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Category: Trip reports
A wagtail recovery – short report
24th March, 2025 | Trip reports
Bird ringing is not just about the ringing recoveries, especially when you try to study a species like the White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), which is notoriously hard to trap. Unless you focus on their night roost in reedbeds, then it is surprisingly easy. But no one really does it. So when I found out it is possible to trap them like this five or six years ago, I knew I would probably never know where “my” wagtails are heading to spend the winter… Read more »
A motacillid congregation – short report
12th March, 2025 | Trip reports
Earlier this year, in mid February when the snow fell, I have come across a quite interesting “congregation” of three species of Motacillidae: three Grey Wagtails (Motacilla cinerea), two White Wagtails (M. alba) and two Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis) decided to spend the winter together in a small brook close to a village… Read more »
A morning with a Woodlark – short report
12th March, 2025 | Trip reports
Inspired by Yosef Kiat, I too will share some bits and pieces from the field. First, this lovely early March morning with the magical song of a Woodlark (Lullula arborea), a bird especially dear to my heart… Read more »
Autumn migration 2018
21st January, 2019 | Trip reports
Well, autumn… I started writing this article in mid-august. But for ornithologist from temperate regions of the northern hemisphere autumn does begin in August, or even late July. That is the time when first of the long-distance migrants begin their journey south. In Europe, these soon-departing species include mainly the Marsh Warblers, Red-backed Shrikes, Collared Flycatchers and among others the two species of nightingales. You can find such species also among the non-passerines. Perhaps the most well-known is the Common Swift... Read more »
Field season 2018. Or at least part of it…
4th January, 2019 | Trip reports
Field season of our comparative project recently reached its end this year. Well, at least its “temperate breeding” part, as I call it. Then there is still the “temperate wintering” part, which is quickly approaching, and the tropical part. Just to make sure you do not think that we would be doing nothing for the rest of the year :) But after the end of “temperate breeding part”, there is a short time frame which can be used for other bird ringing activities (e.g. tapping into the fall migration) or other things. Such as holiday, maybe... Read more »
Bird ringing 2017
12th January, 2018 | Trip reports
It has been more than a year (exactly 383 days) since the first blog post here promising, among others, some ringing reports here at this webpage. So, today it is already 12 days since the end of 2017 and I am finally posting my first ever blog post about ringing in 2017. Originally, I have planned to post much more often than just once a year. From the initial big plans of having at least monthly reports, I very soon realized that quarterly updates will be much more manageable but… Yearly reports are also fine, right?
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