It’s always nice when you get one of your ringed birds recovered. Usually it’s a migrant which has be re-trapped elsewhere on its travels but one recent recovery was quite a surprise. It’s often thought that Blue tits don’t do a lot in terms of moving large distances. Of course they do stuff like feed, breed and bite your fingers whilst you ring them but a Blue Tit I ringed in a garden back in my homeland of Gwent travelled all the way to Greater Manchester! It was total distance of 207 km which is a pretty significant movement. However the Blue Tit sadly met its end by a cat but I suppose I should thank the cat as it wouldn’t have been recovered if it wasn’t for the pesky feline. For some reason I can’t find a picture of a Blue Tit but surely you know what one looks like!
Another recent recovery was a Bullfinch which went from the fleet all the way to Dorchester, which isn’t far but still a nice recovery none the less. This one didn’t end up as cat food, thankfully it was caught by another ringer and was released unharmed. I can’t find a picture of a Bullfinch either so instead of having a picture-less post (something we all hate!) here’s the last (well… maybe) picture from Spain. This time an adult Night Heron which is nothing like a Blue Tit or a Bullfinch but its better than nothing...
