Heron colour-ringing

Last night we started a new colour-ringing project - grey herons on the Ythan. We are hoping to find out how long our birds use the estuary for as well as further movements.
Last night we ringed 13 chicks, with lots more to go back for in the next week. Colours are grey, brown, black, lime and yellow so far; with one or two rings.

Summer Twite movements

Our wintering twite are now arriving back at their summer homes over in the west.
Movements in 2010
Montrose birds leading the way. We’re seeing how many islands we get twite seen on now, so Rhum is a new one for the project this year, as is a belated sighting from last summer on Eigg.

Note the single Donside bird up north at Lochinver. Tony Mainwood has controlled over 30 Orkney birds, perhaps suggesting there is a bit of segregation in breeding aswell as wintering areas in Scottish twite. The further north they breed the further north they winter to a certain extent? Or are they just passing through to end up mixed all over the place?
Movements from all years
Birds wintering in NW Lancashire appear to breed further south on the Western Isles (though there is some overlap).

Raymond

PS What call does the Finch Owl make? Twite a woo!!

First twite recovery of the summer

First 2010 twite awa back our ti the west coast. A day earlier than 1st sighting last spring and very close to the Foveran road casualty.
Can anybody heading over to the west coast for their summer hols please endeavour to check as many twite as possible for colour rings. There must be approaching 1500 colour-ringed twite around at the moment from the last two winters ringing in Orkney, Grampian and Tayside. And of course the further south you go on the west coast the more likely you are to come across one from the ringing programme in NW England.
Raymond

BHG recovery

We've had a recovery of one of the Corgarff black headed gull chicks rung last summer. Unfortunately it was found in poor condition in the bad weather this winter. It had gone to Larkhall, Strathclyde though so is a good movement. Photos from Ann of the gull derby last June!

Ringing Demonstration

Every winter we hold a several ringing demonstrations for local schools and wildlife clubs. The Phoenix Group sessions are becoming legendary as everyone aims to let the most viscous blue tit go! Below are some pictures of the most recent session earlier in the month as well as some from last year’s sessions; at one we were lucky enough to catch an adult buzzard.
These sessions are always good fun and we usually have a good game of fitba too!

Spanish Sandwich

This great picture was taken on 9 March at Santa Cristina Beach, Oleiros, A Coruña, NW Spain by Fernando Pereirasn de la Cal. It's a bird from the Sands of Forvie colony rung as a chick in 2008.

Each year we assist Alistair Smith in ringing a proportion of chicks with a year class code to determine fledging success and subsequent survival and site fidelity. This will probably be a bird on its way back to the colony for the first time.

Thanks again to Fernando for taking the picture and sending it on.

2009 Totals

The totals for 2009 are in. The top 10 fully grown species to be ringed in Grampian last year were:

1 - Swallow 2192
2 - Greenfinch 560
3 - Goldfinch 548
4 - Chaffinch 533
5 - Twite 492
6 - Siskin 400
7 - Blue tit 376
8 - Great tit 265
9 - Linnet 245
10 - Oystercatcher 211

Top 10 pulli species:

1 - Sandwich Tern 851
2 - Guillemot 196
3 - Comorant 138
4 - BH Gull 129
5 - Swallow 107
6 - Ring Ouzel 106
7 - Kittewake 97
8 - Tree sparrow 96
9 - Shag 88
10 - Starling 77