile other birds colour-ringed at the same time as some of the movers above are still being recorded in Aberdeen. Having almost completely finished the rowan berries (apart from a couple of trees still being guarded by reeeeeally hard Mistle Thrushes) they have now moved onto Tree Cotoneaster, a species so abundant around town this should keep birds with us until May.

THE WANDERERS
Some of the birds don’t seem to have decided if they are going or staying though. Once the flocks had finished the berries in rural towns such as Inverurie and Ballater (22km NW and 58km W of Aberdeen) colour-ringing has shown that some birds moved away south whilst others moved into the city where berries were still plentiful. One decided to be different and headed 77km W over the hills into Speyside while a bird ringed in Aberdeen City Centre on 28/12/16 decided to head 35 km W back out into the countryside to Aboyne where it was photographed on 05/01/17.
Desmond Dugan © Waxwing RO Nethybridge, Speyside 27/12/16

And wanderer of them all so far is a bird colour-ringed in Perth, Central Scotland on 15/12/16 which turned up in Aberdeen on 05/01/17, a movement NE of 117kms!

So a very big thank you to all you folks (too numerous to thank individually here) who have kindly taken the time and trouble to report a colour-ringed Waxwing to us. Each sighting contributes greatly in helping us to follow the movements and fortunes of these truly awesome Scandinavian invaders. If you do see a colour ringed waxwing then let us know: grampianringing@gmail.com. 

Happy New Year

Raymond Duncan

(on behalf of Grampian Ringing Group)