January 2015

Pied Wagtail (Chris Lamsdell)

Weather forecasts were not helpful this month so much ringing was in gardens or hastily snatched sessions.

Nevertheless 137 birds of 17 species were ringed, the most unusual being 4 Pied Wagtails at Beaconsfield and 3 Fieldfare at Wraysbury (where there were also 8 Bullfinch over two sessions).

43% of those ringed were Blue and Great Tits - mostly across three sessions at Woolley Firs.

The Runnymede Ringing Group

At our Annual Steering Group meeting we agreed to formally split from the Maple Cross Ringing Group. This enables both groups to clearly manage fundraising and outgoings.

This website is now dedicated to the activities of the Runnymede Ringing Group.

December 2014

Rufous (L) & grey phase Tawny Owls (Carl Hunter Roach)

At the turning of the year attention turns more to quality than quantity on the occasions we can get out and just 440 birds (227 Runnymede RG; 213 Maple Cross RG) were ringed this month.

Pride of place must go to 3 Tawny Owls, caught from boxes at Bisham Wood, just trumping 9 Yellowhammers at Woolley Firs.

Five male (age, left-right: 4, 4, 3, 3, 4) Yellowhammers (Carl Hunter Roach)

A Skylark at Langley Bottom and a Water Rail (and 2 retraps) at Hilfield were noteworthy. 10 Blackcaps all came from gardens and there was a Chiffchaff at Bedfont and 2 at Broadwater. Blue Tit just scraped into top spot at 88 ahead of a magnificent 80 Redwing.

Valentine's Day Bird Ringing Demonstration

Nuthatch, Woolley Firs, Feb 2014 (Carl Hunter Roach)

Book now and join us at Woolley Firs near Maidenhead on Saturday morning, 14th February 2015.

The event is organised by Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust.

November 2014

With the mild weather continuing and with no sign of significant flocks to tempt us, attention turned to stocking feeders to supplement the main sites with the resultant increase in Blue and Great Tits.

3M Firecrest (Carl Hunter Roach)

445 new birds were ringed (194 Runnymede RG; 251 Maple Cross RG) but they did represent 38 species.

52 Starlings were ringed in two gardens and 32 Goldfinch, mostly from Milton Keynes. 22 Goldcrest were widespread but a Firecrest at Woolley Firs was on its own.

Thrushes were well represented with a rare capture of 2 Mistle Thrush (Chobham and Woolley Firs), 5 Fieldfare (Willows), 8 Redwing (Hilfield), 14 Blackbird and a Song Thrush. A Dartford Warbler, 7 Blackcap and 9 Chiffchaff were ringed and there was a returning Chiffchaff at Bedfont.

6 Lesser Redpoll were all from Chobham; there were 7 more Yellowhammer from Willows, a total of 8 Reed Buntings (7 at Chobham) and a Carrion Crow from Eastcote - an unusual one for the groups' species list.

October 2014

With several trainers taking a holiday this month, sessions were down at some sites but still produced a healthy 557 birds (276 Runnymede RG; 281 Maple Cross RG) of 33 species.

Meadow Pipits headed the totals with 119 and peaks of 81 at Chobham and 25 at Hilfield. Goldfinch came in second at 60 with 41 from Milton Keynes gardens whilst Goldcrest and Blue Tit tied for bronze at 54.

There was a good catch of 16 Reed Buntings at Chobham and 7 Yellowhammer at The Willows. House Sparrows are rarely caught these days and 14 at The Willows (with 5 Trees) were notable.

Maple Cross produced an interesting result for a garden-ringed Starling (Eastcote, December 2013) recovered on the Baltic coast in Lithuania this September, 1,505km away.

Starling ring recovery. Eastcote, London to Silute, Lithuania

The benefits offered by bird ringing in the 21st century

In this editorial, I shall first mention the various methods of marking and tracking birds, and then go on to explain why I think that bird ringing is still essential to the development of both bird science and bird conservation. Ian Newton

Full article:
http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/article/bird-ringing-still-necessary/