matt prior
@mattthesparrow
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Enthusiastic amateur passionate about birds and conservation using bird ringing to learn more. Improving habitats for farmland birds in Wiltshire.
Swindon, Wiltshire.
Joined October 2016
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I was out surveying farmland birds last night when I heard a familiar sound from a nearby Barn. This is the first time this nest box has been used in the 4 years it has been up. The rest of the night was good but seeing these little beauties was exceptional.
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There are 5 species of owl in the UK. Yesterday we ringed them all in one incredible session on the Salisbury Plain. We ringed 3 Short Eared Owls, 2 Long Eared Owls, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Tawny Owl & 1 Little Owl. We also retrapped 3 Barn Owls ringed as nestlings = great survival data.
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I am very proud of the farmer at todays site. 5 years ago there was one pair of Yellowhammers at this site and the hedgerow was a metre high and see-through and the grass was like a bowling green. I gave them some advice. They now have 6 pairs of Yellowhammers and a superb hedge!
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What an amazing Blue Tit, we ringed this little chap in December 2010, now its a grand 7 years old - what a survivor!
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After 23 years of ringing some fantastic Wiltshire woodlands, I have finally managed to ring not 1 but 4 magnificent Hawfinches. Two lessons: 1) I never knew their flight feathers were sooo glossy with amazing shapes to the tips. 2) Yes that bill really does hurt!
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Here is a video from a farmer who is growing sunflowers just for farmland birds. Half will be harvested to be used in feeders and the other half will be left for the birds on site. Its wonderful to have farmers so engaged with conservation.
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My favourite UK raptor, the Merlin. They are also Europes smallest raptor. This is a superb adult male. Its beauty is absolutely spellbinding to me.
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First bird of the morning was this beautiful male Cuckoo, what an incredible start to a lovely sunny day. We are at a wonderful site in the Kennet Valley, ringing Siskins, Bramblings and Goldfinches that are also lovely but you can't beat a Cuckoo!
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We took this Lapwing in starving and near death, 5 wks of rehab later, today i had the pleasure to release him into a field full of Lapwings
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Little Owls have disappeared from much of our area. Out of nowhere, we suddenly have four pairs! The male at this site remained single last summer but his constant calling lured this lady in. They currently have four young chicks - fingers crossed they make it.
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I took a farmer out last night to see what owls they have on the farm. They have ambitious plans to improve & widen their grass margins & improve the quality of the grassland on their farm. We ringed 4 Short-eared Owls, inspiring them to make the farm even better for wildlife.
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Thats it! The end of another mammoth Tree Sparrow nesting season. 1318 Tree Sparrows have fledged from our nest boxes this year, at an average of 8.5 young per pair which is slightly above average. Let's hope they winter well and we get more pairs next season.
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I ringed these Barn Owls yesterday. It is the second latest brood I have ever ringed. The Gamekeeper found them in the strawstack last month. He has given them a little help by feeding them slivers of meat in wet weather. They are in superb condition and will fledge any day now.
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This Whinchat we recaptured yesterday is a bit of a superstar. We originally ringed him as a juvenile in August 2018. That is 5 years 10 months old. The UK longevity record for Whinchat is 6 years 1 month. Will he survive next winter to break the record?
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This female Barn Owl has five chicks. We ringed her as one of a brood of five in a box 3km away in 2014. Her parents raised two broods of five that year. She has raised young every year and is obviously passing on good genes to her offspring. Long may she continue to do so!
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These lads are members of
@WiltsBirdClub
. They are super keen so it was my great joy to take them out to see Barn Owls being ringed. They were helpful holding the birds whilst I filled in my notebook. I love inspiring the next generation, and they inspire me with their enthusiasm
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Over the last two evenings we have ringed over 100 Swallows at roost. We also had the amazing surprise of a Hoopoe, an uncommon visitor from Europe. The Swallow ringed elsewhere, 3 Sand Martins and a Yellow Wagtail were somewhat overshadowed!
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It's fair to say that this has been rather a spectacular week! I was ringing in some long grass this morning and this Wryneck turned up! The backing cast was great with 8 Grasshopper Warblers, 5 Whinchat, 2 Stonechat and 53 Sedge Warblers.
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At last the Tree Sparrow nesting season is over. A phenomenal 1352 young fledged from 143 pairs across North Wiltshire. This is 9.45 young per pair which is the second highest fledging rate ever. Thank you to my team, especially the 3 new Trainees who are inspiring me so much!!!
