Colour-ringed Ospreys galore

It's been a good autumn so far for Ospreys in Cornwall, with sightings being reported from numerous sites across the county. Interestingly, several of these birds have been photographed with colour rings and they tell some interesting stories.

Earlier in the monnth, one of two birds at Devoran was seen to be ringed and with a bit of persistence was read by photographer Andy Wilson as KC7, aka 'Tywi'. This male was ringed as a chick in Wales earlier this year at the Dyfi Osprey Project and was last seen there on 25th August.

Blue KC7 at Devoran (Andy Wilson)

Remarkably, a few days later another Osprey was photographed at Devoran but with a different ring! Blue JF1 was ringed as a chick in Scotland in 2017 and even more remarkably had been seen at Devoran that autumn, as detailed on the blog here. With KC7 also still present, it's amazing tho think that two known individuals from different countries were feeding together on the same stretch of river.

Blue JF1 at Devoran in 2020 (John St Ledger)

One other bird we've yet to receive details of is Blue 260, which was on the Gannel estuary, Newquay at the start of September. We presume it's a Scottish bird but will wait and see.

Blue 092 (or 260) on the Gannel estuary (Rhys Ellis-Davies)

This again just goes to show how useful colour-ringing is in tracking birds and the increase in value it gives to bird recording.

Scottish Osprey drops into Devoran

Late summer and early autumn sees small numbers of Osprey staging in Cornwall on their southbound journey to west Africa. The wooded creeks and rivers that feed into Carrick Roads seem to be particularly favourable. Devoran Creek has had two individuals for the last few weeks and one of these juvenile birds was sporting a coded blue ring on the left leg. This instantly identified it as a Scottish bird as birds originating in England and Wales receive a colour ring on the right leg. Despite being quite showy the bird typically remained just out of range to read the ring, but with persistent observation and some digiscoping the ring was finally read as JF1.

This bird was ringed as a chick on 13th July this year near Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, by Grampian Ringing Group; one of a brood of three. On size, it was deemed likely to be a male and this is the first confirmed sighting of JF1 since leaving the nest.

JF1 in the nest just after ringing

With various Ospreys being seen elsewhere in the county it is very much worth looking out for these impressive birds and, if you’ve got your eye in, reading a colour ring! Thanks to Greg Wills for the words and pictures and Ewan Weston for the photo of JF1 in the nest.

A catch up with some colour-ringed regulars

With the weather once again too windy for mist-netting, it was a good time to get out and catch up with a few old colour-ringed friends. One of the most interesting birds is 23D8, which we've blogged about several times before (here and here)! It had been seen yet again coming through the Camel estuary earlier in the autumn, but we hadn't managed to see it yet at Helston Boating Lake. But all in good time, it reappeared this week (22nd), back on its usual rail.

The gulls at the boating lake are always very obliging,
lining up on the railings to have their legs checked
(23D8 is actually the closest bird)

It was then on to Men-aver beach, where there's always a good selection of Med Gulls to look through. But with neap tides refusing to drop, there were only 40 birds here. Three of these had just metal rings, and only one colour-ringed bird. Red PLP2 is a Polish-ringed bird, ringed as a chick in June 2012, and has been seen in March 2013 and March 2014 at Pett Level, Sussex, and later at Ferrybridge, Dorset, in January 2015. This is the first time it's been reported from Cornwall though, so it'll be interesting to see if it stays.

Last but not least, a brief high-tide stop at Devoran produced one of our regular Curlews, again one we've blogged about before (here). 'SA was ringed in The Netherlands in June 2013 and is a regular wintering bird on the estuary.

So if we get the chance, get out and look for some colour-ringed birds of your won, as their histories can get rather addictive!