Sculthorpe Moor - 10th May 2025

Spring monitoring at the meadow today resulted in 18 birds, including 7 recaps some of which had not been recorded since 2023.

Most notable were the second Garden Warbler for the site and a female Grasshopper Warbler with BP3.

Grasshopper 4F with BP3

Garden Warbler

Adult Chiffchaff

On returning to base with the last of the nets and poles we were faced with a swarm of bees around the table.

Total: 11 (7)

Chiffchaff - 0 (3)
Garden Warbler - 1
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Robin - 0 (1)
Sedge Warbler - 3 (2)
Whitethroat - 2 (1)
Wren - 3

Woodcock recovery from a bird ringed at a North Norfolk farm in January of last year

 Dear Denise

Here are the details of a recovery of one of your birds.

Species:	Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)	Scheme:	GBT	Ring no:	EA88173

Ringing details

Age: 6 Sex: U Sex meth: U P.ringed: 0 P.alive: 0 Condition: N

Colour marks added: - Metal marks added: N Act1: U Act2: U

Ringing date: 13-Jan-2024 10:30:00

Reg code: - Place code: - Site name: Langham, Norfolk, UK

County code: GBNK Grid ref: TG0142 Accuracy - - Co-ords: 52deg 56min N 1deg 0min E Accuracy -

Hab1: E6 Hab2: E4

Biometrics: Wing: 207.0 mm. Weight: 325.6 g. Time: 10:30:00hrs

Remarks: -

Ringer: Iceni Bird Monitoring Group, 9253

---

Finding details

Ring verified Age: 0 Sex: U Sex meth: U

Colour marks added: - Metal marks added: - Act1: U Act2: U

Finding date: 25-Apr-2025 (0) time unknown

Reg code: - Place code: - Site name: Maksatinskiy distr., Ferezna, Tver' O., Russian Federation

County code: RU14 Grid ref: - Accuracy 0 - Co-ords: 57deg 42min N 35deg 45min E Accuracy 0

Hab1: -- Hab2: --

Biometrics: Wing: - mm. Weight: - g. Time: -hrs

Finding condition: 2:10 Movement: 9

Freshly dead - within about a Week Shot

Remarks: -

Duration: 468 days Distance: 2257 km Direction: 77deg (ENE)

Finder: Moscow, -11

-

Reference 07052025LB

BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU. Tel 01842 750050 e: recoveries@bto.org w: www.bto.org/ringing

Registered Charity No 216652 (England & Wales, SC039193 (Scotland) Registered in England and Wales No 357284

Sculthorpe Moor - 7th May 2025

A first outing of the year for owl trainee DW. After all the drama in April when the long standing resident Tawny Owl pair at Hawk and Owl Trust, Sculthorpe, were ousted from their 'wired for video' box by another pair not long before their clutch was due to hatch, another occupied box was confirmed only this week. A chick had been seen and looked quite large, so today the box was checked.

There were actually two well grown owlets in the box that has been up for 15 years or so, but not actually monitored since before we began ringing there. A third box was confirmed as being used as a daytime roost

Tawny Owlet siblings

The smaller of the pair

 There was a lot of detritus in the boxes and they will be cleaned out later in the year.

Total: 2

Tawny Owl - 2 

Baconsthorpe, Castle Wild Camp - 6th May 2025

 A good session with 27 birds of 13 species captured. Team of CL, DKL & EGB.

It was cloudy with a chilly wind, interspersed with a few squally showers. Twice we went down to the nets to pack up to find that the problematic patch of cloud had blown through. Packed up and off site by 12 noon.

Returning male Whitethroat BKD7137

Lesser Whitethroat female

6F Jay

Total: 22 (5)

Blackbird - 1 (1)
Blackcap - 3
Blue Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Chiffchaff - 6
Dunnock - 1
Great Tit - 2
Jay - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 2
Long-tailed Tit - 0 (2)
Robin - 1
Whitethroat - 3 (1)
Wren - 1

A farm in North West Norfolk - 4th May 2025

 A first run out for Lapwing pulli resulted in 10 young being found. Field conditions are quite different to previous years. Some crops are struggling with the recent dry spell. Birds have nested in fields that have not been sown so vegetation is quite long or thick, while the pea fields are all really rather bare. We managed to find some pulli, our first hatchlings of 2025.

Two from a brood of 5

Total:10

Lapwing - 10 (one darvic marked)

Sculthorpe Moor - 1st May 2025

 A team of CL, PWL, DKL and LC put in 6 hours at the site, monitoring the beaver enclosure. It has been necessary to adjust our route in due to beavers' works flooding the track on part of the access near the dragonfly hide. We will still be placing nets in three of the original rides and are still able to work the site without disturbing the scrape where Marsh Harriers are nesting.

We captured 14 birds, six of these returning birds from previous years. On such a small catch it was extremely good to have a spread of seven species, a second Grasshopper Warbler for the site this year, the first Garden Warbler for this site and a first Willow Warbler for the year.

Garden Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

Total: 8 (6)

Chiffchaff - 2 (3)
Long-tailed Tit - 0 (2)
Garden Warbler - 1
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Sedge Warbler - 2
Willow Warbler - 1
Wren - 1 (1)

Norfolk Rivers Trust - Ingoldisthorpe 28th April 2025

 A bright and relatively still start to the day, and on arrival the sound of singing Sedge Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff filled the air. We cautiously erected nets in two rides closest to where we base, then PWL  used the drone to check whether Marsh Harriers were breeding nearby. We wouldn't be able to work the site until post fledging if a nest is found since this is a schedule 1 species and activity may disturb breeding birds, particularly once feeding of young is underway.

One final double net was put up and we were fortunate to have found a busy thoroughfare between two of the lagoons. This gave us most of the Acrocephalus warblers and we were lucky to catch two lots of two Chiffchaff that were chasing each other about.

There were two birds, previously ringed by us, that have undertaken the round trip to beyond the Sahara Desert to their wintering grounds and back again, since we last saw them.

BKD7225, Adult Sedge Warbler ringed 29/06/2024 as an adult male

BKD7196, Adult male Reed Warbler ringed 29/06/2024 as an adult male

This was an excellent day last year with lots of migrant warblers processed, both of these by DKH.

The Reed Bunting was also fitted with a coloured darvic ring for our project on dispersal.

Total: 19 (2)

Blackcap - 1
Chiffchaff - 4
Dunnock - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Reed Warbler - 2 (1)
Robin - 1
Sedge Warbler - 6 (1)
Whitethroat - 1
Wren - 1