Report of 2009 activities

The Wicken Fen (Bird Ringing) Group has been in continuous operation for 42 years, having been established in 1968. Since that year almost 90000 birds have been ringed at Wicken Fen; 470 of these have subsequently been reported away from the Fen (66 of them abroad).

The Group, at 31 December 2009, numbered 43 members and 19 registered "friends". This healthy membership meant that coverage at the Fen was greater than in 2008 (although not as high as in 2007). Ringing operations were conducted on 182 different days, involving 4502 member- (man- & woman-) hours. Ringing sessions were held in every month, with the majority of sessions, 108, being carried out on St. Edmund's Fen (Compartments 30-35). 69 sessions were at the Reedbed (Compartments 51-53) and 38 were at North Field/Gallops/Milner-Whites (Compartments 15, 19, 20-23); in addition there were 8 sessions in the Baker's Fen/Priory Farm/Burwell Fen areas (Compartments 101-104, 200-220). Several other areas of the Fen were also visited to ring nestling birds.

The 2009 ringing total was 4420 birds, of 60 different species. In addition to the 4420 "new" birds in 2009, 775 of the "retraps" (birds already bearing rings) had been originally ringed at the Fen in years earlier than 2009; a further 11 were "controls" (birds originally ringed away from the Fen, but captured at Wicken). Several species topped the 100 mark, the highest scores being Reed Warbler with 555 ringed, Blackcap 308, Great Tit 291, Blue Tit 288, Chaffinch 239, Goldfinch 232, Reed Bunting 231, Blackbird 196, Robin 182, Wren 180, Chiffchaff 176, Greenfinch 130, Sedge Warbler and Dunnock both 129 and House Sparrow 119; the next most numerous were Long-tailed Tit 95, Bullfinch 90, Swallow and Whitethroat both 84, Pied Wagtail 79, Redwing 78 and Song Thrush 77. The several records broken for annual totals were those for Great Tit, Goldfinch, Robin, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Whitethroat, Pied Wagtail, Cetti's Warbler 54 and Garden Warbler 43. As usual, nut and seed bait was available at our ringing sites in the winter, and this helped to boost the numbers of finches, buntings and tits caught.

Several less usual species were ringed during 2009: Meadow Pipit 23, Tree Sparrow 20, Tree Creeper 19, Bearded Tit 15, Great spotted Woodpecker 11, Grasshopper Warbler 10, Jay 9, Yellowhammer 9, Barn Owl 8, Sparrowhawk 6, Jackdaw 5, Lesser Redpoll 5, Green Woodpecker 4, Kingfisher 4, Cuckoo 3, Heron 2, Water Rail 2, Stock Dove 2, Brambling 2, Moorhen 1, Hobby 1, Woodcock 1, Tawny Owl 1, Little Owl 1, House Martin 1, Stonechat 1, Magpie 1, Siskin 1 and Linnet 1. No new birds were added to the Group's ringing total, which remains at 101 species.

The Group's nest-boxes were reasonably successful in 2009: 41 of the year's Blue Tits and 74 of the year's Great Tits were ringed as nestlings in the boxes. A further 133 nestling birds of 14 species were also ringed in the year.

The Group received notification of 21 Wicken-ringed birds being recovered away from the Fen during 2009. Pride of place goes to Blackcap N590854 ringed at the Fen in November 2006 but now wintering at Brabant in Belgium, and Tree Sparrow X077490 caught in February 2009 at Wicken, but now apparently settled and probably breeding in Humberside. Other emigrants were a Lesser Redpoll to Nottinghamshire, a Reed Warbler to Hampshire, three Reed Warblers and a Sand Martin to Sussex, a Robin to Norfolk, Greenfinches to Suffolk and Hertfordshire and 10 other birds to various parts of Cambridgeshire. And during the year, Wicken Fen welcomed 12 birds that had been ringed elsewhere - a Sedge Warbler from France, a Reed Warbler and a Blackcap from Belgium, a Blackbird from Holland, a Sedge Warbler from Sussex, a Reed Warbler from Norfolk, a Blue Tit from Bedfordshire, 4 other birds from elsewhere in Cambridgeshire and a Blackcap of unknown origin (we are still awaiting details).

Some elderly birds were retrapped at Wicken during 2009 - a Chaffinch at 6 years 7 months broke the longevity record for that species at the Fen. Other record breaking birds were a House Sparrow at 5y 5m, a Woodpigeon at 4y 5m and a Cetti's Warbler (the same one that set the record last year) at 4y 2m. The longest lived of other species were a Jay at 6y 8m, a Long-tailed Tit at 6y 5m, a Bullfinch 6y 0m, a Reed Warbler at 5y 11m, a Great Tit at 5y 10m, a Robin at 5y 6m, a Blackbird at 5y 3m, a Dunnock, a Blue Tit and a Goldfinch all at 5y 0m, a Reed Bunting at 4y 11m, a Greenfinch at 4y 1m, a Garden Warbler at 4y 0m, a Great spotted Woodpecker at 3y 5m, a Song Thrush at 3y 4m, a Wren and a Willow Warbler both at 3y 2m and a Blackcap at 3y 0m.

A number of "Ringing Demonstrations" for the public, were put on during the year; and the Group's ringing was covered on BBC local radio, as part of the British Trust for Ornithology's efforts to publicise the centenary of bird-ringing in Britain.

In summer 2009 we continued (for the 40th successive year) our "standard sites sessions". These special ringing visits involve placing nets in exactly the same sites, for exactly the same time, at exactly the same dates every year, and enable us to monitor the breeding population of birds at the Fen. As well as trapping and ringing birds, Group members during the year also conducted several bird surveys, to establish the overall winter and summer bird populations of the Fen (both on the "classical" Fen and the more recently acquired "Vision lands"). And in more detailed breeding studies, Group members reported on the progress of exactly 100 nests of 24 species of bird. Bird breeding was generally successful at the Fen in 2009, with Cuckoos still doing quite well in the face of a National decline. Marsh Harriers and Herons continued their breeding on the Fen, while Bearded Tits and Stonechats bred for the first time for a number of years. Avocets bred (successfully) for the first time ever, and a pair of Bitterns also attempted, but were sadly unsuccessful.

The Secretary has maintained his production of regular Bulletins (6 in year 2009), keeping Members and Friends informed, not only of ringing activities, but also of general bird observations at Wicken Fen. He also produced monthly summaries of the Group's activities, which are displayed in the Thorpe Building and included on this page. Anyone interested in joining the Group is welcome to contact him, Dr. Chris Thorne, at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, CB2 1RL (phone 01954-210566, email cjrt@cam.ac.uk ).