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Our Tree Sparrows in North Wiltshire have just finished their second broods. 494 young fledged from 110 pairs at an average of 4.5 per pair. This is equal to the best ever year for second broods. This could become a very good breeding season, just third broods to go now🤞🙏.
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A farmer did a good deed today. They found a Kestrel nest in a straw stack as they were loading it for transport. They managed to put a few bales back to protect the lone surviving chick that I then ringed. Its been a poor year for Kestrels in our area so every one counts.
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We try so hard to conserve birds in North Wilts & then find that some mindless **** has smashed some active nest boxes off trees. These boxes were made by school children for a charity for a bird of conservation concern. It's hard to like this but show your support by liking.
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Normally I am ringing vibrant, healthy birds but the recent poor weather has taken its toll. Last night I took two Barn Owls and a Kestrel into care. All on the ground and soaked. All three are now in care but their lives hang in the balance🤞.
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Normally I fill Tree Sparrow feeders up in the dark because it is the only time I can do it. At the weekend I got to fill some feeders in daylight. I had 15 minutes spare and there was even enough light to take a few quick photos. Tree Sparrows are worth saving aren't they!
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My conservation work enables me to engage others with nature. This young lad and his family are from Ukraine and are being hosted in the UK by a local farmer. He loves birds so he and his family joined us seeing Barn Owls being ringed. It made my year seeing them so happy.
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A huge push of birds migrated through grassland on the Salisbury Plain this morning. We ringed 185 birds including 19 Whinchats, 85 Sedge Warblers, 31 Reed Warblers and 7 Grasshopper Warblers. However, the first juvenile Corn Bunting of the year stole my heart❤️.
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I dedicate my life to protecting and conserving birds in Wiltshire. These people have brought shame to our county. Great investigation but clearly the law and sentencing need to be a lot tougher. This should have been custodial, banned from holding firearms and a huge fine.
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Best ever farmland bird ringing day - phenomenal 142 Yellowhammers caught inc a 5 year old with c700 Yellowhammers on site! 400 Tree Sparrows present with 31 ringed but 44 retrapped originally ringed as nestlings across the landscape. I think working with the farmers is working!
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I was doing a ringing demonstration to a gamekeeper and family. He told me that a Quail was wintering in a cover crop. This is a rare event in Wiltshire that I've never witnessed. We were lucky enough to catch & ring it. It may be the first wintering Quail to be ringed in the UK.
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Best ever winter session at Swindon STW. All the targeted habitat management paying off: we ringed a record 18 Snipe and 9 Jack Snipe. Also 4 Teal and a record 28 Chiffchaffs. There can't be many 13 year old girls who get to ring Jack Snipe and Snipe in the same day!
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We ringed 2 Barn Owl nestlings tonight. The delighted farmer joined us. They are now buying 2 more Owl boxes, 10 Tree Sparrow boxes, 250kg of seed & will plant fat hen on their land. A very worthwhile exercise! Barn Owls are the leverage, but Tree Sparrows are more important!
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Wow! The farmland bird ringing demonstration of dreams. 20 Tree Sparrows inc a 4yr old, 39 Yellowhammers inc a 5yr old, Corn Bunting & Skylark. Thats brilliant but then we topped it with a stunning Long Eared Owl & a pair of Little Owls. Great to share it with an audience of 30.
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Superb session for owls yesterday with 2 Short Eared Owls and a superb Long Eared Owl which is very scarce in our area. Also we retrapped a Tawny Owl that we first ringed as an adult in August 2018 and a Barn Owl ringed in July 2017.
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Superb session this morning with 8 species of wader ringed. The undoubted highlight was this juvenile Red-necked Phalarope, a bird that makes your day just to see it, let alone ring it. I was surprised how powerful it is, but you have to be when you winter at sea!
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We ringed our first nestlings of the year today. I love the eye colour of baby Rooks!
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It was a perfect evening for owls on a farm on the downs last night. I ringed a stunning male Long Eared Owl and a first-year female Barn Owl. The farmer did not know the LEO was present, but he was hunting rats, doing a good job for the farmer.
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Redstarts are starting to appear on the Salisbury Plain. We have ringed four this week. They really are a highlight for us. This juvenile male was particularly beautiful.
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The early harvest is foreshortening the Tree Sparrow nesting season as their foraging habitat diminishes. However, one of this lovely brood of five was the 2000th nestling to be ringed in our boxes this summer. This is way beyond our greatest expectations.
