As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time
Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a
regular segment on On The Track... about out-of-place birds,
rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.
Because we live in strange times, there are more and more bird stories that come her way, so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones...
BTO Cuckoo update
Two
of the five cuckoos – Lyster and Chris – have made it back to the UK. Amazingly, Lyster was seen only 10 miles from
where he was tagged after his 10,000 mile trip. Kasper, the third of the
cuckoos still alive after the demise of both Martin and Clement, has not been
heard of since 30th April.
Phil Atkinson,
head of international research at the BTO spotted Lyster in the Norfolk Broads
on Tuesday.
"We saw him flying past -
you can see the wire antenna poking out [from his tag], so it was definitely
him," he told BBC Nature.
"It's just fantastic; we
know where he's been, we know the routes he's taken and now he's back in the
broads."
The project is
being carried to try to discover why fewer and fewer of the birds return here
each year – Britain has lost nearly half of its cuckoos in the last twenty
years, with the bird’s population still declining.
"They're African birds
really," said Phil Atkinson, who has taken a leading role in the cuckoo
project.
"They evolved in
Africa."
"All the
birds got down to Congo and survived, and it's only on spring migration that we
started to lose birds," continued Dr Atkinson.
"The cuckoo is an urgent
priority for research," he told BBC Nature.
"This fantastic project
is boosting the understanding of this bird so that, hopefully, we can give this
bird a future."
Read updates on the individual birds’ blogs: http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking
Rare Goose spotted in
Sutherland
Usually found in Siberia, and a rare sighting for our shores, a
red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis) was seen at Crofter’s Park, next to the Clynelish Distillery,
Brora, Sutherland last week. Lonie
Mackintosh from Achrimsdale was alerted of its visit by his daughter last
Saturday and said: "My daughter noticed it as she was walking out – she
spotted its red breast – and after she told me about it, I went out with my
camera and binoculars."
"It was just grazing and bathing in hollows in the field," he
said. His picture shows the red-breasted goose in front, a pink-footed goose in
the middle, but he does not know what the big goose is at the back.
RSPB’s communication manager Alan Tissiman told the Northern Times:
"The Red-Breasted Goose is a bird of real conservation concern and a
considerable amount of research is currently being undertaken into its habits
in order to try to help the population.
"Typically they spend the winter months in the Danube area of
eastern Europe before returning to the high tundra to breed. Very occasionally,
they turn up in the British Isles but it is certainly unusual. A very good
sighting indeed for Sutherland!"
Possible first for Britain
Flamborough
Head in East Yorkshire was paid a visit by an apparent Atlas pied flycatcher (Ficedula speculigera) at
the end of April – and if it was indeed one of these birds then it would be the
first record of the species in Britain. Numbers of this bird have been recorded in Europe which seems to mark
an unprecedented spring displacement. It
was trapped and ringed at South Landing and a couple of tail feathers that had
been dropped during the ringing process have been kept for analysis.
Another mindless act of vandalism
The
mindless actions of vandals destroyed the Wyevale Wood, Herefordshire, bird
hide by setting fire to it. However, the
Hereford Nature Trust has confirmed that this mindless act is covered by
insurance and will, therefore, be able to shortly replace it.
Wyevale wood is
secondary woodland on an ancient woodland site. A flat, pleasant walk leads
around the 4 acre wood. More about Wyevale Wood.
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