Since their first arrival in early December Mid Wales Ringing Group have managed to colour-ring a total of 60 different Waxwings at a couple of locations in Newtown, primarily the College. The first group of ca. 67 max seemed to move off in early January when there was a short break in sightings and then an additional group of a similar size (55 max?) reappeared but these were seen to be largely unringed (and most remained so).
So where did the first bunch head off too? It may be very surprising to many to know that these groups of Waxwings are not that cohesive. Flocks split and splinter with birds heading off in different directions. We have so far had five birds reported away from Newtown, two in Worcestershire (Great Malvern), one in Gloustershire (Cirencester), one in Hassop (Derbyshire) and the most recent one on the Teifi Marshes (Ceredigion). We greatly look forward to seeing where they might end up in the next few months and would welcome any and all reports of colour-ringed birds from photographers.
Many thanks to (top) Jude Barbour, Great Malvern, (middle) Jonathan Mercer, Cirencester and (bottom) Jen Evans, Teifi Marshes for photographing and reporting the three colour-ringed birds shown below.
Absolutely fascinating news-I'm sure we all thought it was a single bunch which stayed the course.
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