Please watch out for colour ringed birds and report them to us.
Wednesday 28th
The promise of a calm morning was enough to tempt us out and we were not disappointed. The calm and clear did result in a frost which melted away once the sun got up. Thirty-four birds were caught of which seven were new. This included the first Fieldfare of the year plus singles of Blackbird, Redwing and two each of Chaffinch and Great Tit. The most interesting recapture was a Robin which showed clear signs of a brood patch developing. We regularly see reports of early nesting species such as Robin but this is the first time we have had evidence here.
Monday 26th
This mornings result was a dull as the weather. There were nine birds in total. Only a Blackbird was new. The retraps were two Blue Tits, a Dunnock, three Great Tits and two Robins.
Saturday 24th
Although it was breezier than expected there were enough sheltered bits to get enough nets up for the penultimate winter project visit. Twenty-four birds were caught of which six were new. The new ones were two Blue Tits, two House Sparrows, a Great Tit and best of all a smart plumaged male Bullfinch. Eleven of the eighteen subsequent encounters were Blue Tits.
Wednesday 21st
With the wet and windy weather continuing to prevent normal activities some of our team are obviously finding time on their hands. I received two separate messages today from our team about a Sedge Warbler posted on Facebook. The reel was of a bird caught at the Djoudj ringing station in northern Senegal. It had a BTO ring and they videoed the ring. The movement itself is not unexpected. In the late 80's/90's a few of the SBBOT team had the pleasure of being involved with the Rye Bay Ringing Group organised ringing effort at Djoudj and Sedge Warblers were one of the more regularly recorded movements (along with Chiffchaffs and Sand Martins) between the UK and Senegal. Our team recognised the ring number on social media as one of ours. It had been ringed at the Observatory on 10th August 2025 by our assistant Jonny. Not only that but he had photographed it as it was the first of these he had ringed. The photo is below:
Sunday 18th
After my comment about unringed Tits appearing on Friday some more turned up and there were five new Blue Tits. Maybe ringers in woodland might not find it surprising but we are in bushy clumps on the coast. There were also three new Chaffinches and singles of Blackbird and Dunnock.
Friday 16th
The weather chose to ignore the forecast and there was some rain at first, fortunately it was light and did not last. Although only nine birds were caught there was something of interest in each of the six new birds. Best of all was another Woodcock, this time from a mist net. Two Redwings were more expected. We are still getting new common birds. Where did a Blue Tit, a Great Tit and a Wren appear from?
Todays Woodcock, by J Bull, a much heavier bird than the one earlier this week. Note the large eye, very helpful if you are out feeding in very low light.
Wednesday 14th
A much more settled day than originally forecast a few days ago and so we had an afternoon go. It would seem that most of the berries adjacent to the Whitehouse have been consumed and there were not many thrushes there- they are working on the Green Wall bushes, One new Song Thrush was ringed.
Sunday 11th
The wind dropped and the sky cleared overnight and so it was a frosty start. We took the opportunity to get another Winter Constant Effort visit in. Twenty-six birds were caught of which five were new. Sadly all the seven Blackbirds were in the heligoland which is not part of the project. As we ring throughout the year a new Blue Tit, Great Tit and Dunnock were a surprise.
The pay-off for going out yesterday to top up the feeders was that I caught a Woodcock in the heligoland.
Tuesday 6th
We took the opportunity of a drop in the wind to have a short session in cold conditions. There were 11 new birds and 11 subsequent encounters. The new birds were a Blackcap (male), five Chaffinches, two Goldfinches, a Robin and best of all two Snipes. These are only the second and third we have ringed this century!