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I have been told that I have been quiet on social media recently. Its the middle of Tree Sparrow 2nd broods & 3rd broods are just starting so i am flat out. This week I have made 250 nest box checks & ringed 159 Tree Sparrow nestlings. Here is a rare pic of an adult on the nest.
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Frozen conditions caused Snipe to move locations. There were very few birds on the marsh but we ringed a Jack Snipe and 2 Common Snipe.
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150 birds caught today at a small copse by the River Kennet including a day record of 4 Jay's. We also ringed 5 Siskin and 4 Brambling. The plan for Mandarin did not work, maybe next time.
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Another superb, but exhausting night monitoring Tree Sparrows in their second broods. This is peak season and things all synchronised so we ringed an incredible 97 nestlings from 21 broods. We only just managed to finish by dusk after a 6.5 hour marathon session around the Downs.
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Tonight we reached what is always a major landmark for the project. Here I am caught in the act of ringing the 1000th Tree Sparrow nestling of the year. Still plenty to go yet!
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The first Quail have arrived back in the UK, after spending the winter in Africa. We were surveying Yellow Wagtails and got lucky as this Quail decided to grace us with his presence!
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Merlins are my favourite raptor, I have admired them over the years and have had several near misses. Finally after 20 years I managed to ring one on another amazing night on the Salisbury Plain. The supporting cast of a Long Eared Owl and 2 Short Eared Owls was also fantastic.
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I can't believe it but today we have 3 more nest boxes being used by Tree Sparrows. This takes us to 143 pairs which is 30% up on last year. I have no idea what makes a good or bad survival winter. If we could crack this, we could help Tree Sparrows to increase exponentially.
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The early signs are that Whinchats have had a very successful breeding season. At this stage of the year they keep the young low down in the grass. We ringed the first juvenile of the year at the weekend but I think we could be on for a record year.
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Incredible evening monitoring farmland birds in Wiltshire. 55 nestling Tree Sparrows ringed. Then found a flock of 250 Yellow Wagtails & ringed 44 in an hour and a half plus a bonus juvenile Skylark & then a Quail ran into the bottom shelf. It doesn't get much better than this!
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Blackcaps are migrating south through Wiltshire in massive numbers. Yesterday we ringed this spectacular leucistic individual that certainly stood out in the crowd.
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Superb session last night. I ringed a beautiful Long Eared Owl, 2 Short Eared Owls and 3 Barn Owls. It was nearly 4 species of owls but a Tawny Owl rolled out of the net!
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Its World Sparrow Day today. We all know that sparrows are overlooked and underrated. I have spent 20 years trying to conserve Tree Sparrows in Wiltshire and helping/advising anyone else anywhere who also tries to conserve them. I can't wait to get out amongst them again.
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It has been 3 years since we ringed a Green Woodpecker. It really was lovely to ring this one yesterday amongst the clouds of Yellowhammers on a farm in the Thames Valley.
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By far the most important thing I do, is try to conserve Tree Sparrows. This has dominated my adult life. We put up 10 new woodcrete nest boxes today. The second pic shows 2 old wooden boxes and 4 new woodcrete boxes. The 2nd box is no1012 which is one of my most successful boxes
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We ringed the first Little Owl chick of the year tonight. A super feisty little beauty, and a great experience for my newest Trainee.
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At last we are out and I am able to monitor our nest boxes. I ringed 33 nestling Tree Sparrows tonight which is a great start to the season. Tree Sparrow eggs and young are sooo beautiful but tonight they were just amazing.
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A farmer called me out to check on an owlet that was on the ground. As I put it back in the nest in a straw stack, I realised that it is one of four chicks! These are a second brood of a pair who raised 2 chicks in a nest box in June. It's very late, fingers crossed they make it.
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We ringed 69 Tree Sparrow nestlings last night from 14 boxes. Many pairs gave up up in the recent cold wet weather but those who kept going have been very successful. Keep going my little beauties!
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I am always happy for the
@WiltsRuralCrime
team to stop and ask me what I am doing in a farm field in Wiltshire. The team tonight got to see a stunning Short-eared Owl that I had just ringed.
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There may be fewer pairs of Tree Sparrow in southern England than Curlew. Not enough people are concerned these lovely birds are going extinct. We are trying our best to keep them in Wiltshire. We ringed 34 Tree Sparrow nestlings tonight and we have passed 100 pairs in our boxes.
