Monday 19 May 2014

Twite Update - 19th May 2014

 Orange, Dark Blue, Lime - Caught and ringed at Braich Ty Du farm on 18th April 2014, ringed by me.

As I've been quite quiet so far this spring, I thought I'd give a quick update on what I've been getting up to! I've been spending the vast majority of my time in the Nant Ffrancon valley doing my Twite fieldwork for my Research Masters. This year is slightly different to last being that I am not wandering aimlessly around the whole of Snowdonia like last year. My project is in relation to the land management of the Nant Ffrancon valley that supposedly benefits the Twite, so I am surveying the valley floor and the managed fields/compartmental areas as much as I can to monitor what the Twite are getting up to.

I have seen a decent number so far. With a flock of 90 birds wintering together at Connah's Quay, we thought there might be a bumper year in 2014, but just before dispersal, the flock split into two and one flock, that had a decent number caught and ringed have had several birds observed in the valley this spring so far. I have seen at least 20 birds in the valley so far, but with a variety of unringed birds, it's hard to tell exactly how many I've seen so far.
It's not just the Twite that have been holding my interest in the Nant Ffrancon. Breeding Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler, Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, Garden Warbler and Cuckoo are all on show. Today, this wonderful Cuckoo gave me one of my favourite bird encounters of all time. What a fantastic species!

I will keep you updated if anything awesome happens and will explain more once I've submitted my thesis (You never know who's reading this! =P)

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