Just a (fairly) short post from me today. I have been visiting my parents on the south coast this weekend and migration was well on the way down there. We saw hundreds of swallows and meadow pipits migrating over Portland Bill yesterday. There were also good numbers of clouded yellow butterflies, which were lovely to see.
I drove back "up" here this morning and it seems there has been a similar story here recently. Local ringers Lee and Simon were ringing in Brandon Fen on Friday and caught this lovely male brambling:
Image credit: Lee Gregory
This is definitely a sign of the time and this bird has probably just arrived from Scandinavia for the winter. If you read our blog regularly, you will know that in the past, bramblings have been ringed here that have come from as far away as Norway. Hopefully, the individual above will not be the only one of these attractive finches here this winter!
The other bit of news also relates to a bird "on the move." However, this refers to one that fledged here this year:
Some of you may know that we have been tagging some of our juvenile marsh harriers here this year. On Sunday, Simon received news that one of the individuals (a juvenile female) that was tagged here on 18 June this year was seen at WWT Martin Mere in Lancashire on Saturday 27 September. That is over 200 miles from the reserve which is a very interesting record indeed!
Studies have shown that some "British" marsh harriers still head south for the winter but this is particularly intriguing, as this bird has headed north! Perhaps it will spend the winter there.
Incidentally, if you happen to be from that neck of the woods, the bird in question has green wing tags with the black letters "LI". If you see it, please let us know!
This, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg of the migration season. I hope you have found this post interesting nonetheless!