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I saw two flocks of Yellow Wagtails totalling 300+ on the Downs this evening. I ringed 16 at the smaller flock where 100 are present. The farmer came to join me, he loves the Wagtails and is a great supporter of our work monitoring them.
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The most momentous day of the year for me is always when I see the first Tree Sparrow eggs of the year. Tonight I found 11 nests with eggs at the one site, with four of them incubating. That's a great start🤞.
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Long Eared Owls are very scarce in Wiltshire and are rarely seen. This one was ringed on a private farm. Normally by now, we would also be ringing Short Eared Owls but they haven't made it to us yet. We will just have to make do with the Long Eareds!
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Monitoring birds on a farm in the Thames valley today. There were c400 Yellowhammers present and we ringed over 50, including this survivor who is nearly 8 years old! The Green Woodpecker was a rare treat for us, they are reasonably common but we only ring one every few years.
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Great evening monitoring owls. We retrapped a local Barn Owl, then ringed a lovely Short Eared Owl. Last bird of the evening was this fantastic Long Eared Owl, only the third we have ringed in 20 years.
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Surveying a farm last night using the
@ZEISSBirding
Dti3/45 thermal imager. The farmer joined me and we found 3 Grey Partridge, 2 of which were a pair. These are the first Grey Partridge on the farm for 20 years, a product of long term habitat improvements. Farmer was ecstatic!
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Phew! 17 weeks after it started the Tree Sparrow nesting season has finished well with the last 9 chicks ringed. We have ringed just over 1200 Tree Sparrow nestlings from our nest boxes this year. All they need now is a 'normal' winter without rain for days and weeks on end🙏🤞.
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Salisbury Plain farmers' bird counts yesterday. He feeds the birds at these sites using a seed mix that we have advised. Site A= 150 Corn Bunting, 300 Yellowhammer, 100 Brambling. Site B = 300 Corn Bunting, 200 Yellowhammer, 150 Linnet, Merlin, 2 Hen Harrier, 10 Grey Partridge.
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I was surveying Skylarks in a stubble field today and came across this Short-eared Owl at roost. I took a few quick photos and left it to continue it's rest. A pretty magical moment shared with
@robmhowe65
on a farmland bird feeding round.
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Stunning session monitoring Swifts near a colony. We ringed 11 which is fantastic, but better than that was the survival data. We retrapped 11 that we have ringed in previous years, see below:
2019 - 2
2020 -3
2021 - 3
2023 - 3
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Our results show that many species have had a bad breeding season. Grasshopper Warblers however, seem to have had a very good breeding season. This one was the 100th ringed this year and we have now ringed 108 which is a lot more than our previous record of 81.
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The first juvenile Grasshopper Warbler of the year was a surprise this morning. One of the best 'undertails' around!
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We had an absolute treat tonight as we ringed the most stunning male Whinchat I have ever seen.
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Beautiful Nightjar ringed on the Salisbury Plain last night. Without ringing we would not be aware of the number of Nightjars that migrate through the Salisbury Plain.
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They can be a pain, taking over nest boxes intended for other birds. But Jackdaw nestlings really do have the most beautiful eyes.
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Its a horrible rainy day, I have a full day of Teams Calls & we are a depressing 3 weeks into lockdown. Then my day was made when one of our farmers sent me this pic of Tree Sparrows on their feeders. It lifted me no end. Just think, conservation is happening out there every day
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If we are to truly get landowners onside with conservation, we need to fully include them in our activities. I ringed 4 broods of Barn Owl in the last two days, watched by a total of 12 people including 4 children. These people are important as they fill our Tree Sparrow feeders!
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Tree Sparrows are breeding like wildfire at the moment. 2nd broods have nearly finished and 3rd broods are starting. The pair in Box 531 on the left have laid a superb clutch of 8, their neighbours in 532 are trying hard with a 7. Tree Sparrows dont mind boxes leaning over!
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I am not very good at taking it steady, so I was back out monitoring owls. Amazingly, I did not see a Barn Owl at all. I did ring 2 Long Eared Owls & the first Short Eared Owl of the winter. They were all 1st-year females, and they were all very good weights which is heartening.
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We thought that the Willow Tits might have gone extinct in Wiltshire but they are still hanging on in the Kennet Valley with 2 ringed today. We also ringed several Marsh Tits allowing for comparison. Our first Brambling of the winter & 70 Goldcrests capped off a lovely morning.
