June 12th
Today Gabriel Bales (assistant warden) set about mapping the results of birds we ringed at the ABO this spring that had been previously ringed elsewhere. We are awaiting the data for several more records, but the early indications from this map are extremely interesting. The map shows the original ringing location of 10 different birds, exactly half of the ‘controls’ we saw this spring (controls being birds previously ringed outside of Alderney). They show that many of the birds that pass through Alderney on spring migration were previously caught on the south coast of England last autumn whilst on southwards migration. It also appears that Alderney attract birds from further afield, and the Chiffchaff control from Denmark indicates that some birds may may have been blown east from from a route which takes them along the French coastline towards the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and further north into Scandinavia, instead of crossing the English Channel to the UK. A full breakdown of our controls explaining the species involved, dates and distances the birds are travelling will be in the forthcoming ABO Members’ Newsletter.
The final totals for the moths recorded during the last 3 nights incorporating national moth night will be made available as soon as I have them.