Dr Ben

It’s not just about the birds: J. Hunt has been conducting baseline moth surveys @stwater Minworth. On 24/07/24 saw a moth that caught his eye. Confirmed as Gypsonoma minutana, which is Warwickshire 4th ever record, Status nationally scarce, distribution local to SELondon @WKWT

A busy week monitoring Nightjar on Cannock Chase, huge thanks to Nathan from @StaffordshireCC for his help, the Cannock Chase rangers have been awesome this season. 6 new Nightjar ringed in last few days. Can you spot the nightjar from our drone pic? How many do you see?

Reminder: Central England Bird Ringing & Nest Recording Conference. Saturday 7th September 2024 in Birmingham. Lots of great talks, Workshops and Prizes. Check pictures for speaker line ups!

Incredible news. Thermal imaging has become so much an important tool in wildlife surveys. This should now be standard practice for ecology surveys on Land they are reporting to have low value for Wildlife.

A brood of 3 Ospreys successfully fledged this month in the West Midlands region. Despite numerous hurdles facing these birds, the parents did a great job raising very healthy chicks. Huge thanks @timmackrill @RoyDennisWF for supporting us. With luck these should return in 2026

A number of people have asked how we’ve been getting such good reads of colour rings from our Common Terns @SthStaffsWater Blithfield Reservoir rafts. We use a standard @SpypointCamera and our team member John Hunt, adapted it by using a reading glasses lens to enhance image.

Raft Recovery: CW4 black on yellow Darvic identified using @spypointcamera on 18/07/20224 @southstaffswater Blithfield Reservoir. The bird was originally ringed @WildLondon @E17Wetlands by southern Ringing Group in 2022 as a chick, which is a distance of 91 miles.

Raft recovery: Common Tern A12, originally ringed on 29/06/2022, at Blithfield Reservoir @SthStaffsWater has been re-sighted on the raft using an @SpypointCamera on 24/06/2024.

Is there a serial see-saw in Finland @BirdlifeSuomi ? A Fieldfare we ringed using Pulsar Telos XP50 Thermal on 26/10/2023 @farmer_richardT has been found dead after striking a large man made structure 1856km away in Uotoli, Finland on 01/05/2024. @tjfocus_ @SurveysThermal @_BTO

Raft Recovery: Common Tern 0A0 @SthStaffsWater Blithfield Reservoir on 24/06/24 Image taken by @SpypointCamera was originally ringed here as a chick on 29/06/2022. Fantastic to be able to monitor these birds remotely and giving us some great insights on returning birds.

Stunning Female Nightjar re-trapped last night in Staffordshire. She was originally ringed here in 2017, caught again in 2022 and again last night in 2024, she has moved approximately 1km between sites and had a full brood patch suggesting breeding.

Final visit to @SthStaffsWater Blithfield Reservoir saw a further 21 Common Terns colour ringed, which bring final count colour ringed to 51 with 4 un-ringed chicks left on the rafts. That brings 2024 total to 51 colour ringed, 4 in-ringed & 1 dead. Likely 53 total will fledge

A surprising end to the life of one of our Siskins, which we ringed in one of our gardens in Herefordshire on 29/03/2024, it’s has been found dead 1891km away on 05/05/2024 in Hame, Finland after hitting a man made See-Saw. An incredible movement of a tiny bird.

We are very excited to be supporting @tjfocus_ @SurveysThermal Pulsar & Pixfra @GlobalBirdfair this year. Please come and see us, we can support you to make the right thermal decision for your needs and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing everyone 😊

Warning! Are you a birder or photographer in Staffordshire? Have you driven to a sched1 species location and disturbed those birds? If so your registration numbers and video footage of your behaviour has been forward to staffs police.

Our returning journey to @SthStaffsWater Blithfield saw 30 Terns now fitted with colour rings, with around 5 further chicks and around 20 eggs. Survival has been brilliant, all chicks using the Tern bungalows provided to reduce predation. #sassy

Raft Recovery: Common Tern 0.01 has been sighted using @tjfocus_ @SpypointCamera @SthStaffsWater Blithfield Reservoir on 26/06/2024, this bird was originally ringed on 27/06/2019 as a chick @WestMidBirdClub Belvide Reservoir, which is approximately 24km.

A lovely day over at @SthStaffsWater Blithfield Reservoir to check how the Common Tern rafts are going. 24 chicks ringed, 12 fitted with colour rings, 41 eggs still to go. All birds were seen to be using the Tern Bungalows to shelter themselves, which was great news.

Is there anything as cute as these Nightjar chicks. Ringed yesterday as part of a long term project in Staffordshire. Fantastic use of technology to save disturbance and time in the field.

We deployed a @SpypointCamera On the @SthStaffsWater Tern rafts at Blithfield Reservoir this year and with some amendments using a pair of reading glasses, we have been able to identify 5 colour ringed Common Terns. A12 was originally ringed here as a chick on 29/06/2021.