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First Short Eared Owl of the winter ringed last night. The supporting cast of a Barn Owl and 60 Skylarks seen (15 ringed) shows that this farm is in great health. This farm has long grass, clover leys and live stubbles. I only surveyed two fields and there are about 6 more to go!
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Amidst all of my other varied posts I hope folk remember that my core voluntary work is dedicated to trying to save Tree Sparrows. 20 years in I still think some broods look stunning. Worth saving aren't they!
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Hi folks I havent posted for a bit. Last week I was rushed to hospital and it transpired my appendix had burst a week before and it had turned gangrenous. I was extremely lucky to have made it to the operation and lucky to have got through it. Its been a horrible, rough week.
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Spectacular morning in the Thames Valley. We ringed 200 birds of 14 species & processed 35 recaptures. First bird of the day was the first Short-eared Owl for the farm. We ringed 80 Yellowhammers and there were c300 present. The oldest bird of the session was a 6 year old Dunnock
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Huge push of migrants through the Salisbury Plain yesterday. We ringed 394 birds of 18 species including 239 Blackcaps, 51 Meadow Pipits, 42 Chiffchaffs, 12 Grasshopper Warblers, 3 Whinchats, this lovely Kestrel and the subtle beauty that is a Garden Warbler.
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The night that we ring the first Tree Sparrow broods of the year is always momentous. Tonight was a good start to the season with 13 ringed from 4 broods.
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Incredible BTO Constant Effort Site session at Swindon STW. We caught 3 Kingfishers together in one net. Later we caught 2 more. 5 Kingfishers ringed in one session is amazing and a record for us. They were all juveniles so the local pair have obviously bred very successfully.
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I ringed this Blue Tit with a deformed bill this morning. It is an adult and it weighed 11.4 grammes which is a very healthy weight. So it is faring well despite its deformity.
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Yesterday I ringed a Ruby Throated Hummingbird, supervised by one of the worlds most experienced hummingbird ringers. The ring used is the smallest bird ring in the world at 1.4mm. it weighed 3.4g, mad to think it's about to migrate to North America.
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Two Short Eared Owls ringed on a farm in Wilts this evening. They are not being seen by day, suggesting that night time hunting is good enough.
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Tree Sparrow first broods in Wiltshire finished today. 340 young fledged from 109 pairs. This is about 30% of the population of southern England. Every one is critical so we feed through the summer to try to increase the survival rate.
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I have just got back home after 4.5 hours of feeding farmland birds in foul weather. The hungry gap is biting now and birds are ravenous. All sites were empty after 4 days, I fed 300kg tonight at 9 sites but I will need to repeat this every 4-5 days until late April.
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A combination of prolonged miserable wet weather, and Tree Sparrows seemingly declining again this winter, has really got me down recently. I will not give up on trying to save Tree Sparrows. Maybe not spectacular enough to get on TV programmes, but I LOVE their chattering.
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Great day today! 80+ Tree Sparrows on site. We monitor them for the
@_BTO
Retrap Adults for Survival Scheme. We ringed 8, but better than that, retrapped these that we ringed as nestlings in our boxes:
2022 - 15
2021 - 7
2020 - 3
2019 - 1
2018 - 1
Superb data giving us hope🤞.
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We have just received news of a great recovery. It is the first Robin ringed in the UK to be recorded in Lithuania. We know continental Robins come to the UK to winter and this one was wintering on the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire and was ringed whilst monitoring Tree Sparrows.
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This brood of Tree Sparrows is the last first brood ringed this year. This is a week earlier than normal. We have ringed 480 nestlings at 3.4 fledged per pair which is higher than average. Now onto second broods which will dictate whether it ends up as a good year or not🙏.
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It's taken 27 years but I have finally managed to photograph Jack Snipe on the ground at Swindon STW. There were 3 present and the really great thing is that they (along with 34 Snipe) were on an area that we have managed especially for them.
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When I joined Twitter my aim was to share everything that I do. I did bird surveys and led guided walks to raise the funds for this latest seed delivery to feed Tree Sparrows. Feeding Tree Sparrows in the breeding season increases breeding success.
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The tenacity of Tree Sparrows never fails to amaze me. The pair in Box 290 have laid their 4th clutch of the year after 3 successful broods. In reality they are too late in the season, and they will likely fail,but full marks for trying. This is why I keep trying to save them.
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