A multi-contributor blog covering all aspects of wildlife in St Helens. Please see the "Report a Sighting" tab or use the contact form if you would like to contribute.
Welcome to the St Helens Birds and Wildlife blog. We welcome your reports from across the borough regarding all forms of wildlife. Please click on the "Report a sighting" tab if you would like to contribute to this blog.
We ask that you refrain from posting exact breeding locations of any species which may be considered scarce or vulnerable, and in particular schedule 1 species. In the context of St Helens, schedule 1 species usually means kingfisher and little ringed plover. Little ringed plover should not be reported at all on this blog between 1st May and 1st August.
Scarce or vulnerable species include but are not restricted to any species of wader, ducks other than mallard, all owls, any birds of prey, grey or yellow wagtails, grey heron, all grebes, Cetti’s warbler, water rail, willow tit, corn bunting etc. If in doubt, please ask.
We reserve the right to edit or delete posts which contravene this rule.
Yellowhammer with a ring on Billinge hill on Thursday. Theyre on the red list but must be one of the commonest birds around the hill area!
I photographed this bird again on the hill yesterday and can see some of the ring details! Is there anyway I can post it to find out where it was ringed? Im guessing it would have been Fir Tree farm because a bird ringing group put up nets on some sundays to carry out their work! The details I can see are MUS (top line), ON S (middle line) and 637 (bottom line) !
Here is the reply from Peter "Hi Paul, I won't be able to pin that Yellowhammer down but it was almost certainly ringed up there. Unfortunately 637 are the first 3 numbers of ring sequence TP63701 to TP637800 (100 rings) and 65 of those were used on Yellowhammers on the hill. It is still good that people are interested and sometimes you can narrow it down from part of a ring number. If he had got one more number after the 7 I could have narrowed it down to 10 or less birds."
Im was wondering though, why ring birds like yellowhammers? Surely they aren't birds that fly very far from the area theyve fledged from? And im assuming their lifespans are roughly the same? So what else can be learned from ringing them?
Hi Andrew, Apart from cool stuff like age, sex, condition, weight, size etc finding out about even local movements can be vital in securing the future of red-listed birds such as these. The lack of info on certain birds and their ecology is at time frightening!
I photographed this bird again on the hill yesterday and can see some of the ring details! Is there anyway I can post it to find out where it was ringed? Im guessing it would have been Fir Tree farm because a bird ringing group put up nets on some sundays to carry out their work! The details I can see are MUS (top line), ON S (middle line) and 637 (bottom line) !
ReplyDeletehttp://two-in-a-bush.blogspot.co.uk/ this guy has been ringing in the area and likelihood its one of his, email me and I'll give you his details.
ReplyDeletePaul B
Don't think I have your e mail?
ReplyDeleteHere is the reply from Peter
ReplyDelete"Hi Paul,
I won't be able to pin that Yellowhammer down but it was almost certainly ringed up there. Unfortunately 637 are the first 3 numbers of ring sequence TP63701 to TP637800 (100 rings) and 65 of those were used on Yellowhammers on the hill. It is still good that people are interested and sometimes you can narrow it down from part of a ring number. If he had got one more number after the 7 I could have narrowed it down to 10 or less birds."
Paul B
Thanks, i'll try and catch it and get a closer look!:)
ReplyDeleteIm was wondering though, why ring birds like yellowhammers? Surely they aren't birds that fly very far from the area theyve fledged from? And im assuming their lifespans are roughly the same? So what else can be learned from ringing them?
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteApart from cool stuff like age, sex, condition, weight, size etc finding out about even local movements can be vital in securing the future of red-listed birds such as these. The lack of info on certain birds and their ecology is at time frightening!
Paul B