Up close with birds event - 3 August 2024

Participants had a great experience on our up close with birds event with Rye Meads Ringing Group. We learned about moult strategy, plumage markings and what they can tell us, migration routes and how the BTO use all this data collected by Ringing groups around the UK and abroad. 

We saw plumage markings in the tail of juvenile warblers ie blackcap. These markings indicate days when they were poorly fed as the tail feathers were growing, this could have been due to weather. We are seeing this more and more as our seasons become more unstable. We learned about the different routes and strategies for migration for example the reed warbler taking it steady and stopping to feed on route verses the sedge warbler which puts on extra weight to make the trip to South Africa with stop offs to rest but not in suitable feeding locations and using the extra body fat built up (doubling usual body weight)  to fuel its journey.  There was also a chiffchaff was showing signs of an unusual moult in the tail, with all the feathers moulting at once rather than individually. Was this a quirk in chiffchaff usual moulting or a sign of a predation attempt i.e. a sparrow hawk attempting a catch?  And finally from my recollections we had an adult female blackcap and could see the wear on her feathers and later as a comparison a juvenile from a second brood that had only just started its moult. The juvenile grew fond of Alan and did not want to leave when released, clinging to his fingers, before Alan placed it on a branch where it stayed keeping a watch on us  and posing for pictures even if he was grumpy about it.