Brief Update From The Moss

It was a very quick 'splash and dash' in the rain today. It was pleasing to note that Tree Sparrow numbers had crept back up to 140, but Yellowhammers were down at only five. After I had put the feed out I noticed a male Sparrowhawk flying low over the field in front of Curlew Wood. It perched up on a fence post in front of the hedge at the feeding station. Obviously it was a regular visitor and probably looking for a mid-morning Tree sparrow sized snack! It was only about 25 metres from me, but seemed totally unaware of my presence or completely unbothered. After a couple of minutes it dropped off the fence post and shot through the hedge. Aren't sparrowhawks brilliant!


When I got home from work today there were a few recoveries and controls from the BTO. An interesting one was a Goldfinch ringed at Chilworth, Surrey on 27th January 2009 that Phil controlled in his Stalmine garden on 26th October 2009. One can only speculate that it was a bird whose natal area was in the north of England and it was wintering in southeast. When caught in Surrey in Jan 2009 it was aged as a 5, which means that it was born in the previous calendar year to ringing i.e. 2008. This would support this speculation. See below.

Goldfnich Control

We also received a late notification of a Sand Martin control (see below). This bird was ringed at La Croix-sur-Ourcq, Alsne, France on 28th July 2001 as a juvenile and we controlled at a colony at Myerscough Quarry on 14th July 2002 as an adult male. It is likely that this bird was hatched at a colony in the northwest of England and was caught as it headed south.

Sand Martin Movement

The other interesting report was a Reed Bunting that I ringed at Fleetwood Marsh Nature Park on 5th October 2009 and this bird was re-caught at Heysham Bird Observatory on 12th October 2009.

Reed Bunting Movement