If you are interested in becoming a ringer or would like information about the Group, contact us at:

swlancsrg@googlemail.com

Monday 21 March 2011

Birdwatching & Beyond

This Saturday, group members Brian Hopkins, Pete Fearon and Jack Taylor, gave a ringing demonstration to participants of Edge Hill University's Birdwatching & Beyond course. The session at Mere Sands Wood was a massive success as participants were able to see Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Brambling and Tree Sparrow amongst other more common woodland birds up close and personal.

Brian (left) and Pete showing the participants the finer points of ageing Chaffinches

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Brambling To Norway!

This week we received news of some SWLRG ringed birds that have been either caught elsewhere or found dead.

A Lapwing ringed on Banks Marsh as a pullis on 23rd April 1997 was found dead on Penrhyn Beach, Llandudno on 29th December 2010, two days short of 5000 days between encounters at 4998 days!!

Brian and Dave have ringed the majority of the group's Brambling in recent years, one of which has been controlled by ringers in Norway! Ringed as a 5 male in January 2009 it was trapped on 18th November 2010 in Bomyra, Randaberg. The distance between the sites is 489 miles, but due to the nature of Brambling populations, the bird might have taken a different route to the previous year.



Other recoveries included a Goldfinch ringed at Crosby Hall that was controlled on Walney Island, Cumbria and a Kestrel found injured in Burnley that was ringed as a chick at Altcar. You can read about these at Peters blog.