Sunday 12 August 2012

LOCAL RECOVERY: REED WARBLER X997979

We were recently notified that a reed warbler, ringed by GVRS in August 2011, was subsequently 'controlled' (caught and released by another ringer) at Portbury Wharf Ringing Station (PWRS) 6 km away, in May this year.
 
Not exactly mind blowing, but between-year short distance movements are of interest because they demonstrate site fidelity, which always seems remarkable for a migrant species like reed warbler that spends its winter in Africa.

To date we have ringed just over 1,000 reed warblers. Of these, only 6 have been controlled elsewhere: 4 of them locally (< 20 km away), one in Sussex and another in BELGIUM.
 
In addition, there have been 8 reed warblers ringed at other sites and controlled by us: 5 from Chew Valley Ringing Station (Somerset), one from Uskmouth (Gwent) and one from Poole (Dorset).

PWRS, at the other end of the Gordano Valley from us, has only recently been established, but is already proving to be a highly productive site. We're hoping to see a lot of interchange of birds between the two sites in the future.

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