Friday 9 December 2016

North or South, that is the question!

Have recently received this photo from Andy Davis of a colour-ringed Kestrel at Little Neston on the Dee Estuary taken on 28th November 2016. Apparently it has been mobbing Short-eared Owls and stealing their catches.


Thanks to Andy for the record and allowing us to use the photo.
  Visit Andy Davis Flickr page for more stunning images

I assumed this was probably one of the few birds we colour-ringed in North Wales but having just looked it up was surprised to see it was a bird we ringed as a chick on 26th June 2016 in one of Chris Griffith's nest boxes high in the hills above Caersws, 85 kms from where it is now. The behaviour should have been a clue to its origins! It is one of the great fascinations of bird-ringing as to why one Kestrel from North Wales goes to Northern Spain for the winter whilst another moves north to winter on the Wirral! If it is still there at Christmas I'll have to nip over before dinner and say hi!


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6 comments:

  1. jd9 December 2016 at 22:46

    That's great to know, thanks for digging out the info Tony.

    best regards
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  2. jd2 January 2017 at 19:34

    Tony. Bird still in situ. Looks to be caching kills too.

    regards
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Annon14 February 2017 at 08:50

    Hi guys.. sad to say I found this little bird dead on the Dee marsh. about 1000 meters left of the harp pub, in the reed beds following the footpath . Sorry the little fella didn't make it. have photos of the rings if that helps you one is a natural museum ring .

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tony Cross14 February 2017 at 13:07

    Hi Paul,

    thanks for reporting it. What date did you find it? Judging by you photo it had obviously been dead a while but as you can see from the comment above was still alive and well on 2nd January!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Annon14 February 2017 at 13:18

    Hi Tony My dog found it on the 4th. The body was poor but the head was still in good condition.(better than the photo makes out).so I guess rats had been knawing on the belly It was also in the reed beds so was wet, as well as being carried by the dog. I would put it at about 2 weeks old max so I guess it died soon after its last sighting. Real shame and keep up the good work your doing. Lots of photographers about at that time shooting the SE owl and the harrier so maybe someone has a better clue as to its last sighting . No obv reason for death

    ReplyDelete
  6. Annon14 February 2017 at 13:43

    That's 4th feb 2017

    ReplyDelete

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