You may notice Tree Sparrows at Saltholme with red colour rings and white lettering. The rings have been fitted by Chris Brown and Eric Wood from Tees Ringing Group, as part of their Ringing Adults for Survival Scheme (RAS). The young birds are ringed in the nestboxes, so they can be monitored when they fledge. We want to know two things: how many of the young birds survive to adults, and how many of them stay within the area.
As the scheme commenced last summer, they missed the first broods. To ring more of the population, Chris and Eric frequently pop in to the workshop and catch birds in a specially prepared area where we have erected nestboxes and feeders. Ideally, they want 100 birds ringed to make the study more viable, and have managed to ring 60 of them so far.
Chris and Eric, with sandwich, check a mist net for Tree Sparrows
You are most likely to spot a ringed bird at either the Wildlife Watchpoint or Visitor Centre feeding stations. If you do see a Tree Sparrow with a red colour ring, make a note of the letters and numbers and give the information to reception. We have already discovered two ringed birds at Cowpen Bewley, which suggests that our birds are not as faithful to Saltholme as we thought. That’s gratitude for all the feed we put out.